Three Democrats crossed party lines yesterday to vote for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greenes (R-GA) bill to ban gender-affirming care for trans youth, and the party needs to kick them out. Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Vincente Gonzalez Jr (D-TX), and Don Davis (D-NC) all voted alongside 213 Republicans yesterday to pass Greenes anti-trans bill. If they had not voted for it, it would not have passed.Yes, Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE) is generally right that the party needs to be a big tent and allow some ideological diversity. But there are some lines that should not be crossed, and this is one of them. Related Everything is grooming now except for actually grooming children The bill is extreme. It makes it a crime to provide safe and effective health care to trans youth (and only to trans youth! The same procedures for cis youth are exempted in Greenes bill), punishable with up to 10 years imprisonment. This includes the parents of trans kids, who are only trying to do whats best for their kids, who happen to be the target of a five-year moral panic that gripped the GOP so that they could get people to stop talking about the failures of the presidents first term and his attempt to overthrow the federal government on January 6, 2021.All the reasons to support Greenes bill are terrible. There are the pseudoscientific reasons that you can read about on social media, like the idea that puberty blockers arent reversible (they are), that most trans kids change their minds (they dont), or that puberty blockers destroy trans kids health (they dont). Dive deeper every day Join our newsletter for thought-provoking commentary that goes beyond the surface of LGBTQ+ issues Subscribe to our Newsletter today All the major medical professional organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Endocrine Society, and the American Medical Association support gender-affirming care as the standard of care, but people like Greene will still tell people to do your own research if they bring up the fact that real researchers who spend their lives studying the subject support gender-affirming care.And what kind of research is someone with no background in science supposed to do from their home? At best, the research theyll do will be orders of magnitude less rigorous than what those scientific bodies already did, and they probably wont even do that. Instead, what right-wingers mean when they say do your own research is watch this YouTube video made by someone who knows nothing or share this garbage Facebook meme. Thats how little these people know about what real scientific research looks like. Its no coincidence that Greene introduced this bill and is also a major opponent of vaccines. She has no respect for scientists, which gives her license to believe whatever she wants, facts be damned. Who cares how many lives are lost, right? The Democratic Party should stay away from that arrogant and harmful mentality.Perhaps the most anti-scientific belief these people buy into is the idea that a teacher or a parent or whoever else can turn a kid transgender by reading them a book or letting them play with the wrong genders toys.Thats just dumb. That is not how it works. We need to make fun of people who believe silly ideas like this and mock them out of polite society. The next set of reasons people support these kinds of bans is basically conspiracy theories. Parents are forcing their kids to be transgender because its in fashion or Doctors just want to make money off trans kids so they force all these medical treatments on them or Teachers and Democrats want kids to turn transgender because of the woke. Kids could not possibly be saying that theyre transgender in the face of an extremely transphobic society because thats what they are. No, it has to be a conspiracy of some kind!This is a purposeful lack of trust in people in positions of authority that makes running a society hard. We tell scientists, etc., that they have to achieve certain goals, and when they try, we dont just criticize the results; we deny that they should even have had the power to do their jobs in the first place.Parents, teachers, doctors, researchers all of these people are wrong not because they are working with different information than the rest of us. No, they are bad people who want to hurt children because theyre bad. Thats it. Again, this is the meat and potatoes of the anti-vaccine movement. In order to get people to believe in pseudoscientific lies, they have to convince them to stop listening to the actual experts, and to do that, they need to paint them as evil-doers. And quite literally. Many anti-trans activists have made it no secret that they believe that demons and the devil are behind any support for trans rights.Democrats should be working with people who have different belief systems, but there has to be a common basis of understanding the world and a respect for peoples humanity. People who think that public health officials who support trans kids are literally demons need to be excluded. They cannot be reached. And the party should not be lending them support.Greenes bill is also a multi-pronged assault on the partys fundamental values. It restricts peoples access to health care. And real health care, not supplements that conservatives sell on their podcasts. Thats a big deal for Democrats and should be a line in the sand: Patients should have control of their own bodies, and their doctors and parents can help them make those decisions without government interference. Its also an affront to free speech and expression. The same people who are against gender-affirming care are also against letting trans people dress and identify and act as they want to. To borrow an expression, the right hates trans people for their freedom, because they defy societys expectations of their sex in a profound way. Democrats are the party of personal freedom when it comes to social issues, and that should mean something.Last, this bill is an attack on a vulnerable minority because they are a vulnerable minority, and Democrats are the party of fighting oppression. Gender-affirming care has been around for a long time. Kids have been getting puberty blockers for decades. And mainstream Republicans never really cared until 2021. Even conservative Christians were mad that the 2020 Republican Party didnt care about taking away rights from trans kids. It took the GOPs losses in that election for the party to realize it could use trans people as a political pawn to win votes. And the only reason there was even a vote for Greenes bill yesterday was political haggling. Republicans could have put this bill up for a vote all year if they really believed in it, but instead only did so in exchange for support for a military funding bill.At the very least, Democratic leadership needs to realize that Cuellars, Gonzalezs, and Davis disloyalty to the party gave Republicans a political win.I would not have written this column about most other LGBTQ+ issues because there can be some reasonable debate on them. For example, I fully support LGBTQ+ inclusive antidiscrimination legislation. I could also imagine a situation where someone else disagrees with how a specific law is written, without their values being so different from mine that we couldnt work together on anything.But not here. Kids need health care, and Marjorie Taylor Greene should get exactly zero say in what kind of care doctors across the country provide. There is no redeeming value to Greenes bill. Democrats need to take action.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

An anti-trans judicial nominee was forced to answer for his past statements on gender, sex, marriage, and disability in a contentious exchange during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. The president recently nominated Indiana attorney Justin Olson to serve as a federal judge in the Indiana Southern District Court. Olson is an ordained but inactive elder in the Presbyterian church and also works with the so-calledIndependent Council on Womens Sports (ICONS)to sue universities and the NCAA for their trans-inclusive sports policies. Related Texas unveils tip line to report & send pictures of suspected trans women using the restroom During the hearing, Olson resisted as Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) pressed him to share some of his personal beliefs.Kennedy asked Olson about a 2022 sermon in which he said, Transgenderism, homosexuality, fornication, and all sorts of sexual perversions are a form of hypocrisy that are caused by shame from the inside. Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today After asking Olson to confirm if he did say those words, Olson was visibly anxious as he stumbled over his response.That, um, I dont recall the precise wording, but that sounds, um familiar, Olson said. He then claimed his words were for the edification of the people that I was preaching to. As a judge sitting here today, my obligation is to apply the rule of law.Kennedy shot back, My obligation is to try to understand you, cause this is a lifetime appointment. Do you believe that fornication is a form of sexual perversion? Olson explained that by fornication, he meant any sex act outside of marriage, but continued to resist sharing his personal beliefs and instead emphasized he was merely preaching the doctrine of his church. He also asked about a 2015 speech in which Olson discussed a passage in the Bible that says wives should be subservient to their husbands. Kennedy asked if Olson believed that. I believe every word of the Bible, he said. Earlier, Kennedy also asked him to explain a sermon in which he spoke about marriage not being intended for people with disabilities. Again stumbling over his words, he claimed he was explaining why certain people are called to singleness and not why people shouldnt get married if they want to. I was using that example as an illustration of why some dont get married, not as a kind of reason why someone shouldnt, he said. Sen. John Kennedy: "What do you mean by fornication?"Justin Olson: "Any sexual act outside of the bounds of marriage."Kennedy: "So you believe premarital sex is a sexual perversion?"Olson: "Senator, again, my personal views, as many have said before, I won't comment" pic.twitter.com/qt8dJaHi1D Forbes Breaking News (@ForbesTVNews) December 17, 2025In a social media post announcing Olsons nomination, the president touted Olsons fight against trans athletes, saying that, as a litigator, [Olson] has been fighting tirelessly to keep men out of womens sports.Olson is a lead lawyer in an anti-trans lawsuit financed by ICONS representing three former University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) women swimmers who sued UPenn, Harvard University, the Ivy League (an athletic conference of eight private universities, including UPenn and Harvard), and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).The lawsuit alleges that the universities and NCAA violated Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex-based educational discrimination, by allowing trans swimmer Lia Thomas to compete on UPenns womens swim team during 2021 and 2022,Daily Journalreported, something which left the plaintiffs repeatedly emotionally traumatized. The suit seeks a total ban on trans female athletes citing opportunities lost and taken from trans women who allegedly displaced cis women unfairly.Olson is also an attorney in ICONS lawsuit against San Jose State University (SJSU) and the Mountain West Conference for allowing a trans volleyball player toparticipate in collegiate matches. The player who participated for three seasons without any issues over her participation didnt cause any unfair advantage or injuries, but the lawsuit claims her presence still stifled other female athletes free speech.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Donald Trump has been brutally mocked for installing plaques under the portraits in his Presidential Walk of Fame that criticize Democrats and brag about himself. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Trump, as a student of history, wrote much of the text himself. She described them as eloquently written descriptions of each President and the legacy they left behind. Related Texas unveils tip line to report & send pictures of suspected trans women using the restroom Under Joe Biden, the president wrote, Sleepy Joe was, by far, the worst President in American History taking office as a result of the most corrupt Election ever seen in the United States. He left office issuing blanket pardons to Radical Democrat criminals and thugs, as well as members of the Biden Crime Family But despite it all, President Trump would get Re-Elected in a Landslide, and SAVE AMERICA! Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today He also called Obama One of the most divisive political figures in American History who crippled small businesses with crushing regulation and spied on the 2016 Presidential Campaign of Donald J. Trump.Under President Ronald Reagans portrait, the plaque says: Known as The Great Communicator, he was re-elected in a landslide in 1984, and left office with high approval He was a fan of President Donald J. Trump long before President Trumps Historic run for the White House. Likewise, President Trump was a fan of his! Late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel eviscerated Trump for claiming Reagan was a longtime fan of his: Ronald Reagan died in 2004. He was diagnosed with Alzheimers 10 years before that. What was he a fan of exactly? Trumps Pizza Hut commercials? What a sad individual.Kimmel added that it takes a special kind of lunatic to get his insults cast in bronze and that Trump knows the world is laughing at him.If your grandfather was doing this, you would send him away, he concluded. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) also responded by writing his own version of Trumps plaque.WOW! LOOK AT THE PLAQUE UNDER TRUMPS PHOTO pic.twitter.com/QMxOmBc8l1 Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) December 17, 2025The mocking continued across social media. Adding another layer of stupidity to Trumps Presidential Walk of FameThey made the plaques with random, incorrectly capitalized words like they were copied from Trumps Truth Social page.I mean, its one thing to be that dumb online but to stamp it in brass?Goddamn pic.twitter.com/KwB2JPuU5G JK (@USMCLiberal) December 17, 2025Trump has put plaques under the portraits on the Presidential Walk. This is the one under Biden. This is not funny, it is cringeworthy, Trump is deranged. The cult will love it, but frankly it is an embarrassment to America. pic.twitter.com/GL5pcncbSn Me, Mike. (@mikegallacher1) December 18, 2025Heres the plaque that the next President will put up under Donald Trumps picture; if they bother to keep him on the wall at all. pic.twitter.com/ElsiB0W5NM Andrew#IAmTheResistance (@AmoneyResists) December 18, 2025I cannot fathom being as gargantuanly pathetic as this man is"President Trump has installed plaques underneath portraits of presidents at the White House, using them to insult and make unfounded claims about some of his predecessors" pic.twitter.com/yNzffCBocb Nathaniel Mulcahy (@aVoice4MA6) December 18, 2025The white house has installed new plaques along President Donald trump's "Presidential walk of fame", featuring descriptions that read like his truth Social posts. pic.twitter.com/8mdJ3iquCq Objectively politics (@uspolitics1111) December 18, 2025Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

An anti-LGBTQ+ organization is urging the Trump administration to scrutinize Netflixs childrens content ahead of the streamers proposed merger with Warner Bros.Earlier this month, Concerned Women for America (CWA) released a report on the prevalence of LGBTQ+ themes and characters in Netflixs programming aimed at kids. The seven-page report specifically cites recentX posts from the platforms anti-trans owner, Elon Musk,and from anti-LGBTQ+ activist Chaya Raichiks Libs of TikTok account, highlighting examples of LGBTQ+ content in kids shows on Netflix. Related Marjorie Taylor Greene says shes canceling Netflix over an old clip of a trans kid CWA claims that its researchers compiled references to LGBTQ+ themes, characters, storylines, and messaging across 326 Netflix series (both licensed and original) rated for young audiences (TV-G, TV-Y, or TV-Y7) and found that 41% of G-rated series, and 41% of TV-Y7-rated series on Netflix contain LGBTQ+ content.Based on its findings, CWA declared the platform an active driver of the so-called LGBTQ agenda, and the organizations CEO and president, Penny Nance, urged the Trump administration to take that into consideration when determining whether or not to approve Netflixs bid to acquire Warner Bros. film and TV studios, along with HBO and HBO Max. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today We knew that Netflix aired this kind of programming, but our study quantifies how many childrens programs aresubvertedbyLGBTQ messaging and themes.These are shockingnumbers,and most parents are unaware, Nance said in a December 8 statement. With Netflixs acquisition of Warner Brothers[sic]/Discovery, families must beware that Netflix will be able to expand its irresponsible approach to content moderation for children. Governmentshould make that part of the conversationofthis merger.Nance further called for an outside, independent council thatrepresentsthe interest of parents, reviewing program ratings. As has been widely reported, President Donald Trump has said he will be involved in federal regulators review of the Netflix-Warner Bros. deal, which has drawn widespread criticism. Opponents of the merger, both in the entertainment industry and Congress, say it will result in further media consolidation and job losses, as well as the decimation of the already struggling theatrical distribution market, with Netflix likely to scale back theatrical releases of Warner Bros. movies.At the same time, many see the Netflix deal as the lesser of two evils. Prior to Warner Bros. Discoverys announcement earlier this month that it had accepted the streamers $82.7 billion bid to buy Warner Bros. studios and HBO and HBO Max, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, son of erstwhile billionaire Trump ally Larry Ellison, had been aggressively pursuing a deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery including its cable news operations.A Paramount Skydance deal would have similarly reshaped the entertainment industry and presented all the same regulatory issues as a deal with Netflix, but it would also have brought CNN under the thumb of a Trump ally.Earlier this year, Trumps Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved David Ellisons bid to merge his Skydance Media with CBS parent company Paramount Global after Skydance promised FCC chairman Brendan Carr that the newly merged companies would eliminate all diversity hiring policies and install an ombudsman to review complaints of bias at CBS News. Paramount appointed Kenneth Weinstein, aformer Trump appointee and leader of conservative think tank The Hudson Institute, as ombudsman. And in October, Ellison appointed queer anti-woke journalist Bari Weiss as CBS News editor-in-chief.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Today, the Trump administration announced new rules that would end gender-affirming care for minors at hospitals across the country.At a news conference led by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the administration said it would bar all federal funding for any hospital in the United States that provided the care. Related House passes Marjorie Taylor Greenes bill to criminalize gender-affirming care for trans youth Federal funding through Medicare and Medicaid accounts for nearly 45% of all spending on hospital care, according to KFF, the nonprofit health policy research group.Stopping it would be a death sentence hospitals have such razor-thin margins as it is, Caroline Farrell, a former lawyer for the office of general counsel at HHS, told The New York Times. The proposed rule means just forcing them to stop the care, she said. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The administration is targeting all gender-related treatments for minors, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgeries. Gender-affirming genital surgeries are never performed on minors, while some older teens who meet certain requirements can only rarely access some other kinds of surgeries.The announcement comes amid an onslaught of new regulations and proposed legislation banning the care that goes far beyond previous efforts, and advances Donald Trumps erasure of transgender identity, beginning with his executive order in January recognizing only two sexes: male and female. On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed a bill sponsored by outgoing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) that would criminalize gender-affirming care for minors nationwide, subjecting providers to up to 10 years in federal prison.Three Democrats joined the Republican majority to pass the bill, which faces long odds in the Senate.The House is expected to vote on Thursday on another bill that would end Medicaid funding for the same treatments.Todays announcement from Kennedy and Mehmet Oz, the talk show host turned administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services at HHS, included a threat from the Food and Drug Administration, demanding 12 manufacturers of chest binders end illegal marketing of the garments as a treatment for gender dysphoria. The new actions come as hospitals are already relenting to pressure to end gender-affirming care for minors, and options for the treatment of gender dysphoria dwindle for patients.After the Supreme Court upheld Tennessees ban on medical care for trans minors in June, a wave of hospitals specializing in the treatments shut down preemptively, in a preview of todays actions.Childrens Hospital Los Angeles notified staff members in June that the clinic would close, citing the potential termination of federal funds accounting for 65 percent of its budget. Loss of that funding would be an existential threat to our hospital operations, they said at the time. Despite those closures, the Supreme Courts ruling in Skrmetti left it to the states to determine whether or not gender-affirming care would remain legal and available in their jurisdictions. While most red states ban the care, blue states generally do not.Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said that the decision to provide or withhold the care should be resolved by the people, their elected representatives and the democratic process.The Trump administrations new rules override that assessment. The Courts rationale was to defer to democracy and let different states make different decisions, said Josh Block with the American Civil Liberties Union. This attempt to unilaterally impose a nationwide ban by executive fiat without any actual legislation authorizing it undermines the entire rationale for upholding the law in Skrmetti in the first place.Crazy how Trump is flailing, Epstein files are coming out, the economy is going to s**t, and Republicans are defecting and the first thing his admin does is pivot to attacking trans people, said Harvard Law Cyberlaw Clinic instructor Alejandra Caraballo. Its all they know. Just distract everyone from whats important by attacking a vulnerable minority group.Crazy how Trump is flailing, Epstein files are coming out, the economy is going to shit, and Republicans are defecting and the first thing his admin does is pivot to attacking trans people. It's all they know. Just distract everyone from what's important by attacking a vulnerable minority group. Alejandra Caraballo (@esqueer.net) 2025-12-18T18:27:04.859ZThe new rules earned scathing condemnation from trans rights supporters.Trump and his ideologues want to erase trans people from existence. Thats always been the plan, said California state Sen. Scott Wiener (D), who called the proposed rules illegal and repugnant. But he also said the move is a proposal with many steps remaining before it is finalized. Hospitals need not and should not comply while it is being considered by regulators.Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, echoed that sentiment.These rules are proposals, not binding law, she said. Community members, health care providers, administrators, and our allies should be vocal in pushing back by sharing the ways these proposals would be devastating to their families and the health care community at large.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Republicans are attacking Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) who is running for the U.S. Senate with a fake artificial intelligence (AI)-generated video of her giving a boy a no-parent-permission-required estrogen kit.Mills has been a strong supporter of transgender rights this past year, refusing to bow to pressure from the president to ban trans kids from participating in school sports. Related AI videos showed influencer Jake Paul coming out as gay. His reaction has been surprising. But instead of just criticizing her for her actual record of support for trans people, Republicans have decided to use deepfake videos.The ad from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) takes the tone of a 90s infomercial selling The Janet Mills Collection. The robotic voiceover misrepresents her policy positions while AI-generated videos show the consequences of those policies. Generative AI technology was likely used because these are not the actual results of Mills policies, so no real video was available for use. Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The first tableau shows a cisgender boy running on a track with several cisgender girls behind him and Mills acting as the timer. Mills forces girls to compete against biological males, the voiceover says. The reason theres no actual video of this situation is that Mills never supported letting boys compete in girls sports, but instead supported letting one type of girl (transgender girls) compete with other girls.In the next scene, a boy in a polo shirt who looks about 8- or 9-years-old is standing in a womens clothing store as Mills hands him a box with old-timey syringes. Mills comes with a no-parent-permission-required estrogen kit, the voiceover says. Hormone therapy is not part of the standard of care for trans kids that age, and kids that age cant get much medical care without parental permission. But saying that Democrats want very young children to get age-inappropriate gender-affirming care has been a key strategy that the right has used to gin up moral panic against trans kids.The voice-over then says that Mills keeps parents in the dark while their minors take prescription hormones as the video shows an even younger boy injecting himself with a syringe. The last scene shows Mills drinking champagne in a fur coat at a hospital waiting room while the voiceover accuses her family of profiting from the gender-affirming care. Its not clear what the ad is referring to, but the idea that doctors profit from turning kids transgender is an established rightwing conspiracy theory meant to discredit medical research showing that gender-affirming care is safe and life-saving for trans youth. The ad includes no quotes from Mills or any legislation she signed, which are typical features of political attack ads, used to make the accusations seem more real. But AI-generated video appears to have taken that place in this ad as the realistic-looking videos provide proof that Mills is turning kids transgender behind their parents backs.The NRSCs webpage about the ad tries to provide some connections to reality, including linking to an article about Mills supporting trans girls competing in girls sports, an article about how older teens can get gender-affirming care in Maine without parental permission in some limited situations, and a link to another NRCS webpage that says that Mills sister works in the health care industry, likely their proof that Mills personally profits from gender-affirming care.Using fake video in political ads is not illegal in the U.S., and the president made it more difficult for states to regulate its use. Some platforms, like YouTube where the NRSC ad is posted require use of AI-generated video to be disclosed. There is nothing on YouTube that says the NRSC ad is a product of generative AI. Lies have been part of politics since time immemorial, said Public Citizen co-president Robert Weissman in an interview with The Guardian last month. This is different than lies, and its different than saying your opponent said something that they didnt say.When someone is shown an apparently authentic version of a person saying something, it is very hard for that person to then contradict it and say I never said that because youre asking people to disbelieve what they saw with their own eyes, Weissman added.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

The best and brightest of the LGBTQ+ community came together to celebrate the 2025 Out100. Those who would like to see this years festivities can tune in to the 31st annual Out100 Special on Hulu and ABC-owned television stations on December 29! Check your local listing for air times here.Hosted by Peabody and Emmy winner Sam Champion (Good Morning America) and Emmy-winning anchor Sonia Baghdady, the Out100 Special recognizes 2025's most influential LGBTQ+ leaders in entertainment, politics, activism, sports, and music. It gives viewers an exclusive look into the 31st annual Out100 list, featuring Niecy Nash-Betts as Icon of the Year and Kathy Griffin as The Advocate's Advocate of the Year, in addition to in-depth red-carpet coverage from this year's Out100 celebration.The 2025 theme was "Bolder, Brighter," and honorees included All's Fair star Niecy Nash-Betts, Kathy Griffin, Boots star Miles Heizer, Tonatiuh, Anna Camp, Frankie Grande, Bre-Z, Vivian Wilson, Rosie O'Donnell, Megan Stalter, Nyle Dimarco, and Juan Pablo Di Pace. Check out the entire list here."The Out100 TV Special continues a legacy more than three decades strong, honoring the vision, resilience, and cultural impact of the LGBTQ+ community," Mark Berryhill, CEO of Equalpride, said in a press release. "The individuals we recognize this year embody the breadth and brilliance of our community across countless fields, and were honored to spotlight their stories. With the support of our dedicated partners, this milestone event reinforces the power of visibility and celebrates how our community continues to define culture and shape the future.

Matthew Ellis is the name on everyone's lips!The handsome model has made quite a splash in the adult entertainment industry since his debut nearly three years ago. In his short time as a performer, Ellis has already filmed countless amounts of viral videos and won a handful of GayVN Awards.While attending Dominic Ford's Collab Week Puerto Vallarta earlier this month, the actor opened up on his success and how his life has turned for the better since leaving his former corporate job."I enjoy creating content. I am a creative person, so that comes quite naturally. I'm fortunate also to have the background in corporate. I have these bits and pieces that I use to help me build the business that I'm running," Ellis tells PRIDE. See on Instagram Since the adult entertainment industry has become so saturated since the COVID-19 pandemic, Ellis made it his mission to stand out in a very competitive market by actively posting on social media."I wanted to put my name out there! I wanted my face out there as much as possible and as quick as possible. It all went exactly how I planned! I had to take this huge leap of my faith and it really worked out for me. I pinch myself every day. I'm just so happy with my life now!"Although there's too many gay content creators to count these days, Ellis encourages any aspiring adult performers to fully invest in the industry if they want to create a name for themselves."You have to actually want to do it. You can't just want some quick money. You can't just want a quick little bit of fame. You have to actually commit to the bit."While some would assume Ellis' sexy videos and accolades would define his career, the star is actually grateful to the friendships he's made along the way more than anything."I have created friends in this industry that will last a lifetime. I love them dearly. We will be friends til the day we did. I can say that with surety! That was something I never really had in the corporate world."Fans can follow Matthew Ellis on Instagram here. To see the full interview from Collab Week Puerto Vallarta, check out the video at the top of the page.

A Texas city has become the latest forced to remove its rainbow crosswalks in compliance with orders from the Trump administration.San Antonio will replace its iconic Pride installment by January 15 after being denied an exemption from federal and state policies. City councilmember Sukh Kaur told local station WOAI that the city was unable to obtain a "signed and sealed document by an engineer" approving the design. Related: Red states are destroying their rainbow crosswalks. Here's what you should know U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in July ordered states to eliminate rainbow crosswalks and other "distractions" in a supposed effort to prevent traffic fatalities. He did not provide evidence linking decorated crosswalks to traffic fatalities, but acknowledged that estimated traffic fatalities declined by 3.8 percent from 2023 to 2024 under the Biden administration.Florida complied with the order in August by quietly painting over a memorial for the Pulse shooting victims in Orlando. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis later defended the decision, saying the artwork is "not compliant with state and federal standards."The Florida Department of Transportation has since ordered cities to remove rainbow crosswalks, as well as more than 400 other roadway decorations. The Texas Department of Transportation followed suit, sending a memo to local governments in October directing cities to follow Duffys orders by keeping crosswalks free from distractions.Related: Florida city installs Pride bike racks after being forced to remove rainbow crosswalks There is no evidence that rainbow crosswalks cause more accidents. To the contrary, increased visibility from decorated crosswalks led to a 37 percent drop in collisions resulting in injuries, a 50 percent reduction in incidents involving pedestrians, and a 17 percent fall in the total crash rate, according to a 2022 study from Bloomberg.The crosswalks in San Antonio were installed in the city's Pride district in 2018. No increase in accidents at the intersection has been reported.

A Sacramento man's family and the local LGBTQ+ community are still fighting for justice six weeks after he was rendered comatose during an attack that's been designated as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime.Alvin Prasad, 57, was leaving an LGBTQ+ club with his daughter and a friend on Halloween night when a man began shouting at them from his car. Prasads daughter, Andrea, told ABC10 at the time that the man insulted her father's flamboyant costume "in a very rude, aggressive way," and when Prasad turned around to ask why he spoke to them like that, the man allegedly punched him.The punch was directly to Prasad's forehead, which caused him to fall back and hit his head again on the concrete sidewalk. Prasad has been in a coma since with permanent damage on both sides of his brain. Hell never be the same, Andrea said. He cant express himself, cant go out dancing. Its just ... its not the same.Sean Wesley Payton Jr., 24, was arrested and booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on November 17 on charges related to assault, hate crime, and resisting arrest. He pleaded not guilty on Tuesday, FOX40 reported, and will remain in custody until his proceedings on January 30, as he is ineligible for bail.The same night, the Sacramento LGBT Community Center held a community conversation forum on safety in the Lavender Heights neighborhood, with guest speakers CEO David Heitstuma, city council member Phil Pluckebaum, and a Sacramento Police Department LGBTQ Liaison officer. Heitstuma called the attack on Prasad incredibly tragic, likening it to the national epidemics of mass shootings and rising anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes. Its just a reminder that we have a lot of work to do to ensure that there is greater cultural affirmation, acceptance and a sense of welcomeness in our world, Heitstuma said, via The Sacramento Bee.Anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes remain high despite a drop in violent crime overall in the U.S., according to an August report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with 2,278 single-bias hate crimes based on sexual orientation and 527 based on gender identity.Doug Marques, 71, a friend of Prasad, said at the forum that another friend of his has been assaulted since the attack on Prasad. He emphasized that We are people just like everybody else. We do not deserve to be treated that way," Marques said. "We do not need to be harassed because of who we are.

Sniffies has had an interesting year from being written about in The New Yorker and New York Magazine to being a tool allegedly used by Amtrak police to execute a sting operation that led to the arrest of over 200 queer New Yorkers earlier this year. But the app's popularity doesn't come solely from the press it's received; that's evident in its 2025 Sniffies Download report, released on Wednesday. In the report, the popular cruising app looked at how "people cruised, connected, and explored desire in 2025." "From lunch breaks to parks to groups, cruisers are turning curiosity into real-world experiences," Eli Martin, the Chief Marketing Officer at Sniffies, said in a statement. "And while desire is universal, every city puts its own twist on cruising, creating local cultures that reflect what guys there are actually into.One of the standout datapoints is that most people who use Sniffies do not identify as gay instead, 42.3% of users identify as bisexual or bicurious, whereas 25% identify as straight or straight curious. According to the app, groups were among the most popular events, as the report notes: "More than 2.1 million cruisers attended over 200,000 groups, averaging more than 16,000 groups per month." The most popular group type: pump and dumps, with over half a million attendees.When it comes to cities, almost every major metropolitan city earned a superlative. Atlanta made it out on top as the "horniest city" as well as the "clean cut stronghold." New York City was the top city for "mask enthusiasts," according to the report, which states, "cruising skews toward dominant and flexible roles, with the highest concentrations of dom tops, tops, vers, and vers tops." Yonkers, just outside of New York City, claimed the top spot for the largest average endowments, overtaking cities like Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta.For those who enjoy public cruising, the app's report indicates that parks remain the most popular cruising destinations, and the best time to cruise is typically around 1 p.m.Maybe this new information will inform future cruising behavior, but we'll have to wait until 2026 to find out.

When transphobic lawyers filed court briefs opposing a school districts transgender-inclusive policies, the lawyers didnt expect the judge to reject their filing over a series of factual errors that seemed to result from artificial intelligence (AI) hallucinations.Judge Matthew Wolf of Pennsylvanias Commonwealth Court on Wednesday asked attorneys Thomas W. King and Thomas E. Breth whether their law firm had improperly used AI to prepare its brief in the case of the South Side Area School District et. al v. Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, WESA reported. Related Trump administration is forcing hospitals to end gender-affirming care for trans minors The suit involved two Republican state House members and parents who argue that the state commission illegally instituted LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination protections for queer students in 2023. The lawyers 50-page brief, submitted in October, cited prior cases that allegedly proved the plaintiffs arguments.However, Judge Wolf noted that the brief contained citations and quotes that had either been miscontextualized, were later overruled, or just didnt exist. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today You quote the Pennsylvania Supreme Court from the Bayada case for a quote that does not exist in that case, Wolf told the lawyers. You cite the Popowsky case for a proposition and a quote that does not exist, and that case is not even on point to this case.Im unhappy, the judge continued. I feel as though youve put the court at a disadvantage. King apologized for any AI that might be contained in the brief, adding, We pride ourselves in being aware of this issue and not including such things in our briefs. And so I apologize to the court to the extent that any of thats included.King told WESA that, after speaking to employees in his law firm, No one used AI to compile this brief. He jokingly added that he and Breth are so technologically inept that, [Were] lucky we can even use a phone. He also noted that his firm allows AI use and also uses software to verify the accuracy of citations contained in briefs.King told the judge that his law firm would happily correct and refile the brief, but its unclear whether the court will accept a new filing. I spent a lot of time on this, and I had a lot of people double-check what I thought so that I would not come in here and say things that were not true, King told the judge.The American Bar Association, which sets licensing and accrediting standards to law schools and individual lawyers, has warned its members that AI can often produce nonexistent opinions, inaccurate analysis of authority, and use of misleading arguments.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

In a vindictive move tied to vocal opposition to his anti-science agenda at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cut millions of dollars in funding for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on Wednesday.Although administration officials cited a range of reasons for the grant funding cuts including the AAPs use of identity-based languageand references to racial disparities and pregnant people the move follows intense criticism by the group of Kennedys changes to federal vaccine policy. Related Nine former CDC directors warn RFK Jr. is destroying public health & urge swift action to stop him AAP joined a chorus of condemnation over Kennedys decision to stop recommending the Covid vaccine for children, and his firing of the Centers for Disease Controls panel of independent vaccine advisors and their replacement with a hand-picked panel of vaccine skeptics.The majority of what weve seen from the secretary has been a pretty clearly orchestrated strategy to sow distrust in vaccines, Sean OLeary, a physician who heads the AAPs infectious-diseases committee, told The Washington Post. We make our recommendations based on whats in the best interest of the health of children.In response, Kennedy blasted the groups financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, demanding the organization disclose its corporate entanglements and conflicts of interest so that Americans may ask whether the AAPs recommendations reflect public health interest, or are, perhaps, just a pay-to-play scheme to promote commercial ambitions of AAPs Big Pharma benefactors. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Kennedy terminated seven grants for AAP, including for initiatives on reducing sudden infant deaths, improving adolescent health, preventing fetal alcoholsyndrome, and identifying autism early, according to documents obtained by thePost.AAP received $18.4 million in federal grants from HHS for 2025, according to a federal grants database.An HHS spokesman said the grants cut Wednesday no longer align with the Departments mission or priorities. The sudden withdrawal of these funds will directly impact and potentially harm infants, children, youth, and their families in communities across the United States, said Mark Del Monte, AAPs chief executive and executive vice president. The group is considering legal action, he said.Along with Kennedy, another anti-science, MAGA loyalist, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), targeted AAP, as she successfully promoted her bill to criminalize gender-affirming care for minors across the country. The measure passed the House on Wednesday, but will likely stall in the Senate barring Democrats support.On Monday, Greene dragged the AAP to whip outrage and votes for her bill, with a tweet casting the groups support for gender-affirming care as fighting for the gender mutilation of children.Its unimaginable that the American Academy of Pediatrics would support the genital mutilation of children let alone fight for it. Shame on them. We must pass my Protect Childrens Innocence Act! https://t.co/0QGEVBLham Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) December 15, 2022 Kennedys announcement pulling the AAP grants on Wednesday preceded another on Thursday for new HHS rules denying Medicare and Medicaid funding to all hospitals that provide gender-affirming care for minors. Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician and outspoken critic of Kennedy whos running to unseat Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) in South Carolina, described the challenge to childrens health that Kennedy represents as existential.Children are not inherently politically powerful. Theyre minors, they cant vote, they dont have money to donate to politicians. I think for a long time, people thought, well, in good faith, most leaders will legislate in a way that doesnt harm children. That is not at all the case, Andrews said. The Trump administration is punishing the American Academy of Pediatrics. I have enough thoughts about this for an entire feature length documentary but here are two minutes of them. (Spoiler alert: you cant fight bad politics by staying apolitical.) pic.twitter.com/KZ6ffct3Py Dr. Annie Andrews (@AnnieAndrewsMD) December 18, 2025Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

The White House announced on Thursday that its has renamed the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. as The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.The centers Trump-appointed board members unanimously voted for the renaming (after electing Trump as the centers chairman earlier this year). However, the federal law establishing the buildings name requires that any that official name change be passed through the U.S. Congress legislative process. Related Trump promised NO MORE DRAG SHOWS at Kennedy Center. Their new season is full of drag. In a statement, Roma Daravi, the centers vice president of public relations, wrote, The unanimous vote recognizes that the current Chairman saved the institution from financial ruin and physical destruction. The new Trump Kennedy Center reflects the unequivocal bipartisan support for Americas cultural center for generations to come.However, Maria Shriver, Kennedys neice, criticized the renaming, writing, Next thing perhaps he will want to rename JFK Airport, rename the Lincoln Memorial, the Trump-Lincoln Memorial. The Trump Jefferson Memorial. The Trump Smithsonian. The list goes on. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Can we not see what is happening here? Cmon, my fellow Americans! Wake up! she added. This is not dignified. This is not funny. Just when you think [someone] cant stoop any lower, down they go The Kennedy Center is a living memorial to a fallen president and named for President Kennedy by federal law. It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says. https://t.co/VpZhNvx7So Joe Kennedy III (@joekennedy) December 18, 2025 Tim Shriver, Kennedys first cousin, said, Perhaps the board isnt aware that the Kennedy Center is THE memorial to the president of the United States, John F. Kennedy.Tim Shriver called the renaming a short-sighted insult to a great president and said that center is and will remain the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, no matter what the board voted for.Empty seats and plummeting sales have plagued the Kennedy Center since Trumps takeover. The centers interim President Ric Grenell is under Senate investigation for corrupt dealings at the center.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that former state education head Ryan Walters attempt to force Christian Nationalist propaganda into public school social studies curriculum violated the states Open Meeting Act. Walters, who quit before the end of his term to work for a right-wing group that opposes woke teachers unions, called the courts decision an incredibly aggressive attack on Christianity, the bible, [and] on President Trump. Related An insult: Trump illegally renames Kennedy Center after himself In June 2024, Walters and the Oklahoma State Board of Education (OSBE) issued a guidance saying that K-12 lessons should focus on the Bibles influence on history, literature, music, and other arts and culture. Walters guidance mandated that every classroom contain a physical copy of the Bible, as well as copies of the Ten Commandments, the U.S. Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence.Walters had also required that future social studies texts include statements that inaccurately proclaim the Bibles and Christianitys influence on the countrys founding, disproven conspiracy theories about the legitimacy of the 2020 election, and a theory that the COVID-19 pandemic originated in a Chinese laboratory. The new textbooks would cost state taxpayers $33 million.However, while the OSBE and its new head of education Lindel Fields announced in October the states plans to drop these changes, the 33 Oklahoma parents, children, public school teachers, and faith leaders who filed a lawsuit against the changes asked the state Supreme Court to rule on whether Walters violated state rule-making laws. The laws require the OSBE to provide proper public notice before voting on implementing any new curriculum standards. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The court found that Walters didnt provide proper notice to OSBE members or the public about his changes, and that the curriculum standards ultimately submitted by Walters and OSBE were substantially different from the version released publicly, KOKH-TV reported.As such, court invalidated Walters new standards and reinstated the 2019 version of the standards which existed before Walters changes.In separate statements, Americans United and the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, which represented the plaintiffs, celebrated the ruling. Todays decision will ensure that Oklahoma families not politicians get to decide how and when their children engage with religion, said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United. These new social studies standards violated students and families religious freedom by promoting one version of Christianity and advancing Christian Nationalist disinformation. Not on our watch. Public schools are not Sunday schools.In response to the ruling, Walters said, Today the [Oklahoma] Supreme Court launched an incredibly aggressive attack on Christianity, the bible, on President Trump. The Oklahoma Supreme Court, striking down the history standards that so many Oklahomans demanded.Its unclear which Oklahomans demanded the new standards seeing as he refused to publicly release them as required by law.They struck down the history standards, spitting in the face of so many Oklahomans and frankly, common sense. This is outrageous to see this kind of left-wing judicial activism in the state where every county voted for President Trump, Walters continued. These justices should be ashamed of themselves. They should resign immediately. Former OK schools chief Ryan Walters is melting down after the OK Supreme Court struck down the history curriculum he mandated, which included Bible study and materials arguing that the 2020 election was stolen. pic.twitter.com/iRRyujjQce Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) December 18, 2025 Walters had a notoriously scandal-ridden tenureOklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) replaced Waters with retired school superintendent Lindel Fields. Soon after, the OSDE reversed one of Walters first actions by restoring the OSDEs Hall of Fame, which honors the states past award recipients for Teacher of the Year. The OSDE also quickly revamped its website, removing numerous links that promoted Christian Nationalist misinformation, includingWalters unconstitutional orderfor schools to display The Ten Commandments.Additionally, State Attorney General Gentner Drummond has ordered the Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspectors Office toinvestigate the Education Departments finances over the entirety of Walters tenure in charge. Drummond said, [Walters had a] well-established history of mishandling tax dollars.During his tenure, Walters withheld$150 million in public school fundsto ostensibly make security enhancementsagainst school shootings, in defiance of legislation directing the funds to poorer rural schools. Waltershid information about his offices travel budgetandrefused to spend moneythat he was legally obligated to spend onasthma inhalers for students,The Friendly Atheistadded. Walters sought toban LGBTQ+ books but teach the Bible in public school history classes, andpushed the transphobic lie about schools providing litterboxes to studentswho identify as cats. He alsoreferred to teachers unions as terrorist organizationsandillegally tried to make rulesbanning LGBTQ+ books and transgender bathroom access in schools.He has appeared at events hosted by Moms for Liberty, a right-wing anti-LGBTQ+ parents rights group that has been calledan extremist hate groupby the Southern Poverty Law Center. He also appointed Chaya Raichik, an anti-LGBTQ+ activist who goes by Libs of TikTok online,as a Library Media Advisor for the state(even though she has no educational experience, doesnt reside in Oklahoma, and has made posts that have led to bomb threats against students).He also unveiled an ideological purity test to seek and remove woke teachers. (The test wascriticized as performative bulls**tand as an advertisement masquerading as an assessment.) The day before his resignation, he pledged toforce all schools statewideto host student groups for Turning Point USA, the young conservatives group started byrecently murderedanti-LGBTQ+ MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk.Oklahomaranks among the worst statesfor education and isfacing a teacher shortage.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.