• Sissy Strolls bring queer people of color together in WeHo

    This monthly outing satisfies an appetite for stepping out on the town while addressing the lack of comfortable social spaces for queer people of color in West Hollywood

  • Man arrested in connection to death of trans woman outside Miami City Ballet

    Miami Beach Police have arrested a man in connection to the death of a transgender woman whose body was discovered near the Miami City Ballet.

  • United Methodist Church grapples with deep divides over LGBTQ issues

    Leaders of the United Methodist Church meet to determine its future over LGBTQ issues and dwindling membership.

  • West Virginia says it will appeal ruling that allowed transgender teen athlete to compete

    West Virginia will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on an appeals court ruling that allowed a transgender athlete to compete on her middle school teams, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said Wednesday. “We’re not going to allow the elites in the swamp to impose their values on West Virginia citizens," Morrisey said at a news conference in the state Capitol. A 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled 2-1 last week that West Virginia's transgender sports ban violated Becky Pepper Jackson's rights under Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools.

  • Hundreds of athletes urge the NCAA not to ban trans athletes from women’s sports

    A group of more than 400 current and former Olympic, professional and collegiate athletes, over 300 academics and roughly 100 advocacy groups released separate letters Tuesday urging the NCAA not to ban transgender women from competing in women’s college sports.

  • Tennessee GOP-led Senate spikes bill seeking to ban LGBTQ+ Pride flags in schools

    A bill designed to ban LGBTQ+ Pride flags in Tennessee public school classrooms was spiked Tuesday after it failed to attract enough support in the GOP-controlled Senate. The proposal had easily cleared the Republican-dominant House nearly two months prior after the bill's sponsor said he had parents complain about “political flags” in classrooms. “There were some parents in my district that felt like there were flags being displayed in the public school classroom that did not coincide with their values and felt like their children should not be indoctrinated in the schools,” said Republican Sen. Joey Hensley.

  • Transgender Louisianans lost their ally in the governor's seat. Now they're girding for a fight

    As transgender people in Louisiana watched surrounding states in the deeply conservative South implement a slew of laws targeting nearly every facet of their lives in recent years, they counted on their ally in the governor’s office to keep their home a relative oasis. Former Gov. John Bel Edwards, the only statewide elected Democrat at the time, was indeed able to block most of the bills. Edwards has been replaced by Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican backed by former President Donald Trump who has shown support for such legislation.

  • A lesbian archive inside a Brooklyn brownstone has documented decades of Sapphic history

    The Lesbian Herstory Archives, the home of an LGBTQ history trove in Brooklyn, New York, is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

  • New federal rule bars transgender school bathroom bans, but it likely isn't the final word

    A new rule from President Joe Biden's administration blocking blanket policies to keep transgender students from using school bathrooms that align with their gender identity could conflict with laws in Republican-controlled states. The clash over bathroom policy and other elements of a federal regulation finalized last week could set the stage for another wave of legal battles over how transgender kids should be treated in the U.S. Most GOP-controlled states now have laws reining in their rights.

  • Minnesota and other Democratic-led states lead pushback on censorship. They're banning the book ban

    A movement to ban book bans is gaining steam in Minnesota and several other states, in contrast to the trend playing out in more conservative states where book challenges have soared to their highest levels in decades. The move to quash book bans is welcome to people like Shae Ross, a queer and out Minnesota high school senior who has fought on the local level against bans on books dealing with sexuality, gender and race. “Especially when I was like sixth, seventh grade, I’d say reading books, especially books with gay characters ... was a way that I could feel seen and represented.”

  • "I'm Living Two Different Lives": This 19-Year-Old Student Explained The "Terrifying" Reality Of Living With Unsupportive Parents In 2024 And How It Affects Their Daily Life

    "Every morning, I go to school, put a rainbow keychain on my backpack, and become a proud queer student. Every night, I put the keychain back in my bag and go home to a family that would disown me or take everything away from me if they knew who I really was. There are so many painful details that add up far too fast, but at the end of the day, the point is that I'm living two different lives, and they're only separated by a couple of streets."

  • Seattle hospital won't turn over gender-affirming care records in lawsuit settlement with Texas

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is dropping a request for a Seattle hospital to hand over records regarding gender-affirming treatment potentially given to children from Texas as part of a lawsuit settlement announced Monday. Seattle Children's Hospital filed the lawsuit against Paxton's office in December in response to the Republican appearing to go beyond state borders to investigate transgender health care. Paxton, a staunch conservative who has helped drive GOP efforts that target the rights of trans people, sent similar letters to Texas hospitals last year.

  • Why a Popular Queer Nightclub in Brooklyn Was Mentioned in Donald Trump's Court Filings

    Trump's legal team reportedly tried to serve a subpoena to Stormy Daniels last month while she was arriving for an event at a notable LGBTQ venue

  • The Anglican Communion has deep differences over homosexuality – but a process of dialogue, known as ‘via media,’ has helped hold contradictory beliefs together

    With over 80 million believers in 160 countries, the Anglican Communion has been grappling with LGBTQ+ issues since the 1970s.

  • Venerable San Francisco LGBTQ bar the Stud reopens at new location

    One of San Francisco's oldest LGBTQ bars, on Saturday the Stud re-opened it's doors for the first time in four years at a new location.

  • Lama Rod describes himself as a Black Buddhist Southern Queen. He wants to free you from suffering.

    Instead of traditional maroon and gold Tibetan Buddhist robes, Lama Rod Owens wore a white animal print cardigan over a bright yellow T-shirt with an image of singer Sade, an Africa-shaped medallion and mala beads — the most recognizable sign of his Buddhism. "Being a Buddhist or a spiritual leader, I got rid of trying to wear the part because it just wasn’t authentic to me,” said Owens, 44, who describes himself as a Black Buddhist Southern Queen. The Harvard Divinity School -educated lama and yoga teacher blends his training in the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism with pop culture references and experiences from his life as a Black, queer man, raised in the South by his mother, a pastor at a Christian church.

  • Melania Trump Returns to Politics, Hosting Her First 2024 Fundraiser — for a Conservative Gay Group

    While her husband's campaign espouses anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, sources say Melania will capitalize on her less inflammatory track record to court the Log Cabin Republicans, which advocates for an LGBTQ-inclusive GOP

  • Venice Biennale titled 'Foreigners Everywhere' platforms LGBTQ+, outsider and Indigenous artists

    Outsider, queer and Indigenous artists are getting an overdue platform at the 60th Venice Biennale contemporary art exhibition that opened Saturday, curated for the first time by a Latin American. Brazilian curator Adriano Pedrosa’s main show, which accompanies 88 national pavilions for the seven-month run, is strong on figurative painting, with fewer installations than recent editions. A preponderance of artists are from the Global South, long overlooked by the mainstream art world circuits.

  • Biden expands Title IX protections for pregnancy, trans people and sexual assault victims

    The Biden administration has finalized new Title IX regulations that codify protections for transgender people, as well as enhance protections for victims of sexual assault or harassment and pregnant people. "For more than 50 years, Title IX has promised an equal opportunity to learn and thrive in our nation's schools free from sex discrimination,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona in a statement on the revision. “These final regulations build on the legacy of Title IX by clarifying that all our nation’s students can access schools that are safe, welcoming, and respect their rights.”

  • Pennsylvania board's cancellation of gay actor's school visit ill-advised, education leaders say

    A Pennsylvania school board's cancellation of an upcoming appearance by actor and children’s book author Maulik Pancholy was ill-advised and sends a hurtful message, especially to the LGBTQ+ community, education officials said. A member of Cumberland Valley School District’s board cited concerns about what he described as Pancholy's activism and “lifestyle” before the board voted unanimously Monday to cancel his appearance at a May 22 assembly at the Mountain View Middle School. The policy was enacted after the district was criticized for hosting a rally by Donald Trump during his 2016 campaign for president.

  • DeSantis scales back book ban law amid spike in Florida book objections

    As Florida schools face a growing number of book ban attempts, Gov. Ron DeSantis is scaling back policies that made it easier for people to challenge materials in schools. In 2022, DeSantis signed HB 1467, which required elementary schools to provide a searchable list of the books accessible to students in libraries or classrooms and allow for public comment on all new materials. Other recent legislation signed by DeSantis, including the Parental Rights in Education Bill and the Stop WOKE Act, restricts content on race and LGBTQ identities in schools and has further impacted access to classroom materials.

  • Pennsylvania school district cancels actor's speech over his activism and 'lifestyle'

    A Pennsylvania school district has canceled an upcoming appearance by actor and children's book author Maulik Pancholy after district leaders cited concerns about what they described as his activism and “lifestyle.” Pancholy, who is gay, was scheduled to speak against bullying during a May 22 assembly at Mountain View Middle School in Cumberland County. The policy was enacted after the district was criticized for hosting a rally by Donald Trump during his 2016 campaign for president.

  • Calexico resoundingly ousts town's first transgender mayor and a council ally

    Calexico's first transgender mayor and a City Council ally were recalled by a hefty margin. The election pitted the town's established old guard against young progressives looking to upend the status quo.

  • Scotland pauses prescriptions of puberty blockers for transgender minors

    Scotland’s sole clinic for treating transgender youths announced Thursday that it is pausing new prescriptions of puberty blockers for minors.

  • 'Mary & George' Lets Us Reimagine All History As Queer History

    The show doesn't just normalize the notion of sexually fluid queer community — it historicizes it.