TONIGHT -- ADVOCATES, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS TO RESPOND TO TRUMP’S #SOTU ADDRESS: HRC’s Sarah McBride (@SarahEMcBride) will join fellow civil rights leaders Ilyse Hogue (@ilyseh) of NARAL, Cris Alex Jimenez (@CrisAlexJimenez) of UNITED WE DREAM, Vanita Gupta (@vanitaguptaCR) of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and advocates Sarah Silverman (@SarahKSilverman), Debra Messing (@DebraMessing) and others in delivering #ThePeoplesSOTUResponse, which will be live-streamed by Now This News (@NowThisNews). More from HRC.

• And on Logo today at noon, McBride will join Voices 4’s Adam Eli (@aewerner), trans advocate Peppermint (@Peppermint247) and Transgender Law Center’s Shelby Chestnut for a Facebook Live on the LGBTQ State of the Union. Watch it on Logo.

MORNING MUST READ -- NYT ED BOARD, “THE WHITE HOUSE PUTS THE BIBLE BEFORE THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH”: The Trump-Pence Administration’s new division of discrimination at the Department of Health and Human Services, could give doctors a ‘license to discriminate’ against LGBTQ people, women and others. Writes the NYT Editorial Board: “[T]he far right has stirred unfounded fears that religion (and Christianity in particular) is under assault, and that people of faith are in danger of being forced to do things they find morally objectionable. ‘Patient-centered care’ is an important goal in clinical training today, but the administration is instead proposing provider-centered care.” More from The New York Times.

AKRON BEACON JOURNAL EDITORIAL BOARD SUPPORTS THE OHIO FAIRNESS ACT: “House Bill 160 is the right thing to do,” the board wrote. “Many Ohioans face unjust treatment. The law belongs on their side.” Ohio is one of 31 states that lack explicit state-level protections for all LGBTQ people, and ranked in the “High Priority to Achieve Basic Equality” category in HRC’s 2017 State Equality Index (SEI). More from Akron Beacon Journal.

TUESDAY TWEET -- DESPICABLE -- CHECHEN LEADER ATTACKS HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES: Men suspected of being gay or bisexual have been detained, tortured and even killed by their own government. More from BBC.

Ramzan Kadyrov is a serial human rights abuser who has attacked LGBTQ people, women, religious and ethnic minorities and so many others. We will not be distracted. #EyesonChechnya https://t.co/YZ2VcyFs8L

— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) January 29, 2018

OHIO JUDGE TO DECIDE IF TRANS TEEN SHOULD BE PLACED WITH ACCEPTING GRANDPARENTS: The 17-year-old’s parents want to subject him to the dangerous and debunked practice of so-called “conversion therapy,” which is known to push many young people to suicide. Said Assistant Prosecutor Don Clancy: “A reasonable parent would never tell their own child to kill themselves because they were going to hell, anyway.” More from The Cincinnati Enquirer.

LGBTQ DEMONSTRATION/DANCE PARTY AT TRUMP HOTEL IN DC: Hundreds of attendees from the National LGBTQ Task Force’s Creating Change conference participated. More from Washington Blade.

IT’S TIME FOR CITY AND STATE GOVERNMENTS TO PRIORITIZE LGBTQ-OWNED BUSINESSES IN PUBLIC CONTRACTS: Advocates say it’s especially important “in light of the Trump administration's effort to reverse Obama-era LGBT workplace protections.” More from Marketplace.

VANDALS DEFACE LGBTQ-INCLUSIVE CHARLOTTE, N.C., CHURCH: Local advocates and faith leaders later gathered in a show of solidarity with Wedgewood Church. More from The Charlotte Observer.

GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS

ANTI-LGBTQ EXPORTER OF HATE STEVEN ANDERSON BANNED FROM JAMAICA: HRC supported calls for the ban. More from The Guardian.

BREAKING: After extensive urging from #LGBTQ advocates and allies around the globe, including @HRC, anti-LGBTQ exporter of hate Steven Anderson was banned from Jamaica. https://t.co/YbfuufFhh1

— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) January 29, 2018

TWO CUBAN LGBTQ ADVOCATES SEEK ASYLUM IN THE NETHERLANDS: One of them, Victor Manuel Dueñas, founded Santo Domingo’s LGBTQ community center. More from The Washington Blade.

TUNISIAN POLICE BREAK UP LGBTQ EQUALITY DEMONSTRATION: More from The Citizen.

 READING RAINBOW - Bookmark now to read on your lunch break!

Daily Hampshire Gazette mourns trans activist Christa Leigh Steele-Knudslien; The Japan Times reports that the country’s most prominent dictionary corrected its definition of ‘LGBT’; The Daily Mail reviewed Myanmar’s recent LGBTQ Pride festival