An Ohio school district has paid a $450,000 settlement to a teacher who was forced to resign after refusing to address two students by their transgender names and personal pronouns.Vivian Geraghty was an English teacher at Jackson Memorial Middle School in Stark County from August 2020 until August 26, 2022. Geraghty, a Christian, reportedly neither faced any kind of complaint or disciplinary action about her work nor communicated openly about her religious beliefs while at school, her lawyers said. Related This hate group is squeezing the life out of the Constitution & it is up to all of us to stop it To be aware of ADFs presence is no longer sufficient. The Stark County School District has a policy requiring teachers to participate in the social transition of gender non-conforming students by using names and pronouns consistent with each students gender identity. But her faith believes that God only creates two distinct sexes male or female and that rejection of ones biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person, her lawsuit against the district stated. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today As such, Geraghty felt she couldnt use names and pronouns that contradict the legal names and gender assigned to people at their births. Doing so, she felt, would affirm concepts she saw as untrue and violate biblical commands against dishonesty and lying.On August 22, 2022 a school counselor contacted Geraghty and other teachers, informing them to use two students personal names and pronouns. Four days later, Geraghty approached Principal Kacy Carter to find out if she could arrange a compromise to not acknowledge the students identities.Carter and Monica Myers, the districts director of curriculum, instruction and assessment, approached Geraghty later in the day to inquire why she didnt want to follow the policy. Geraghty explained that her faith prohibited her from doing so.Myers reportedly told Geraghty that her non-compliance would not work in a district like Jackson. Carter and Myers later told Geraghty that if she could not set her religious convictions aside, she should resign. She was given a laptop and told to type up her resignation fewer within two hours of explaining her objection to the districts policy. According to the lawsuit, Carter and Myers didnt ask whether there was any possibility that Geraghty could avoid pronouns or use last names. She says her forced resignation violated her First Amendment rights to freedom of religion. Her lawyers, the anti-LGBTQ+ Christian nationalist legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), said that trans identities are a matter of national and local public debate and concern, and that nobody should be forced to facilitate another persons transitioning when they themselves disagree with it. To back up their claim about the debate, ADF lawyers pointed to the infamous Cass Review, a U.K. medical review that argues against gender-affirming care for trans youth. Trans advocates and medical doctors criticized the review for excluding numerous studies that see gender-affirming care as safe, essential, and effective at resolving gender dysphoria among trans people.Numerous anti-trans groups have pointed to the Cass Review as proof that medical authorities dont all affirm trans identity or gender-affirming care. Geraghtys lawsuit says she believes that social and medical transitioning harm children and result in irreversible and life-changing decisions. She also believes that trans minors suffer from personal trauma and mental illness, even though this isnt generally true. The American Psychological Association hasnt considered trans identity as a form of mental illness since 2012.The ADF said that Geraghty has suffered ongoing harm from the resignation because she has found it difficult to apply for employment in other public schools without a recommendation from her district superintendent. The ADF legally challenges any expansion of LGBTQ+ rights and often represents defendants who violate non-discrimination policies on the basis of religious belief. The ADF successfully mounted a recent Supreme Court case that resulted in a decision ruling that a state cannot force a web designed to create a wedding website for same-sex couples even if that refusal of business violates state anti-discrimination law because creators cannot be forced by the government to make messages with which a religious person disagrees.The ADF also mounted the legal case that resulted in the overturning of abortion rights nationwide.This isnt the first time that a teacher has been disciplined for refusing to use a students personal names and pronouns. In 2022, a Christian teacher won a $95,000 settlement after misgendering a student for religious reasons. In 2018, a school board fired a teacher who refused to use proper pronouns for trans students.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Anti-LGBTQ+ Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) is suing the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) over its policies allowing transgender women to compete in womens sports.Paxtons lawsuit, filed on Sunday, December 22, takes the novel approach of accusing the NCAA of engaging in false, deceptive, and misleading practices by marketing sporting events as womens competitions only to then provide consumers with mixed sex competitions where biological males compete against biological females. Related GOP senators tell the NCAA to ban trans women from sports competitions The Republicans argued that cis men are better at sports than women even though the policy they were advocating was about trans women. In a press release, Paxton alleged that the organization violated the Texas Trade Practices Act which exists to protect consumers from businesses attempting to mislead or trick them into purchasing goods or services that are not as advertised, Fox News reported. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today When people watch a womens volleyball game, the Texas AG said in as statement, they expect to see women playing against other women not biological males pretending to be something they are not. Radical gender theory has no place in college sports.Paxton also claimed that the NCAA was intentionally and knowingly jeopardizing the safety and wellbeing of women by deceptively changing womens competitions into co-ed competitions.The idea that transgender people are deceiving others about their genders is a transphobic stereotype used to justify anti-transgender discrimination. Transgender people generally describe coming out as an act of honesty after having pretended to be something theyre not, often for years. As Chron notes, Paxtons suit seeks to have the NCAA either limit the participation of trans athletes in competitions taking place in Texas or involving Texas teams, or to have the NCAA stop categorizing events as womens sports when a transgender athlete is involved.Paxtons latest anti-LGBTQ+ move comes less than a week after NCAA President Charlie Baker appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee where he faced grandstanding from anti-LGBTQ+ Republican lawmakers like Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) over the issue of transgender inclusion on womens collegiate sports.Anti-LGBTQ+ lawmakers and activists have seized on the issue in recent years to gin up support with their base and draw in voters who may be unfamiliar with the realities of trans athletes abilities. Advocates for trans sports bans argue that transgender women and girls possess unfair physical advantages over cisgender women and girls. But as Dr. Brad Anawalt, a professor of medicine and an endocrinologist at the University of Washington in Seattle, explained in an interview with the CBC earlier this year, there is insufficient data to prove that trans women have a competitive advantage over cis women.The NCAA responded to Paxtons lawsuit in a statement. While the organization did not directly address the Texas Republicans allegations, NCAA communications director Michelle Brutlag Hosick said, The Association and its members will continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in womens sports and ensure fair competition in all NCAA championships.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly getting irritated over social media chatter that the real president is transphobic billionaire Elon Musk and Trump is merely Musks puppet. In fact, a Trump spokesperson recently clarified in a statement that Trump is the true leader of the Republican Party the statement brought a knowing smirk to the face of former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.Musk who Trump nominated the unofficial budget-slashing Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) demonstrated his political might last week by wrecking a bipartisan continuing resolution (CR) to continue funding the federal government by publishing 150 tweets against it many of which contained misinformation and causing House Republicans to scramble for a new plan to avoid a government shutdown. Related Dont believe those stories about how Donald Trump has lost his grip on power His defeat in the House and Elon Musks power moves are hiccups. Trump is the chaos agent who still calls the shots. Though congressional Republicans eventually secured funding that pleased Musk partly by removing $190 million in child cancer research funds congressional Democrats social media commenters began saying that Musk is really in control of the Republican-led Congress and the presidency, and Trump is just a servile figurehead. Social media commenters also posted AI-generated images showing Musk controlling as a Trump marionette puppet. 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 Its clear whos in charge, and its not President-elect Donald Trump.Shadow President Elon Musk spent all day railing against Republicans CR, succeeded in killing the bill, and then Trump decided to follow his lead. pic.twitter.com/feDiAXe8yp Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) December 18, 2024Well today the House Republicans will decide who their master is you cant serve two! Is it the South African Oligarch or the people that elected us? Time is ticking! Trump has made his decision pic.twitter.com/j8btknbB38 Jasmine Crockett (@JasmineForUS) December 20, 2024 Displeased with the criticism, Trumps incoming press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told the media, As soon as President Trump released his official stance on the CR [continuing resolution], Republicans on Capitol Hill echoed his point of view. President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. Full stop.Trump also echoed Leavitts statement at the Turning Point USA conference in Phoenix, Arizona, on Sunday, stating, No, hes not taking the presidency. All the different hoaxes. The new one is that President Trump has ceded the presidency to Elon Musk. No, no, thats not happening.No, hes not going to be president, that I can tell you, Trump continued. And Im safe. You know why he cant be? He wasnt born in this country. Trump was referring to the constitutional requirement that all U.S. presidents be natural born U.S. citizens. This technicality, of course, doesnt stop presidents from being controlled by wealthy foreigners or foreign-born businessmen. (Musk was born in South Africa and stayed in the U.S. illegally after his legal immigration visa ended.)In a recent installment of her MSNBC program, Psaki said, Musk felt the need to go back on X and say it was, quote, the media who was trying to drive a wedge between him and Trumpalso declaring it wouldnt work.A Trump spokesperson even felt the need to clarify that the actual president-elect is, in fact, the leader of the Republican Party. I promise you thats not exactly a statement you want to have to make, she noted, offering a wry smile after her comment. Psaki isnt the only one doubting Trumps sense of security.Bloomberg News recently wrote, That Trump would be compelled to address Musks power is testimony to the unusual influence that the worlds richest man has displayed in a second Trump presidency that will not begin for another month.However, Donald Trump Jr. told the Turning Point conference, You see what the media is trying to do to break up the relationship that my father has with Elon. Theyre trying to cause that schism to prevent these guys doing what theyre going to do best, and we cannot allow that.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

A judge has denied a murder suspects self-defense claim, meaning that 65-year-old Gerald Declan Radford will stand trial for his February 2 slaying of 52-year-old gay dog owner John Walter Lay in a Tampa area park.Redford, who witnesses say used anti-gay slurs against his victim before the murder, denied that he used slurs against Lay because of his sexual orientation but rather because of the way he treated me. Related Americas gun culture makes all of us less free Gun culture is encoded into Americas DNA. What will it take to eradicate it? Radford told a court that he feared for his life, testifying that Lay had completely overpowered him and repeatedly hit him in the face on the day of the shooting,ABC News reported. Defense attorneys claimed that Lay had premeditated attacking Radford and pointed to a text message that Lay sent saying that he planned to attack Radford by tackling him if Radford blocked his path again at a local park. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today In court, defense attorney Matthew Futch asked Radford, Had you not drawn your firearm to defend yourself, do you believe you would have suffered great bodily harm or death?Through tears, Radford answered, Yes.Despite Radfords claim of self-defense, several witnesses testified that, for months before the shooting, Radford had repeatedly harassed Lay and used homophobic slurs against him. Radford even used slurs to refer to Lay during phone calls from jail after he was arrested for his murder.Under questioning by Assistant State Attorney Justin Diaz, Radford said that he used slurs against Lay not because of his sexual orientation but because because of the way he treated me. Hillsborough County Chief Medical Examiner Kelly Devers also viewed Radfords self-defense claim skeptically. She testified that if Lay had been laying or kneeling on Radford (like Radford said), the bullet would have traveled a different path through Lays body. Radford shot Lay in the chest.Judge Samantha Ward issued a ruling on December 12 that Radford had failed to meet the burden of proof in the stand your ground hearing, Court TV reported. Floridas stand your ground law allows people who feel a reasonable threat of death or bodily injury to meet force with force rather than retreat.Radfords murder trial will now begin during the week of January 6th. Radford faces life in prison whether he is convicted of second-degree murder or a lesser manslaughter charge. Last March, the Hillsborough County State Attorneys office announced that it would seek enhanced sentencing for Radford under Floridas hate crime statute. Lays friend Paul Gumpert said Lay was very mild-mannered and very dismissive of any pressure against him. Lays friends and familypreviously told the mediathat Lay had gone out of his way to avoid Radford after months of ongoing harassment.In my opinion, theres no way in hell this is really self-defense, Albert Darlington, Lays friend and landlord, toldThe Tampa Bay Times. For over a year, Dec has done nothing but harass Walt. He screams and hollers and calls him a fa****t every time he gets to the dog park. Hell sit there and hell say, Id like to punch him right in the f**king mouth and it has gotten worse and worse and worse.I even said to [Radford], What are you trying to do, harass [Lay] until he jumps so you can kick his ass? Darlington recalled. And all [Radford] would do was smile and look at me. One day before the shooting, Lay shared a video claiming that Radford had told him, Youre going to die. Shortly after Radfords arrest, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said, After analyzing the evidence, it was clear that this man acted from hatred within his heart. This victim also deserved to live free from fear and discrimination based on his sexual orientation.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Out Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg playfully mocked New Jerseyans for thinking an alien invasion might be starting in their state after thousands of people in the tri-state area reported large drone sightings over the past month. I mean no disrespect to New Jersey when I say I think its very unlikely that an alien invasion would begin in New Jersey, Buttigieg said during an appearance on The Breakfast Club podcast, which is co-hosted by Charlamagne Tha God. Related Pete Buttigieg praises Sarah McBrides masterful response to Nancy Mace Secretary Pete offered insight into how Democrats can win back the electorate over the next four years. Another co-host, DJ Envy, replied to Buttigieg, Watch your mouth, we live there, as everyone laughed. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today I love New Jersey. Im just saying I dont think thats the main point of entry that an extraterrestrial unless theres something we dont know about, Buttigieg continued. I would go for someplace in the Pacific where theres no inhabited space for a couple of hundred miles so that I could get kind of my bearings before I go anywhere anyone is going to see me, right?Charlamagne replied, What if theyve been watching us for years already?Buttigieg responded, Yes, maybe I dont know.Secretary Pete knows something, joked Charlamagne. Theres millions of things in the national airspace, Buttigieg retorted. Pete Buttigieg gets asked about the drone sightings and he decides to murder New Jersey lol pic.twitter.com/J8Z65GHHoV Mike Nellis (@MikeNellis) December 16, 2024The drone sightings have sparked significant controversy in the area, with many residents reportedly fearing they could be flown by foreign adversaries or be part of a secret U.S. government operation. They have also sparked investigations by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. But as of December 20, nothing had yet been determined to be a threat, according to the Associated Press, with many of the sightings being legal drones and aircraft.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

A New York judge has temporarily recused herself from criminal cases after she drew national attention for her refusal on religious grounds to officiate a lesbian couples marriage, according to a statement from an administrative judge in the state. Judge Felicia Pitts Davis drew national attention earlier this month after it was discovered that she performed a marriage for a straight couple in November reportedly crying with emotion for the straight couples wedding and then just walked out of the courtroom without explanation before the next couple two women could get married. A new judge had to be brought into the courtroom to perform the lesbian couples wedding. Related Judge compares gender-affirming care to cigarettes & beer while upholding youth ban The nine-day trial presented witnesses of varying credibility Sources told The Syracuse Post-Standard that Pitts Davis refused to perform the marriage because of her religious beliefs. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today She looked at us with this look on her face and swished her hair,the women told NewsChannel 9. She just walked off. Like, she was just disgusted or something.Discrimination is banned under the code of conduct enforced by the New York Office of Court Administration. That code of conduct specifically states that judges who choose to perform marriages may not unlawfully discriminate when deciding which couples they will marry.For weeks, the court wouldnt comment on Pitts Davis actions, but then the state Office of Court Administration said that it was aware of the situation and that the Commission on Judicial Conduct was investigating.A week later, the lesbian couple, Shawntay and Niccora Davis, confirmed that they had been asked to testify before a grand jury about what happened. According to Administrative Judge for the Fifth Judicial District Deborah Karalunas, Pitts Davis has now temporarily recused herself from all cases involving the Onondaga County District Attorneys Office as she waits for the grand jury investigation to be completed in order to avoid the appearance of impropriety. Pitts Davis isnt commenting on the matter.Last week, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said that he would ask Pitts Davis to recuse herself. You shouldnt have to walk into the court and wonder, Am I getting a fair shake? he said.The Davises said that, after Pitts Davis walked out of the courtroom, Judge Mary Anne Doherty was brought in to perform their marriage. Doherty talked to the couple afterwards and said that she, too, is married to a woman and that she now has twins with her wife.We really appreciate and thank [Doherty] for her doing that, Shawntay Davis said.New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh (Independence Party of New York) both denounced Pitts Davis. No one should be subject to hate or discrimination simply because of who they love. Any judge willing to officiate a wedding in their courtroom cannot pick and choose who deserves a wedding, Hochul wrote on social media.Judge Pitts-Davis refusal to perform [the] wedding ceremony doesnt align with this vision and, importantly, doesnt comply with state law, Walsh said in a statement.Onondaga County Democratic Chairperson Max Ruckdeschel called on Pitts Davis to resign, saying that the discrimination disqualifies her from any future consideration for our endorsement. Syracuse is located in Onondaga County, New York.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Kyrsten Sinema arrived in the U.S. Senate in 2019 as a Democrat with a pledge to model her tenure on another Arizona senator, self-described Republican maverick John McCain, who died just months before her election.She lived up to that promise in some ways, bucking her partys leadership and rarely hewing to colleagues or constituents expectations. Related LGBTQ people need to wash our hands of Kyrsten Sinema. She doesnt deserve our support. We may have to put up with the out bisexual Senators antics for three more years, but we shouldnt for one more day beyond. But in the process, Sinema, 48, became known as an unreliable partner, earning the enmity of one-time fellow Democrats she left the party to become an independent in 2022 and an approval rating in the single digits back in Arizona. Your LGBTQ+ guide to Election 2024 Stay ahead of the 2024 Election with our newsletter that covers candidates, issues, and perspectives that matter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today She came to office as the first outy bisexual senator, following three terms in the U.S. House and three in the Arizona Legislature. Part of her lore was the way she came out as a freshman Arizona rep.Sinemas first public comment after she was sworn in was in response to a fellow lawmaker who insulted the LGBTQ+ community. Were simply people like everyone else who want and deserve respect, Sinema responded from the Arizona House floor. Asked about her speech later, Sinema told reporters, Duh, Im bisexual.But in a sign of her style to come (along with the millennial affectations and an ever-changing appearance), Sinema claimed to have forgotten about the episode during her first run for Congress and avoided discussion of her bisexuality. She did go on to co-sponsor both the Equality Act and the Respect for Marriage Act in the Senate.It was her overt, and self-aggrandizing, obstruction of President Joe Bidens agenda, though, that Sinema will be remembered for: she joined another now-former Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) to block elimination of the filibuster, and with it, Democrats hopes for enacting legislation on voting and LGBTQ+ rights, the economy and climate change. It was a stand that brought scorn from Democratic colleagues and voters and found Sinema, in the end, with few friends on either side of the aisle.After Arizona Democrats censured her for failing to vote the filibuster out, Sinema left the party rather than capitulate.Her farewell speech on the Senate floor Wednesday rang with an emotional defense of her actions. In recent history, both parties have wrestled with the importance of norms and rules, and both parties have viewed these norms and rules as outdated, constraining, or simply obstacles to their short-term victories.Many now blame these guard rails for blocking critical progress instead of recognizing that it is us, our actions, our words, our incivility, and ultimately our unwillingness to compromise that prevent reasonable solutions from advancing.When holding political power and feeling the hunger and pressure for an immediate partisan win, it is easy to view the legislative filibuster as a weapon of obstruction. It is tempting to prefer elimination of the filibuster to compromise. It certainly feels faster, easier, and more satisfying, at least in the short term, that is. But there are dangers to choosing short-term victories over the hard, and necessary, work of building consensus. To give in to the temptation of the short-term victory means giving in to the chaos caused by the constant ricocheting of laws, or it means you labor under an illusion that by eliminating the filibuster youll maintain political power forever, effectively ending our two-party system.Thats a fallacy. And worse, its scary. One-party rule is not democracy. Thats autocracy.Just moments before finishing, Sinema turned to see Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer walk into the Senate chamber behind her. He wasnt on the floor to hear her speech but politely applauded her departure.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) has been getting a lot of time in the limelight lately, which has at least one of her former consultants vexed.Now hes going public with his concerns about the attention-seeking South Carolina Republican rep. Related Nancy Mace will double down on anti-trans hate after alleged assault. But did she make it all up? Mace has been accused of orchestrating a self-serving publicity stunt. Mace has been called delusional and a joke by former staff members, who say she lives for cable news hits and revels in her provocative public persona. Your LGBTQ+ guide to Election 2024 Stay ahead of the 2024 Election with our newsletter that covers candidates, issues, and perspectives that matter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Most recently, the self-promoting pol made Rep.-elect Sarah McBrides (D-DE) arrival on Capitol Hill as the countrys first trans congressmember all about her by whipping outage over the McBrides bathroom usage.Amid the media frenzy that bomb-throwing provoked, Mace managed to accuse a foster child activist of assault with a handshake. Witnesses say it didnt happen. I was physically accosted at the Capitol tonight by a pro-tr*ns man. One new brace for my wrist and some ice for my arm and itll heal just fine. The Capitol police arrested the guy.Your tr*ns violence and threats on my life will only make me double down. FAFO. #HoldTheLine Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) December 11, 2024You can stop texting me, Wesley Donehue, CEO of political strategy firm Push Digital, posted on X on Friday in response to press seeking comment about the two-term representative, likely about a post questioning South Carolina Republican Rep. Trey Gowdys gender, asking, Which bathroom do we think Trey Gowdy uses?Which bathroom do we think Trey Gowdy uses?#HoldTheLine pic.twitter.com/nf903ZOimx Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) December 20, 2024 I fired Nancy Mace as client a few months back because Im a political consultant and not a babysitter, a sex therapist or a doctor who can prescribe fixes for chemical imbalances, Donehue wrote.I dont have time for her constant egotistical bulls**t and drama in my life.You can stop texting me. I fired Nancy Mace as client a few months back because Im a political consultant and not a babysitter, a sex therapist or a doctor who can prescribe fixes for chemical imbalances. I dont have time for her constant egotistical bullshit and drama in my Wesley Donehue (@jwesleydonehue) December 20, 2024 But Donehue wasnt finished.Its seems that I hurt Nancys feelings. Cant wait for her to throw that victim card down again. Its really her only play. A pitiful embarrassment to the South Carolina Lowcountry, Donehue said before concluding his diagnosis.Ill stop piling on. Ive been worried about Nancy Mace for a while now. Mental health is a serious issue. I want her to get better and seek treatment.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

The House Ethics Committee found substantial evidence that former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) committed several crimes, including the statutory rape of a 17-year-old girl. The 37-page report states Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress. Related Gay congressman calls Matt Gaetz an idiot & tells him to f**k off Gaetz made an inappropriate joke about a school shooting in Rep. Mark Pocans district. The draft report obtained by several news outlets reportedly includes testimony from witnesses admitting Gaetz paid them for sex, as well as evidence of the misconduct through both texts and Venmo and PayPal receipts. 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 From 2017 to 2020, Representative Gaetz made tens of thousands of dollars in payments to women that the Committee determined were likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use, the report states, adding that the payments spanned 12 different women and exceeded $90,000, as reported by CBS News. The report also details that Gaetz had paid for sex twice with a 17-year-old, who it refers to as Victim A. Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex, it says. Victim A said that she did not inform Representative Gaetz that she was under 18 at the time, nor did he ask her age.The committee also detailed extensive drug use by Gaetz, as well as his propensity for drug-fueled parties. While the women who testified said all of the encounters were consensual, one said the number of drugs involved could have impair[ed their] ability to really know what was going on or fully consent. The committee did not find Gaetz guilty of violating federal sex trafficking laws, though, since any women he transported across state lines for sex were over 18 at the time. It was initially believed the report would not be released after Donald Trump nominated Gaetz for attorney general and Gaetz subsequently resigned from the House of Representatives (he has since withdrawn from the nomination in the wake of the controversy surrounding him). Its rare for the House Ethics Committee to release an ethics report after a member has left Congress, but the Ethics Committee held a secret vote to release the report anyway.Gaetz reportedly filed a lawsuit this morning to block the reports release, arguing that he is now a private citizen and thus not under the committees jurisdiction. Shortly after he was nominated for attorney general,The New York Timespublished a document prepared by federal investigators bolstering claims by women who said Gaetz hired them for sex. The image showed a web of payments from Gaetz and dozens of friends and associates who are said to have taken part with him in drug-fueled sex parties.Gaetzremoved himself from considerationbarely a week after Trump nominated him, writing that the scandals surrounding him had become a distraction to Trumps transition into the presidency. He later announced that hell join the right-wing media outlet One America News Network in January.However, upon hearing news of the reports possible release, Gaetz wrote on X that he was fully exonerated from any allegations of criminal wrongdoing. While the DOJ didnt seek criminal charges against him, that isnt the same as being completely absolved of any wrongdoing it merely means the body may not have found enough evidence to build a case against him that would prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Nevertheless, Gaetz wrote, In my single days, I often sent funds to women I dated even some I never dated but who asked. I dated several of these women for years. I NEVER had sexual contact with someone under 18.Any claim that I have would be destroyed in court which is why no such claim was ever made in court.My 30s were an era of working very hard and playing hard too. Its embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now, he added.Then, the very witnesses DOJ deemed not-credible were assembled by House Ethics to repeat their claims absent any cross-examination or challenge from me or my attorneys, Gaetz continued. Ive had no chance to ever confront any accusers. Ive never been charged. Ive never been sued. Instead, House Ethics will reportedly post a report online that I have no opportunity to debate or rebut as a former member of the body. The allegations facing GaetzIn 2020, the Secret Service received a tip that Gaetz was associated with a Florida county tax collector who was charged with making fake IDs to sex-traffic underage girls. The DOJ opened an investigation into Gaetz that same year, and investigators found that Gaetz would show his colleagues videos of naked and topless women on his phone as he bragged about how he was able to go to the parties held by the county tax collector,according to some witnesses.In an attempt to get a pardon in 2020, the county tax collector wrote a letter to the Trump administration in which he confessed to paying women and girls for sex and said that he and Gaetz sexually abused a 17-year-old girl together but said that they thought she was 19.Around the same time, the DOJ was also investigating whether Gaetz paid for her to travel with him for an alleged sexual relationship with her when she was 17. Gaetz denied the accusations and said that he was the victim of an extortion plot by an unnamed DOJ official. In strange media interviews, Gaetz claimed his father was wearing a wire to help officials catch the person extorting him, and he denied that there were photos of him with child prostitutes no one accused him of that.Gaetzs close relationship with Joel Greenberg who pleaded guilty in 2021 following a DOJ probe into whether he had sex with an underage girl and introduced her to other adult men who also had sex with her while she was underage put him under suspicion, as did the fact that Gaetz was the only member of Congress to vote against a bill that increased funding to fight human trafficking.Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CO), who was House Minority Leader at the time, said that he would not remove Gaetz from his committee assignments.CNN reportedthat Gaetz showed pictures of naked women to his colleagues on the House floor and bragged about having sex with themin 2021.But by 2022, the DOJ investigation into Gaetz had concluded, and prosecutors recommended not charging Gaetz in the sex trafficking investigation due to a lack of credibility of two key witnesses.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Donald Trump made sweeping promises at a far-right event this weekend to end trans rights in several areas, including education, health care, and military service. Speaking at an event organized by Turning Point USA, Trump also promised to end transgender rights across the board on his first day in office, saying that it will be official policy that there are only two genders, male and female. He also said he would sign an executive order to end child sexual mutilation. Related Trans activist from Donald Trumps notorious anti-trans ad insists its not why Kamala Harris lost Mara Keisling asked the question that got Harris talking about surgery for prisoners. She says its absurd to say that lost Democrats the presidency. With a stroke of my pen on day one, we are going to stop the transgender lunacy, he said. 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 During his first administration, Trump tried to ban transgender people from serving openly in the military, a move that spawned several lawsuits as well as federal injunctions against his orders. The Supreme Court eventually weighed in and allowed his ban to go into effect as the litigation proceeded through the courts. The lawsuits were not concluded by the time that President Joe Biden took office, at which point the lawsuits were moot because the Biden administration allowed transgender people to serve openly.Trumps promise to keep transgender out of our elementary schools and middle schools and high schools likely refers to school curricula, which Republican state lawmakers have been legislating against for several years. Questions about curriculum are usually handled by state and municipal bodies, not the president. Trump has also promised to end the Department of Education, which provides some federal funding for schools, which would remove one avenue of control the federal government has on school systems. Child sexual mutilation is an inflammatory way of referring to surgery associated with gender-affirming care, something that is almost never performed on minors in the U.S. It is not clear what power a president has to ban medical procedures through executive order.Still, Trump is showing that he has not forgotten that he campaigned on anti-trans politics. Earlier this month, he told Time magazine that the transgender population is a small number of people and that the pushback against trans equality has ripped apart our country. He sounded so conciliatory to trans people that Time had to remind him that one of the ads he put the most money behind declared, Trump is for us and Harris is for they/them. Well its true, Trump replied. Trump is for us.I mean, Trump is definitely for us, okay? And us is the vast, vast majority of people in this country. And also, I want to have all people treated fairly. You know, forget about majority or not majority. I want people to be treated well and fairly.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

After spending the last several years arguing womens sports are being ruined by trans swimmers with arms that are 30 feet long and weightlifters with super-strength, Donald Trump said that what he really wants to do is end womens boxing.Were going to end that one very quickly, he told the crowd at an event for the far-right organization Turning Point USA this past weekend. Related Donald Trump bullies boxer Imane Khelif as she begs the world to stop Transphobes have been falsely saying that she was assigned male at birth and Trump joined in. Womens boxing made international headlines this past summer when Algerian boxer Imane Khelif became the subject of online rumors which Trump helped spread that she is transgender, even though no evidence that she is was ever made public and her family insisted that she is cisgender. 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 Its a person that transitioned! Trump said of Khelif in August. He then referred to Khelif with he/him pronouns and lied and claimed that Khelif had competed as a male boxer in the past, even though she has participated in womens boxing for her entire career. He was a good male boxer, yeah, he was a good male boxer. And [Italian boxer Angela Cirini] didnt even go down. He hit her with two jabs and she said, Im out!The fictionalized version of what happened at the Olympics apparently stuck with him because he brought up womens boxing again at the TPUSA event. Theres a spirit that we have now that we didnt have just a short while ago, he said. Sadly, we didnt have. Who the hell can have spirit watching women get beat up in a boxing ring?I dont think thats spirit, right? Were going to end that one quick! Were going to end it very quickly. Were going to end that one very quickly.Trump also promised to end transgender rights across the board on his first day in office, saying that it will be official policy that there are only two genders, male and female.With a stroke of my pen on day one, we are going to stop the transgender lunacy, he said. And I will sign executive orders to end child sexual mutilation, get transgender out of the military and out of our elementary schools and middle schools and high schools, he added. And we will keep men out of womens sports, and that will likewise be done on day one. Should I do day one, day two, or day three? How about day one.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

The Biden administration has withdrawn its proposed rule seeking to protect transgender student-athletes from discrimination through Title IX. A memo announcing the withdrawal explained that during the public comment period, Numerous commenters expressed concerns about the application of the proposed regulation in practice, arguing that the proposed regulation was unclear or too complex for recipients to implement, and many commenters offered alternative regulatory text for the Departments consideration to clarify, simplify, elaborate on, or substantively change the focus and impact of the proposed rule. Related 24 states file an amicus brief to convince SCOTUS to ban trans girls from sports There is no evidence that transgender girls have a significant biological advantage in sports. Additionally, a significant number of commenters included discussions of case law, scientific studies and research papers, and existing athletic association policies and practices regarding athletic eligibility criteria that, according to the commenters, supported the adoption, modification, or withdrawal of the proposed regulation. 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 memo also acknowledged the multiple pending lawsuits associated with the proposed rule, as well as lawsuits related to other applications of Title IX in the context of gender identity. In light of the comments received and those various pending court cases, the Department has determined not to regulate on this issue at this time, the memo said.The Biden administration initially proposed the rule change in April 2023 to allow K-12 schools and universities to limit the participation of transgender athletes in sports while also forbidding schools from completely banning trans athletes altogether.The proposal was intended to promote fairness in competition and strike a compromise between trans advocates and those who support trans athlete bans. Trans lawmakers were not satisfied with the proposal. At the time, fourteen trans and nonbinary legislators from across the country sent a letter to Biden urging him to reconsider a rule that would sometimes allow schools to discriminate against trans athletes. There is no such thing as an acceptable compromise that limits trans Americans access to equal rights, the letter declared. When it comes to policy addressing trans athletes, our stance is this: Trans athletes belong in sports. Full stop.The rule sought to generally allow trans elementary school students to play on sports teams matching their gender identities. However, higher school levels could ban trans students from certain sports if they claim its to preserve fairness or avoid the possibility of sports-related injuries. If a schooldidban trans students from a sport, it would have had to minimize harms by providing other participation opportunities, the Department of Education said a vague condition that could be interpreted many ways.According to Advocate, some people believe the administration withdrew the rule to prevent the Trump administration from weaponizing the vagueness of the rule.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Here are this weeks most popular positive stories, with some fun social media posts tossed in too. Like seeing uplifting content like this?Sign up for our Good News email.With the holidays coming up, heres an early gift of good news to stuff your stockings. Unwrap the joy with this weeks uplifting, holly, jolly roundup!Some dogs are wayyyyy too affectionate View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jesse Theologus (@jessetheologus) Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Trans power couple Zooey Zephyr & Erin Reedgot married & the pictures will melt your heartThe pair have spent the days since the wedding celebrating every first together as wives.And talking about exceptional people, rememberthedrag queen who became Americas #1 Christian musician last year? How abouttheUber Eats driver who was out to feed the gays? And did you know aboutthe first male major pro mens coach to come out as gay? A gay NYC councilmembers viral videos helped defeat a very unpopular lawThe Gen Zer politician is showing how to mobilize against bad policy. A judge helped trans Montanans correct their drivers licenses & birth certificatesIt comes one week after the Montana Supreme Court also ruled in favor of trans rights.An alternate way of seeing the world View this post on Instagram A post shared by CONTEMPORARY100 (@contemporary100) A Texas oil city just elected its first gay councilmember and gave a bigot the boot!Residents wanted council members who would fix their problems rather than fearmonger. Democrats just took an important stand for trans kids during a military battleAdvocates praised a speech from Sen. Ed Markey as being especially impactful.Out ER nurse Molly Cook explains how she won 4 elections in just one yearShe talked to LGBTQ Nation about Texas politics and Republican overreach. Perhaps cool it on the Wicked re-enactments View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cristiam Oliveira (@cristiamods) Young LGBTQ+ people advise each other on how to survive challenging timesJust look for the people who love you no matter what.Gay couple brought to tears as Japanese court rules marriage equality ban unconstitutionalOne of the same-sex partners uncontrollably cried as the judge read the ruling. Bobbie Simpson sworn in as Californias first out trans school board memberI am proud to serve my community and create a future where every student can thrive, no matter who they are, said Simpson. Heres our plan for sticking together in the years ahead View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sylvanian Drama (@sylvaniandrama)From our sibling sites:OUTSPORTS:Gay former pro athlete Sam Stanley shares incredibly emotional wedding day with his husbandGAYCITIES:10 winter wonderlands for LGBTQ+ travelersQUEERTY:That time James Bond went undercover as a gay man in 1969s On Her Majestys Secret ServiceINTO:Finally! Theres gonna be a reality competition for drag kings!Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Last week was a reminder that the chaos we saw in the first Trump administration was just an appetizer for the banquet of bedlam that we can expect in his second term. A carefully crafted deal to keep the government open got blown up by the worlds richest man who used his social media platform to promote lies about the measure. (At least that was a break from sharing his love for a German neo-Nazi party.) Not to be outdone, Donald Trump not only seconded the out-of-the-blue demand but upped the ante, insisting that Republicans repeal the debt ceiling, which caps how much money the government can owe. Trump wanted to lay the blame on Joe Biden for lifting the limit permanently when it was just an excuse for Trump not to worry about the impact his proposed tax cuts for the rich would have on the national deficit. Related There is no room for denial in resisting the Trump regime Following a grieving process, we can pick ourselves and others up and organize our defenses. That order was simply too much for many Republicans, who think the government is spending too much money as is. Much as they love tax cuts, they want to offset them by spending less money on poor and elderly people. Ultimately, lifting the debt limit failed, but a spending bill came together and a government shutdown was avoided. Dive deeper every day Join our newsletter for thought-provoking commentary that goes beyond the surface of LGBTQ+ issues Subscribe to our Newsletter today For now.The media has made much of the fact that Trump suffered a defeat at the hands of his fellow Republicans, showing the boundaries of his power. Reporters also had a field day with Musks emergence as a political powerhouse, functioning as co-president. Particularly noteworthy was the fact that Trump waited hours after Musk killed the spending bill to weigh in with his agreement. As tempting as it is to fantasize that Trump has met his match and can only go so far, theres reason to be cautious about reading too much into the whole episode. It would be a mistake to believe that Trump is losing his grip on the party or that he is any less feared. It would also be a mistake to think that Musk will somehow escape the same exile that others have suffered because they made Trump feel they had eclipsed him. The 38 Republicans who voted against Trumps demand to lift the debt ceiling were the most MAGA of the House members. They want to shrink government, and they know that their constituents wont punish them for voting against a bill that allows the deficit to grow. If anything, it wasnt that they were defying Trump. Trump was defying the MAGA faithful, who think the government is too big. But the far-right congressmembers are so ideologically opposed to government spending that not even Trump could get them to change their minds. But lets not think that means House Republicans are going to restrain Trump. If there was a bill that paired huge tax cuts with deep cuts to safety net programs, every Republican would be all in. They will be salivating at a program to deport undocumented immigrants and will give Trump whatever he needs to do so. They are not a moderating influence. If anything, they will try to push Trump as far right as they can. That includes trans issues. They wont be content with just fiddling with federal regulations. They are going to want laws, and they are going to push Trump for more of them. The National Defense Authorization Act, which strips health care for trans youth under the militarys health care plan, is just a preview of what will follow. Trump is fueling that wish by complaining as recently as yesterday about the transgender lunacy. As for Musk, it no doubt galls Trump no end that Musk has a bigger platform. Musks postings on X are seen by twice as many people as Trumps. While Musks purchase of Twitter has proven financially disastrous, as a soapbox for his own views, it clearly cant be beat. Democrats have piled on by referring to Musk as co-president. There is nothing that threatens Trumps ego more than the idea that someone is more powerful than he is. Trump is all about domination, and he will eviscerate anyone who he thinks is in danger of getting too big for his britches. Trump fired a warning shot yesterday. While he praised Musk for his work in the ill-named Department of Government Efficiency, Trump made a point of letting Musk know there is only one president. Hes not going to be president; that I can tell you, Trump said at a right-wing conference. Im safe. You know why? He cant be. He wasnt born in this country.Musk spent at least $260 million to help elect Trump, but Trump is renowned for his ingratitude. Musk also originally backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in the race for president, something that Trump is holding as a grudge in the back of his mind. (DeSantis launched his campaign on Twitter, with Musk interviewing him. It was an epic failure, both technologically and politically.)In short, theres room for only one king of the universe. Musk is about to find out that Trump will level him if he considers Musk a threat to the throne. So the lesson of the past week isnt that Trump is losing his grip or that there are restraints to his power. If anything, Trump will be doing more to assert his power, including lashing out and creating even more chaos to show who is calling the shots. Its just going to be four years of unpredictability except for the one given: it will be very, very bad. Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Actor Lukas Gage is opening up about feeling pressured to come out as gay and expressing sympathy for Kit Connor who he says faced a similar witch hunt.The Smile 2 star appears on the cover of the latest issue of Attitude, and in the accompanying profile Gage recalls dealing with the public perception that he was a straight actor taking on queer roles before he came out publicly in 2023. Related Kit Connor opens up about being pressured by fans to come out I wasnt angry. I was just slightly disappointed by this reaction. When I did [come out], my friends and family knew I wanted to keep [it] sacred for myself. I felt like I didnt need to prove anything to anyone, he told the magazine. But I was also dealing with people coming for me, being like, Why is he stealing a gay role? Hes just a straight guy, how dare he, blah blah blah. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Gage, who first gained attention for his role and an infamous queer sex scene opposite out Emmy winner Murray Bartlett in the first season of HBOs The White Lotus, said hes of two minds when it comes to the issue of casting straight performers in queer roles.Its two-fold. Im in the camp where theres of course certain scenarios. Its an injustice to not cast with diversity and inclusion, to tell the most authentic story, he said. In other less specific cases, its important to remember it is acting, and we should be free to play as many different kinds of roles as possible.Gage called for grace and generosity, implying that audiences shouldnt be so quick to criticize actor who may not be out publicly for playing gay characters.I dont like it when people do a witch hunt for people for doing it. Trying to take them down, he said.Theres a gray area with sexuality, Gage continued. Nuances. To be demanding receipts I remember, it was the same time people were coming for me, they were coming for Kit [Connor].Connor, who plays bisexual teen Nick in Netflixs Heartstopper, famously resisted labeling his sexuality when asked about it in early interviews about the series, leading to accusations of queerbaiting from fans. The constant criticism lead the young actor to briefly quit Twitter (now known as X) in 2022, before returning to the platform to publicly acknowledge that, like his character, he is bisexual.Congrats for forcing an 18 year old to out himself, Connor wrote in an October 2022 post. I think some of you missed the point of the show. Feeling bullied into coming out at 18 years old? That area where public and private intersect is so confusing to me, Gage told Attitude, referencing Connors post.I want to have visibility, to be a role model. I want little kids to see me and think, Hes doing it I could do it too, Gage added. But its also the thing Tina Fey said, Authenticity is expensive. Things that are private and sacred to you are valuable. You dont want it all out there.While Gage admitted he hasnt met Connor, he said he felt for the Heartstopper star.With my experience in that situation, I felt like I reached a point where it just became like It was a big f**k you to everybody, Gage said. I was like, All right. Im going to be completely out there. Be in-your-face annoying about it.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Viciously anti-LGBTQ+ failed gubernatorial candidate and current North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R) has been fined $35,000 by the North Carolina State Board of Elections for committing hundreds of campaign finance violations during the 2020 election when he won the race for North Carolina lieutenant governor.A report following a four-year investigation details findings that Robinsons political committee, Friends of Mark Robinson, accepted donations that exceeded the legal limits, took money from unauthorized donors, and used campaign money for personal reasons. Related Unhinged GOP candidate says LGBTQ+ people are a terrorist organization who kill Christian kids Valentina Gomez is in Texas now. The committee, for example, accepted $12,500 from national political committees that were not allowed in the state. There was also $38,850 worth of unreported donations from 33 political committees. 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 investigation stemmed from a 2021 complaint by government watchdog Bob Hall, who said in a statement that hes satisfied with the actions the board took.The investigation documented the Robinson teams magnificent disregard for obeying the law and flagrant mismanagement of campaign finances, he said. He added, however, that the findings should have been made public while Robinson was still running for governor of North Carolina since the audit was finished in September and the election was in November. Its unfortunate it took so many years to finish this investigation. The public should have known about the scope of Robinsons illegal activity in the 2020 campaign well before the 2024 election ended. We should have known about the audit report that was finished in September 2024 except a law promoted by General Assembly leaders prohibited its release. The committee has reportedly already paid the fine, which will go to the North Carolina Civil Penalties and Forfeiture Fund, according to NC Newsline. Robinson, whoallegedly called himself a Black Nazi and a perv for adult material involving transgender models, lost his race to become his states next governor on November 5. Robinson has said that he considers LGBTQ+ people as filthy demons who mentally rape children. Among hismany anti-LGBTQ+ statements, he has called homosexuality an abominable sin, hascompared LGBTQ+ people to cow dung, and Satanic demons, and said trans peopleshould defecate on public street corners outsiderather than using bathrooms matching their gender identity. He has also made numerous racist and antisemitic comments. He also wrote on social media, later adding, Note to liberals; Ill accept Gay Pride when you accept White Pride.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Trans influencer Jesse Sullivan is known for documenting his life as a father of three for his 3.1 million Tik Tok followers. Sullivan has newborn twins, Locket and Poetry, with his fiance, Francesca Farago of Too Hot to Handle, and is also the parent of teenage Arlo, who he gave birth to at 18 years old. Related Trans power couple Zooey Zephyr & Erin Reedgot married & the pictures will melt your heart The pair have spent the days since the wedding celebrating every first together as wives Long before the twins were here, he used his platform in part to share his familys daily life and also to educate viewers about his experience as a transgender parent and all of the joy and challenges that come with it. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today @jessesulli My KIDS will change the world original sound Sulli Some people will always have their mindset and you cant change it, he told Pop Sugar in 2021, but I really believe the way you can change minds is by informing people. So I simply explain that Im just like everyone else. @jessesulli Idec that this is long, it needs to be said. Happy Pride everyone original sound Sulli Now with two new babies, Sullivan is bringing even more joy to his followers, with whom he shared his and Faragos entire IVF and pregnancy journey as well. @jessesulli 11.11 you are my sunshine christina perri After the babies were born, Sullivan also spoke about being misgendered by a nurse, who acted hostile to him for not being the biological father. I was like in all my years of being who I am, Ive had a ton of people treat me bad, but this is unbelievable, he said, adding that she made him feel like a freak. But hes clearly not letting experiences like this get in the way of his love of fatherhood. Earlier this week, Sullivan posted a heartwarming photo of himself with twins, along with the caption, Merry twinmas. The photo garnered comment after comment praising him for being an amazing dad and for how adorable the twins look. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sulli (@jessesulli)Social media really is what is running our world, he also told PopSugar. Thats why its so powerful for trans voices to be open and transparent about their journeys and their lives. Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Cardi B caused a bit of a social media uproar recently when she used an anti-LGBTQ+ slur to describe herself in an X post.On December 12, the bisexual rapper posted a pair of photos of herself in Timberland boots, baggy jeans, and a fur coat. Related Cardi B says that homophobes are just ugly Cardi B specifically admonished every bad bitch to get a gay best friend or gay best friend cousin. The post was captioned simply D*key B. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Dykey B pic.twitter.com/lY0dVky7Wx Cardi B (@iamcardib) December 13, 2024Response to the post was decidedly mixed, with some fans thirsting after Cardis soft butch vibes while others called her out for using the term.Isnt that a slur, one X user commented.Another suggested that she edit the post to say Stud-y B before Twitter goes crazy.cardi I love you but you cant openly use slurs like this and think its ok, another fan commented. isnt that a slur? Get The Raid (@dinopostedthat) December 13, 2024 Hurry up and change it to Stud-y B before Twitter goes crazy &then I'll delete this &we'll pretend it never happened x (@lurkaveli24) December 13, 2024cardi I love you but you cant openly use slurs like this and think its ok. . (@positionsmafiaa) December 13, 2024Others seemed to take issue simply with the Bodak Yellow rappers insufficiently butch look.Girly girls call themselves d*kes whenever they wear pants and timbs, one X user commented.On December 15, Cardi clapped back at one commenter who wrote that b***hes put on pants and think they genderbending.Baby I BEND b***hes in REAL LIFE! the rapper responded. Baby I BEND bitches in REAL LIFE! https://t.co/48o9h7z2Ih Cardi B (@iamcardib) December 15, 2024Another fan expressed confusion over the outrage directed at Cardi. i am part of the community and NEVER have i ever heard anyone say d*ke is a slur. since when is it a slur?? these replies have me VERY confused. i was just looking for someone saying she doesnt look like one loli am part of the community and NEVER have i ever heard anyone say dyke is a slur. since when is it a slur?? these replies have me VERY confused.i was just looking for someone saying she doesnt look like one lol lil baby (@rissybabyxx) December 13, 2024 As Them notes, the term has a long and complicated history as both a slur used to denigrate lesbians and as word that the community has reclaimed as its own. The famous Dykes on Bikes motorcycle club has been a fixture at Pride events for decades, and the NYC Dyke March has taken place during the citys June Pride celebrations since 1993.But as the LGBTQ+ outlet also noted, Cardi identifies as bisexual, not a lesbian. While none of her online critics directly called her out on those grounds, that may be the source of at least some peoples discomfort with her use of the word. As one commenter wrote, Girl u cant say that, though it appears Cardi herself would beg to differ.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

On the evening of December 9, I read about the death of legendary poet and educatorNikki Giovanni while searching for something on the Internet.What a tremendous loss. I thought I was going to cry.On November 9, a month before her death, I watched Giovannis interview on iOne Digital. She wore a T-shirt that said, I write banned books, and she talked about getting old, finding joy, and, of course, banned books. Related Feminist icon Judith Butler slams liberals who want to abandon trans people: Thats fascist logic Butler called denying health care to trans kids an act of cruelty. I LOVED Giovanni long before I LOVED Toni Morrison. During the Black Arts and Black Panther eras, I grew up listening and grooving to Giovannis voice on scratchy vinylalbums as she read her poems, my favorite being Ego Trippin. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today I wanted to attend Fisk University because she did, and I hoped it would make me as smart as she was. At Wellesley, during my only appearance in a school theater production, I recited Giovannis poem, All I Gotta Do. I recited itwith a Brooklyn Black girl sass, imagining shed have been proud. I hear it in my head now and smile. The poem inspired my activism. Because of Giovanni, I fought my own revolution against homophobia in the Black Church.In the 2000s, I was invited to deliver a talk on religion and homophobia at Virginia Tech. I was ecstatic beyond belief because Giovanni taught there. When I met her, I thought Id faint. I meant to shake her hand, but instead, I said while bowing my head, Ive been a fan of yours, Ms. Giovanni, since high school. She warmly smiled back.In 2007, I wrote an article for Advocateshortly after the Virginia Tech shooting titled Virginia Techs invisible gay angles. Cho Seung-Hui, a student at the school, killed 32 people and wounded 17 others. I asked in the article, Why did the LGBT community feel they had no part in the story of Cho Seung-Hui and the massacre he wrought?I wrote about how when Washington Blade reporter Lou Chibbaro inquired if there were any LGBTQ+ students or professors killed in the massacre, the president of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Alliance of Virginia Tech said, Some were queer, and others were straight allies. The GLBT community at Tech grieves in the same way as others deeply and as part of a greater whole [the tragedy is] not a gay thing; its an everybody thing. And because it is an everybody thing, it is precisely why it is important to know.Because I knew Giovanni was lauded for being a first responder during the shooting, I wrote, As with our fallen LGBTQ sheroes and heroes of 9/11 and this never-ending war, many of us in the queer community, myself included, would like not only to celebrate our fallen in the Virginia Tech massacre for being courageously out of the closet but also to show America that we, too, are everywhere in the human drama of life.Where I blundered was with this sentence: Case in point: Nikki Giovanni, a neglected and overlooked heroine in our queer community. The backlash was swift. I received this email: I work at Virginia Tech and am openly gay. Your article onadvocate.com caught my attention because it quoted my roommate, the president of the campus LGBTA. In the article, you write that Nikki Giovanni is an out lesbian. I do not think that is the case. I attended Virginia Tech as a student for four years and have worked here doing public relations for a year and have heard nothing of the sort. I was the president of the campus LGBTA in 2005 and can tell you that, if Nikki Giovanni is a lesbian, she is certainly not out. What is the source of your information?I cried throughout this incident. As an ardent fan of Giovannis, I chided myself for knowing well how LGBTQ+ people live bifurcated lives between professional and social, but I did not think at the time if it was possible she was not out. I wrote back, conveying my most profound apology for any harm my piece may have caused the community, especially Professor Nikki Giovanni. I asked for her email address because I wanted to send a note of apology.The school reached out to Advocate. I worried Id never be able to write a piece for the publication again. However, my editor was gracious and wrote,I get so tired of people codependently padlocking other peoples closets, which is what happened in that instance with whoever called us from Virginia Tech. Its also true that Nikki, when I met her some years ago, wasnt exactly interested in confirming or denying. If not for that experience, Id have let your piece stand online. I wrote Giovanni an apology letter. I also thought of sending her flowers, but I realized that wouldve been over the top. I never heard back.Love is love, and I still possess her albums from childhood and have all her works spoken and in print. From time to time, when I need a Giovanni fix, Ill read some of her poems or listen to one of my scratchy albums to hear the lyricism in her voice.Im glad she leaves us as a revered LGBTQ+ icon.May she rest in power!Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

President Joe Biden has established a national monument in Newcastle, Maine, to Frances Perkins, the first woman member of a presidential Cabinet who may also have been part of the LGBTQ+ community. Perkins served as Labor Secretary under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Perkins is remembered for her fierce advocacy for working people and worked to establish huge public works programs to decrease unemployment. Related Biden admin awards grant to first-of-its-kind program for LGBTQ+ people with eating disorders The right is outraged and says Trump will end the program that has already been shown to be effective at helping LGBTQ+ people with eating disorders. Perkins is considered the woman behind the New Deal, as the Frances Perkins Center explained, and her policy ideas helped establish the modern middle class. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Among many other accomplishments, she convinced the president to invest $3.3 billion in public works as part of his One Hundred Days legislation. The investment led to the employment of between 1.5 and 2 million public works employees, who helped create better schools, post offices, roads, and housing projects. Perkins is also known for creating the blueprint for Social Security as head of a Committee on Economic Security. She also helped create the Fair Labor Standards Act, which established maximum work hours, banned child labor, and created a minimum wage. The story goes, after Franklin Roosevelt asked her to become his Labor secretary, Frances Perkins immediately responded by outlining her goals, what she wanted done, Biden said during his remarks on the establishment of the monument. She said, I want unemployment relief, overtime pay, child labor laws, minimum wage, workers compensation, national health insurance, and Social Security many of the benefits we take for granted as a consequence of Frances dedication to inciting courage. He added, Its clear that Frances Perkins and a generation of activists and labor leaders laid the groundwork for much of what weve accomplished in the last four years.He also quoted Perkins saying, The people are what matter to government, and the government should aim to give people all people under its jurisdiction the best possible life.' Perkins married Paul Wilson in 1913, though she kept her last name. Wilson regularly received inpatient treatment for mental health issues, during which times Perkins would room with other women. While there is no confirmation about her sexuality, the National Park Service wrote that her relationship with one roommate, Mary Harriman Rumsey, was very intimate. Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced this week that the Boulder County Courthouse in Colorado has been designated a National Historic Landmark for being the site of the first issuing of a same-sex marriage license in the United States. On March 26, 1975, Boulder County Clerk Clela Rorex issued the license after confirming with the assistant district attorneythat state law did not ban marriage between two people of the same sex. Related Judge refused to perform same-sex couples wedding: She looked disgusted then walked away The city court had to bring in a queer judge to officiate the lesbian couples marriage. This act of courage ignited a nationwide conversation about marriage equality and cemented the courthouses role as a symbol of hope and progress for the LGBTQ+ community, the Boulder County Board of Commissioners wrote in a press release. Within weeks, Rorex issued five more same-sex marriage licenses, and news outlets across the country spotlighted Boulder as a trailblazer for civil rights. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The commission shared a quote from Rorex reflecting on the moment years after she issued that first license: After having been so deeply involved in the womens rights movements, who was I to then deny a right to anyone else? It wasnt my job to legislate morality.While the college town of Boulder has a liberal reputation now, it was deeply divided over gay rights in 1975, and few, including Rorex, had thought about same-sex couples marrying. Seeing a parallel with the womens movement and finding nothing in the law to prevent it, the 31-year-old county clerk ultimately granted six licenses to gay couples before the states attorney general at the time, J.D. MacFarlane, ordered her to stop.Our community includes people of many races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, gender identities, and professions, and we consider this diversity an asset that enriches the lives of all of our residents, Commissioner Claire Levy said in a statement. Honoring the Boulder County Courthouse with a National Historic Landmark designation is a tribute to these neighbors and a ringing endorsement that America is still the land of the brave.Commissioner Marta Loachamin also pointed out that the moment is particularly meaningful in todays sociopolitical climate, where many Americans feel unwelcome or excluded. Recognizing the courthouse as a National Historic Landmark underscores the United States dedication to fostering a future built on equity and justice for all.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

A school board meeting in Riverside, California, went awry after Republicans and anti-trans activists stormed the town hall in opposition to school policies protecting transgender girls.The Riverside County School District held a board meeting on Thursday, with California Assemblymembers Bill Essayli (R) and Leticia Castillo (R) in attendance alongside a crowd of anti-trans activists wearing Save Girls Sports and Its Common Sense. XX XY shirts. Related Will Gavin Newsom sign Californias bill to license more gender-affirming doctors? The legislation would expedite the training of trans healthcare providers. But Gov. Newsom vetoed three LGBTQ+ bills last year. There were vocal calls for Superintendent Renee Hill to resign, with attempts to urge the school district to oppose transgender girls inclusion in girls sports. This is in spite of the fact Californias education code explicitly requires that transgender youth not be subject to discrimination or segregation and that sports teams are divided along the lines of gender identity, not sex assigned at birth. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The California Interscholastic Federation also permits transgender girls to participate in girls sports.Nobody should be bullied like that. It doesnt feel okay, said one person at the meeting, in reference to the targets placed on transgender kids We dont need to be having this conversation. Theyre just kids let them live their lives.The meeting also featured many advocates for LGBTQ+ rights calling for an end to the harassment of transgender girls.The meeting concerns a lawsuit filed by two cisgender girls at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California. They allege that by her mere inclusion, a transgender girl got them ousted from spots on the cross-country team. They also complain that their shirts, featuring language that misgenders and dehumanizes transgender individuals, were inappropriately compared to other hate symbols like the swastika. They allege that this was in front of Jewish students. No student has yet to come forward alleging this as an issue.They are represented by far-right legal advocacy organization Advocates for Faith & Freedom, which frequently sees cases that are related to opposition to transgender individuals.Anti-transgender legislation has been linked to upwards of a 72% increase in the number of suicide attempts in transgender youth. California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement that he is committed to providing his unwavering support to ensure every student enjoys their right to an equal education free from discrimination and harassment.Daisy Gardner, outreach director of Our Schools USA, said on behalf of a parent of a transgender athlete at King High, The anti-trans movement at King has gotten out of control. This is not about saving girls sports. This has become a bullying campaign aimed at our most marginalized and vulnerable communities.In a statement, Riverside Unified School District said it is committed to ensuring that each student in our schools is safe and that students exercising their 1st Amendment rights, within the existing limits, will be allowed to do so.At our district, we uphold students rights to free speech at school and encourage them to express their perspectives in a respectful and meaningful way, however, at the same time, we recognize that there are some limits to free speech in schools, including speech that constitutes a true threat, causes a material disruption to the learning environment, or infringes on the rights of other students. Student safety remains our No. 1 priority and while we continue to focus on student learning, we are taking steps to minimize disruptions likely to arise from public attention on this issue,Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Wicked star Kristin Chenoweth shot back at the conservative Christian group One Million Moms (OMM) for encouraging people to boycott the new film due to its LGBTQ agenda.Everyone knows the one million Moms are a mere few hundred. Maybe, Chenoweth wrote in an Instagram comment on an article covering the boycott, along with an eye roll emoji. Related Ariana Grande & Cynthia Erivo celebrate the Wicked film as beautifully queer Grande and Erivo say it isnt just Glinda and Elphaba that make the land of Oz a celebration of uniqueness. Its called entertainment. Artistry, she continued. I am a Christian woman or originated the role of Glinda and all the silliness that these women spew out of hate. No no no. I cant help it : i try to love em anyways. For they dont get it. For anyone who wants to see girl power, then go so WICKED. Onstage or in a movie theater. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today OMM posted its anti-Wicked petition earlier this month asking supporters to send the following message to the films distributor, Universal Pictures: I disagree with the LGBTQ agenda you are pushing on families in the filmWicked. My family and I will not watch this film. Universal has left conservative and Christian families with no choice but to avoidWickedsince it goes against our beliefs and values. My family will not support Universal Pictures; you have lost our trust.On its website, OMM takes issue with the tremendous amount of witchcraft and sorcery in the film a revisionist origin story ofThe Wizard of Ozs Wicked Witch of the West making the somewhat odd claim that such content would prompt most parents to avoid taking their children to seeWicked. But for those who may not be quite right-minded enough to shield their precious kiddos from cinematic depictions of witchery, OMM also warns of not-so-discrete crossdressing and men crushing on men in the film. Worse still, according to the organization, Four of the films main characters are openly queer or gay in real life, or at the minimum, these actors have spoken about their queer experiences. Presumably, OMM means four of the filmsstars; while Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Bowen Yang, andMarissa Bodeare all openly queer,Wickedfeatures exactly zero explicitly queercharacters.As such, the queer representation and visibility inWicked: Part Onewere important to them, the petition continues of the films stars. Obviously, this part of the movie is a nod to inclusivity, along with a blatant attempt by Universal to normalize same-sex crushes.And OMM may actually have us there. The films stars have definitely spoken aboutWickeds queer subtext particularly Erivo and co-star Ariana Grande, herself a vocal LGBTQ+ ally. Every day in the Emerald City is a Pride parade, Grande said in one recent interview, in which she also suggested that her charactermight be a little in the closet.Chenoweth originated the role of Glinda on Broadway alongside Idina Menzel, the original Elphaba. Both actresses made surprise cameos in the film. Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson fulfilled her longtime dream of performing on Broadway when she recently made a special one-night-only appearance in the very queer musical & Juliet.On December 14, the Biden appointee and the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court took the stage at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre in New York City in a walk-on role created specifically for her. Related Ketanji Brown Jackson smacks down transphobic GOP senator Marsha Blackburn with four words Judge Jackson is not here for your gotcha questions about trans people, Senator. I think that it means that anything is possible, Jackson said of the experience in a behind-the-scenes video posted to & Juliets social media feeds this week. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The clip features footage of the Justice rehearsing for the show as well as performing with the cast onstage.I did it, an elated Jackson says at the end of the clip, I made it to Broadway! View this post on Instagram A post shared by & Juliet Broadway (@andjulietbway)As Playbill notes, Jackson described herself in her recent memoir, Lovely One, as a Miami girl from a modest background with an unabashed love of theatre. She writes that in one of her application essays for Harvard, she expressed that I wished to attend Harvard as I believed it might help me to fulfill my fantasy of becoming the first Black, female Supreme Court justice to appear on a Broadway stage.Jackson fulfilled the first part of that very specific dream in 2022 when she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to replace Justice Stephen Breyer, a Bill Clinton appointee. Her appointment was itself the fulfillment of President Bidens 2020 campaign promise to appoint the first Black woman ever to serve on the Court should a vacancy occur during his presidency.In March 2022, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) released a report on Jacksons record, concluding that she will uphold and honor the principles of equal rights for all and continue Justice Breyers legacy as a pioneer of equality. The following month, GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis called Jacksons appointment a critical step to ensure our hard-won progress is not reversed by those using the courts to fight outdated culture wars. As a member of SCOTUSs three-woman liberal minority, Jackson appeared to side with plaintiffs earlier this month in United States v. Skrmetti when they argued that a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for minors violates the constitutional prohibition against discrimination on the basis of sex.During her one-night stint in & Juliet, Jackson appeared onstage alongside performer Michael Ivn Carrier (they/he), whose nonbinary character May features prominently in the jukebox musicals queer love triangle. In early 2023, nonbinary performer Justin David Sullivan, who originated the role on Broadway, withdrew from consideration for the Tony, citing the awards gendered acting categories. View this post on Instagram A post shared by & Juliet Broadway (@andjulietbway)Ahead of the December 14 performance, Jackson spoke about her Broadway debut on NPRs Wait Wait Dont Tell Me.Well, you know, I got a call, and someone said, We heard that this was your lifelong dream, she explained. They have invited me to do a special walk-on role that Im told they wrote for me, she said. So, Im very excited.She also recalled performing a scene with Matt Damon during her time at Harvard. We did the scene, and it was some play that didnt have a whole lot of action like Waiting For Godot or something, where youre just sitting on the stage, she said. But at the end, the professor said, Oh, Ketanji, you were so good. Matt, well talk. View this post on Instagram A post shared by & Juliet Broadway (@andjulietbway)Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Russell Vought, a prominent figure in conservative politics and the architect behind Project 2025, has been named as President-elect Donald Trumps nominee to head the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), an office that oversees every federal agencies funding, performance, data collection, and communication to ensure that it aligns with the presidents agenda.As such, Vought, who served as director of the OMB during Trumps first term, could wield tremendous power to implement the largely Christian nationalist vision of both Trump and the Heritage Foundation, the right-wing organization that authored Project 2025, the blueprint for Trumps second presidency. This vision would largely roll back hard-won LGBTQ+ rights and protections. Related Linda McMahon will support Donald Trumps transphobia in the Department of Education The millionaire Trump donor has little educational experience but co-founded an anti-LGBTQ+ think tank. Russell Vought At a Glance 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 Location: Arlington, VirginiaParty Affiliation: RepublicanRace/Ethnicity: WhiteGender Identity: MaleSexual Orientation: StraightPronouns: He/HimLGBTQ+ Ally: No Social MediaX: @RussVoughtWebsite: AmericaRenewing.comBiographyRussell Vought, born on March 26, 1976, in Washington, D.C., and raised in Virginia, is a prominent American political figure known for his influential roles in government and conservative policy circles. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Wheaton College, Illinois, and a Juris Doctor from George Washington University Law School.Voughts career in public service includes significant positions such as serving as a legislative assistant for Sen. Phil Gramm, policy director for the House Republican Conference, and executive director of the Republican Study Committee. He also held the position of vice president at Heritage Action for America, the lobbying arm of The Heritage Foundation.In 2018, Vought was appointed Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under President Donald Trump. He later served as acting director and was confirmed as OMB director in July 2020, overseeing the administrations fiscal policies during a critical period.After his tenure at the OMB, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America in 2021, focusing on advancing conservative policies and combating critical race theory. He played a pivotal role in Project 2025, a conservative initiative aimed at reshaping the federal government. In November 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Vought to lead the OMB once again.Voughts views have been described as aligning with Christian nationalism, advocating for the integration of Christian principles into government and society. Voughts stance on LGBTQ+ issuesWhile Vought hasnt made many public statements on various LGBTQ+ issues, his largely anti-LGBTQ+ views may be inferred from his work on Project 2025 and his Center for Renewing America. Same-sex marriageProject 2025 calls for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to be renamed the Department of Life and for the agency to officially define a family as consisting of a married father and mother and children. Project 2025 calls for federal funds to support only a biblically based definition of family that support[s] the formation of stable, married, nuclear families. The plans concept of a biblical nuclear family includes the idea that children should only be raised by their biological fathers and mothers because the male-female dyad is essential to human nature.This claim of parental hetero-superiority has been called baseless by theAmerican Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. These changes would not only limit LGBTQ+ couples access to family planning options, like access to in vitro fertilization (IVF), it would also nearly eliminate queer couples ability to foster and adopt children. In fact, Project 2025 would offer federal protections and support to agencies that discriminate against queer couples and LGBTQ+ families, Furthermore, Project 2025 proposes that only faith-based recipients who reaffirm that marriage is between one man and one woman would be eligible for Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education grants, funds that finance educational programs for familial life skills.Trans children in sportsVought has called the inclusion of trans athletes in sports, the end of womens sports [and] female-only spaces, etc. Kinzinger has never been a conservative. Latest example is he is one of a handful of Republicans pushing a terrible compromise on gender identity issues, the so-called Fairness for All Act. The end of women's sports, female-only spaces, etc. https://t.co/g4cvDNdeVK Russ Vought (@russvought) March 16, 2021In a letter opposing the Fairness for All Act, a Republican LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination bill with huge religious exemptions, Voughts Center for Renewing America wrote, Female-only spaces should be off limits to men who identify as women. Female sports should not be destroyed by male competitors.Project 2025s authors want to ban trans students from playing on sports teams associated with their gender. He has supported initiatives that would tie Title IX protections for female athletes to biological sex and deny federal funding to schools that permit transgender athletes to compete in womens sports. Project 2025 would eliminate any legal recognition of trans identity to begin with, making the inclusion of trans athletes in sports conceivably impossible. Transgender access to public bathroomsIn general, Project 2025 aims to end any legal recognition of trans identities and seeks to entirely deny the existence of such individuals, defining ones gender identity as exclusively either male or female based entirely by the sex they were assigned at birth.Additionally, Voughts Center for Renewing America has written that trans bathroom access allows biological males to enter girls bathrooms and dressing rooms in schools, places of public accommodation, and government facilities.His organization considers trans public accommodations laws in general an ill-defined and radical attempt to reorder American civilization that pushes a false and unscientific view that biology is fluid and a mutable social construct that can be altered merely by the cognitive choice of an individual and the misguided view that public policy affirming male and female biology is immoral.If trans people are allowed into bathrooms matching their gender identity, Women and girls would face immediate discrimination and unnecessary obstacles when it comes to going to the restroom in public facilities, or maintaining privacy in the workplace, Voughts organization claims. Dont say gay/LGBTQ+ discussions in schoolsVought has voiced support for a 2021 executive order signed by then-Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey requiring schools to notify parents ahead of time of any curriculum addressing sexuality and allowing them to opt their children out of such instruction. Project 2025 would apply this nationally while largely eradicating LGBTQ+ content in schools and prohibiting school districts from requiring teachers to speak about it.The foreword to Project 2025 states, The noxious tenets of critical race theory and gender ideology should be excised from curricula in every public school in the country. These theories poison our children. It goes on to equate LGBTQ+-inclusive content as pornography that should be criminalized a common aim of right-wing parents rights groups that have sought to ban queer-inclusive content in schools and public libraries.Children suffer the toxic normalization of transgenderism with drag queens and pornography invading their school libraries, the foreword adds. Pornography, manifested today in the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology and sexualization of children has no claim to First Amendment protection. Pornography should be outlawed Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. Project 2025 also wants Congress to pass afederal Parents Bill of Rights that would allow parents to sue public schools for including any curricular content that offends them, the free speech organization PEN America writes. Doing so would subject schools to costly lawsuits that cow them into teaching only watered-down versions of history, social studies, literature and other humanities.Project 2025 also seeks to eliminate the Department of Education (DOE), the federal agency that (among other things) enforces anti-discrimination laws to ensure that all children are treated equally regardless of LGBTQ+ identity. The DOE tracks demographic information needed to document inequities in education. With such tracking ended, discrimination against queer students and viewpoints could easily proliferate while hidden from public view.Discrimination protectionsProject 2025 seeks to remove key terms associated with sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) from all federal rules and regulations, including the following: gender, gender identity, gender equity, gender awareness, gender-sensitive, abortion, reproductive health and reproductive rights. In doing so, it would severely prohibit federal agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)or the Department of Housing and Urban Development from tracking data related to LGBTQ+ inequalities or enforcing anti-discrimination measures.The blueprint seeks to repeal policies from the Obama and Biden administrations as well as the U.S. Supreme Courts 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County that view anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination as a form of sex-based discrimination already prohibited by federal law. These policies help ensure equal access to government institutions and civil rights regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.The President should direct agencies to rescind regulations interpreting sex discrimination provisions as prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, sex characteristics Project 2025 states, urging federal workers to instead focus their enforcement of sex discrimination laws on the biological binary meaning of sex. Furthermore, the document seeks to end all federal funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs that help competently attract and serve people from diverse cultural backgrounds. In fact, Project 2025 views DEI policies as forms ofaffirmative discrimination against white, heterosexual, and Christian identities.Any person found to have participated in such initiatives even within state and local governments, institutions of higher education, corporations, and any other private employers would be subject to investigation by the Department of Justices Civil Rights Division and susceptible to possible discipline or firing.Lastly, Project 2025 calls for expanding legal protections for any individual or group that discriminates on the basis of religious beliefs. This could allow discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals in various contexts, including employment and public services. Gender-affirming care for minorsProject 2025 describes gender-affirming care for minors as a social contagion that especially affects young girls and claims that radical gender ideology is having a devastating effect on school-aged children today. It also refers to such care as a form of mutilation and child abuse and suggests punishing any adults who help kids obtain it.My side is not the one killing kids and encouraging girls to have their breasts removed. Russ Vought (@russvought) October 7, 2022Project 2025 suggests that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) should immediately end its collection of data on gender identity, which legitimizes the unscientific notion that men can become women (and vice versa). The report also calls for the National Institutes of Health to fund studies into the short-term and long-term negative effects of gender-affirming care, from social affirmation to surgery, and the use of so-called reparative therapy to convince children that they are not transgender, The 19th reported. Russell Voughts careerGraduated from George Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts in political scienceEarned a Juris Doctor degree from the George Washington University Law SchoolServed as policy director for the Republican Study Committee in the U.S. House of RepresentativesWorked as vice president of Heritage Action for America, the advocacy arm of The Heritage FoundationServed as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2019Appointed as director of the OMB in 2019, a role he held until 2021Played a key role in shaping the Trump administrations fiscal policies, including budget proposals and spending prioritiesBecame president of the Center for Renewing America, a conservative think tank, in 2021Served as a leading architect of Project 2025, a conservative policy agenda aimed at reshaping the federal government and executive branch for a future Republican administration Vought could majorly erode LGBTQ+ discrimination protectionsRussell Voughts oversight of the OMB could help implement systemic changes that would allow anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination and inequalities to worsen nationwide for years to come. Empowered by the Heritage Foundation, far-right Christian Nationalists, and Trumps supporters, he would have the authority to erase and exclude LGBTQ+ people from numerous facets of public life and civil inclusion. Related links Related Hate groups rejoice as Trump ends anti-racism training for government workers This is a sickness that cannot be allowed to continue, Trump tweeted. Please report any sightings so we can quickly extinguish! After win, Trump fans admit Project 2025 is the agenda Now that the election is over I think we can finally say that yeah actually Project 2025 is the agenda. Lol. Trump is bestowing prestigious appointments on his most extreme & anti-LGBTQ supporters On his way out the door, Trump is packing presidential commissions and boards with anti-LGBTQ politicians and conspiracy theorists, sanctifying their bad behavior. Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Based on a new Texas state mandate that bans reading material in school libraries which describes, depicts, or portrays sexual conduct in a way that is patently offensive, officials in a school district in the Texas panhandle recently removed the Bible from library shelves.Then they put it back. Related MAGA education official orders schools to play video of him praying for Donald Trump The Oklahoma Superintendent of Schools also just spent $25,000 of state money on Trump Bibles. In an email to parents in the sprawling rural district, school Superintendent Darryl Flusche wrote, House Bill 900, which passed during the last legislative session, establishes library standards that restrict content in school libraries. This standard for library content prohibits books that have one instance of sexual content as described above. Therefore, HB 900 doesnt allow numerous books, including the full text of the Bible, to be available in the school library. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Flusche had staffers take the religious text off shelves.Some parents in the west Texas district werent happy, ABC Amarillo reports.It seems absurd to me that the Good Book was thrown out with the bad books, said parent Regina Keeney during public comments at a December 9 school board meeting.In a day where we are needing security guards, and bullet proof windows and doors, I think having the word of God available to our children can not only be preventative to violence, but also provide comfort and a sense of security in a chaotic world.The removal prompted consultation with House Bill 900s author, Republican state Rep. Jared Patterson, and a reevaluation from the school district.After receiving clarification from Representative Patterson regarding library content, we reevaluated the guidelines and are pleased to have the Bible available in each of our Canyon ISD libraries. The Bible has become a flashpoint in several states and school districts around the country, as Christian nationalist officials seek to erase the line separating church and state by imposing Christian theology on schools and in government.In Oklahoma, state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters ordered the purchase of 55,000 copies of the so-called Trump Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments along with the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution, conflating church and government for students in a single text. Walters has mandated a copy of that Bible be placed in every Oklahoma classroom. Walters also ordered teachers in the state to play a video for students of Walters praying for Trump.In Louisiana, a federal judge recently blocked a new law passed by state legislators mandating the Ten Commandments be posted in every public school classroom in the state.Louisiana is the first state to try to enact a law forcing the display of the Biblical directives since a similar law in Kentucky was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1980 as a violation of the First Amendment.The judge called the Louisiana mandate unconstitutional on its face.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Officials in Louisiana held a series of meetings in October and November, telling Department of Health staff that the state would no longer allow them to promote COVID, flu, and mpox vaccinations.The new policy would be implemented quietly and would not be put in writing, four health department employees told NPR. They asked to remain anonymous. Related Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reveals plans to fire 600 federal health workers The Trump ally and anti-vax conspiracist takes aim at the agencies he loathes. The directive was shared by two lower-level officials in the department after the states surgeon general was unable to attend, the staff members said. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Employees were told they could not send out press releases, give interviews, hold vaccination events, give presentations, or create social media posts encouraging the public to get vaccines. They were also barred from putting up signs at the departments clinics announcing COVID, flu, or mpox vaccines were available on site.I mean, do they want to dismantle public health? one health department staffer asked.In 2023,652people in Louisiana died of COVID, including five children, and the state is tied with Washington, D.C., for thehighest rate of fluin the U.S. Flu killed586 peoplein Louisiana in 2022, according to data from the states health department.As of August 6, 2024, the U.S. reported 60 deaths and 33,435 cases of mpox. 309 cases were reported in Louisiana through February 2023, the last data available before the state stopped reporting cases. Im very surprised that anyone would call a state meeting, not provide an agenda for that meeting, not provide a written set of notes from that meeting, said Kimberly Hood, who led the Office of Public Health, a subunit of the health department, from 2021 to 2022. I think that, to me, it sounds like people are trying to avoid public records laws.The policy change can be traced back to Gov. Jeff Landry (R), an anti-vaxxer who served as the states attorney general during the COVID pandemic, as well as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Landry ally and Donald Trumps pick to head up the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.In his role as AG, Landry spoke at astate committee hearingin 2021 about his opposition to adding the COVID vaccines to the childhood immunization schedule. Kennedy testified alongside him, presenting false claims about COVID vaccines. As governor, Landry has signed five bills and two resolutions this year rolling back vaccine requirements, limiting the power of public health authorities, andquestioning vaccine safety.Landry appointedDr. Ralph Abraham, a family medicine doctor and another vaccine skeptic, to be the states surgeon general.I see, now, vaccine injury every day of my practice, Abraham said at a 2024 legislative meetingon the states response to the COVID pandemic, linking vaccination with autism.The adverse effects of the COVID vaccine have been suppressed, he told legislators. In a statement, the Louisiana Department of Health told NPR it has been reevaluating both the states public health priorities as well as our messaging around vaccine promotion, especially for COVID-19 and influenza.The department described the move as a shift away from one-size-fits-all paternalistic guidance to one in which immunization for any vaccine, along with practices like mask wearing and social distancing, are an individuals personal choice.The statement did not address mpox vaccinations.The Health Departments new unwritten guidance against vaccine promotion is malpractice, said Dr. George Benjamin, executive director of theAmerican Public Health Association.The U.S. vaccination program represents one of the most important public health interventions that we have, Benjamin said.Anyone whos articulating that these vaccines are not well tested, theyre not safe, theyre not effective, is not giving you the science as we know it today, he added. Former health staffer Hood said the false claims are a step backwards.Its a medical marvel that were fortunate enough to live in a time where these vaccines are available to us, she said, and to not make use of that tool is unconscionable.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

The anti-LGBTQ+ organization Catholic League put up a billboard in Wisconsin claiming ownership over the season of winter and specifically calling out atheists as well as people who celebrate Winter Solstice, a holiday that has been celebrated since the Stone Age. That is, since well before Christianity existed.Atheists strike out at Christmas, the billboard reads, celebrating Winter Solstice is a childs game. Related Happy Holidays is not the inclusive phrase we think it is The words merely mask the fact that Christianity still reigns supreme. This is our season not yours, it continues. Celebrate the birth of Christ. Merry Christmas! LGBTQ+ news you can rely on Keep track of the ongoing battle against bias and for equality with our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The billboard says that its paid for by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. The groups website also takes credit for the billboard, stressing that the Christmas season is our season. We rule. They lose.The website explains that the billboard is a response to signs that the religious freedom organization Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) puts up each year in Madison, where its headquarters are located. At this Season of the Winter Solstice, let reason prevail, their sign says, according to a photo posted by independent journalist Hemant Mehta. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth & superstition that hardens hearts & enslaves minds. Bill Donohue, the president of the Catholic League, told the Christian Post that he hopes our billboard emboldens Catholics, letting them know that we will not be bullied by our adversaries.The Catholic League and Donohue have a long history of attacking LGBTQ+ rights. Donohue opposes marriage equality and supports conversion therapy. He has called AIDS self-inflicted, said trans people dont exist, and compared marriage equality with South African Apartheid.Last year, Donohue was outraged against the LA Dodgers for honoring the LGBTQ+ charitable group Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence during Pride Month. He accused the MLB of spreading lies, rewarding hate speech, and promoting bigotry with homosexuals known for simulating sodomy while dressed as nuns. Donohue was able to get Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) to speak out against the Dodgers, and the Dodgers eventually caved to his demands and uninvited the Sisters from the teams Pride Night. After outcry from LGBTQ+ fans, the Dodgers re-invited the Sisters several days later.There is evidence that Winter Solstice or the shortest day of the year has been honored in the Northern Hemisphere since prehistoric times. Megalithic monuments like Newgrange and Stonehenge align with the position of the sun on Winter Solstice, and diverse cultures have written records of celebrations held on that day.Christmas, on which Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, likely evolved from Winter Solstice celebrations, historians believe.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

We pledge allegiance to gun manufacturers and the NRA of America, and for campaign funds for which they give, we sacrifice, under God, our integrity and compassion for all. -The Pledge Taken by Too Many PoliticiansI write these words after hearing of yet another school shooting in the United States. This time a shooter killed at least four people at a private Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin before killing himself. At least five others were taken to the hospital with bullet wounds. Related Is socialism really so anti-American? I say its time for a revolution. With less than two weeks to go in 2024, there have been at least 385 mass shootings, according to theGun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are shot. But gun violence in the United States is so common as to be unremarkable, almost normal. At the height of the pandemic in2021, for example, gun-related violence resulted in 26,328 suicides and 20,328 homicides. Dive deeper every day Join our newsletter for thought-provoking commentary that goes beyond the surface of LGBTQ+ issues Subscribe to our Newsletter today Earlier this month, Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old highly educated young man from a wealthy family, allegedly acted out the rage many of us have against mega-insurance companies and other blood-sucking corporations by murdering the CEO of one of the largest health insurance companies in the country.Even a cursory glance on several social media sites shows the extent to which Mangione has already become a cultural icon, a hero in the realm of David slaying the mighty Goliath, or Robin Hood challenging the powerful Mayor of Nottingham on behalf of the poorest among us.But we cannot separate the shooting of children and teachers from the shooting of a a CEO of a highly profitable corporation because each case testifies to the violent nature of the United States of America, which was founded and maintained on violence. In the Constitutions Second Amendment, the framers of the United States guaranteed its free people the right to carry and shoot terrifying weapons, all while enslaving people transported from Africa against their will and robbing the people who had preceded Europeans by thousands of years of their lands, livelihoods, and their very lives.While the founders were mostly wise men who crafted what many consider a brilliant and enduring blueprint for a new nation, they were also products of their times who had human shortcomings and biases.Just coming off a war of independence against one of the worlds great colonial powers, leaders thought it reasonable to ensure the free people the capability of defending themselves against any potentially tyrannical government. In this regard, they established the Second Amendment, granting Americans the right to bear arms.Since then, firearms and the culture supporting it has been encoded into the very DNA of American identity. But what may have been reasonable in the 18thcentury stands today as unreasonable and deadly without substantial reform. When gunpowder changed the world Around 850 of the Common Era, the Chinese invented a powdery mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate that, when ignited with a spark, created an explosion. Though they discovered it quite accidentally when attempting to invent an elixir for immortality, they quickly utilized it for defensive and offensive advantages in wars against internal and cross-border enemies.First used to stuff tubes in which the Chinese tied a fuse and lit to propel as a hand-held rocket aimed at their adversaries, gunpowder transformed the art and scale of killing, the likes of which the world had never seen. Throughout the centuries across the planet, emerging technologies led to the creation of more and deadlier hand cannons, as they were once called.Attributed to the Portuguese in the 1400s, the matchlock mechanism became the first known mechanically firing gun. Users attached a wick to a clamp that, when triggered, sprang into the gunpowder. The Spanish carried these with them on their invasions into the Americas, and the Pilgrims brought them from England when they arrived in what would become known as North America. Christopher Columbus took with him matchlocks and other types of hand cannons and breech-loading wrought-iron weapons and arquebuses an early type of portable firearm supported on a tripod or a forked rest. When he sailed from Haiti, he ordered shots fired through the shipwrecked hull of the Santa Maria to frighten indigenous populations with the power of European firearms.European inventors in 1509 replaced wicks with friction-wheel mechanisms to create wheellock guns. These generated sparks to ignite the gunpowder. Later, as would become common in Colonial America, residents used flintlock guns with flint-ignition mechanisms, invented around 1630.The Long Rifle (also called the Kentucky Rifle or Pennsylvania Rifle) was developed with spiral grooves, giving iron balls a spiraling motion, which improved overall stability and accuracy. Combatants used these firearms as major weaponry during the so-called French and Indian War, as well as in the American Revolutionary War. At the end of the 16thcentury in Germany and other European countries, firearms technicians developed a wheel gun (revolver) that included a revolving cylinder containing several chambers and at least one barrel for firing. Now, shooters no longer had to reload following each shot but could unload up to six bullets at their intended targets. In 1836 in the U.S., Samuel Colt mass-produced these multi-shot guns, popularly called six shooters.By the 1850s, shotguns (also referred to as scatterguns) became popular. Usually fired from the shoulder, they used a single-fixed shell to fire numerous small spherical pellets called shot or a solid projectile called a slug. Today, these firearms range from single-action to semi- and fully automatic varieties.In 1862, the Union forces popularized the Gatling gun, developed by Richard Gatling, as a weapon of mass destruction. This rapid-fire gun was the forerunner of the machine gun. Then came the Cartridge Revolver developed by Colt in 1872 a .44-caliber rear-loading weapon.The technology with its capacity to injure, mutilate, dismember, and kill increases with each passing day. If Leif Erikson, the first known European to set foot in North America, had had access to these later technologies, there is little doubt that he would have brought firearms to those shores. How free are we, really?Until 1996, Australia had relatively high murder rates, but a tragic incident at Port Arthur, Tasmania on April 28, 1996, changed everything. On that date, a man opened fire on a group of tourists, killing 35 and wounding another 23. The massacre was the worst mass murder in Australias history.Taking decisive action, newly-electedconservativePrime Minister John Howard negotiated a bipartisan deal between the national, state, and local governments in enacting comprehensive gun safety measures, which included a massive buyback of more than 600,000 semi-automatic rifles and shotguns, and laws prohibiting private firearms sales, mandatory registration by owners of all weapons, and the requirement that all potential buyers of guns at the time of purchase give a genuine reason other than general or overarching self-defense without documentation of necessity.By 1996, polls showed overwhelming public support of approximately 90% for the new measures. And though firearms-related injuries and deaths have not totally come to an end, homicides by firearms fell by 59% between 1995 and 2006, withnocorresponding increase in non-firearm-related homicides and a 65% reduction in gun-related suicides. In addition, there have been significant drops in robberies involving firearms, and contrary to fears by some, no increase in the overall number of home invasions. In the decade preceding the Port Arthur massacre, Australia recorded 11 mass shootings. No mass shootings have occurred in the 20+ years since the measures went into effect as of 2016.Just six days after a terrible hate-inspired 2019 shooting of Muslims praying at two Mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced sweeping new firearms regulations, which included banning semi-automatic rifles and large-capacity ammunition magazines and a mandatory government buyback of such previously sold weapons.The U.S. Congress enacted a brief federal ban on assault weapons, The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, in September 1994. The ban, which also included barring high-capacity magazines, expired in September 2004 as required in its 10-year sunset provision. Congress has not reauthorized the measure. Instead, a provision inserted as a rider into the 1996 federal government omnibus spending bill known as the Dickey Amendment named after Arkansas Republican Rep. Jay Dickey and lobbied heavily by the National Rifle Association was passed by Congress into law. It mandated that none of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may be used to advocate or promote gun control.So, what limits at the national, state, and local levels should we as a nation consider on the sale and ownership of firearms? Many people within the larger gun safety movement have proposed common sense solutions. Unfortunately, what one person determines as common sense, another person considers freedom killing.How free, though, are any of us when tens of thousands of people are murdered annually and tens of thousands more lose their lives by guns through accident or suicide? How free are we as the gun lobby purchases our politicians in the service of firearms manufacturers as part of their quest to acquire even more power and profits? With the relatively easy access to firearms in the United States, most of us have already been touched by the ravages of gun violence. Hardly a day goes by that we do not hear of yet another high-visibility mass shooting, which does not even begin to reflect the seemingly countless number of lives taken in small towns and large cities throughout the nation that dont make it to the national spotlight.What will it take for us to cease fighting insanity with insanity? How many more of our precious people will have their lives cut short under the banner of freedom?Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

A pizzeria in Red Bank, Tennessee, has announced on social media that it wont cater same-sex weddings because doing so would violate the business owners personal beliefs.Its announcement was spurred by a screenshot of a text exchange between an unknown person and Pizzeria Cortile that was posted on Reddit. Related Republicans killed a pizza party for turning kids trans. Then something surprising happened. City council members tried defunding a weekly pizza party for LGBTQ+ students. But The person asked if the pizzeria could confirm rumors that it had recently refused to cater a same-sex wedding. In response, the business wrote, We do not cater same sex weddings. Many of the over 1,300 comments on Reddit expressed disappointment and pledged not to patronize the business. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The business later posted a public statement on its Facebook page, declaring that it had made the difficult decision not to cater a wedding due to our personal beliefs.This belief comes from a place of personal conviction and we know is not shared by everyone, and it is one we hold without judgment toward others, the business wrote, adding that it didnt intend for its decision to harm anyone and apologizing for the pain this has caused for people who have been a part of our community.The statement also said the business has been privileged to serve people from all walks of life with open arms and genuine care. It also asked for people to extend grace and treat each other with dignity and love even though we may not always agree, adding, We hope you will give us the chance to continue showing love to you when you come through our doors.The pizzeria turned off comments on its Facebook statement. In response to the statement, another local business, The Book & Cover, a local bookstore, wrote via Facebook, that it would no longer allow the pizzeria to operate a part-time food truck on its property.The bookstore wrote, It is vitally important to us that it is clear we treasure and respect the queer members of our community and celebrate the rights and love that they carry.The bookstore also asked that its customers not use its physical or digital spaces for commenting on the matter. A 2015 Tennessee law passed after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage says forbids local governments from penalizing any businesses or individuals that refuse service based on profoundly held beliefs.We as the queer community, should work to put the businesses on a pedestal who do support us and do work to make the city a better place, Crynne Phenere, program director at local The Seed Theatre, told WDEF.Another unnamed LGBTQ+ community member told the aforementioned news outlet that the incident has at least resulted in an outpouring of public support for the queer community.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Michigan Democrats are trying to push through a bill that would enshrine same-sex marriage in the states constitution. The move comes amid fears that the Supreme Court could overturn its 2015 decision legalizing marriage equality in all 50 states and calls from at least one state Republican congressman to make gay marriage illegal again.While the Supreme Courts decision in Obergefell v. Hodges declared state laws banning same-sex marriage unconstitutional, Michigan is one of several states where vestigial laws or constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage remain on the books. As Fox 2 Detroit notes, voters in the state approved a constitutional amendment stating that the union of one man and one woman in marriage shall be the only agreement recognized as a marriage or similar union for any purpose in 2004. Related Marriage skyrockets in NYC as couples rush to tie the knot before Donald Trump takes office Marriages in November were up 33% over the previous year. Should the Supreme Court overturn Obergefell, as Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito have signaled they are eager to, Michigans marriage equality ban would go back into effect. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Last year, out Michigan state Rep. Jason Morgan (D) introduced a House Joint Resolution F, which if approved would strike the 2004 language from the states constitution. Before going to Michigan voters, however, the resolution needs support from at least two-thirds of the state Legislature, which Morgan says will be an uphill battle.I believe the people will vote to support families, Morgan told Fox 2. The support just isnt there for two-thirds majority [in the Legislature].Republican state Rep. Josh Schriver, meanwhile, is actively calling for marriage equality to be overturned. Earlier this month, Schriver claimed in an X post that America only accepted gay marriage after it was thrusted into her by a perverted Supreme Court ruling.Make gay marriage illegal again, the post continued. This is not remotely controversial or extreme.At the time, Schriver told Fox 2 that his post was meant to urge the Supreme Court to reverse the decision that has falsely equated traditional marriage with gay marriage. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) responded in a statement, saying, Any attempt to strip away gay marriage is wrong. Here in Michigan, we protected fundamental rights because no one should be fired from a job, evicted from their home, or unable to marry because of who they love. Michigan is a place for all to live and work with dignity, and Im going to fight like hell to keep it that way.But with a 63 conservative majority on the Supreme Court that seems willing to overturn longstanding precedent as it did when it overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and an incoming second Trump administration, many same-sex couples are rushing to the altar to ensure that they are legally married in states where those unions are protected before Inauguration Day.Trump spokesperson and incoming press secretary Karoline Leavitt recently told NBC News that overturning marriage equality was never a campaign promise the president-elect made.But Morgan said that he believes legal same-sex marriage is at risk under the incoming administration. I do believe that marriage equality is at risk under the Trump administration, Morgan said.Even if the Michigan legislature doesnt approve his resolution, Morgan told Fox 2 he would continue to fight to protect marriage equality in the state. As the outlet notes, the amendment could also make it to the ballot via a citizen-driven petition.Its just so important, Morgan said. This is something Im very passionate about.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

This articlefirst appeared on Mother Jones. It has been republished with the publications permission.For a briefmoment in November, theTheoBros, a network of militant Christian nationalist influencers, made news when Donald Trump nominated one of theirallies, former Fox News commentator Pete Hegseth, to lead the Department of Defense. Hegseth attends a church that is affiliated with the TheoBro movement, and he has cited TheoBro patriarch Doug Wilson, a pastor in Moscow, Idaho, as someone who has had a major influence on him. While the controversies surrounding Hegsethsallegedalcohol abuse and mismanagement of funds meant for veterans continue tomake the news, the TheoBros have receded into the background. Related Anti-LGBTQ+ hate preacher says racists go to Heaven and MLK is burning in Hell Christian nationalist Joel Webbon also ranted that abolitionists were not the good guys. But as it turns out, they are embroiled in a major controversy of their own. A simmering divide over how Christians should regard Judaism has ignited into a conflagration. The resulting rift has left two factions of TheoBros retreating into their separate campsone of which is doubling down on antisemitic rhetoric to a widening audience. LGBTQ+ news you can rely on Keep track of the ongoing battle against bias and for equality with our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The backstoryas much of it as Ive been able to piece togethergoes something like this: An undercurrent of antisemitism, which has long rippled through the TheoBros social media spheres, has intensified over the last year. In May, Samuel Holden, apro-Hitlercontent creator, released avideothat he called White Boy Summer, a nod to an earlier song and meme popularized by white nationalist influencers, including head GroyperNick Fuentes. Holdens video combined hyper-masculine and Christian nationalist content withpro-Nazi imagery. Wilson, the TheoBro patriarch, condemned the video,callingit Nazi triumphalism.But Wilsons acolytes seemed titillated by White Boy Summeror maybe they were just flattered. In the video, Holden tagged several younger TheoBros, including Texas pastor Joel Webbon, Utah pastors Eric Conn and Brian Sauv, and Stephen Wolfe, author of the 2022 bookThe Case for Christian Nationalism. Shortly after Holden released the video, Conn reposted it on X,commenting, By God we shall have our home again, a white nationalistslogan. The following month, Sauvposted, Pride month is canceled. Welcome to White Boy Summer.Wolfe, meanwhile,criticizedWilson for disavowing it. A better tactic would be friendliness to these young rightwing guys, he said. Conn, Sauv, and Wolfe didnt respond to questions fromMother Jonesabout their reactions to the video.Webbon, one of the most outspoken of the TheoBros, praised the video in a June podcast. He clarified in an email toMother Jonesthat he had initially shared the Samuel Holden video without watching closely and that he condemns both Nazis and Bolsheviks/Communists. However, the latter is by far a more present threat today. Yetthe videos message fit in nicely with some of the sentiments he had been expressing earlier in the spring. You thought Christian nationalism was scary, he posted on X in May. Enjoy Jewish nationalism. The same day, he posted: America has long had a separation of Church and State. Perhaps one day we might also have a separation of Synagogue and State.America has long had a separation of Church and State. Perhaps one day we might also have a separation of Synagogue and State.Texas pastor Joel WebbonThe disagreement over the video simmered for a few months. Then, this past fall, a skirmish erupted on X and in various podcasts over anaccusationby German TheoBro Tobias Riemenschneider that Webbon had failed to adequately address the problem of a young man in his church who had allegedly been sharing pro-Nazi memes. Wilsonsidedwith Riemenschneider, agreeing that allowing such hatred to go unchecked was dangerous for a church community.In November, Wilson issued a statement he called theAntioch Declaration, a rambling document that eventually condemns the racial and antisemitic theories of Adolf Hitler and neo-pagan doctrines of the Nazi cult. Several prominent TheoBros signed on, and some wrote statements of their own. Wilsons sidekick Toby Sumpter, a pastor in Wilsons church, for example, endorsed his friends argument, adding in ablog postthat a church that tolerated antisemitism was just as bad as one that tolerated homosexuality. In the same post, Sumpter called the White Boy Summer video as gay as socks on a rooster. Hegseth hasnt signed the declaration, but his views on Judaism seem to align with those of the Wilson camp: He isstrongly pro-Israeland posted on Instagram that he believes antisemitism is running rampant on elite university campuses.Webbon, meanwhile, has dug in his heels. In the last few weeks, virtually all of his posts on X have focused on the TheoBro rift. For him, the problem with Judaism,at least theologically, appears to be the Talmuda sacred text of ancient rabbinical teachingsin Judaism that, hearguedin an October blog post, not only rejects the notion of Jesus as the son of God, but also effectively corrupts and totally undermines all of the Old Testament. In early November, hepostedon X, I hate Judaism but love Jews and wish them a very pleasant conversion to Christianity. Later in November, in his podcast episode after Wilson released the Antioch Declaration, Webbon said that in his version of a Christian nationalist America, No practicing Jew who hasnt converted to Christianity will be able to serve in public office. He called Judaism a parasitical religion in the subsequentepisode. What it has done historically throughout the ages is typically go into other countries, other peoples with other religions, and kind of cozy up but not really for their benefitnot a mutually beneficial relationship, but where they ultimately get far more out of the deal than the Christian nation does, he added. In mid-December, mixed martial arts champion Jake Shields appeared on Webbons podcast. Afterward, Shieldsposteda clip to his 800,000 X followers in which Webbon argues that ever since the Allies triumphed over Hitlers Germany in World War II, Christianity has been diminished in the West. In an email toMother Jones, Webbon said he stands by everything Ive said about Judaism. It is a pernicious evil.Webbons damn-the-torpedoes social media approach to this conflict is somewhat ironic, given thathe learned how to shitpost from none other than Wilson. For the last six years, Wilson has been celebrating what he calls No Quarter November: The month where we say out loud what everyone is thinking. In avideoa few years ago, Webbon described being inspired by Wilson not to censor himself.You stay in your little corner, you stay on your little leash, because youre like, I dont know what will happen, Webbon said. But when you see some other guy do it, and youre like, thats the worst thing that can happen?Vicewrites an article about you? [Christianity TodayEditor-in-Chief] Russell Moore wont invite you to his birthday party anymore? Like, thats it.While a well-knownfigure in the world of the TheoBros, with only about 27,000 followers on X, Webbons influence outside those circles is difficult to determine. But there is some evidence that the antisemitism he and other TheoBros espouse may be breaking into the MAGA mainstream. The week after Wilson released the Antioch Declaration, Webbon appeared on the podcast of Calvin Robinson, a British Christian nationalist pastor, where he argued that the Talmud was uniquely hostile to Jesus Christ. Robinson posted that portion of the conversation to his 403,000 followers on X. In addition to his robust social media following, Robinson is connected to the Trump team: He spoke at a Trumprallyat a Georgia church a few days before the election. And then there is William Wolfe, a TheoBro who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense at the Pentagon in the first Trump administration. He has posted phrases that are widely recognized as antisemitic dog whistles, such as, Notice things. And point them out to others. That may appear to be anodyne, but antisemitic extremists use the word noticing to refer to identifying Jewish people in powerful positions. Around the same time, Wolfe posted, apropos of no previous conversation: You know whats a beach I love? Hilton Head. The initials HH are often used as neo-Nazi code for Heil Hitler. Wolfe didnt respond toMother Jones request for comment.The TheoBros attitudes toward Judaism differ starkly from those of adherents to theNew Apostolic Reformation(NAR), a rapidly growing charismatic movement that calls Christians to take over the government. As Iwrotea few months ago, many NAR believers are fervently pro-Israel because they are convincedit will play a crucial role in ushering in the return of the Messiah just before the End Times. This scenario isnt entirely benigneventually, they believe, all Jews will convert to Christianity, and those whodont will perish. The NAR crowds extreme love for Israel can have a love-bombing quality about it: At NAR events, I have seen many charismatic Christians wearing Stars of David and Jewish prayer shawls. At one in Pennsylvania, a group of Christian teenagers set up a chuppahthe canopy used at Jewish weddingsand danced the horah.The TheoBros fixation on Judaism, however, is much less admiring. Its also an example of a broader shift on social media over the past year, where, against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, extremists have become emboldened to use more explicitly antisemitic memes and rhetoric. One prominent example of this is former bounty hunter-turned-livestreamer Stew Peters, who since October 7 has transformed from a garden-variety anti-vaccine activist into afull-onNazisympathizer. (At the time of this writing, his most recent post on X was: Putting a television set in your living room is like inviting a jew into your house. Using AI is like inviting a jew into your brain.) In June, Webbonappearedon Peters show; he called the founding of Israel one of the biggest mistakes in history. He added,There is no major world religion with a more hostile view toward the person and work of Jesus Christ, our savior and Lord, than Talmudic Judaism.Peters has more than 550,000 followers on Rumble, the far-right platform where he broadcasts. When asked for comment, Webbon clarified toMother Jonesthat he does not hold to Peters views. In a separate email, he provided a link to adocumentcalled the Statement on Natural Affections, which he said he had helped write. The statement acknowledges that Nazism was, and is, an anti-Christian ideology that exalts the state as savior and god and that while the Allied powers rightly opposed the evils of Nazis, that some of their actions violated Christian principles of justice and morality.Wilson signed the Statement on Natural Affections, but it doesnt seem as though hes forgiven Webbon. He recently withdrew as a featured speaker from a conference that Webbon plans to host next year. When I asked Wilson for comment for this article, he responded, Because one of the accusations against us is that we only did the Antioch Declaration in order to placate commie publications likeMother Jones, I couldnt risk any positive mention of us right now.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

A Tuesday hearing on gambling addiction turned awry when Senators John Kennedy (R-LA) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) suddenly turned the conversation towards the issue of transgender inclusion in sports.In a hearing about theSupporting Affordability and Fairness with Every Bet Act (SAFE Bet Act) a law that is meant to discourage sports gambling addiction the two senators barraged NCAA chief Charlie Baker with questions about allowing biological males to play games with biological females. Kennedy told him to stand up in front of God and country and oppose trans womens inclusion in sports, and to stand up and take a leadership position, as well as to go to Amazon and buy a spine online. Related Transgender people could use teammates in these times A Trans Day of Remembrance message for the difficult times to come, in sports and in everyday life, for trans people. Hawley then jumped in and repeatedly talked over Baker, raising his voice to claim that there is no federal law that allows trans women to play against women and to shout This is your federal policy that you will not defend because it is indefensible. He also questioned Baker about recent forfeitures against San Jose State University due to them allegedly having a single trans player on their team. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Despite Hawleys claim, the U.S. Constitution and federal law guarantee equal treatment of college athletes. While this should include trans athletes, there have been recent scientific and political debates about whether trans female athletes have biological advantages over cisgender competitors. Republicans have largely opposed trans inclusion in sports and vilified trans athletes and their allies as harming cis female athletes.Baker was also asked by Sen. Dick Durban (D-IL) how many trans athletes there were. Out of 510,000 total athletes, Baker said, there are less than 10 total in NCAA schools (a figure that translates to fewer than 0.002% of all NCAA athletes). Baker also defended trans women, saying it was debatable whether theyd always, no matter what have a physical advantage over cisgender women.There is no concrete evidence that trans women have an unfair advantage in sports. A recent study found that trans women have equivalent physical metrics to cisgender women after being on hormone replacement therapy. Few other studies examine trans athletes in comparison to cisgender athletes.Sen. Durbin continued on X, 510,000 NCAA athletes. Ten or fewer transgender NCAA athletes nationwide. Lets focus on ways to actually improve womens sports. 510,000 NCAA athletes. Ten or fewer transgender NCAA athletes nationwide.Lets focus on ways to actually improve womens sports. https://t.co/7BKT16dntT Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) December 17, 2024Minority Whip of the West Virginia House of Representatives Shawn Fluharty said, Congressional hearing on sports betting turned into a hearing on political tantrums on manufactured outrage over NCAA trans athlete policy. If Congress wants to jump in on sports betting, maybe find some adults in the room first. That was embarrassing.Congressional hearing on sports betting turned into a hearing on political tantrums on manufactured outrage over NCAA trans athlete policy. If Congress wants to jump in on sports betting, maybe find some adults in the room first. That was embarrassing. Shawn Fluharty (@WVUFLU) December 17, 2024Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

An 18-year-old Black transgender woman named Cameron Jamal Miikquise Thompson was shot to death in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on Monday. Police have arrested an unnamed underage suspect and charged him with murder as an adult. Thompsons family suspects her murder was a hate crime, and police suspect it may have to do with comments she made about her suspected killer.Thompson left their home around midnight last Monday, but around noon, her mother noticed that she had only taken her phone, leaving her purse and other personal items in her room. Her mother tried calling but Thompsons phone went to voicemail. Related Black women make up half of the 36 trans people murdered over the last year A new report from the Human Rights Campaign sheds lights onto the victims and causes of transphobic violence. That wasnt like her to leave her belongings, Thompsons aunt, Tara Matthews, told AL.com. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Around 4 p.m., Thompsons family called the police to report that she was missing. Police informed them that they had found a body a few hours earlier. Thompsons later mother identified the body as her daughters.Police say she had been shot several times in the early morning hours. Nearby residents reported seeing her body in the yard of a home near the eastern edge of the citys 35th. The citys crimes unit said the motive appears related to comments Thompson may have posted on social media regarding the suspects sexual orientation, WBMA reported.The murder marks the 20th homicide investigated in Tuscaloosa this year, an all-time annual high, The Tuscaloosa Thread reported. The homicide also marks the 27th in the county this year. Thompson is suspected to be at least the 31st trans or gender non-conforming murder victim this year.She was a very sweet person, very nice person, never met a stranger, said her aunt, Tara Matthews. She loved hair and nails. She was very quiet, very to herself, always very private, she added, noting that she was beloved by her family and friends.Thomson had recently graduated from Job Corps, a program administered by the United States Department of Labor that offers free education and vocational training to young people. She worked at United Parcel Service (UPS). Another of Thompsons aunts, Tara Maneice, wrote on a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign, My sister does not have a life insurance policy in place, so Im asking for any assistance to give a proper burial.Thompsons funeral service will be held on January 3, 2025. The crowdfunding campaign has raised $4,282 of its $4,500 goal as of Thursday evening. Young Black trans southerners disproportionately face gun violenceIn 2023, there were 35 homicides of transgender or gender-expansive people, according to the group Everytown for Gun Safety. Of these, 80% were murdered with a gun. In 2023, 50% of gun homicides were of Black trans women.At least 19% of violent deaths of trans people were at the hands of an intimate partner or family member. 68% of these deaths were with a gun, the group wrote on its website.The group also noted that 44% of homicides of transgender and gender-expansive people that occurred between2017 and 2023 happened in the South. Approximately 34% of gun homicides of transgender and gender-expansive people remain unsolved, and 57% of victims were under the age of 30.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

In 2019, Christian chicken chain Chick-fil-A had high hopes for expanding their chicken sammie empire to the U.K. Within months, they were out of business in the British Isles.LGBTQ+ protests overwhelmed the first of two locations, in Reading, just west of London, where a call for the company to cluck off over their support of anti-LGBTQ+ organizations resonated with Britons. A second spot the chain claimed was a pop-up in a posh hotel in the Scottish Highlands closed not long after. Related Chick-fil-A isnt going to be happy with this Texas restaurants new chicken sandwich Chick-fil-gAy is a Panko-textured filet with a slightly sweet taste, topped by two crinkle-cut pickles on lightly toasted buns, plus mayo. Hold the homophobia Now the chicken purveyor is back for a second British invasion and prepared to overwhelm the opposition with plans to open five stores simultaneously. This time theyre backed by a well-oiled PR team, and hope the imprimatur of a respected LGBTQ+ rights organization will help grease their way into Britons hearts by way of their stomachs. Global perspectives delivered right to your inbox Our newsletter bridges borders to bring you LGBTQ+ news from around the world. Subscribe to our Newsletter today That PR effort is already underway, as seen in an interview with Peter Backman, a retail food consultant, in The Telegraph, Britains conservative daily.I suspect that a bit of the steam has gone out of the LGBT thing, Backman told the right-wing outlet, staying ahead of the issue. There may be the odd protester, but if they have got armies of PR people laser-focused on that then I suspect it may be OK.The $20 billion chicken behemoth, privately owned and managed by the devout Cathy family from headquarters in Atlanta, plans to launch five chicken stores in 2025 across London, Liverpool, Leeds and in Belfast, Northern Island, where it will have two locations.Chick-fil-A predicts a $100 million investment in the U.K. over the next 10 years with 500 employees by 2027.The family-owned company has a long and ignoble history of supporting anti-LGBTQ+ organizations. Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A and the chairmans father, donated money to anti-gay groups like the Marriage & Family Foundation, the Georgia Family Council and the ex-gay therapy group Exodus International. As recently as 2017 Chick fil-Adonated $1.8 millionto the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a group that opposes same-sex marriage, and to The Salvation Army, a group withits own history of anti-LGBTQ actions.The company has faced repercussions for its donations, getting forced out ofcollege campuses and airports and protested in schools and in Canada. At the same time,conservatives made Chick-fil-A a symbolof their fight against LGBTQ+ equality.In 2019, the chicken hawkers announced they wouldreconfigure their charitable-giving guidelinesto exclude groups with anti-LGBTQ+ policies and promote a culture of belonging. The decision to backtrack after years of nonstop support from the religious right caused evangelical leaders and politicians to immediately attack the chain they had previously fought to defend so vociferously.Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and Donald Trumps pick for Ambassador to Israel in his second administration, accused Chick-fil-A of surrendering to anti-Christian hate groups.Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), said the chain badly lost its way. The far-right caught up with Chick-fil-As DEI initiatives four years later when they declared the family-owned business had gone woke along with Bud Light and the raft other businesses targeted in the DEI backlash.Now the company is exploiting the fallout from their efforts at moderation in their push across the Atlantic.Bryan Malenius, a former chief of staff in the House of Representatives, is heading up the companys PR offensive.There are a lot of misconceptions about Chick-fil-A, Malenius told the Telegraph. If you look at our anti-discrimination policy and read through it, its very all-encompassing.The chicken spox held up the example of U.K. LGBTQ+ advocacy group Stonewalls support for the company as evidence Chick-fil-A had found its way.A rep from the nonprofit was quick to put the PR spin on support in perspective.We frequently have conversations with companies and organizations at various stages on their journey to becoming more inclusive workplaces for their employees, including those who are considering locations in the U.K., the rep said.We have had some recent conversations with Chick-fil-A about the training and services we could provide to support the company on this journey.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

A Chicago man convicted of stalking and extorting young men on Grindr and other apps is headed to federal prison for 52 months.Omoruyi O. Uwadiae, 29, pleaded guilty in May to 22 counts including cyberstalking, interstate communications with intent to extort, and unlawful transfer, possession, or use of a means of identification, according to court records. Related Deranged cyberstalker threatened gay Democrat for years. Now he could go away for decades. Investigators said the messages were extreme enough to put the elected official in reasonable fear of death and serious bodily injury. The sentence was handed down on December 10 by U.S. District Court Judge Michael Watson in federal court in Columbus. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Court records document a spiteful campaign of extortion by Uwadiae in 2019 using apps like Grindr and Snapchat to target gay and bisexual men.In March 2019, Uwadiae solicited nude pics and video from an Ohio State University student he met on Grindr along with his cell number. He told the victim, pay me $200 and I wont post (the) pics, vids, number, and name online, court documents read.The young man didnt pay up. Rather than move on to another potential mark, Uwadiae sent him a text with a link to an online platform where he had uploaded videos of the student engaged in sex along with his personal information. The pattern continued with a 17-year-old that Uwadiae met on Snapchat in April 2019. The minor, who claimed to be 18 at the time, sent Uwadiae sexually explicit photos, and Uwadiae again demanded payment with a threat to expose him. He, too, declined.Uwadiae responded by sending the photos to the boys mother and other family members, friends and classmates, according to the complaint, outing him in the process. As well, Uwadiae created a public Facebook page where he posted a photo of the young man engaged in sex.In May, Uwadiae engaged another young man on both Grindr and Instagram. In this case, Uwadiae accused the man of being racist and created fake social media profiles using the mans image. He also posted the stalking victims photo on Grindr with the same accusation, court records show.Eight young men in Ohio, Colorado and Washington state were victimized by Uwadiae, according to a statement from prosecutors. Given the nature of the crime, that number could be higher.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Transphobic billionaire Elon Musk has helped end a congressional continuing resolution (CR) that would continue funding the federal government through mid-March. The incident has compelled at least one Republican lawmaker to call for ousting House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and replacing him with Musk.The battle demonstrates Musks growing influence over the Republican Party after he donated millions and used the X social media platform to help reelect President-elect Donald Trump. In fact, social media commenters have now started saying that Musk, the richest man in the world, is the real president and that Trump merely serves him. Related Elon Musks trans daughter might leave the country because of Trumps victory Even if Trump doesnt implement his anti-trans agenda, Vivian Jenna Wilson cited one reason shes still leaving Musk and failed Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy both of whom have been appointed to Trump to the unofficial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) both posted messages on X urging congressional Republicans not to support the measure. 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 This bill should not pass https://t.co/eccQ6COZJ4 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2024Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years! Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2024 The measure continues current government funding levels and adds-on $100 billion in hurricane disaster relief funds, $10 billion in aid to farmers, reforms to the pharmacy pricing industry; an extension to the farm bill, and the first pay raise for members of Congress since 2009.Musk called the CR full of pork (a term for politicians large spending meant to benefit politicians local voting districts), and Ramaswamy compared the bills feel good spending to showering cocaine on an addict. Johnson told Fox News on Tuesday night that he recently spoke with Musk and Ramaswamy, who told him that they know hes in an impossible position of having to either fund the government with Democratic help or cause a government shutdown while reducing spending to appease Musk, Ramaswamy, and other far-right Republicans.We got to get this thing done so we dont have the shutdown. So, we get the short-term funding measure, and we get to March where we can put our fingerprints on the spending, Johnson said. Thats when the big changes start.Speaking to reporters, Johnson added, This is not an omnibus [bill], OK? This is a small CR that we had to add things to that were out of our control. These are not man-made disasters. These are things that are the federal government has an appropriate role to do We have to be able to help those who are in these dire straits. However, numerous House Republicans are already saying they wont support the CR. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO), Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), and Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) have all said that they wont vote for it, according to The Hill.The House GOP unrest over the CR also puts Johnson in possible danger of losing his House speakership when the House votes for Speaker on January 3. Johnson will need Democratic votes to pass the CR, and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was ousted by far-right Republicans last year for essentially doing the same thing.In fact, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-WV) said he wouldnt support Johnson to stay as speaker, and Rep. Greene and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) have both already called for Johnson to be replaced by Musk for House Speaker.Greene wrote, Id be open to supporting @elonmusk for Speaker of the House. DOGE can only truly be accomplished by reigning in Congress to enact real government efficiency. The establishment needs to be shattered just like it was yesterday. This could be the way. Id be open to supporting @elonmusk for Speaker of the House. DOGE can only truly be accomplished by reigning in Congress to enact real government efficiency. The establishment needs to be shattered just like it was yesterday.This could be the way. https://t.co/8YuL56e443 Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) December 19, 2024The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress, Johnson wrote in a December 19 post. Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk think about it nothings impossible. (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka uniparty, lose their ever-lovin minds).The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress . . . Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk . . . think about it . . . nothings impossible. (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka uniparty, lose their ever-lovin Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 19, 2024 Republicans will have a slim House majority in 2025 with a 217-215 split between them and Democrats. Johnson will likely struggle to keep the slim GOP majority together, especially if Musk continues criticizing his legislative efforts.The display of power has compelled numerous social media commenters to say that Musk is really in control of the Republican-lead Congress and presidency, and Trump is just a servile figurehead. Many of these images were generated by artificial intelligence.Grok even knows that he's President-elect Musk. pic.twitter.com/LjJwtRVqxp Devin Duke (@sirDukeDevin) December 19, 2024President Musk pic.twitter.com/n9eREp3pHS Kyle Sweetser (@sweetser_kyle) December 19, 2024 President Musk and Vice President Trump. This isnt going to end well. pic.twitter.com/hVuurMoRba Mike Sington (@MikeSington) December 19, 2024Ponder thisElon Musk spent $44 billion to buy Twitter, but only $277 million to buy the United States of America. pic.twitter.com/TwFZ2WCCtm Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline) December 19, 2024Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Last week was a bizarre time to be queer on social media: Many cishet people voiced enthusiastic support for Luigi Mangione, the man accused of shooting and killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, arguing that the health insurers denial of claims led to so many deaths that the murder was justified as retaliation. Meanwhile, Congress was passing a bill that would require an insurer (Tricare) to deny claims, and it was hard to get anyone to even pay attention to that.President-elect Donald Trump made denying people health care central to his campaign, spending over $200 million on ads criticizing Kamala Harris for ensuring that trans inmates in California could get health care. Meanwhile, Harris repeatedly attacked Trump for his previous attempts to cut Medicare and kept on bringing up how he only had concepts of a plan for what would replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a law that provides healthcare coverage to over 45 million people. Trump repeatedly tried to repeal the ACA during his first term. Related Glorifying Luigi Mangione is a very slippery slope If we condone murder of any kind, what moral standing do we have against Donald Trumps horrific actions? Health care was on the ballot, and Americans clearly voted against it, giving the banning denials for preexisting conditions is communism party control of the House, Senate, and White House. Dive deeper every day Join our newsletter for thought-provoking commentary that goes beyond the surface of LGBTQ+ issues Subscribe to our Newsletter today The most generous interpretation of these facts is that Americans would rather deny health care to a tiny minority just how many undocumented transgender inmates are there who need gender-affirming surgery? than provide it for everyone, a stance that spells doom for universal health care. In a country of over 330 million people, there will always be a reviled person getting access to health care somewhere or people making health care decisions that other people disagree with.In fact, one person I was talking with last week dryly noted, possibly joking, that shes against single-payer health care in the U.S. since Republicans would use it to end access to gender-affirming care for trans people.In the past two weeks, the House and Senate passed the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, the bill that funds the military, with an amendment that bans Tricare (which provides healthcare coverage to servicemembers and their families) from reimbursing some forms of gender-affirming care for transgender minors. This is literally about denying peoples health care claims. People in the military and their families are among those for whom the United States federal government currently provides health care coverage. But the demonization of youth transitioning over the last few years has led majorities in both the House and the Senate to tell military servicemembers that theyll have to pay out of pocket in order to provide health care to their trans kids. That is, the circle of people getting government health care coverage will get smaller next year, should the NDAA be signed into law in its current form. And the people wholl be denied care are children, and one of the reasons people want to deny them health care is literally because they are children and therefore should wait before they can have access to health care.This happened as people on social media were posting memes supportive of Mangione, memes that portrayed him as a Robin Hood-type character whose actions would either bring down the U.S. health insurance system or at least were justified because of how terrible it is for peoples legitimate health care claims to be denied. | Screenshot But I didnt see anyone posting memes like this acknowledging what Congress was working to pass. Part of the issue is probably that a lot of people dont see gender-affirming health care as real health care, despite how all major medical associations in the U.S. support it as a safe and effective treatment for gender dysphoria. Its been shown to save lives, and cisgender people can access the same treatments for similar reasons. In fact, cisgender boys get gender-affirming surgeries more often than trans minors.Still, people think about trans health care as siloed off as a separate issue from health care coverage, even though many of the battles around trans access to health care are about insurance companies and government insurance programs refusal to cover it. This may be why universal healthcare initiatives will be doomed in the U.S., at least in the foreseeable future. We just saw the GOP use the health care needs of a very small minority undocumented transgender inmates to gain political power, power that they will use to deny health care coverage to the wider population.Until people accept that others are going to make decisions for their own bodies that they wouldnt personally make for themselves and thats ok building support for universal health care is going to be an uphill battle.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Two trans women have made history in Nepal for running in local elections. Despite neither one winning her race, the LGBTQ+ community is still celebrating the moment as a leap for representation since no out trans woman has run for office in the country before.Honey Maharjan and Mouni Maharjan are both members of the Peoples Socialist Party-Nepal. The former candidate ran for mayor of Kirtipur, a town outside of Kathmandu, and the latter for ward chair in the same locale. Related Bobbie Simpson sworn in as Californias first out trans school board member I am proud to serve my community and create a future where every student can thrive, no matter who they are, said Simpson. I hope my candidacy will inspire others in the queer community to participate openly in future elections, Honey Maharjan told Agence France-Presse (AFP) in November, adding that she wants to show the public the intrinsic value of their trans neighbors. Global perspectives delivered right to your inbox Our newsletter bridges borders to bring you LGBTQ+ news from around the world. Subscribe to our Newsletter today When I remember my past, its like a nightmare because I faced a lot of discrimination and abuses like other transgender people. I want to change this, she said. We are also part of this society and can contribute to the betterment of society. This is what I want to do if I am elected.Mouni Maharjan ran on a platform of improving infrastructure and sanitation, as well as implementing more LGBTQ+-inclusive curriculums in schools so that the new generation will easily accept our presence and be treated better, she said. Honey Maharjan wanted to fight for improved health care, education, and roads. I did not win, so I am a little sad this time, she told the Washington Blade. But I am happy that the media has covered my campaign, so I am grateful to all journalists.Mouni Maharjan also spoke about the challenges the two candidates endured in that they did not have the budget or support held by the more major political parties.But the visibility they gained from the race, itself, still matters. Elections are important because it creates awareness about the candidate, said Honey Maharjan. Otherwise everyone would think that transgender community is engaged in sex work only [and] that is not true.Nepal is known as a leader in South Asia when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights, supporting them in its 2015 constitution,offering third gender ID cards since 2013,andopenly supporting Pride parades.In 2017, United Nations officials and local dignitaries joined Nepals LGBTQ community in celebrating International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia byraising the rainbow banner for the first time in the nationshistory.In February of this year, Anju Devi Shrestha and Suprita Gurung became the first lesbian couple to register their marriage with the authorities.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Valentina Gomez ran for Missouri secretary of state this year, repeatedly using slurs and hateful rhetoric as part of her failed campaign. Now shes in Texas, and shes running for Congress. She continues to use extreme anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, but she is also now trying to profit off of her social media presence.Im running for Congress in Texas and Im taking down a RINO and a dinosaur once and for all because Congress is full of crooks like Speaker [Mike] Johnson who is just a little man with no balls that funds Ukraine, she says in a video posted to her social media. And Dan Crenshaw, who is only good at betraying his fellow Navy Seals. Related GOP candidate who called drag queens pedophiles caught partying with drag queens She spent this past year attacking LGBTQ+ people with slurs and weak and gay accusations. But she was partying with Aquaria from Drag Race. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) represents Texas Second Congressional District, which includes Houstons north and east suburbs. A RINO is a Republican in name only, a term Republicans throw around when they want to accuse each other of being insufficiently conservative. 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 Gomez didnt explain how shes running in Texas so shortly after running for office in Missouri, but she did promise that shes coming to Texas to speak the truth, cook the crooks, and save the children.Buckle up, Texas, because this aint my first rodeo, she concluded. Her first rodeo is probably the GOP primary for Missouri secretary of state earlier this year, where she came in a distant sixth place. Im running for Congress in Texas. I dont fear pdfs, criminals, or the crooks in DC. I only fear God. pic.twitter.com/sWiZBOdTmf Valentina Gomez (@ValentinaForUSA) December 18, 2024In a video she posted to X just yesterday, Gomez announced that she is accepting subscriptions on the platform, where people can pay her for access to exclusive content. She promised that 0% of the profits will go to an LGBTQ cause. She said that she would be catching a pedophile and shooting a gun, among other things, while wearing a shirt that said, Dont be weak and gay.Grateful for each of youSubscribe & you might join me catching a pdf, at the gun range, get some merch, or even on a run (if you can keep up) pic.twitter.com/SKluY5OBEl Valentina Gomez (@ValentinaForUSA) December 18, 2024 Earlier in the week, Gomez said that the LGBTQ is a terrorist organization, even though LGBTQ doesnt refer to an organization at all. If they cant groom your children, they will kill them, she claimed. Pedophiles that hide under the LGBTQ flag are the next mass shooters.Christians are being hunted and killed and now multiple kids in a Christian school are dead.She explained that she was referring to the Madison, Wisconsin, school shooter from earlier this week. The shooter is not LGBTQ+ in any way. In fact, the shooters social media activity now suggests that she was being influenced by neo-Nazis and other members of the far-right. Gomezfrequentlyusedanti-gay slurs during her run for Missouri secretary of state, recently saying anyone who didnt vote for her is afa**ot.One of her maincampaign sloganswas Dont be weak and gay, but she got online attention earlier this year when a video of her running in a Kevlar vest went viral.In the video, she said, In America, you can be anything you want. So dont be weak and gay. Stay f**king hard. Shealso lost her job with Nestle Purinaafter her numerous anti-LGBTQ+ stunts. In a video talking about her no longer working with the dog food company, she claimed, Today, I fired them. No amount of money, stock, or bullying will make me compromise my values. So I will never support a company that wants to empower and protect pedophiles and groomers in our schools and libraries.She grew increasingly unhinged as she got closer to the primary,calling LGBTQ+ people pedophilesregularly. She even made a video this past weekcalling LGBTQ+ people fa***tsand claiming that unnamed people tried topoison her dogs beforecalling Vice President Kamala Harris an Indian hoeand saying that Democrats are all gay, vaccinated, and cannot reproduce.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

State Sen. Molly Cook, 33, a sixth-generation Texan and former ER nurse, starts a new term in January after multiple campaigns in a single year that would have left a less energetic candidate exhausted on a beach on South Padre Island.Not so for Cook, who has only upped her game with every electoral challenge. Related Barrier-breaking Kim Coco Iwamoto explains how she took down a powerful Democrat Full of energy and love for her community, she talked to LGBTQ Nation about Donald Trump, winning local elections, and helping the homeless. A savvy internet presence substitute Hi, guys with Hey, yall and you get Cooks polished, Texas-styled YouTube video intros the millennial lawmaker is all about the organizing, online and off. Your LGBTQ+ guide to Election 2024 Stay ahead of the 2024 Election with our newsletter that covers candidates, issues, and perspectives that matter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Im ready to go all gas, no brakes, Cook enthuses in a clip introducing her new Organize to Win PAC.The senator made time shuttling between events in her massive Houston district (pop. nearly 800,000) to talk about that new project, the joy of falling in love with a woman, and the Texas values she says many of her Republican colleagues dont represent.LGBTQ Nation: Youve written about your first vote for president, for Barack Obama in 2012. You share many of his ideas and policy positions and his optimism, and something else, as well: his embrace of the permanent campaign. Just days after this years election you launched a new Organize to Win PAC, which formalizes your vision of year-round, grassroots organizing in your Houston district. Its a little surprising that you wouldnt take some time off, because, remarkably, the general election this year was your fourth run for office in nine months. You ran in the Democratic primary in March, coming in second and earning a runoff. You ran again in May for a special election to fill the same seat vacated by the new mayor of Houston and won, making you the incumbent. You ran again three weeks later in the runoff, winning by just 62 votes, and then a fourth time in November, beating your Republican opponent by 25 points. Arent you tired?State Sen. Molly Cook: That was the best summary of my year from anyone! (laughing) You know. Im not. Im so excited, and even as a nurse, burnout really isnt about how much work Im doing if I love my team, if I love the work. It really energizes me. So we are just full speed ahead through the end of the year.In addition to your four runs for office this year, you took on the current mayor of Houston, John Whitmire, for the same seat in 2022 and earned over 40% of the vote. Who or what inspired you to run for the Texas Senate, and how are you getting along with Whitmire today?I love that. So what inspired me to run? Im an ER nurse, and so I see when policy failures reach peoples lives that turn into emergencies. I see it cutting peoples lifespans short. I see the suffering and the inability to find the kind of resources you need to heal. And that just made me so frustrated, and so I wanted to do more from my patients that I could do from the bedside. I did take on a 50-year incumbent who had $12 million in the bank as a first-time candidate, which turns out, was an extremely bold move (laughing). But the voters really respected that. After I lost, I stayed engaged, and I can tell you that that is the reason that I won this seat, was that I showed a real commitment to the people in this district.And our relationship is great. His staff has been incredibly kind to all of my staff coming into the Capitol. And of course, were looking forward to hopefully partnering in a really effective way to help the city of Houston achieve its goals in the legislative session, as well.You came to politics as an ER nurse, as you mentioned. Whats prepared you in that role for your job in the Texas Senate? The values. You know, I treat every single patient, provide the gold standard of care to every person who walks through the door, regardless of their party, regardless of their ability to pay, or whether or not theyre even registered to vote, and thats the exact same way that Im going to show up for the people of Texas Senate District 15.And I get the question a lot: how are you going to function as a Democrat in the minority in the Texas Senate? And I say, Well, I treat every kind of patient and I work with every kind of doctor and every kind of nurse and every kind of other staff member in the emergency department to save lives. So we will use the tools, we will build good relationships, and well pass life-saving policy.Youre one of the few women electeds or candidates Ive written about that has come out publicly, and proactively in your case, to say theyve had an abortion. What compelled you to go public with that part of your biography? The American public in general really are looking for authenticity in their leadership. I think thats actually really important to people. Even if you disagree with me sometimes, Im always going to shoot you straight. And Im not ashamed that I had an abortion. It was the right thing to do for me at that time, and Im really grateful that I had access to it, and it was safe.So when I told people especially women, but really everybody at the doors my own story, it was often met with tears, with hugs, with a sense of relief. And I saw people connect to me, and they want that in their leadership. So for me, it was important to be my true self.And then I think, ultimately, it was a strategic decision, as well. In Texas, we are restricting physicians abilities to provide data-driven healthcare. Women and people in Texas who get pregnant do not have access to the full spectrum of reproductive health care, and those sorts of tragedies have to stop, and we have to tell those stories so that folks understand whats really at stake. Maybe one of the most Orwellian components of Texas Republicans crusade against reproductive freedom is a proposed abortion travel ban. Can you describe what that is?So this is in some of the counties across Texas. Theyve essentially tried to make it impossible for pregnant women to cross state lines to seek an abortion, and it is an unfathomable overreach of government. Its going to kill people, and it sets a really scary precedent for what the government is allowed to tell you that you can and cannot do, whether its with your own body or hopping in a vehicle to drive across straight lines for any reason. This is a sign of the times and more policy to come if we do not get serious about organizing in our communities and fighting back for health, for safety and for, frankly, our most basic freedoms.Do you think that has any chance of standing up in court? Some astounding things can hold up in Texas court sometimes, but I would hope that the judges would understand that this is not constitutional. Its a violation of very basic human rights.Lets talk about Ken Paxton for a minute. The Texas Attorney General has inserted himself into the private lives of Texans like few others. What do you think is the most egregious thing hes done as AG?I think most Texans who are anything left of center at all would say its going to be really difficult to name one. Whether its asking Texas taxpayers to cover the cost of his mistakes, whether its telling parents whether they can provide healthcare to their children, or telling women they cant leave the state while theyre pregnant there is no end to the just inappropriate I mean, you said it. He just injects himself right into the lives of Texans, into our bedrooms, our bathrooms. You know, hes very creative, and the attacks are going to keep coming as long as hes sitting there. What do you think it is about Paxton thats appealing to Texas voters? Hes been elected. What is it about his character thats reflective of Texans?I think I want to pivot and talk about what billionaire special interests are doing to the political process here in Texas. I dont know that some of the decisions of our leadership actually do reflect true Texans values, even conservative ones. People care about transparent governance. People care about good stewardship of resources and public money, and we dont always see that out of our leadership. But they are protected over and over again by billionaires who want to see policy changes that line their pockets. And until we are able to get these special interests, get these out-of-state billionaires out of the political process in Texas, we are not going to see the life-saving changes that we need.Gov. Greg Abbott or Sen. Ted Cruz: whos been worse for Texas? (Laughing) We dont even have to go there! Theres no reason for that to be a competition. You know, Ill just say that its going to be easier to flip a statewide seat in Texas than it is going to be to flip some of these House seats and Senate seats, because of gerrymandering. So I invite folks to do the kind of work that were going to do at Organize to Win. This needs to be year-round. It needs to be grassroots, and it needs to be focused on real issues and real people, and we got to bring it to their doorsteps.What do you think is behind Republican animus toward trans people?Ill just start by saying that the transgender community also had some really beautiful wins this time around. So some of the narrative around the disappointments, its important also to counter it with the wins, with the assets and the successes of the transgender community. I think that the Republicans are really good at finding vulnerable people who are hurting and making scapegoats out of them, and putting them even more into the crosshairs of bad policy than they were before. And so the most vulnerable among us, the people who deserve the most protection and who desperately need public dollars and public protection are the most at risk when the Republicans are creating their wedge issues. And Im so proud to be a member of the LGBTQ+ community and to be in that chamber out and proud, to stick up for all of the members of our community.In neighboring Oklahoma, the state superintendent of schools, Ryan Walters is on his own crusade to put Bibles in every classroom, and Louisiana passed a law to prominently display the Ten Commandments in every public classroom in the state from kindergarten through college. The United States has a long tradition of the separation of church and state, while Republicans seem to be embracing the Christian nationalist idea, seen in the Heritage Foundations Project 2025, of a biblically based government. Would defending the line between church and state be a good organizing principle for progressives and Democrats in the face of MAGA Republicans moral crusade?Absolutely. Weve got to have a big tent and a big umbrella that focuses on workers rights, that focuses on regular, everyday Texans, that centers the people who are having trouble making ends meet, that centers the people who are breathing unclean air right now as a result of poor policy decisions from corporations. And that tent includes an open mind to all religions and faiths and those who dont practice a religion or a faith. It is wrong to impose from the government any particular religion onto people and onto children, and we will not see success until were able to roll that back and create a more inclusive learning environment for Texas kids. From your vantage point as a medical professional, where do you come down on trans women and girls in sports?Those decisions do not need to be made by the Texas Legislature. Thats just the bottom line. It is an overreach of government. It is not our place as legislators to be creating extremely niche rules about who can participate in what, or go to the bathroom where. It is up to the Texas Legislature to protect the lifespan of Texans, every single one of them. That is our job.Lets say Texas legislators didnt take up that issue. Who is it left to do it? Are we talking about local school boards banning trans women and girls in sports? Kids need to be able to play. Kids need to be able to go to the bathroom where they want to go to the bathroom. The most important thing is that every child feels accepted, loved and free to grow and explore what it means to be a human in a safe environment.Honestly, those decisions are best left up to the people who know them the best, their parents, their doctors and that sort of thing. I dont have the perfect answer about exactly who needs to create what rules or what rules need to be created, but I can tell you that as we think through that process, the people who need to be at the center of these conversations are kids who are trans and the parents that take care of them and love them.Would you support national mandatory service for young people in the military or some other form of public service of their choosing, like the Peace Corps or Teach for America?Thats interesting. You know, I hadnt thought about it enough to really give a thoughtful answer. Youve done a lot of organizing work around climate and environmental justice. Whats the single most important thing the world should do to address the climate crisis?I hate that I can only pick one. There are certain things that we as individuals can make decisions to do, things like not eating meat, but theres things on a systems level that we really need to think about. I spend a lot of time in transportation. Theres a lot of emissions that come from transportation. Theres a large carbon footprint for transportation. And in Texas, we are the only state with no dedicated public transit funding. We spend 99% of pertinent revenue on highway widening or highway projects or highway adjacent projects. We do need to shift the paradigm in Texas around that for climate justice and also for basic transportation safety.You came out as bisexual in 2021 calling it a powerful, deeply personal liberating experience. What can you share about it?That was the first time that a suspicion of mine, inside of myself, was really able to bloom, and I was able to experience kind of releasing fear or anxiety that I had had around myself: whether or not I was going to judge myself or accept myself, whether or not this experience would be something that makes me feel good or bad. And when I just leaned in and fell in love with a woman for a while we dated it was so fun, and it was different, but also the same, and kind of a relief to me to say, Okay, Ive done this. I felt it, and it was good. And it just gave me a lot of freedom to continue to explore what I love and how I feel and who I am. And that kind of freedom is something that I want for every single person who is in young adulthood, early adulthood, late adulthood, whenever it is! To love yourself, accept yourself, and see yourself even more fully. I found evidence online you share your home with a senior chihuahua. Do you have a partner now as well, and what can you tell us about them?No partner. Im single. The chihuahua, though, is eight pounds, hes got one eye, he has no teeth, and everybodys afraid of him. So he is actually a hero and a model to me (laughing) as I walk into the Texas Legislature.Have you taken him into the Legislature?Oh, absolutely not (laughing). No dogs allowed. For anyone who hasnt been to Houston, I was really struck driving across the city at how there seems to be zero zoning regulation. Oil refineries are next to golf courses are next to residential neighbors next to skyscrapers next to distribution centers next to public parks and lots of malls in between. It feels a little like the movie Bladerunner. Texas prides itself on its freedoms do you think that philosophy works when it comes to urban planning?Theres an argument for deregulating some zoning in certain places to allow for more affordable housing. In Houston, we often talk about how we need maybe a little bit more of the zoning.There is a holistic approach to planning that we really need to take, and we need to prioritize public health. And, of course, when you have private interests developers and things like that in the conversation, things can get skewed, especially when theres a lot of money in politics. Your district holds the Rothko Chapel, which is a monumental brick building designed by the artist Mark Rothko as a non-denominational church, and displays 14 large Black Paintings by the artist in different hues. Have you spent much time there, and whats the feeling that it conjures for you?I have actually spent a lot of time there. I believe its still out of commission at the moment. They sustained some pretty serious damage in one of the last storms, and so its closed to the public right now. But I have had multiple profound experiences inside of the Rothko Chapel. It is a gem of Houston, and Ill just say, everyone who has a chance should visit as soon as it reopens.Whats the best thing about representing the constituents of Texas State Senate District 15? Our district is diverse in every single sense of the word. Every single neighborhood is unique. Every single neighborhood has certain needs and tons of assets, and it is such a joy to get to know every single person, the history of their neighborhood, how much they love and care about it see the folks who are new to their neighborhoods and are in love with Houston for one reason or another. It is just a powerful place full of incredible people, and its a joy to travel around it and get to know more of it every day.Those are all of my questions. Is there anything you want to add?People should just follow us at Molly for Texas, on Instagram, Twitter, Tiktok. Come check out Organize to Win as we get to work on that during the session. And stay tuned: well have more to share as we roll more policies out.The permanent campaign continues.Exactly.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Former California police officer Joseph Benza III who assaulted a trans man for flipping him off and then lied about it is set to plead guilty to felony deprivation of rights under color of law after agreeing to a plea deal earlier this week. He faces up to 10 years in federal prison. When an officer violates someones civil rights, it corrodes trust in law enforcement and undermines the effectiveness of other officers who sacrifice to protect the public, United States Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. Related Man pleads guilty to hate crime for chilling plans to carry out anti-gay mass shooting Mack Davis was caught while testing his weapons for the crime. This senseless assault and subsequent attempted cover-up are an affront to our system of justice. My office is committed to upholding civil rights and prosecuting those who abuse their authority. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today In the summer of 2023, video footage revealed Banza tackling Emmett Brock, a then-23-year-old high school teacher, to the ground after following him into a 7-Eleven parking lot. The surveillance video, combined with audio from the officers bodycam, showed that despite the fact that Brock continued to scream for help and assure the officer he was not resisting, the officer would not let up.Brock then endured anti-trans harassment at the police station, where he was charged with three felonies obstruction, resisting arrest, and mayhem, as well as the misdemeanor charge of failure to obey a cop. He then lost his teaching job due to the charges. In the footage captured at the scene, Benza can be heard screaming at Brock to place his hands behind his back while Brock yells multiple times that he cant move his arms because the officer is holding them. The altercation lasted three minutes, during which Brock yelled, Youre going to kill me. Youre going to f**king kill me. Help! Help! Help! Im not resisting! All the while, Benza was repeatedly punching Brock in the head while sitting on top of him.Even when I did get [my arms] out the way he wanted, he continued to punch me, BrocktoldThe Los Angeles Times at the time.He just kept saying, Stop resisting, stop resisting. I didnt understand why he was shouting that because I wasnt resisting. Benza maintained that the incident began because Brock had an air freshener hanging in his rearview mirror that was allegedly obstructing his view of the road, but it took place after Brock flipped off Benza, making it more likely the assault was retaliatory. Brock had been driving home from school when he saw an officer believed to be Benza arguing with a woman on the side of the road. Brock put up his middle finger as he drove by but did not intend for Benza to see the gesture. Seconds later, Benza was following him. He didnt turn on his sirens or attempt to pull Brock over, but he kept driving in the same direction.When Brock pulled into the 7-Eleven to buy a soda, Benza drove up behind him and said, I just stopped you. Brock replied that he didnt, and in response Benza grabbed Brocks arm and tackled him. Benza ended up handcuffing and arresting Brock. At that point, Brock still had no idea why Benza had targeted him. He did not learn it was supposedly due to an air freshener until Benza filled out paperwork about the incident. His report did not include mention of Brock flipping him off. He also claimed he tackled him because Brock made a fist that looked like he was going to throw a punch. He accused Brock of biting him during the interaction, but medical reports didnt mention any bite marks.At the police station, Brock was then forced to show a jailer his genitals after explaining that hes trans.A press release from the Central District of Californias U.S. Attorneys Office said Benza admitted in the plea agreement that he abandoned the domestic violence call he was responding to when he saw Brock flip him off. He said colleagues advised him to leave that part out of his incident report and admitted to making up the story about the air freshener being the motivation for the stop. He also admitted to lying about Brock biting his hand. He also reportedly talked to colleagues about deleting text messages about the incident and made false statements to authorities during the initial investigation, during which he said he did not see Brock flip him off and also that did not discuss the incident report with others while writing it. He has since admitted that a sergeant wrote large portions of it. It is deeply troubling that a member of our Department, who has since been relieved of duty, violated the trust placed in them to uphold the law by abusing their authority, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert G. Luna said in a statement. These actions undermine the integrity of our Department, the trust of our community, and the safety of those we are sworn to protect.Mr. Benza abused his position of authority to assault an innocent citizen, then dissembled to cover his actions during the subsequent investigation, added Akil Davis, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBIs Los Angeles Field Office. The FBI prioritizes the protection of civil rights and will pursue prosecution when warranted.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Incoming Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-DE), the first out transgender person ever elected to Congress, delivered a heartfelt farewell speech to the Delaware Senate yesterday as she heads to the Capitol to take office in early January.While I have served in this legislative body for four years, in many ways, I feel like Ive been a member of the Senate family for nearly 20 years, she began her speech, reflecting on her memories of the legislative chamber over the last two decades. Related Sarah McBride warns Americans not to let the GOP distract them with anti-trans attacks Every single time we hear them say the word trans, look what theyre doing with their right hand to pick the pocket of American workers She said she first entered the chamber as a visiting 14-year-old in January 2005 and then had the opportunity a few months later to serve as a Senate page during the final two weeks of the legislative session, where I remember getting yelled at because my cell phone went off in the corner. She then returned to the chamber in 2009 serving as part of a letter-writing program to contact state senators and then as an intern for Gov. Mark Phil (D). 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 I have the ability and the privilege of standing before this legislative body to share my hopes and my fears and my dream of returning to this state that I love, or living in a community that I love and work, she said. And, because of this chamber for me and countless other Delawareans you offered me that opportunity. In so many ways, this chamber has helped me find my voice and helped me find my hope.Serving here for the last four years has, quite simply, been the best four years of my life, she continued. I have never been more fulfilled. I have never been happier, and that is because of the people I serve and you.She said that serving in the chamber over the last four years has deepened her hope, and she told new members of the state Senate and House, When you sit on this floor and your name is called, if you utter one word, yes, that word reverberates through posterity. As you vote on major legislation, you realize the awesome responsibility and the lost opportunity that weve had to leave the state better. She mentioned recent legislation in the state congress has led to a higher minimum wage, family and medical leave, a historic investment in public schools, environmental sustainability, criminal justice reform, helping working families, and protecting children.We have proven time and time that small states can do big things, she said. As I head out and head to Washington, D.C., I take with me the lessons that I have learned here. I take with me the hope that I have found here, that despite the rancor and the toxicity that we too often see in our politics, that we do genuinely have more in common than what divides us; that we can and that we must have conversations across disagreement, that we can have a politics of grace and a politics of progress.So I stand before you today to say thank you for your friendship, for your partnership, for your leadership, for your service, for all of the laughter and snorts and to thank you for giving me the opportunity to come home, she concluded as her colleagues gave her a standing ovation. Beyond my childhood home, no place has impacted me more than the Delaware State Senate. It is the place where I found my voice and my hope as a student, as an advocate, and, now, as an elected official. Yesterday, I delivered farewell remarks during my final day on the floor as pic.twitter.com/C1NgSd7QRE Sarah McBride (@SarahEMcBride) December 18, 2024 This year, McBride made history bydefeating Republican John Whalen III, who ran on an anti-immigration, anti-choice platform, and becoming the first out transgender person to serve in Congress, joining a small LGBTQ+ contingent in the House and Senate. At only 34, McBride has already made an impressive name for herself. She worked for the Human Rights Campaign and interned in the Obama-Biden White House. She was the first trans person to speak at the Democratic National Convention in 2016. She became the first trans person elected to a state senate in 2020, and in 2022, became the first trans incumbent to win re-election in a state senate.With trans rights being attacked nationwide, trans people and allies hope that McBride will help humanize trans people and issues to more Americans and serve as an ardent advocate for trans civil rights.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Ghanas Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed two preemptory challenges to a new gay propaganda law unanimously approved by the countrys Parliament and awaiting signature by the president.The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill imposes a prison sentence of up to five years for the willful promotion, sponsorship, or support of LGBTQ+ activities. The West African nation already mandates a three-year prison term for same-sex activity, a holdover from British colonial rule that was upheld earlier this year by the same court. Related Ghanas top court upholds law that makes gay sex a crime The government is considering a bill to make the punishment for being gay even harsher. The two cases were dismissed on a technicality. Justice Avril Lovelace-Johnson of the seven-member panel court said in the televised ruling that the challenges were premature. Global perspectives delivered right to your inbox Our newsletter bridges borders to bring you LGBTQ+ news from around the world. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Until theres presidential assent, there is no act, the court ruled, adding both cases were unanimously dismissed.President Nana Akufo-Addohas delayed signing the billpending the courts ruling on the laws constitutionality. Their decision did not answer that question.Opponents of the law say that in addition to the moral implications of outlawing support for the LGBTQ+ community, Ghanas economic well-being is at stake if the bill is signed, citing billions of dollars in international trade and financing at stake.A report from Ghanas finance ministry warned the new law could jeopardize $3.8 billion in World Bank financing and threaten a $3-billion loan package from the International Monetary Fund to address a long-running economic crisis in the country.Calling homosexuality an import from the West, Ghanaian presidential candidate Mahamudu Bawumia said in June, We will never accept it no matter the consequences. We will defend our values. And we will let the world know, we will not change our values for them. The Human Rights Campaign has called the legislation a cruel bill that violates the fundamental rights of LGBTQI+ people and allies throughout Ghana.Every single lawmaker who voted to pass this bill is wrongly using their power to strip away the basic humanity of the people they are supposed to represent, said David Stacy, HRCs vice president of government affairs following passage of the bill in Parliament earlier this year.The advocacy group noted that LGBTQ+ people face high levels of discrimination in Ghana, citing incidents of violence and discrimination against queer Ghanaians in the last few years. In February 2021, police raided and shut down a LGBTQ+ resource center. In May that same year, 21 LGBTQ+ activists were arrested during a human rights assembly in Ho, Ghana, and have not yet been released. LGBTQI+ people throughout the country have faced evictions and various other forms of systematic discrimination, a press release stated.Ghana joins a growing list of African nations outlawing LGBTQ+ identity.Ugandas notorious Kill the Gays law, signed in 2023, is the most egregious example, with penalties up to and including death for some same-sex behavior.More recently, the military juntaruling Burkina Faso, Ghanas neighbor to the north, said that homosexual acts are now an offense punishable by law. Henceforth homosexuality and associated practices will be punished by the law, Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala said in July, according to the international news organization Agence France-Presse.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

The first out transgender school board member in California history was sworn in today at Shasta Countys Gateway Unified School District.In a press release provided to local news station KRCR, Bobbie Simpson said her victory highlights the Golden States commitment to diversity and representation, as well as the ongoing quest for acceptance among LGBTQ+ people. Related School district votes out board members who banned Pride flags in schools It was sneaky behavior, and then they pushed it through without listening to people. We will not stand for this. I am proud to serve my community and create a future where every student can thrive, no matter who they are, she said, emphasizing her commitment to improving education in the area. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Simpson won the election on November 5 with more than 56% of the vote. She beat incumbent Elias Haynes, who served on the school board alongside his wife, Lindsi Haynes. Both were recently the subjects of recall efforts and have not yet issued public statements.The last [GUSD board] meeting that I went to was fairly normal. It was very quiet, Simpson told Northstates News last month. Id hope to just kind of keep it like that. My biggest issue is having a married couple on the board, really seeming like an improper representation of the district.Simpsons goal is to improve the options students have for learning.I have experience with the special ed program. In particular, thats a special interest of mine, Simpson also said last month. Everyone learns a little differently. People have different learning styles, and I would like to see that addressed.She additionally emphasized her role in serving the LGBTQ+ community while also representating the broader Shasta County community. Ive had quite a few parents of both gay and trans kids come up to me and thank me for speaking up and being visible and advocating. So thats really kept me going through this last year even though Ive had a lot of opposition.In a November interview with Action News Now, she said she was very excited about the prospect of being elected. Im very proud that I have so much acceptance, that I do have this lead.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is freaking out over the fact that members of the House Ethics Committee have voted this week to release its investigative report looking into whether he engaged in sexual misconduct, used illicit drugs, shared inappropriate images on the House floor, misused campaign funds for personal reasons, accepted a bribe, committed statutory rape, and engaged in child sex trafficking. In a statement released Wednesday, Gaetz described his past behavior as embarrassing, though not criminal. Related Gay congressman calls Matt Gaetz an idiot & tells him to f**k off Gaetz made an inappropriate joke about a school shooting in Rep. Mark Pocans district. Multiple sources told CNN that the committee voted earlier this month to release the report. In early November, the committee votedalong party linesnot to release it. Its unclear why Republicans on the committee changed their vote or whether the committee might vote again not to release the report. The committee will reportedly release its findings after the House finishes voting for the year, which could occur later this week. 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 Its exceedingly rare for the House Ethics Committee to release an ethics report after a member has left Congress, the aforementioned news outlet wrote. Gaetz resigned from Congress shortly after President-elect Donald Trump named Gaetz as his next pick for Attorney General.However, shortly after he was nominated, The New York Times published a document prepared by federal investigators bolstering claims by women who said Gaetz hired them for sex. The image showed a web of payments from Gaetz and dozens of friends and associates who are said to have taken part with him in drug-fueled sex parties.Additionally, a lawyer for two women who testified before the Ethics Committee and were questioned by theDepartment of Justice (DOJ) said Gaetz paid them both for sex even though one of them was underage (17) at the time. Gaetz removed himself from consideration barely a week after Trump nominated him, writing that the scandals surrounding him had become a distraction to Trumps transition into the presidency. He later announced that hell join the right-wing media outlet One America News Network in January.However, upon hearing news of the investigations possible release, Gaetz wrote on X that he was fully exonerated from any allegations of criminal wrongdoing. While the DOJ didnt seek criminal charges against him, that isnt the same as being completely absolved of any wrongdoing it merely means the body may not have found enough evidence to build a case against him that would prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.Nevertheless, Gaetz wrote, In my single days, I often sent funds to women I dated even some I never dated but who asked. I dated several of these women for years. I NEVER had sexual contact with someone under 18.Any claim that I have would be destroyed in court which is why no such claim was ever made in court. My 30s were an era of working very hard and playing hard too. Its embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now, he added.Then, the very witnesses DOJ deemed not-credible were assembled by House Ethics to repeat their claims absent any cross-examination or challenge from me or my attorneys, Gaetz cintunued. Ive had no chance to ever confront any accusers. Ive never been charged. Ive never been sued. Instead, House Ethics will reportedly post a report online that I have no opportunity to debate or rebut as a former member of the body.The Biden/Garland DOJ spent years reviewing allegations that I committed various crimes. I was charged with nothing: FULLY EXONERATED. Not even a campaign finance violation. And the people investigating me hated me. Then, the very witnesses DOJ deemed not-credible were Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) December 18, 2024 The allegations facing GaetzIn 2020, the Secret Service received a tip that Gaetz was associated with a Florida county tax collector who was charged with making fake IDs to sex-traffic underage girls. The DOJ opened an investigation into Gaetz that same year, and investigators found that Gaetz would show his colleagues videos of naked and topless women on his phone as he bragged about how he was able to go to the parties held by the county tax collector,according to some witnesses.In an attempt to get a pardon in 2020, the county tax collector wrote a letter to the Trump administration in which he confessed to paying women and girls for sex and said that he and Gaetz sexually abused a 17-year-old girl together but said that they thought she was 19.Around the same time, the DOJ was also investigating whether Gaetz paid for her to travel with him for an alleged sexual relationship with her when she was 17. Gaetz denied the accusations and said that he was the victim of an extortion plot by an unnamed DOJ official. In strange media interviews, Gaetz claimed his father was wearing a wire to help officials catch the person extorting him, and he denied that there were photos of him with child prostitutes no one accused him of that.Gaetzs close relationship with Joel Greenberg who pleaded guilty in 2021 following a DOJ probe into whether he had sex with an underage girl and introduced her to other adult men who also had sex with her while she was underage put him under suspicion, as did the fact that Gaetz was the only member of Congress to vote against a bill that increased funding to fight human trafficking.Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CO), who was House Minority Leader at the time, said that he would not remove Gaetz from his committee assignments.CNN reportedthat Gaetz showed pictures of naked women to his colleagues on the House floor and bragged about having sex with themin 2021.But by 2022, the DOJ investigation into Gaetz had concluded, and prosecutors recommended not charging Gaetz in the sex trafficking investigation due to a lack of credibility of two key witnesses.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

The Senate has voted85 to 14to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a $895.2 billion military bill containing a provision to restrict gender-affirming care for trans children covered by Tricare, the militarys medical insurance. Lesbian Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), who unsuccessfully tried to get the provision removed, said that Republicans had broken and poisoned the final bill with the provision. The NDAA contains a provision banning any medical treatment for gender dysphoria that could result in sterilization for those under 18. Its unclear if the current legislation would ban puberty blockers (which dont affect fertility), hormone replacement therapies (whichcan), or mastectomies (which are rarely ever performed on minors). Related Families consider leaving the military after House votes yes on anti-trans spending bill The NDAA would remove gender-affirming care coverage for servicemembers trans children. The bill will now head to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. Biden has previously pledged to veto any legislation that harms the LGBTQ+ community, but the NDAA is traditionally considered a must pass bipartisan bill that typically becomes law without much opposition. 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 That tradition has changed in recent years as House Republicans have inserted culture war items into the NDAA meant to combat wokeism in the military. Last year, Republicans tried toremove any gender-affirming care coverage for trans troops, ban any book that has pornographic materials, and eliminate any offices overseeing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts. All of the anti-LGBTQ+ provisions were removed from last years bill.This year, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) inserted the gender-affirming care provision into the NDAA, turning some congressional Democrats against it. Yesterday, Sen. Baldwin debated alongside three other Democratic senators to get the provision removed. Baldwin alsointroduced an amendmentto eliminate the provision; 20 other Democratic senators supported her amendment, but it failed to pass.In a statement, Baldwin argued that lawmakers commitment to U.S. service members has been broken and noted that the provision will affect between 6,000 and 7,000 military families.It has been broken because some Republicans decided that gutting the rights of our service members to score cheap political points was more worthy, she said before the Senate vote. Were talking about parents who are serving our country in uniform, having the right to consult their familys doctor and get the health care they want and need for their transgender children, thats it. Some folks poisoned this bill and turned their backs on those in service and the people that we represent, she added.Last week, the Housepassed the NDAA in a 281-140 vote. Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) was among the 81 Democratswho supported the bill and was the only out gay House member to do so. Pappas said he supported the bill because it contains pay raises for junior servicemembers and Pentagon childcare workers, addresses staffing shortages at Veterans Affairs centers in rural areas, and funds projects that generate $1.5 billion to his home state of New Hampshire.Pappas wrote that he remains incredibly frustrated that this process was politicized in the worst way and blamed House Speaker Johnson (R-LA) for adding unnecessary riders to limit care for some LGBTQ+ individuals. Johnson may have allowed the Tricare restriction into the bill to buffet conservative support for the upcoming 2025 vote to keep him as House Speaker. In a statement condemning the Senates vote, Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinsonwrote, A majority in the Senate failed [military] families today, thousands of whom now face the possibility of losing access to medically necessary care. President Biden has the power to put a stop to this cruelty. He should make good on his promises to protect LGBTQ+ Americans, defend military servicemembers and their families, and ensure this countrys politics reflect the best of who we are. President Biden must veto this bill.In a separate statement, Advocates for Trans Equalitys Director of Federal Policy Olivia Hunt wrote, Denying lifesaving, medically necessary care to trans members of military families creates profound hardships, forcing service members to make impossible choices between their duty and the health and wellbeing of their loved ones. Politicizing access to evidence-based healthcare undermines the principles of fairness, dignity, and respect that our nation aspires to. No one should have to choose between their duty and protecting their family.Including this discriminatory provision in what has historically been bipartisan legislation is a disgraceful move by anti-trans politicians pandering to a fringe segment of their base. This decision prioritizes political gamesmanship over the dignity, rights, and well-being of those who serve our nation and set a dangerous precedent of governmental overreach into decisions that should remain between doctors and families.Last week, the Housepassed the NDAA in a 281-140 vote. In addition to the trans healthcare restriction, the bill also contains provisions blocking the Defense Department from teaching about critical race theory in its academic institutions or military trainings and freezes any military hiring on positions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. It also didnt contain a provision to expand access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) services to service members whose infertility wasnt caused by service-related illnesses or injuries.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Its been 35 years since the publication of Judith Butlers book Gender Trouble, which argued that gender is performative (that is, its real only to the extent that its performed). Recently, the queer feminist theorist discussed the books enduring impact, as well as the role of gender in this years elections in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pas, which had previously named them one of the most influential minds in the world.And they had harsh words for people on the left thinking about abandoning trans people in hopes of future electoral success. Related Judith Butler tore J.K. Rowlings transphobia to pieces in an epic clapback I think we are living in anti-intellectual times. Butler laid out their stance on several issues, including access to gender-affirming care for trans youth. Not providing support to gender non-conforming youth strikes me as an act of cruelty, they said. I dont think every time a kid says, oh, I want hormones, you rush to the doctor. But you also dont refuse the idea. 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 Womanhood wont be erased just because we open the category and invite some more people in, they added.They talked about a straight, cis father they met in Chile who said he doesnt want to live next door to a gay family because his way of life is the way that God has mandated, and it is the only correct and moral one.His fear was that if there were different kinds of legitimate families, then his form would become less natural and less necessary, Butler recounted. Butler had thoughts on this years elections. They said they dont believe the reason Donald Trump won was because of trans equality, instead pinning the blame on how Trump was able to speak to peoples anxiety on a variety of issues, including the economy, war, climate catastrophe and then use those issues to scapegoat minorities. Part of Trumps success came with constructing an image of Kamala Harris as the source of these problems because shes the woke, the Marxist, the feminist, Black and brown, who presumably supports trans surgery (terrifying) on migrants who flooded over the border (also terrifying), Butler said. On the left, we dont know how to appeal to peoples deep passions. We think were very smart and very critical. But wheres the radical imaginary by which people will be passionately absorbed? they asked. People want to go back to the idea of being a white country or the idea of the patriarchal family, the principle that marriages are for heterosexuals, they continued. I call it a nostalgic fury for an impossible past. As a consequence of that, theyre furiously turning against some of the most vulnerable people in this country, stripping of them of rights as they fear that the same will be done to them.When asked about people on the left including some Democrats who are calling for an abandonment of trans rights, Butler said that that logic is steeped in fascism.You could say that about the Jews, Black people or Haitians, or any very vulnerable minority. Once you decide that a single vulnerable minority can be sacrificed, youre operating within a fascist logic, because that means there might be a second one youre willing to sacrifice, and a third, a fourth, and then what happens?Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

A trans woman moved from a womens prison to a mens facility is suing the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) over her transfer, calling it cruel and unusual punishment.Trans inmate Amber Kim was previously incarcerated at a womens prison after a years-long effort to be housed there. In March, she was discovered having consensual sex with her cisgender cellmate and cited for a 504 infraction, which forbids sexual contact between inmates, the Huffington Post reports. Related Prison forces trans woman into solitary confinement at a mens facility Kim is on a hunger strike, and has been since Friday, demanding to be transferred back. Im just scared its gonna get a lot worse before it gets better, she said. The following week, the right-wing National Review published an expose about the incident, based on a leaked disciplinary report. The story deadnamed and misgendered Kim and described transgender women as male inmates who identified as women in order to sexually exploit female prisoners. No allegations of assault or non-consensual sexual activity were cited by prison officials. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today A regularly scheduled review of Kims housing conditions shortly after the infraction determined she should remain in the womens prison, but, breaking protocol, the department initiated another review just weeks after the story appeared and determined she would be moved to a mens facility.The sudden reversal was arbitrary, in bad faith, and lacking a legitimate penological purpose, Kims lawyers, Adrien Leavitt and La Rond Baker of the ACLU-Washington, wrote in her petition. The lawyers noted Kim didnt receive any additional disciplinary infractions between the two decisions.DOCs baseless transfer decision defies its own well-found reasons for placing Ms. Kim at [Washington Corrections Center for Women] nearly four years ago, her lawyers wrote. For Ms. Kim, the risk of violence, sexual assaults and harassment is not merely speculative. Prior to her transfer to WCCW, Ms. Kim experienced two attempted sexual assaults, inappropriate touching by DOC employees, and ongoing sexual and verbal harassment by male inmates.Prison officials originally accused Kim of resisting transfer when she was moved to the womens facility and she was placed in solitary confinement at the mens prison as punishment. They have since retracted the accusation. Kim, however, has chosen to remain in solitary over fears for her safety.If I am eventually placed in mens general population, I will live in constant fear. I am afraid of physical assault, sexual assault, and the constant harassment, she wrote in adeclaration accompanying the lawsuit.I will face the ultimate paradox: my continued physical transition helps address my debilitating gender dysphoria, but the more female-presenting I become in appearance, the more unwanted, nonconsensual attention I will receive from the men in prison.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

While I do not support the means of Luigi Mangione alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson I fully back his purported goal of highlighting the greed, insensitivity, and inhumanity of large corporations and the increasing power of the oligarchs who control the country. He has hit the raw nerve of the vast majority of U.S. residents who consider the current economic system to be unfair and rigged against them.While economic disparities plague all of the nations across the planet, nowhere among the richer nations in the world are these disparities more extreme than in theUnited States. The top 1% of the population has greater wealth with an average income of $1,316,985 than the entire bottom 99%, with an average income of $50,107. Related Glorifying Luigi Mangione is a very slippery slope If we condone murder of any kind, what moral standing do we have against Donald Trumps horrific actions? So, when is enough enough? Dive deeper every day Join our newsletter for thought-provoking commentary that goes beyond the surface of LGBTQ+ issues Subscribe to our Newsletter today Is it when the compensation of corporateCEOs has risen an astounding 300 times more than a typical worker?Or when corporate profits have reached unprecedented heights, though the wages and benefits of the vast majority of workers either stagnated or diminished when accounting for inflation?Is it when a few individual families own 20 or 30 or 40 fast food franchises while paying their workers less than a living wage, even though 26% of fast food employees are parents raising children, and 68% are the major wage earners for their families. Or when many of our people go hungry as Congress fights to eliminate the food stamp safety net?Is it when a McDonalds employee must work the equivalent of at least 930 years to match the salary the CEO makes in a single year? Or when a family purchases two or three or four or five or even six homes that they occasionally visit depending on their current mood the way the rest of us choose a pair of underwear, all while many of our people, including youth, go homeless?Or is it when our elected officials in Washington, DC, respond to the demands of the upper-income groups and discount lower socioeconomic income brackets? Is that finally enough? How about when the corporate sector increasingly dictates economic policy through the purchasing and ownership of politicians at the expense of the American people, creating a culture that eliminates workers health care and collective bargaining rights, promotes and maintains workplace inequalities, forecloses our homes through scurrilous business practices, and holds students hostage to loan structures that jeopardize their futures? Or when the military-industrial complex marches to the beat of industry, our educational system bases itself on standardization and allegiance to corporate needs, and our prison industrial complex perpetuates the racial and socioeconomic class inequities pervasive throughout?Is enough enough when corporations grab government bailouts with impunity while doling out exorbitant bonuses for executives? What about when these same executives pay lower tax rates than their secretaries?When is enough enough? A democratic socialist revolutionEven before the Cold War and the so-called McCarthy Period (named after former Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy (R) ), individuals and groups on the political and theocratic right have flung the term socialist from their metaphoric sling shots into the faces of their political opponents to discredit their characters and dismiss their ideas and policies, all with the goal of swaying the electorate toward a conservative agenda.In his second State of the Union Address in January 2019, Donald Trump set a major theme for his future presidential bids by throwing to his base the red meat of socialism, characterizing it as an anti-American, freedom-killing political philosophy. Here, in the United States, Trump said, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.The right continued to sound these socialist alarm bells, especially through the MAGA movements representation of Kamala Harriss candidacy, plus its claim that various other Democratic politicians were socialist left-wing radicals.The right would have us believe that socialism is destructive and freedom-killing, but according to thedictionarysays socialism involves a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole, where each of us has a stake and advances in the success of our collective economy. Maybe if more of us challenged the widening and inhumane inequities in our nation, if each of us understood that we all have a stake in the success of ourcollectiveeconomy, then enough would definitely be enough.So what are some strategies to narrow the gaps in wealth and income between the economic classes in the United States? A quality, single-payer universal health care system that is not tied to an individuals employment, which includes safe and reasonably priced prescriptions and over-the-counter drug therapies. Guaranteed protection and enhancement of our Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid safety nets that are not taxed A system of parental leave, paid sick leave, tax credits and governmental supplements for quality child day care services, as well as universal Pre-K education for all young people. Guaranteed equal pay for equal work between the sexes, and the raising of the minimum wage so workers can significantly raise their standard of living. Further nationalization of our parks, forests, mountains, rivers, streams, shores, and off-shore waters, rather than allocating increased corporate mining, drilling, and timber rights. Free and quality education, not only through grade 12, but also throughout higher education and even after for everyone who desires. government-sponsored programs that guarantee our seniors a retirement system that ensures a high quality of life free from economic burdens. Guaranteed rights of workers in all industries to organize and collectively bargain for better wages and working conditions. Elimination of workplace and larger societal inequalities based on race, nationality, citizenship status, age, sex, sexual identity, gender identity and expression, disability, socioeconomic standing, religion, and other social identities. Guaranteed comfortable and secure places to live, and governmental policies that actually prevent a banking system that forecloses peoples homes through shady business practices. Severe restrictions on the political process to prevent mammoth contributions by individuals and corporations, who currently have the power to buy and own politicians and influence public policy while locking out individuals and groups that are unable to amass large political funds. Challenge the military industrial complex that marches to the beat of industry, and the prison industrial complex that perpetuates the racial and socioeconomic class inequities pervasive throughout society.Create a true progressive tax structure where everyone pays their fair share, one that inhibits massive inequities caused by the overwhelming accumulation of wealth by the top income brackets. Establish effective restrictions on the so-called free market economic system that enables the creation and enhancement of mega monopolies, outsourcing of jobs, manufacture of defective products, and inhibition in the development of clean renewable energy technologies.If the United States does not act to narrow the massive gaps in wealth and income between sectors of the population, I believe a class war hopefully non-violent is imminent.Ironically, it will take a democratic socialist revolution to prevent the current capitalist system lacking in oversight regulations and rife with corruption and massive wealth and income inequities from imploding onto itself. It will take a democratic socialist revolution to promote governmental sponsorship of previously private and semi-private sector institutions, such as insurance and retirement policy corporations and educational establishments.It will take a democratic socialist revolution to compel the United States to live up to its overriding promise that anyone can succeed depending on their motivation, merit, and talent neither helped nor hindered by their socioeconomic birth ranking or their social identities.It will take a democratic socialist revolution to ensure a firm and strong safety net to catch everyone who has, for any reason, been unable to ascend. No, democratic socialism is not a magic panacea or some unattainable utopian vision from a futuristic film. Instead, democratic socialism provides a concrete foundation of action to lift our nation from the ever-widening social and economic abyss in which we find ourselves, an abyss that poses an existential crisis far greater than any threat from foreign military or cyber invasion.Young people, especially those steeped in history or possibly protected from its murky shadows can educate their elders who grew up in earlier generations when socialist was thrown around as an evil and corrosive epithet.The type of democratic socialism proposed, for example, by Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and while not referring to herself as a democratic socialst, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has articulated similar plans) is completely dissimilar from the freedom-killing national socialism ruthlessly imposed by the Nazis; from the governmental system inflicted within the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR); or the ruthless socialism of Venezuela and the communism of Mainland China and North Korea. Rather, the democratic socialism outlined by Sanders and the movement he has spawned resembles more the social and economic systems of the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland.No country in the world today stands as a fully socialist state, but rather, some of the most successful economies combine elements of capitalism with socialism to create greater degrees of equity and lesser disparities between the rich, the poor, and those on the continuum in between.This year, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development conducted its Better Life Index to determine the happiest countries in the world, according to its residents. Based on an 11-measure survey assessing quality of life, including housing, income, jobs, community, education, the environment, health, work-life balance, and life satisfaction, all of the Scandinavian countries, ranked in the top 10. Number one is Finland, followed by Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Canada, (which provides a single-payer health care system, unlike its North American neighbor), New Zealand, Sweden, and Australia (which places severe restrictions on firearms ownership). The United States did came in at 17 (down two from the previous year). Therefore, we might do well to look to these countries for some of their socialist policies that sustain high qualities-of-life for their residents.Many on the political right have established the false binary of capitalism on one side and socialism/communism on the other. But when we get beyond the fear and false generalizations, byeond the connections to tyrannical corrupt dictatorships, is socialism really so anti-American? It will take more than a president to do this, though. It will take the houses of Congress to propose and pass legislation and the courts to maintain policies and regulations making the capitalist system more equitable and sustainable. It will also require Congress to conduct genuine oversight functions that prior Congresses relinquished.Yes, itwilltake a democratic socialist revolution to save capitalism from itself.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.