A Self-Care Guide for LGBTQ+ Young PeopleFollowing the 2024 elections, The Trevor Project sawa nearly 700% increasein volume across our classic crisis services. We have heard many LGBTQ+ young people across the country on our lines, social media, andTrevorSpace. LGBTQ+ youth express a wide range of emotions including anxiety, stress, fear, and sadness about how the new political environment in the U.S. may impact their lives, and the lives of people they love.To help support LGBTQ+ young people through what can be an intense political climate, as well as help them find support and build community, were sharing a number of tips to consider and explore. As always,our crisis counselors are also available via text, calls, and chats 24/7, 365 days a year. The Trevor Project is 100% confidential and 100% free.1. Take a moment for yourselfIts easy for any of us to get wrapped up in negative political commentary and feel overwhelmed.Give yourself a moment to take a step back.Unclench your jaw. Take a few deep breaths.Check in with yourself around what you need, whether thats sleep, a meal, water, or time with your trusted community.Visit The Trevor ProjectsSelf-Care GuideandSelf-Care Flowchartfor ideas.2. ReflectIts normal to consider what the future may hold, or to be uncertain about what certain policy positions might mean for you, friends, or family. Its also important to remember that the full political landscape wont become clear for many more days, and things wont change overnight. Take this time to take care of yourself and reflect on how you want to use the time leading up to inauguration, while also considering proactive steps to protect your rights.3. Find communityThe LGBTQ+ community is vibrant, diverse, and lives in every corner of the country.If you can, search for a local LGBTQ+ center to see if they host community spaces and events.Connect with your peers onTrevorSpace, The Trevor Projects safe space social networking site for LGBTQ+ young people.Spend time withtrusted friends and family members who support and understand you.Practice allyship with our guide onhow to signal you are an ally in a hostile environment.4. Learn about LGBTQ+ organizationsIn addition to community based organizations, there are a number of national organizations supporting LGBTQ+ people, and it can be uplifting to see their work.Consider checking out programs and resources from organizations working alongside The Trevor Project. The Equality Federation is a great place to start with a network of more than 30 state-based groups that young people can use to connect with their own state or community.5. Set aside time to relaxConsider what helps you relax whether its music, exercise, yoga, meditation, or cooking.Set aside time to intentionally focus on your relaxation activity. Silence notifications and remove disturbances to enhance your focus.The Trevor Project also offers a visual breathing exercise to help you relieve stress and anxiety.6. Take a break from news and social mediaIt can be helpful to stay informed, but taking brief breaks from all screens can help you avoid becoming overwhelmed by news and social media.Consider whats right for you: taking a small break, setting time limits for social media apps, disconnecting for a day, or anywhere in between.To help you process your day, take a break from screens before bed.7. Trans youth: look to the futureTrevorSpace.org is a safe place for transgender and nonbinary young people to find peer connection and build upon an already vibrant community.Follow nonprofits supporting transgender and nonbinary rights and trans-led organizations; youll see how hard theyre working to protect trans peoples rights, health, and more.If you can, consider updating your identification documents, including your passport even if you dont plan to travel outside the country. You can find out how here.If youre concerned about your health care, know that you have options available and people to help you navigate any hurdles throughThe Trans Youth Emergency Project.8. If or when youre up for it, take actionCheck out our Resources page to learn more about LGBTQ+ identities and how to support LGBTQ+ young people.Sign up to advocate alongside The Trevor Project and help protect LGBTQ+ young people from harmful bills.Help support The Trevor Projects life-saving crisis services and work to prevent suicide among LGBTQ+ youth by hosting a virtual fundraiser.Considerdonating to The Trevor Projectto help power our life-saving work. Together, we can continue working towards a welcoming, loving world for LGBTQ+ young people.Editor Note: The title was originally Finding Support & Building Community After the 2024 Elections. We have updated it to reflect additional information.The post Finding Support & Building Community Amid Political Uncertainty appeared first on The Trevor Project.

As we reflect on 2024 and look forward to the year ahead, were reminded that every milestone weve achieved is thanks to the support of our incredible community. Its the dedication and belief of supporters like you that make our work possible and inspire us to continue building a brighter future for LGBTQ+ young people.Please enjoy this video for a complete look at what you helped make possible! Thank you for being the one to support LGBTQ+ young people.The post 2024 Recap Interactive: Big Moments, Bigger Impact appeared first on The Trevor Project.

Legendary filmmaker David Lynch, renowned for queer classics like Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, and Mulholland Drive, has passed away at 78. His death was confirmed via a statement on his official Facebook page.Family Statement Reflects Lynchs Unique PerspectiveIt is with deep regret that we, his family, announce the passing of the man and the artist, David Lynch, the statement reads. We would appreciate some privacy at this time. Theres a big hole in the world now that hes no longer with us. But, as he would say, Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole. Its a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies all the way.Related | Comedian and Actor Tony Slattery Dies at 65 After Heart AttackA Career Defined by Surrealism and LGBTQ+ ThemesLynchs work left an indelible mark on cinema, especially within the queer community. His 2001 film Mulholland Drive earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Director and remains celebrated for its LGBTQ+ themes. Other notable works include Blue Velvet (1986), a film lauded for its homoerotic undertones, and the original 1984 adaptation of Dune. While the latter received mixed reviews at the time, it cemented Lynchs reputation as a boundary-pushing visionary.Lynchs Legacy in Queer RepresentationAs the co-creator of Twin Peaks, Lynch brought LGBTQ+ representation to mainstream television with the character Denise Bryson, a transgender DEA agent portrayed by David Duchovny. The series, including its 2017 revival Twin Peaks: The Return, remains a cultural touchstone for its surreal storytelling and inclusive casting.Health Struggles in His Final YearsIn a 2024 interview with Sight and Sound, Lynch disclosed that he had been diagnosed with emphysema due to a lifelong smoking habit. Smoking was something that I absolutely loved, but in the end, it bit me, he reflected. It was part of the art life for mebut it was killing me, so I had to quit.Celebrating an IconDavid Lynchs influence on queer cinema and art will endure, inspiring generations to embrace the surreal, the unconventional, and the beautifully strange.More Stories: Rep. Sarah McBride Appointed Deputy Whip for Policy in 119th CongressRep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Criticizes Disabled Transgender Students Top Surgery DecisionOmar Apollo Shares Full Frontal Queer Scene Shuts Down HomophobesQueer Snubbed by BAFTAs: Daniel Craig, Omar Apollos Callout & MoreDavid Lynch, Iconic Director of Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive, Dies at 78The post David Lynch, Iconic Director of Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive, Dies at 78 appeared first on Gayety.

Worcester City Councilor Thu Nguyen, Massachusetts first nonbinary elected official, has announced they are taking a month-long hiatus from their duties, citing an ongoing pattern of transphobia and a discriminatory and toxic culture within the city council. Nguyen made the announcement on Wednesday, January 15, 2025, stating that they would take time off to prioritize their mental and emotional well-being.Nguyen, who was elected in 2021, shared the decision in a statement sent to LGBTQ Nation, explaining that they have formally filed a complaint with the citys Executive Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (EOE). In the complaint, Nguyen outlined their experiences of being misgendered by fellow councilors and the citys mayor, Joseph M. Petty (D), during council sessions, further alleging that District 2 Councilor Candy Mero-Carlson had referred to them as it on multiple occasions.These hateful acts are unbecoming of a legislative body whose duty is to serve our communities and honor anti-discrimination laws, Nguyen wrote in the statement. I have formally requested for the City of Worcesters Chief Equity Officer to open an immediate investigation and create an action plan to address this matter.Nguyen, who identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, emphasized that the complaint aims to hold public officials accountable and ensure that Worcesters government aligns with legal and moral standards regarding the treatment of LGBTQ+ individuals. The city councilor stressed that their decision to speak out stems from the broader context of increasing anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment, particularly toward transgender people, across the nation.LGBTQ+ folks are facing more physical threats, violence, and hate all over the nation, Nguyen said. Many look to Massachusetts as a safe haven, but here in Worcester, our safety is compromised by government leadership that does not hold the same values of dignity and humanity for the LGBTQ+ community.Nguyens announcement follows a contentious debate at Tuesdays city council meeting, where the topic of remote participation was discussed. Nguyen expressed frustration with a recent order filed by Petty asking the Municipal and Legislative Operations Committee to review remote participation rules, a policy that Nguyen felt unfairly targeted them due to their own frequent remote attendance.During the meeting, Nguyen addressed the council, saying, Under your leadership, I have felt unsafe around this council body. I have faced transphobia with being misgendered and recently learned that I have been dehumanized to the point where Im being referred to as it by my colleagues.I wish to have felt safe on this council floor, but I dont, Nguyen added.In response to Nguyens statement, Councilor Kathleen Toomey acknowledged that she had misgendered Nguyen when they were first elected, describing the incident as an honest mistake. Toomey apologized to Nguyen, adding that she did not intentionally misgender them after that point.Theres never, ever been any attempt on my side to misgender them, Toomey said. If I did, I apologize.Massachusetts LGBTQ+ advocacy group MassEquality has called for immediate action, urging the city to address Nguyens claims with greater transparency. In a statement released on Wednesday, the organization demanded a formal public apology and requested that Worcester implement comprehensive diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training for all city councilors and officials.MassEquality stands with Councilor Nguyen in calling for lasting change, the group stated. This should include DEI training and structural changes to ensure that marginalized individuals, especially members of the LGBTQ+ community, are not subjected to discrimination or bigotry.Worcester, the second-largest city in Massachusetts, is known for its progressive stance on LGBTQ+ rights, with a reputation for being a sanctuary for queer individuals in the state. However, Nguyens experience has underscored the challenges that LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly transgender and nonbinary people, continue to face within political structures, even in cities that are widely regarded as inclusive.In their statement, Nguyen called on the public to advocate for a political reimagination that includes a holistic commitment to the care and dignity of LGBTQ+ individuals.We hope that by speaking up against transphobia and hate, many of you will join me in pushing for a government that truly serves everyone, which rightfully includes the LGBTQ+ community, Nguyen wrote.As Nguyen takes time off to focus on their personal well-being, the city of Worcester now faces pressure from both local and statewide organizations to address the allegations and ensure a more inclusive and supportive environment for all public officials and residents.The post Massachusetts First Nonbinary Elected Official Takes Hiatus Citing Transphobia and Toxic City Council Culture appeared first on Gayety.

Photo by Canva.Subscribe nowIn 2022, the highly effective HIV prevention drug regimen known as PrEP (short for preexposure prophylaxis) was dealt a narrow blow. In Texas, Reed OConnor, a federal judge known to rule conservatively, decreed that a handful of employers did not have to follow an Affordable Care Act (ACA) rule mandating 100% insurance coverage for preventive HIV measures like PrEP. The employers had argued that because PrEP was widely used by men who have sex with men (MSM), it violated the employers beliefs under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.One of the employers, Braidwood Management, is being represented by Gene Hamilton, who worked for the Trump administrations Justice Department and is now Vice President of America First Legal, a conservative public interest organization headed by Stephen Miller, who will serve as Trumps Deputy Chief of Staff for policy. On behalf of the employer, Hamilton argued that covering PrEP promoted homosexual behavior and violated his religious beliefs by making him complicit in encouraging those behaviors. After hearing the arguments, OConnor wrote in his decision that the employer has shown that the PrEP mandate substantially burdens its religious exercise.While the ruling only applies to the respondents in question, the Supreme Court announced last week that they will review part of the case that challenges the structure of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a part of the Department of Health and Human Services that issues recommendations for preventive medical services. SCOTUS will determine whether the government, via the ACA, has the right to mandate 100% insurance coverage of recommended services like PrEP, along with a variety of other preventive services like cancer screenings and heart statins, at no cost to patients.Photo by Tony WebsterAs SCOTUS gets set to hear the case, advocates wait with bated breath, compounded by an incoming Trump administration and a GOP-led Congress packed with figures like House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has spoken of the GOPs intention to cut numerous healthcare programs and has compared gay marriage to giving people the right to marry their pets or pedophiles the right to marry children.In November, Trump picked Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. If confirmed, Kennedy would lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which comprises crucial agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, the Federal Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.Photo by Gage SkidmoreKennedy has not only spoken of massive cuts, dismissals, and changes across HHS agencies, but he has also called for an eight-year break in infectious disease research and has questioned the proven truth that HIV causes AIDS.In addition, he has also supported the views of notorious deniers that HIV causes AIDS, including Peter Duesberg, and wrote a glowing quote for Rebecca V. Culshaws book The Real AIDS Epidemic. Culshaws book is a denialist tract. In the introduction, she calls HIV drugs, which have saved millions of lives worldwide, toxic drugs being foisted on the Black and gay communities that constitute one of the worst medical violations of human rights since the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment.Subscribe for accountability journalism.These recent political developments have PrEP advocates concerned. "If we lose funding across various programs, we're not going to get anything done with continuing to advance PrEP access," says Jeremiah Johnson, executive director of PrEP4All, a group formed in 2018 that has been advocating for a federal government-run program that would make PrEP both free and accessible. "And now that we have a Republican trifecta in D.C., I'm fearful that all these funding streams are going to be targets."The PowerfulAnd UnevenPromise of PrEPSince its first daily oral version was approved in 2012, PrEPwhich, when adhered to, prevents one getting HIV by roughly 99%has played a key role in decreasing new HIV diagnoses in the U.S. Diagnoses have dropped the most in states with the highest usage of PrEP, such as New York, California and Illinois. PrEP now comes in both branded and cheaper generic oral versions, as well as an every-other-month injectable, and it is seen as the tool most capable of ending the HIV epidemic in the U.S."PrEP has been a game-changer," says John Meade, a senior program manager for policy at AVAC, an HIV prevention advocacy group, and a member of PrEP in Black America, a group of HIV experts and advocates devoted to increasing PrEP use among African Americans.Photo by Jeffrey BeallDespite these groups efforts, PrEP uptake has been starkly unequal. A 2022 CDC analysis found that 94% of white people in the U.S. who could benefit from PrEP (mostly MSM, HIV's largest risk group) have been prescribed it compared to 13% of Black people and 24% of Hispanic people who could benefit from the medication. These disparities exist even as Black and Hispanic MSM remain the groups with the highest rates of new HIV infections.There are geographic disparities as well: Liberal and affluent states have high rates of PrEP usage, whereas conservative and low-resource states, particularly in the Deep South, have far lower rates. A 2024 study found that usage ranged from 22% in New York to 4% in West Virginia.Parker Michels-Boyce for Uncloseted Media.In a recent Uncloseted Media investigation that looked at racial disparities and access to PrEP, the story of Dorian McCullera young gay Black man in Virginia who, having never heard of PrEP, was diagnosed with HIV on his 19th birthdayspoke to the dearth of awareness and understanding of PrEP among those who could most benefit from it. If I had known [about it], I wouldve gotten on PrEP, he said.That knowledge and readiness gap troubles Meade. "We not only have two branded versions, Truvada and Descovy, we also have generics and injectablesall the tools we need to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S., he says. The only challenge is getting it to the communities that need it mostthat's the missing piece of the puzzle.Its precisely due to the struggle to get PrEP to those who could most benefit from it that advocates nationwide are nervous about the incoming Trump administration, GOP-led Congress and right-majority Supreme Court. If we lose funding, were not going to get anything done, says Meade.Hard to Read the Tea Leaves At This PointCurrently, Meade says its difficult to know whats going to happen. The incoming Trump administration may stand behind PrEP and other prevention methods, such as expanded HIV testing. After all, it was the first Trump administration that initiated the federal Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) effort, which Trump shouted out in his 2019 State of the Union address: My budget will ask Democrats and Republicans to make the needed commitment to eliminate the HIV epidemic in the United States within 10 years. Together, we will defeat AIDS in America.In addition, Trumps first administration rolled out some modest but not terribly effective measures to increase PrEP access. Although Trump scapegoated transgender people during his 2024 campaign and bragged about appointing the Supreme Court justices that brought down Roe v. Wade, hes never said anything indicating opposition to HIV prevention. With the exception of the case heading to SCOTUS, PrEP has not yet come under the intense right-wing backlash that has dealt various blows to reproductive healthcare and gender-affirming healthcare for trans minors, which has already been banned in 26 states.On the flip side, the incoming administration and Congress have also signaled clear intentions to cut or alter a variety of healthcare programs that deliver not only PrEP but a wide range of medical care, including Medicaid and the ACA, to countless Americans. And last year, the House of Representatives proposed $770 million in cuts to HIV-specific programs.The funding cuts were blocked by the Democratic-led Senate; however, as of this year, the Senate majority flips to the GOP. This time around, Republicans are talking about measures such as putting hard caps on Medicaid funding to states. This cutback would mean that many states that have already been lifting income caps for Medicaid in the past decade, increasing national Medicaid coverage for millions of people, may have to stop doing so.Such cuts would be a bitter comedown for HIV advocates from Bidens White House years. Supported by a Democratic-led Senate, the Biden administration made no substantial gains on HIV but still upheld most of the HIV advocacy communitys wishes, including awarding $17 million from HHS to 46 health centers nationwide to increase access to PrEP and other preventative measures. Perhaps most importantly, the Biden administration amplified and promoted core scientific knowledge that PrEP for HIV-negative people and medical viral suppression for HIV-positive people were key ways of ending the epidemic in the U.S.Uncloseted Media is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.But with the impending Republican trifecta, that status quo is on the line. Meade says that he hopes to avoid the worst cuts and changes by showing Republican lawmakers the direct impact HIV funding has on their districts. The GOP has to be 100% united to get cuts through, he says. So, I'm hoping that there are some reasonable folks on the [Republican] side of the aisle that will listen to constituents who say, 'I'm representing Georgia, or Alabama, that has some of the biggest HIV clinics and research institutions in the country, and those bring jobs to my state or district.' Maybe that will make some reps think twice before cutting these programs."Johnson says this current moment is particularly nerve-wracking. "It's difficult for us, right now, to fully prepare for what we could face because we don't know exactly what will happen this year. But we've seen bipartisan support for PrEP scale-up, so I'm hopeful that will continueand that we'll avoid any mis- or disinformation around PrEP."As for SCOTUS review of the ruling, it goes beyond PrEP to the larger question of whether the ACA has the right to make insurers fully cover an array of preventive services, such as: screenings for cancers, depression and other illnesses; immunizations; preventive medication for chronic conditions like heart disease; counseling on health behaviors related to weight management, alcohol and drug use; and prenatal testing."A pillar of the ACA is at risk here," says Jose Abrigo, HIV Project Director for the LGBTQ law nonprofit Lambda Legal, which is following the case closely but is not involved in it. "Preventative services are crucial to the nation's health," he says, adding that if SCOTUS rules broadly against full-coverage mandates within the ACA, "almost half the nation's healthcare is at risk."On the Eve of a BreakthroughNervousness about the future of PrEP funding is occurring on the eve of a massive breakthrough. Last year, drugmaker Gilead, whose drug Truvada was the first to be approved for PrEP in 2012, announced data showing that another of its drugs, an injectable called lenacapavir, was capable in large trials of completely preventing HIV with just two shots a year. The development was hailed as a bombshell breakthroughthe closest science has ever come to an HIV vaccine. It is widely believed that the FDA will allow the drug to come to market this year.However, if Gilead prices the drug exorbitantly, and if SCOTUS rules that the government doesn't have the power to mandate health plans with full coverage of PrEP, another blow would be dealt to HIV prevention.With all these potential forces arrayed against PrEP, advocates say that they will have to fight hard on both the federal and state level to retain as much government funding and support as possible. In D.C., Meade says advocates are waiting to see which lawmaker will step up to fill the HIV leadership vacuum created by the departure of longtime HIV-funding champion Rep. Barbara Lee as well as of Rep. Jenniffer Gonzlez-Clon, both of whom chaired the bipartisan Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus, which advocates for HIV funding and programs in Congress."We also need someone on the Appropriations Committees to fight against cuts, Meade added, referencing the powerful subsections of the House and Senate that determine how much money is spent on what. Meade also urged anyone concerned with the future of PrEP funding, and healthcare funding in general, to consider joining a state or local healthcare advocacy group that conducts visits to lawmakers both in D.C. and in their district offices.Johnson says that the stakes are dire. "If we lose the funding we have, which is already insufficient, there's likely to be significant disruption to taking PrEP for a great many individuals, whether they're insured or not. And that will lead to more HIV infections, which will lead to additional healthcare costs for the American healthcare system. We're not going to be able to replicate this federal government infrastructure elsewhere if it's lost."At the same time, Johnson urges advocates to stay strong. "The sexual health needs of marginalized communities are always under attack. So, we need to continue doing what we always do, which is to put one foot in front of the other, assess the situation and come up with strategies that really work. We can't afford to let up on the gas now."If objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button:Donate to Uncloseted Media

Video by: E E OliverSubscribe nowHeadlines have been swirling all week in regard to Metas new rules. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the tech giant is eliminating its fact-checkers less than two weeks ahead of Trumps inauguration. In addition, theyve introduced guidelines that allow users to accuse LGBTQ people of being mentally ill because they are gay or transgender. So why exactly is the companywhich boasts more than 3.3 billion daily usersdoing this now? To find out, I called up , Founder of Popular Information, a newsletter that focuses on accountability journalism. In 2020, it won the Online News Associations Excellence in Journalism award in part for its reporting on Facebook and online misinformation. Watch the full interview above or read the transcript here:Spencer Macnaughton: Hello, everyone. I'm here with Judd Legum, an American journalist and lawyer. He's also the founder and author of the very successful Substack, Popular Information, which is an independent newsletter dedicated to accountability journalism. Judd, thank you so much for coming on with Uncloseted Media.Judd Legum: Thanks for having me.SM: We reached out to you because we wanted to have somebody give us more context on what Mark Zuckerberg announced this week in terms of changes over at Meta. For someone who hasn't read the news at all this week, can you give us the broad strokes on what he announced, what he's doing and what will be changing at the company as it relates to fact-checkers and beyond?JL: Overall, I think it represents a cultural shift in the whole company to align himself more closely with the right, quite frankly. And it appears that each of the individual components of the announcement had that purpose. One of the announcements, probably the one that got the biggest headlines thus far, was to eliminate the fact-checking program. This is something I have done a lot of reporting on, dating back to 2018, 2019, when the program was first launching and it is a deeply flawed program. They didn't put much investment into it, so they put very little money into it and so very few people saw any fact-checks of any content. There's so much content put on Facebook, on Instagram, all of those things. Secondly, they signed up a lot of publications to do fact-checks, who themselves have a very checkered record as far as producing factual information, like The Daily Caller, which was founded by Tucker Carlson, was one of their fact-checkers. And in fact, Joel Kaplan, who has been with Meta for many years and is a Republican operative and became famous because he's one of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's close associates and friends. He was there to support [Kavanaugh] during the confirmation hearings and was just promoted to be [Metas] chief policy officer. He was the one who pushed to have The Daily Caller as part of their fact-checking program. He also was the one who just appeared on Fox and Friends to announce this slate of changes. So all this goes by way of saying this wasn't a great program. It wasn't doing a ton of good. Fact-checking itself is important in my view but this fact-checking program was more about insulating the company from blame for the widespread misinformation that spread on the platform and they started getting criticism for that, of course, after the 2016 election. But the way in which Zuckerberg announced this was to say, well, the problem is that these fact-checkers, who are, by the way, hand-selected by Meta, were just too political, eroded trust, were using it kind of as a political cudgel and basically adopting the language of Trump, whose campaign really went on and declared war against fact-checkers during his 2024 campaign. So I think that in that case, the move probably isn't as important as the way that he framed it and sort of adopting this kind of anti-journalism posture and really incorporating this critique of the media [and how they are] really biased against Republicans and the right.Subscribe for LGBTQ-focused, accountability journalism.SM: I found it interesting that Zuckerberg, in the video he released, talked about how we want to move back towards free speech and then I also found it interesting that they decided to have Joel Kaplan go on Fox and Friends, of all places, to kind of make this announcement. What do you think's behind those decisions? Because, of course, all of that is strategic and preplanned.JL: Well, I think they're looking at the relationship that Elon Musk has with Donald Trump, and they are wanting to develop a similar relationship and that is really a thread that pulls through all of these announcements. So they've eliminated the fact-checking program, but they're replacing it with this Community Notes-style system, which they explicitly said was modeled after what Elon Musk has put into place on X, and it's really about aligning themselves more in the Musk mold to try to get and cement that relationship.The other part of this announcement that really stuck out and underscores that, was Zuckerberg saying that they're going to continue some content moderation about certain topics, but they're moving their content moderation team to Texas because Zuckerberg says that Texas is a place where people have less concern about bias, which is also something that Musk talks about a lot, that Texas is the greatest place. He's moved the headquarters of Tesla to Texas. He moved the headquarters of X to Texas. And that somehow is this neutral place and California is just full of biased people. And so all of that is pretty ridiculous on its face. The only way that it's preferable is if you are trying to pander to the right.SM: It seems like they are just trying to pander to the incoming Trump administration. Is that the key reason or is there more to the story?JL: There's more to it, in that I think that Zuckerberg has always blown with the wind somewhat and even references this. He says that this is now a new cultural moment, so it's not so much, I believe in free speech. This is what I am doing. Because if you did believe in free speech, this wouldn't be the slate of changes that you would implement. It's more like, Here's my sense of where I think we are culturally. I'm not sure his analysis is correct, but that's his analysis, and [Zuckerberg] is going to then align [him]self with that.SM: One of the things that was frankly really alarming to me as somebody who runs an LGBTQ-focused news publication is in their revised guidelines they say a lot of hate speech isn't going to be allowed but they [caveated that with], We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation. Given political or religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common nonserious usage of words like weird. I'm curious what you thought when you saw that.JL: Yeah, I think it kind of gives away the game a bit when you kind of dig into this document. Zuckerberg has framed this up as supporting free speech and a simplification. [But] if you compare the documents, the new document isn't any simpler. It's not any shorter. It's not any clearer than the old document. In fact, in many cases they've added complexity, just like the portion you just read, where they're now saying, in general, you can't dehumanize people, we're going to keep that in. But here are some exceptions where we think it's okay for you to dehumanize people. That's not a defense of free speech. That's just saying, Well, Trump and the MAGA base like to disparage trans people or LGBTQ people in these specific ways and so we're now saying that we are going to allow those, while kind of halfheartedly maintaining [their] general prohibitions against dehumanizing language in other ways.It's no simpler, it's not free speech, but it is going to essentially allowand kind of green lightthis kind of hateful discourse. And I think framing this as, This is mainstream political discourse, is really kind of gross. It's one thing to say, Hey, look, we're a free speech platform. There's going to be things that I disagree with. It's another thing to say, Well, claiming that this whole group of people who do not have a mental illness actually have a mental illness and disparage it in that way, that's just mainstream. And we're going to allow that because it's just common sense that we should allow that. That's a far different thing to say.SM: It's essentially like saying if the mainstream, if the majority of Americans want to just start bullying Black people, we should allow discrimination against Black people on our platform. It's analogous, is it not?JL: Yeah, I think it kind of goes back to what I was saying before, it's not about principle, it's about putting your finger to the wind and seeing what you think is okay at this moment. And that could change at any time and it should be disturbing not just to the people that are targeted. The two main groups, I think, that are targeted are the LGBTQ community and then also immigrants, because there were carveouts for them as well. But it really should be, even if you're not one of those two groups, disturbing to everyone because it shows that all of this is conditional. For instance, Zuckerberg a couple of years ago got into some trouble by saying that Holocaust denial was not something that he would restrict on Facebook or any of his other platforms because he didn't think that restricting that kind of debate would really be useful, it's better to let people call it out. So [restricting Holocaust denial is] still in there for now. But what if Zuckerberg decides, well, that's okay again now because Musk actually is trying to mainstream a political party in Germany that many people consider to be a neo-Nazi party. So that's becoming more mainstream. There are no principles involved. It's all just sort of up to wherever Mark Zuckerberg happens to think that the culture is at the moment.SM: I think a lot of Americans will see this news and might think, who cares? Let [Zuckerberg] do what he wants, it's a free country. But what do you think when these announcements are made are the bottom line implications for the LGBTQ community? Why does this matter?JL: I think it matters because these platforms are so enormous and they really exist to replace the open web. You have to realize that, X is like this and Meta is like this now, if you try to post a link to some other site, to a Substack for instance, where we both have publications, it downranks you. It's not going to let that move around its network. So the kind of discourse that occurs on these large social platforms has a huge impact on the overall political discourse. So the decisions they make are important. I think you could make an argument and say it's just too complicated. We can't figure it out. When we tried to restrict this kind of hateful speech, we end up restricting people who are criticizing that speech and we can't figure it out. And so we're just going to take a more of a hands-off approach or we're going to have a community-driven approach. But that's different than carving out these little exceptions and saying these really horrendous, dehumanizing insults against a group of people, often vulnerable people, is okay and this one's still not okay. I mean, the fact that a couple of billionaires have the power to make fine determinations, I think everyone should be disturbed about.Uncloseted Media is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.SM: Is there anything that can be done legally, policy-wise that would change the amount of power that the Zuckerberg's, the Musks, these monstrous tech companies have?JD: I think there are a lot of things that can be done and probably a lot of the reason why you see these tech CEOs and moguls lining themselves up with Trump is to prevent that.One of the reasons why [they]'re able to do this and not suffer repercussions is because there's very little competition among these social media platforms. One of the reasons why there's very little competition is because Meta bought Instagram. So now there's not Instagram competing with Facebook, it's all under one umbrella, and also WhatsApp, which is an extremely important, messaging system and social network all across the world, where they have control over what kind of discourse is allowed on there. Would we be in a better position if independently, Instagram and Facebook were able to make their own kinds of rules and see which ones users liked more? I think even the absence of that, because we have four years of the Trump administration coming, I don't think you're going to see a lot of antitrust enforcement against any of these companies, certainly less than we've seen, you know, there are alternatives. I think Bluesky is growing fairly rapidly. Using and growing these alternative platforms helps start a counterbalance.SM: One of the stats that keeps me up at night is 41% of LGBTQ kids in America seriously considered suicide in the last year. So when you now have an America who doesn't have the fact-checkers on Meta and where you greenlight this type of behavior, what are your concerns for Americans perceptions of LGBTQ people, with these new rules, on a platform where 3.3 billion people are using it every day?JD: I'm concerned and I think I'm concerned particularly for the LGBTQ community. This is downstream from the election and I think we have to understand these moves and the very specific moves in Metas community standards in the context of the election, but there was a perception at the very least that a lot of these anti-trans ads that were run extensively targeting Harris were effective. Now, my business isn't to analyze the effectiveness of ads. I don't know if they were effective or not. They might have been. They may not have been, but I don't think that we should make determinations about what kind of discourse is socially acceptable and that we think reflects our values, based on the political result of one election. But that's what's happened, and if that's the way in which we're going to make our decisions, that's a really disturbing path.SM: In your article Meta goes MAGA, you said it is now permissible based on the new rules to describe people as feces or filth, based on their immigration status or gender identity. A lot of news outlets would not go so far and use that extreme language. Why do you in your writing decide to do that?JL: I think it's important for people to understand exactly what is going on. The media in general has sanitized a lot of what is going on culturally and politically in order to meet their own standards, they don't want to print this stuff in their newspaper because it kind of makes them feel gross. But people need to know. So that's why I do it. I don't star out the curse words or do anything like that because I want people to really see it and feel what's happening and it's not always pleasant.Subscribe for accountability journalism.SM: What do you think these decisions say about who Zuckerberg is as a leader and as a person?JL: I thought it was interesting, I saw a story in Bloomberg, he's making this speech, supposedly about his commitment to free speech, and he's wearing a $900,000 custom-made watch as he delivers the speech. So to me it shows that the priority is profits. In 2021, right after January 6th, when he kicked Trump off of the platform, it seemed like profits required him to distance himself from the MAGA movement, to distance himself from Trump. So that's what he did. But then when Trump won re-election anyway all of that was put into the memory hole, and we were now aligning ourselves with Trump. So what does it say about him as a person? I think it shows where his priorities are. He doesn't appear to really oppose Trump or support Trump. He's willing to do both when it suits his economic interests.This is someone who created an entire organization called FWD.us, that was devoted to protecting undocumented immigrants in the United States. Now, [hes] making pilgrimages to Mar-a-Lago, wrapping himself up in MAGA rhetoric, appointing one of Trump's best friends, Dana White, onto the Meta board, one of the most anti-immigrant candidates in modern history. So it's an amazing sort of shapeshifting that we've seen in just a few years and I think it's very revealing about where his priorities are.SM: I was just at my boyfriend's family's home in Virginia and I asked one of them, What's your favorite source of news? And he said, Jordan Peterson: accurate, accurate, accurate, factual. So I think a big problem in this country is media literacy, where folks really don't know the difference between a Jordan Peterson and an Associated Press. Do you have any tips or tricks for average Americans who might not have gone to journalism school? How can they really understand, in a world where fact-checkers are gone from Meta, the difference between something that's perhaps bulletproof journalism versus just thirsty influencers trying to get content clicks?JL: Yeah, it's very tough. It's very, very difficult. So I don't have any silver bullet, but I do think, especially in an era where you do have folks like Jordan Peterson, Joe Rogan, who are really more entertainers, kind of posing as sources of news, and then add on a layer of AI and automated news that's presenting what could be hallucinations and kind of slop, as fact, it's more important than ever to work to identify a handful of sources that you can trust and to rely on those sources. Then when you add anything outside of that realm, you really need to determine whether it can be verified. If someone makes a claim, what's the basis for that claim? Where can I go? Where can they link me to? Can I read that study? Can I see that report? Can I see that data? All of these statistics, especially if it's coming from someone who you haven't determined over a period of time is reliable, you need to view skeptically and you need to essentially take with a grain of salt until you can verify it. And unfortunately, that's the reality that we are living in. Is that reasonable to expect someone who maybe has a couple of kids or a couple of jobs or other types of obligations? Not really. But that's what it takes right now in order to be informed.SM: Anything else to say on these tech CEOs pandering to Trump at a time when he's suing CBS News, when he's suing ABC News, when he's suing The Des Moines Register, continuing to call the press the enemy of the people? It's an alarming time to be a journalist in certain ways, isn't it?JL: It is. It is an alarming time to be a journalist. I hope everything works out okay for me, it's more incentive for me to double-check all my facts and make sure that I have everything triple-sourced and so I'll be taking extra care to do that. But I will say that, and this is something that Zuckerberg did in this announcement, it's something that Elon Musk does constantly, its something that Trump does, it's really part of wrapping this up in free expression. But as you point out, this is a group of people who care very little about free expression. I mean, between Trump and Musk, they sue more journalists than anyone. Also the places like Texas and Florida that they hold out as bastions of free speech, have the most draconian restrictions on speech, unconstitutional restrictions in many cases, taking books out of libraries because they happen to have LGBTQ characters, banning certain conversations about race and gender in the workplace. There is just a sustained attack on free speech. As a progressive, I think it is important for myself and other progressives to reclaim this idea of free speech. The powerful will always have free speech. Billionaires will always have free speech. It doesn't matter. They have plenty of ways to get their message out. The people who need these protections are the people who are the most vulnerable.SM: Judd, thank you so much. This has been fantastic. Where can viewers and readers find your work? Plug yourself.JL: The place to go is popular.info. That's where you can sign up. Get the newsletter, it comes out four times a week, so plenty of information there. You can also follow me on Bluesky if you'd like, I'm there: JuddLegum.SM: Fantastic. Thank you so much. This has been great. JL: Thanks a lot for having me.If objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button:Donate to Uncloseted Media

Soaps are failing LGBTQ+ viewers. With four network soaps, all of which have been airing for decades, the dearth of representation of LGBTQ+ storylines is disappointing at best. Looking back at queer storylines over the years, soaps seem to be moving backward, not forward, from some groundbreaking characters and storylines that debuted decades ago tolittle if any representationnow.Soaps have always had a complicated relationship with gay and lesbian characters. (Trans characters are fairly new to the soap landscape.) Often, characters are introduced only to have their queerness questioned, or they exist in isolation with no one to share their queer identity, regardless of how large their town may be. In some instances, plots have shattered gay and lesbian relationships in truly awful ways that have ruined the characters lives and resulted in them ostensibly being de-gayed: What has happened to them is too awful for them to consider being in a relationship again. And then the character fades away or just their gayness does.Thats what happened to one of the most iconic lesbian soap characters, Bianca Montgomery (Eden Riegel) on ABCs All My Children. Bianca the daughter of the shows main character, Erica Kane (Susan Lucci) and came out to her mother on Dec. 22, 2000 in a storyline widely touted as groundbreaking.But Biancas path did not run smoothly. First, the writers had her violently sexually assaulted and she became pregnant with her rapists baby, which she decided to keep. Then several years and a couple of complicated and damaging relationships later one of her lovers was murdered she was getting married in Connecticut (before marriage equality) to the love of her life, Reese Williams (Tamara Braun), with whom she had another child. But it was revealed that Reese had had a one-night stand with a man and the marriage was annulled. Bianca did seemingly have a happy ending when AMC concluded in 2011 as she was dating Marissa Tasker (Sarah Glendening) but in Prospect Parks short-lived 2013 online revival of the soap, Marissa was revealed to have died off-screen.Why couldnt Bianca just have a happily ever after for five minutes?As the World Turns inaugurated the first gay male kiss in daytime between Luke Snyder (Van Hansis) and Noah Mayer (Jake Silbermann) on Aug. 17, 2007. The kiss made Luke and Noah the first gay male super couple on daytime television. The duo were named one of televisions top power couples by TV Guide and one of the great super couples by Entertainment Weekly.But all good gay things must end and Luke and Noahs relationship concluded with Noahs homophobic father trying to kill Luke, then Noah marrying a young Iraqi refugee to help her stay in the country and a series of other crises that include Lukes drinking and Noah still trying to come to terms with his gayness till the couple breaks up.Throughout the aughts and 2010s, there have been a series of gay male couplings on CBSsDays of Our Lives,a gay male couple onOne Life to Live,lesbian relationships onThe Bold and the Beautifuland Guiding Light and a gay male couple onGeneral Hospital.The Young and the Restlesseven had a brief gay male storyline with Victor Newmans (Eric Braeden) son, Adam (Michael Muhney), who was playing gay to get help from another man. But that died the quick death it deserved. And B&B had a brief and fraught trans storyline in 2015 when it introduced Maya Avant (Karla Mosley). Maya wasrevealed to be a trans womantwo years into her debut on the series.All these major front-burner stories took place a decade or more ago. Now, withGLAAD notingrecord representation in primetime, why is daytime lacking LGBTQ stories?On GH, Kristina (Kate Mansi) has been out as bisexual-now-lesbian for years in abusive relationships with both men and women and was even helming an LGBTQ+ center.In 2024, she became involved with Latina singer Blaze (Jacqueline Grace Lopez) and was caught in a scandal caused by Blazes homophobic mother, all while being a surrogate for her sister, Molly (Kristen Vaganos).Kristina had decided to keep the baby and raise her with Blaze when she nearly died in a freak fall out a window. The fall killed the baby and her relationship with Blaze, who left town to go on tour while Kristina grieved alone.Also on GH, Lucas (now played by Van Hansis of ATWT super couple fame) has returned, and his ex-husband Brad (Parry Shen) is trying to win him back. But Lucas isnt dating. Hes told Brad he doesnt want to get back with him, and his gayness is on the back burner to his work as a surgeon at the hospital.GH also has the sole trans character in daytime. Cassandra James plays Dr. Terry Randolph, chief of staff at GH. James is the first transgender actress to play a transgender character in a soap opera. While there is a wealth of opportunity for story here, especially as Terry is friends with Brad and also has a sexy Russian boyfriend, she is mostly recurring, with few in-depth scenes and none that address her transness. Couldnt she have been a spokesperson for Kristinas center?Y&R has a lesbian couple, Mariah Copeland (Camryn Grimes) and Tessa Porter (Cait Fairbanks). In May 2022, the couple became the first to have asame-sex weddingon the show. The duo is the sole lesbian couple in daytime.And how is it possible that B&B, the show about the fashion industry which is also one of the top exports globally, has never had a gay storyline when so many top designers are gay? B&B is the most-watched soap opera in the world, with an estimated 300 million viewers daily and shown in over 100 countries across five continents.In 2025, LGBTQ+ viewers deserve better representation and its confounding that there were more pivotal, groundbreaking and front-burner storylines for queer and trans viewers 20 years ago than there are now. How and when will this change?The post Why arent soap operas more gay? appeared first on News Is Out.

The Last Dream by Pedro Almodvar (translated by Frank Wynne) is a collection of 12 short stories, including eight works of fiction, that were written over a span of 55 years.Considered a fragmentary autobiography by the author, this book demonstrates the Academy Award-winning film directors literary prowess and versatility. His writing, like his filmmaking, delves deep into the human psyche using beautifully crafted spare prose.The Spanish-speaking world will be quick to note the titles allusion to the 18th-century epic poem First Dream (Primer Sueo) by Mexican lesbian Renaissance nun, playwright, philosopher, inventor, painter, and composer Sor Juana de la Cruz. (I, the Worst of All, a film of her life based on research done by Nobel Prize Laureate Octavio Paz, is available for free online.)Fabulator, not writerIn the books introduction, Almodvar writes that he sees himself as a fabulator, his preferred term to describe what he does. Its a freeing term for him, freeing from a strict adherence to the truth, and even from himself as author-director. He rather prefers to consider himself a mere guide taking us on a wild ride into the recesses of his mind.He writes that there is an intimate relationship between what I write, what I film and what I live.Despite bold story lines that know no bounds and an exhibitionistic alter-ego named Patty Diphusa (patidifusa is Iberian slang for flabbergasted) that first appeared in the Spanish magazine La Luna in 1979, the fabulator remains a very private person hidden behind the camera.Nonetheless, several stories fill in biographical information about Almodvar the man, such as the title story The Last Dream, about the day his own mother died. It represents his finest writing in his own view.Author Pedro AlmodvarPhoto: Nico BustosIn the short story The Visit, he reveals the story of how one of his most enduring films Bad Education about clerical abuse came to be.Like fine sculpture, Almodvars writing has carved away all the superfluous description that many writers and readers luxuriate in. This book, however, is not perfect; no work ever is. At times the fabulator seems to be trying too hard to be overly creative when theres no need to be, something that feels like a more egregious sin in literature than in labor-intensive filmmaking: Genet was a sauce we sometimes used to douse our work together. Was there no budget for an editor? Whatever the books few mechanical shortcomings, it more than makes up for it in creativity.The secret to his geniusIn The Mirror Ceremony, a vampire enters a monastery and manages to transcend his unsatisfactory circumstances through an obvious yet startlingly novel solution: he simply accepts Christs redemption of his soul!Stories like this get readers wondering whether the premise of the plot is silly or serious. With Almodvar, its always both, always a paradox, always as fascinatingly complicated as real life.The same can be asked of the story Too Many Gender Swaps, which contains ideas that appear in several films including the gay thriller The Law of Desire and the wondrous film Dark Habits on which the terribly dumbed-down Sister Act films were based.In A Bad Novel Almodvar, 75, commands interest as he tries to candidly assess his own writing. But when he sets out to assess it again in Memory of an Empty Day we begin to see why he has thus far not been prolific. Nonetheless, the story fascinates as he tries to measure his worth as fabulator in light of the fact that he is aging and no longer shares a culture of youth with an ever-growing percentage of his audience (readers).The memorable short story Adis, Volcano was written as a tribute to the great Mexican queer singer Chavela Vargas upon her death. Vargas gained success despite (or because of) her masculine appearance and dress, and famously dated women like Frida Kahlo, even photographing themselves frolicking in the grass. The singer is featured in a number of his films.And finally, the collection would not be complete without a proper romp into surrealistic territory, not so far removed, really, from Catholic reality. The Life and Death of Miguel, written when Almodvar was very young man, depicts a world in which death and life happen in reverse as people grow younger, like Benjamin Button. (He was certain the idea was stolen when he first learned of the film.) Writing the story, he reflects, was his attempt to come to terms with our powerlessness in the face of unstoppable time.All in all, reading The Last Dream is well worth your time. But the book is best enjoyed after watching at least a few of his world-class films. In particular, I recommend Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and All About My Mother as a basic introduction to the wild world of Pedro Almodvar.The Last Dream by Pedro Almodvar, HarperVia, $26.The post Review: Pedro Almodvars The Last Dream appeared first on News Is Out.

A member of the clergy begged Donald Trump to have mercy on LGBTQ+ people and immigrants at a prayer service for his inauguration earlier today, while Trump was sitting in the first pew, surrounded by his family and J.D. Vance and his family.Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde spoke at the National Cathedrals prayer service this morning and asked him to find compassion. Related Who owns the truth? GLAADs Sarah Kate Ellis on resisting the second Trump administration The battle ahead extends far beyond Washington. Who owns the media owns politics, Ellis said. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now, Budde said. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives. 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 She also brought up immigrants, saying that theyre not rapists but instead hard workers who do much of the labor that Americans depend on.I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our community whose children fear that their parents will be taken away and that you help those that are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands, to find compassion and welcome here. Wow. Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde fearlessly calls out Trump and Vance to their faces. This is heroic.(posting in 3 parts due to Bluesky's 1 minute limit)[image or embed] MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) January 21, 2025 at 8:02 PM Part 2/3[image or embed] MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) January 21, 2025 at 8:03 PMPart 3/3[image or embed] MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) January 21, 2025 at 8:04 PMTrump later told the press that he didnt like the service, saying that it was not too exciting, according to The Hill.They could do much better, he said.Trump has already signed a myriad of anti-trans and anti-immigrant executive orders. His attacks on these two groups were a mainstay of his campaign rhetoric. His campaign spent over $215 million on anti-trans ads, and he demonized immigrants regularly, even accusing them of eating peoples cats and dogs.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Among the roughly 200executiveactions, memoranda and proclamations that Donald Trump signed on his first day as president was an executive order declaring that there are only two sexes (male and female) and repealing numerous pro-transgender memoranda and orders made by former President Joe Biden.Trumps order directs federal agencies to start using the term sex and stop using the term gender, to stop interpreting anti-discrimination laws as being inclusive of transgender people, and to only issue government documents that reflect a persons sex assigned at birth. The Human Rights Campaign has pledged to fight back against these harmful provisions with everything weve got. Related Alejandra Caraballo explains Donald Trumps fundamental miscalculation Ignoring the drive to survive may be one of the incoming administrations fatal flaws, but dirty tech money is gambling otherwise. The order, entitled Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government, defines ones biological sex as being determined by the size of their reproductive cells: small for men and large for women. The order neither says how the government will determine the size of ones reproductive cells nor how it will handle individuals whose bodies dont have such cells. 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 order directs all federal government departments and agencies to remove all statements, policies, regulations, forms, communications, or other internal and external messages that promote or otherwise inculcate gender ideology. It also says, Federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology and instructs the Bureau of Prisons to revise its policies to ensure that federal inmates do not receive any medical procedure, treatment, or drug for the purpose of conforming an inmates appearance to that of the opposite sex.Furthermore, it directs the secretaries of State and Homeland Security and the director of the Office of Personnel Management to require that government-issued identification documents including passports, visas, Global Entry cards, and personnel records accurately reflect the holders sex.The order also directs the attorney general to prioritize investigations and litigation to ensure that single-sex spaces like womens domestic abuse shelters and womens workplace showers remain segregated by biological sex. Efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety, and well-being, the order states.The erasure of sex in language and policy has a corrosive impact not just on women but on the validity of the entire American system.In response to the order, Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said in a statement, Make no mistake: these actions will not take effect immediately. Indeed, many of the orders provisions provide a 30-day deadline to go into effect.Todays expected executive actions targeting the LGBTQ+ community serve no other purpose than to hurt our families and our communities, Robinson added. Every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect in all areas of their lives. No one should be subjected to ongoing discrimination, harassment, and humiliation where they work, go to school, or access healthcare. Our community has fought for decades to ensure that our relationships are respected at work, that our identities are accepted at school, and that our service is honored in the military, she continued. Any attack on our rights threatens the rights of any person who doesnt fit into the narrow view of how they should look and act. The incoming administration is trying to divide our communities in the hope that we forget what makes us strong. But we refuse to back down or be intimidated.We are not going anywhere. and we will fight back against these harmful provisions with everything weve got, her statement concluded.Trump has promised to re-implement his trans military ban and restrict access to gender-affirming care for trans youth.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Michael Urie has had a very busy couple of years. In addition to filming Apple TVs popular hit series Shrinking, theater has taken a major role in his career. Bookended by his time in Shrinking, he appeared on Broadway in Spamalot and Once Upon A Mattress. He has returned to the Los Angeles theatre scene []The post This Actor Has a Message to Those Not Prepared for the next Administration appeared first on GEDmagazine.

Last-minute Christmas shopping can be both exhilarating and stressful, especially for LGBTQ+ shoppers in a vibrant destination like Palm Springs. Known for its welcoming atmosphere and diverse community, Palm Springs offers a unique shopping experience that celebrates individuality and inclusivity. With the holiday season in full swing, many LGBTQ+ shoppers find themselves navigating the bustling []The post Your Last Minute LGBTQ+ Shopping Spots in Palm Springs California appeared first on GEDmagazine.

Every week, The GLAAD Wrap brings you LGBTQ-related entertainment news highlights, fresh stuff to watch out for, and fun diversions to help you kick off the weekend. 1.) Festival favorite documentary Lady Like is available to rent or purchase today! The debut feature from filmmaker Luke Willis tells the fairytale story of RuPauls Drag Race [...]The post The GLAAD Wrap: Lady Like on VOD, Trailers for Companion and Harlem, First-Look at The Last of Us, New Music by Ethel Cain, KiNG MALA, and More! first appeared on GLAAD.

Transgenderism is a term appropriated by opponents of transgender equality to inaccurately and harmfully imply that being trans is a political ideology, rather than an authentic aspect of ones personhood. Framing a persons transgender identity as a concept or ideology reduces a core identity to an opinion that can be debated, and therefore justifies dehumanization, [...]The post Fact Sheet for Reporters Term to Avoid: Transgenderism first appeared on GLAAD.

Fox News made an egregious but hilarious error regarding the short-lived TikTok shut down in the United States. And social media is not letting them live it down.TikTok went dark on Saturday night amidst the ongoing controversy surrounding the popular apps future in the U.S. On Sunday morning, Fox News host Shannon Bream invited Pennsylvania senator Dave McCormick to discuss the issue on air. But anything the two of them had to say was quickly derailed once viewers noticed an amusing typo in the chyron."TITKOK SHUTS DOWN IN THE U.S.," it read. It was up on the screen for less than 20 seconds, but that was plenty of time for people to take pictures and video and make the blunder go viral. (@) (@) (@) "fox intern is a hero for doing that." (@) "gooner interns about to get fired." (@) "You know someone saw this before it went out, and decided to let it happen." (@) "Apparently, Pornhub has changed its name." (@) "you heard it here, folks. tit kok sluts down in the us." (@) "If Elon musk buys TikTok this is what it will be called." (@) "Thats Fucks News for you." (@) "New leaked footage from GTA 6." (@) "As professional blue-check joke writers, we should all be embarrassed that Fox accidentally stumbled into Titkok when it was there for any of us to take." (@) "what i like as a bisexual:" (@) "Everything before the ban was Tiktok BC now were in Titkok AD." (@) "'"Titkok' is absolutely an app I would download." (@) "veep selina would have called that dancing app titkok." (@) (@) "On second thought maybe we shouldnt ban Titkok."

Just a day after President Donald Trumps inauguration, the Constitution and all LGBTQ+ related terms have been removed from the White House website.On Tuesday, social media users pointed out that the Constitution page on the White Houses official website had been removed, leaving behind a 404 Page Not Found message.The about page for the executive branch of the U.S. government has also been removed with the same message found in its place, as have all of the pages that were found on the website prior to January 20, 2025, when Trump took office. (@) According to GLAAD, all mentions of lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and related terms were wiped from the website as well as all HIV-focused resources, which have also been scrubbed from key federal agency webpages.President Trump claims to be a strong proponent of freedom of speech, yet he is clearly committed to censorship of any information containing or related to LGBTQ Americans and issues that we face, GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. This action proves the Trump administrations goal of making it as difficult as possible for LGBTQ Americans to find federal resources or otherwise see ourselves reflected under his presidency. Sadly for him, our community is more visible than ever; and this pathetic attempt to diminish and remove us will again prove unsuccessful.The entirety of the Spanish language version of WhiteHouse.gov has also been removed.As of yesterday, these pages were still available on the White House website.In their place is a photo of Donald Trump on the front page of the website with the message, America is back. There is also an administration page listing Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Second Lady Usha Vance.There is also an Issues page that lists Trumps priorities for his time in office, including Making America safe again, Make America affordable and energy dominant again, and "Drain the swamp.This is a developing story.

The Atwood family made eight $1 million donations to various nonprofit groups in the U.S. working to support and provide resources to communities in needJanuary 7, 2025 Today, The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis organization for LGBTQ+ young people, announced that they are the recipient of a $1 million donation from Jeff Atwood, co-founder of Stack Overflow and Discourse.We are profoundly grateful to Jeff Atwood and the Atwood family for this incredibly generous gift, said Jaymes Black (they/she/he pronouns), CEO at The Trevor Project. Our life-saving work would not be possible without the support and compassion from our donor community, and the Atwood familys contribution will play a transformative role in advancing our mission to end suicide among LGBTQ+ young people. This donation comes at a critical time for our movement in the face of anti-LGBTQ+ policies and rhetoric that directly harm our youth, its more crucial than ever that we keep fighting for a future where all LGBTQ+ young people can thrive. This gift enables us to continue to provide free, 24/7 crisis services to youth in need and advocate for laws that protect the rights of LGBTQ+ young people across the country. Jeff and the Atwood family are sending a powerful message of solidarity that we hope will inspire others to help us build a safer, more inclusive world for LGBTQ+ young people everywhere.According to The Trevor Projects 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People, 39% of LGBTQ+ young people seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including 46% of transgender and nonbinary youth. Despite these alarming findings, 50% of LGBTQ+ young people who wanted mental health care in the past year were not able to access it.The Trevor Projects research also found that an overwhelming majority (90%) of LGBTQ+ young people said their well-being was negatively impacted due to recent politics. Following the outcome of the 2024 U.S. election, The Trevor Projects crisis services saw an overall volume increase of nearly 700% on November 6, 2024 compared to the weeks prior.In a blog post announcing the news, Jeff stated: I encourage every American to contribute soon, however you can, to organizations you feel are effectively helping those most currently in need here in America. We must also work toward deeper changes that will take decades to achieve. Over the next five years, my family pledges half our wealth towards long term efforts ensuring that all Americans continue to have access to the American Dream.In addition to The Trevor Project, Jeff and the Atwood family made $1 million donations to Childrens Hunger Fund, First Generation Investors, Global Refuge, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, PEN America, Planned Parenthood, and Team Rubicon.Visit Jeffs blog here to read more about his familys movement to help fund dreams across the U.S.If you or someone you know needs help or support, The Trevor Projects trained crisis counselors are available 24/7 at 1-866-488-7386, via chat atTheTrevorProject.org/Get-Help, or by texting START to 678678.The post Stack Overflow Co-Founder Jeff Atwood Donates $1 Million to The Trevor Project appeared first on The Trevor Project.

December 18, 2024 Today, the United States Senate passed the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, an annual defense policy bill that included a new provision banning members of the military from providing their transgender dependents with essential health care through TRICARE, the required health care program for active-duty service members. Jaymes Black (they/she/he), CEO at The Trevor Project, released the following statement in response:It is wholly disappointing to see Congress use a must-pass annual defense spending bill as a vehicle to deny health care to transgender young people with parents in the military. This provision is straightforward discrimination that denies essential health care for military families with transgender children, while allowing access to the very same care for all other military families. Personal medical decisions ought to be made between families, young people, and their medical providers not by the government.Preventing the families of service members from obtaining medically necessary care is a betrayal of our nations promise to our military, denying service members the very freedoms they risk their lives to protect including the freedom to decide what is best for the health and well-being of their children. It is understandable for people who do not personally know a transgender person to have questions about what it means to be trans, or how health care for trans youth works. But it violates American values of fairness and service for a small group of lawmakers to force a flat-out ban on essential health care for thousands of military families into, what is typically, bipartisan must-pass legislation.We urge lawmakers to listen to the military families who will be harmed by this bill, and oppose any further restrictions on this necessary care. For any transgender young person who is feeling overwhelmed by this news, please know that you are not alone. The Trevor Projects crisis counselors are here to support you 24/7 and we will never stop fighting for your right to be safe, accepted, and seen exactly as you are.Related Research:The Trevor Projects research has found that transgender and nonbinary young people face significantly higher rates of suicide than their peers, not because of who they are, but because of how they are mistreated, stigmatized, and discriminated against by others.An estimated seven percent of LGBTQ+ youth under 18 reported having a parent in the military.LGBTQ+ youth with a parent in the military report a staggering 40% higher odds of attempting suicide in the past year, compared to those who did not have a parent in the military.A 2024 peer-reviewed study in Nature Human Behaviour from researchers at The Trevor Project found that anti-transgender state laws directly caused an increase in suicide attempts among transgender youth by up to 72%.A 2022 peer-reviewed study in The Journal of Adolescent Health from researchers at The Trevor Project found gender-affirming hormone therapy was significantly related to lower rates of depression, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary young people.If you or someone you know needs help or support, The Trevor Projects trained crisis counselors are available 24/7 at 1-866-488-7386, via chat atTheTrevorProject.org/Get-Help, or by texting START to 678678.The post The Trevor Project Opposes Defense Bill Banning Health Care for Transgender Youth in Military Families appeared first on The Trevor Project.

For more than 13 years, Danaya Phonphayung and Sunma Piamboon have been in a committed relationship, celebrating their love and life together. Although their union was not legally recognized, the couple, who married in 2019, has always considered themselves married. This week, their bondand the bonds of many other LGBTQ couples in Thailandwill finally gain legal recognition.On Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, a groundbreaking law will come into effect, making Thailand the first Southeast Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage. The law will allow LGBTQ couples to marry and enjoy the same legal, financial, and medical rights as heterosexual couples. For Danaya and Sunma, its the moment theyve been waiting fora chance to formally register their marriage and gain the legal rights theyve longed for.I think Ill cry, Danaya, an office worker, said with a smile to NBC, thinking about the moment she and Sunma sign their marriage registration. Its something Ive dreamed of, and now its finally happening.The couple, who live in suburban Bangkok, have shared a home, bought a car, and built a life togetherbut without the legal protections of marriage, their rights have been limited. As Danaya explained, the recognition of their marriage is more than symbolic; its about securing their future together.We live together, we bought a house, we bought a car. But we cannot share these things like a married couple, she said. Now, this is happening, and its our rights that we need to secure.Marriage Equality Bill Clears Thai ParliamentThe marriage equality bill, which passed smoothly through Thailands House of Representatives and Senate, amends the Civil and Commercial Code to replace terms like husband and wife with individuals and marriage partners. The change paves the way for LGBTQ couples to gain full access to rights typically reserved for heterosexual married couples, including tax benefits, inheritance rights, and medical decision-making authority.Sunma, who owns a travel agency, recalls a pivotal moment that made her realize the importance of legal marriage. When Danaya was hospitalized with dengue fever, Sunma faced bureaucratic hurdles and emotional distress when doctors questioned her relationship with Danaya. Unable to make medical decisions until Danayas condition worsened, Sunma realized how vulnerable they were without legal marriage.The doctors asked me who I was, and I said I was the girlfriend, Sunma said. They were like, so what? I couldnt make any decisions until her condition became serious. I was so upset. If I had lost her, there would be nothing that could make up for it.Thailands Long Road to Marriage EqualityThough Thailand is known for its reputation as a relatively LGBTQ-friendly country, the path to legalizing same-sex marriage was a long and difficult one. The countrys conservative social values often clashed with progressive calls for equal rights, and members of the LGBTQ community frequently faced discrimination in everyday life. However, attitudes toward LGBTQ rights have shifted in recent years, thanks in part to activism and advocacy efforts from within the community.The government, led by the Pheu Thai Party, made marriage equality a key priority. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who has supported LGBTQ rights, celebrated the milestone in a speech marking the laws passage. Thailand is now the third Asian countryafter Taiwan and Nepalto legalize same-sex marriage.Its almost like a dream, but its not, Paetongtarn said. I think its very important that the world notice us and know that in this small country, we have this kind of support for our people. We should all be proud.Celebrations and PreparationsTo commemorate the laws implementation, organizers of the Bangkok Pride Parade have teamed up with government officials to host a grand celebration in the city. Over 300 couples have already registered to marry on Jan. 23, with many attending the event to officially tie the knot.Ann Waaddao Chumaporn, a prominent gender equality activist and lead organizer of Bangkok Pride, expressed the significance of the law for the LGBTQ community.The law is about returning our dignity and confirming that we have dignity as human beings, Chumaporn said. This day is meaningful to all the couples who have fought for this moment. Id like to thank everyone who has struggled so that today would finally happen.In preparation for the laws implementation, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has organized workshops for district office staff, educating them about gender diversity and how to interact respectfully with LGBTQ individuals registering their marriages. These workshops aim to ensure smooth processing and create a more inclusive atmosphere for couples.Were ready. The law is ready. But the final piece of the jigsaw is the understanding from officials, said Sanon Wangsrangboon, Bangkoks deputy governor. He acknowledged that challenges might arise initially but expressed hope that societal understanding would grow over time.Looking Ahead to a Full CelebrationFor Danaya and Sunma, the journey is just beginning. After registering their marriage on Thursday, the couple plans to host a real marriage celebration with their families. While the couple is overjoyed, they recognize the significance of the occasion not just for themselves, but for their families as well.Its not just the two of us that are happy, but both of our families, Sunma said. Everyone is waiting for Jan. 23. Its a big deal for all of us.As Thailand ushers in this new chapter of LGBTQ rights, the country sets an example for the region, offering hope to other nations where same-sex marriage remains a distant dream. For LGBTQ couples like Danaya and Sunma, the laws implementation marks not just a legal victory, but a personal triumphone that celebrates their love and secures their future together.The post Thailand to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage, Marking Historic Step for LGBTQ+ Rights appeared first on Gayety.

On the first full day of President Donald Trumps second term, a controversial sermon delivered by Bishop Mariann Budde, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, left the newly inaugurated president visibly uncomfortable. Budde, a vocal critic of the Trump administration, used the occasion to make a pointed political statement, urging the president to show mercy to marginalized groups, including illegal immigrants and transgender children.The sermon took place during the National Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral on January 21, 2025, a traditional event following the presidential inauguration. Trump, seated in the front row next to First Lady Melania Trump, listened intently as Budde addressed him directly from the pulpit.I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now, Budde began. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and Independent families, some who fear for their lives. Her remarks struck a sharp contrast with Trumps policies on immigration and LGBTQ+ rights, which have often been at the center of heated debate.View this post on InstagramA post shared by COURIER (@couriernewsroom)The 65-year-old bishop, known for her progressive views, continued with a powerful appeal for compassion toward immigrants. The people who pick our crops, clean our office buildings, labor in poultry farms and meat-packing plants, wash dishes in restaurants, and work the night shifts in hospitalsthey might not be citizens or have the proper documentation, she said. The vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. I ask you, Mr. President, to have mercy on those in communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away.As the bishop continued her impassioned plea, Trump remained stoic, his expression unreadable. His calm demeanor contrasted sharply with the intensity of the sermon, which was punctuated by the bishops calls for compassion and justice. Some members of the congregation appeared visibly uncomfortable with the politically charged tone of the sermon, though others quietly nodded in agreement.Bishop Budde, a staunch advocate for social justice issues, did not hold back in her message, quoting scripture to underline her point. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all strangers once in a strange land, she said. Her words echoed the left-wing ideals of inclusivity and compassion that have characterized her public ministry, particularly on issues related to immigration, LGBTQ+ rights, and racial justice.Despite the tense atmosphere in the cathedral, Trump refrained from publicly criticizing the bishop following the service. When asked by reporters at the White House for his thoughts on the sermon, the president responded with his characteristic nonchalance: What did you think? Did you like it? Did you find it exciting? Not too exciting, was it? I think it was a great service.Trumps casual response did little to quell the backlash from his supporters, who were quick to condemn the bishops sermon. The person giving this sermon should be added to the deportation list, Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) wrote on social media, suggesting that the bishops outspoken criticism of Trump was grounds for punishment. Many MAGA supporters echoed similar sentiments, criticizing Buddes political activism during an event that was supposed to be a religious occasion.Bishop Buddes history of opposing Trump dates back to his first term in office. In 2020, she condemned the president for his photo-op outside St. Johns Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., after he had federal law enforcement clear protesters from Lafayette Square. Budde called the act antithetical to the teachings of Jesus and everything that we as a church stand for. She also spoke out during the Black Lives Matter protests, accusing Trump of using religion as a political tool.Her stance on immigration, LGBTQ+ rights, and racial justice has made her a leading figure in the progressive Episcopal community. On her diocesan website, Budde describes herself as an advocate for justice concerns, including racial equity, gun violence prevention, immigration reform, the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons, and the care of creation. Her ministry has consistently aligned with left-wing causes, making her one of the most outspoken religious figures in opposition to Trumps policies.While the National Prayer Service was intended to be a moment of unity, it became yet another flashpoint in the ongoing political divide in the United States. With Buddes sermon serving as a direct challenge to Trumps administration, the event underscored the deep ideological rift between the president and religious leaders who advocate for progressive causes.As the political and cultural battle over issues such as immigration and LGBTQ+ rights continues to intensify, the role of religious leaders like Bishop Budde will remain a key factor in shaping public discourse. While Trump may have remained composed during the service, the impact of such outspoken religious criticism is likely to reverberate throughout his second term.As for Bishop Budde, her ministrys commitment to social justice causes shows no signs of wavering. Her strong stance on behalf of marginalized communities, including immigrants and transgender children, is likely to continue to put her at odds with those who support Trumps policies, but she remains resolute in her call for mercy and compassion.The post Bishop Delivers Heated Sermon to President Trump on Inauguration Day, Calls for Mercy on Immigrants, Transgender Children appeared first on Gayety.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is sworn by Vice President JD Vance in the Vice Presidential Ceremonial Office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)2025-01-21T19:56:55Z WASHINGTON (AP) For Marco Rubio, the easy part is over. He was confirmed by the Senate as secretary of state with unanimous support, Democrats joining Republicans in praising his acumen and judgment.Now comes the task that will make or break his tenure: retaining the full backing of his new boss, Donald Trump.The 53-year-old Rubio is coming into the job with more experience than President Trumps previous secretaries of state, having spent the last 14 years in the Senate becoming intimately acquainted with U.S. foreign policy from the Indo-Pacific to the Middle East and Latin America. But that traditional experience, coupled with Rubios longstanding hawkish views on Russia and support for Americas role in NATO, is what some worry will eventually make him the target of Trumps wrath.Rubio is going to face some challenges as he and the president try to come to terms about what is the purpose of American power? said Thomas Shannon, a former U.S. diplomat, who often worked with Rubio during both the Obama and the first Trump administrations. Still, it was a collegial scene Tuesday as Rubio was sworn into office. Vice President JD Vance, who served alongside him in the Senate, called him a friend and a bipartisan solutions seeker as he delivered the oath. Rubio echoed Trump in his own brief remarks, emphasizing that anything the government and State Department do must make the country stronger, safer or more prosperous. If it doesnt do one of those three things, we will not do it, Rubio said.He repeated that sentiment as he made his first appearance at the State Department, telling staffers that his job, and theirs, would be to defend and execute Trumps America First policies.Rubios support in Washington has an establishment tinge, with many hopeful he will prove a steady hand at a time of global upheaval. In interviews with more than a dozen people, including Republican and Democratic lawmakers, as well as former diplomats and colleagues, he was repeatedly described as the responsible choice to represent the U.S. abroad, a known quantity both at home and on the global stage. I think hell be able to deliver that message, country by country, continent by continent, and thats uncompromising, but also thats comforting, said Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican from North Dakota. Not that Im looking for every other country to be comfortable with us, but in a way that I think is not alarming.Rubios worldview has been largely shaped by his own history: the son of Cuban immigrants who arrived in Miami in May 1956 with nothing but the dream of a better life, he testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week. His father was a bartender and his mother a hotel maid.Because of them, I had the privilege to be born a citizen of the greatest nation in the history of the world, he said. And to be raised in a safe and stable home, by parents who made their childrens future the very purpose of their lives.The only in America story is one that helped him get elected to public office in Florida, making his way from city commissioner to the Florida House of Representatives, eventually becoming the first Cuban American speaker in the Legislatures history. When Rubio became speaker, it was a very big deal. I think the ceremony was projected towards Cuba, whether they wanted to hear it or not, said Dan Gelber, who served as Democratic leader at the same time. He said that he and Rubio remained friends over the years despite severe disagreements about policy.He was never a jerk. He was always respectful of the process and our voice, Gelber said. It was sort of the way I always thought a partisan government should operate.Rubios rise continued in 2010 as he was elected to the Senate as part of the tea party wave of outsiders taking on Washington. His first Senate speech focused on the American miracle that brings immigrants from all around the world to the U.S. to leave their children better off then themselves. A few years later, he was part of a bipartisan group that advocated for allowing a path to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally. He played a key role in crafting a sweeping, bipartisan immigration bill that passed the Senate but went nowhere in the House, defeated by a fierce conservative backlash.In the decade since, Rubios views on immigration have shifted toward the hard-line stance of Trump, who on Monday made good on his campaign pledge to aggressively pursue deportations and restrict entry into the United States in his second term.In his confirmation hearing, Rubio echoed Trumps dark vision of Americas immigration system, saying that despots and narco-terrorists have taken advantage of open borders to drive mass migration, traffic women and children, and flood our communities with fentanyl and violent criminals. It was a remarkable tone for Rubio, who is working overtime to ensure there is no daylight between his public statements and Trumps. While his colleagues across the aisle believe that he is conforming to Trumps rhetoric, theyre hopeful he will maintain some of his mainstream views.I think Marco is a hawk, but hes also an internationalist, and I think the challenge for him will be to maintain the long bipartisan tradition of America being indispensable in world affairs, said Sen. Brian Schatz, a Hawaii Democrat who served with Rubio on the Foreign Relations Committee. And there are people in the Trump world who want us to run away from being the leaders of the free world. And Im hoping that Marcos instincts towards American strength will win the day.Both sides agree that it will be Trump who decides if Rubio is MAGA enough to remain a member of his administration and represent his views around the world. He unceremoniously fired his first secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, via tweet, and has long made clear he views foreign policy as his domain.Rubio is also no stranger to Trumps fury. The two men exchanged schoolyard jabs during the 2016 Republican primary with the president labeling him little Marco. Rubio responded by insulting the size of Trumps hands and calling him a con artist and vulgar.Asked if he believes Rubio can last in the job, Rep. Michael McCaul, who until recently served as chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, gave a nod to past turmoil.Well, it is the Trump administration, McCaul said. But I think hes a survivor.___Associated Press writers Matthew Lee, Michelle L. Price and Darlene Superville contributed to this report. FARNOUSH AMIRI Amiri covers Congress for The Associated Press, with a focus on foreign policy and congressional investigations. She previously covered politics for AP as a statehouse reporter based in Columbus, Ohio. twitter mailto MATT BROWN Brown is a reporter covering national politics, race and democracy issues. twitter instagram mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Elon Musk speaks at an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)2025-01-21T18:51:54Z NEW YORK (AP) Right-wing extremists are celebrating Elon Musks straight-arm gesture during a speech Monday, although his intention wasnt totally clear and some hate watchdogs are saying not to read too much into it. I just want to say thank you for making it happen, Musk said during a speech at Capitol One Arena on Monday afternoon, referring to Donald Trumps victory in the presidential election. Then he slapped his hand on his chest, extended his arm straight outward and upward with his palm facing downwards. He turned around and made a similar gesture facing the other way.My heart goes out to you, he said.Many social media users noticed that the gesture looked like a Nazi salute. Musk has only fanned the flames of suspicion by not explicitly denying those claims in a dozen posts since, though he did make light of the criticism and lashed out at people making that interpretation. The everyone is Hitler attack is sooo tired, Musk posted on X several hours after he left the stage.Critics and fans alike of the Tesla CEO and worlds richest man were quick to react to the gesture. The White Flame will rise again, a chapter of the white nationalist group White Lives Matter posted on Telegram.Maybe woke really is dead, white nationalist Keith Woods posted on X.The Anti-Defamation League, an antisemitism and human rights watchdog, called it an awkward gesture and urged caution in jumping to conclusions. Other extremism watchdogs and experts pointed out it was unclear what Musk was trying to convey to the crowd of Trumps supporters during his speech by thrusting his arm out. Im skeptical it was on purpose, said Jared Holt, a senior research analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which tracks online hate. It would be an act of self-sabotage that wouldnt really make much sense at all.Holt noted Musk specifically said his heart went out to the crowd. That could indicate a sort of gesture of thanks to them. Since Musk bought Twitter, now called X, the self-described free speech absolutist has faced criticism from hate-speech watchdogs for allowing extremist, dangerous and antisemitic comments to flourish on the social media platform. His response has been to attack his critics, suing one group unsuccessfully after advertisers fled X and threatening to sue another, the Anti-Defamation League, which urged calm at this delicate moment in its statement Monday.It seems that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge, the ADL said in a statement. In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath.Kurt Braddock, a professor of communication at American University who studies extremism, radicalization and terrorism, said the gesture was a fascist salute and people shouldnt doubt what they saw.Hes still blowing it off as though it wasnt something serious, Braddock said of Musk. I know what I saw, I know what the response to it was among elements of the extreme right including neo-Nazis, and I see what the reaction is now. And none of it is a laughing matter. In Europe where the fascist salute is associated with hate, death and destruction of World War II, Musks arm gesture elicited outrage.An Italian communist youth organization on Tuesday hung an effigy of Musk upside down in Milans Piazzale Loreto, where Mussolinis body was hung upside down after he was executed during the final days of World War II. The organization, Cambiare Rotta (Change Course), noted in a Facebook post that a photo of the effigy had been removed by the social media company. We are correctly a little afraid, because that image is scary, author Filippo Ceccarelli told Italian La7 private television. Known as the Roman salute in Italy, the straight-arm greeting officially adopted in 1925 by the dictator Benito Mussolinis fascist regime is banned in Italy though it is rarely prosecuted. Musks representative in Italy, Andrea Stroppa, published the photo on X with the words: Roman Empire is back, starting with the Roman salute, according to the news agency ANSA. He later deleted the post, writing that Musk is autistic, and was expressing his emotions but denying he was emulating fascism. He does not like extremists, Stroppa wrote.In France on Monday, more than 80 associations, including human rights, environmental and press freedom groups left X, though it is unclear if Musk was the trigger or Trumps inauguration. Several universities and schools left X, too, as well as nationwide and local newspaper on various sides of the political spectrum.Brian Levin, founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, said even if it was accidental, the gesture Musk did has the power to hurt people. When youre a public figure at the highest echelons of power on Inauguration Day, doing a salute like that is extraordinarily disturbing and it calls for an explanation from Musk, he said. Points are made about free speech. Well, along with free speech comes responsibility.Levin said some extremists will take the gesture regardless of its intent as some kind of not-so-subtle marching order.-Associated Press writers Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Colleen Barry in Milan and Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report. BERNARD CONDON Condon is an Associated Press investigative reporter covering breaking news. He has written about the Maui fire, the Afghanistan withdrawal, gun laws, Chinese loans in Africa and Trumps business. twitter facebook mailto

By: Orion Rummler, Kate SosinThis article was originally published by the 19th, a nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Photo by Angelina Katsanis/POLITICO/AP ImagesSubscribe nowPresident Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order signaling his administrations opposition to gender diversity and transgender identity as a whole. Trump wants to reestablish multiple policies regarding trans-Americans that were in place during his first term, including housing trans people in federal prisons based on their sex assigned at birth while seeking to cement a broader message: In his administrations view, trans and nonbinary people dont exist.As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female, Trump said during his inauguration speech. In a list of priorities published to the official White House website on Monday, the presidents wish to establish male and female as biological reality and protect women from radical gender ideology is given as an example of how Trump plans to bring back American values.While the federal government has no control over how people identify, it can control whether they have access to federal identity documents that match their gender presentation namely, passports and Social Security identification cards. This executive order directs federal agencies to revoke policies issued under the Biden administration that made it easier for trans people to update their gender markers on federal identification.Inaccurate identity documents expose trans people to harassment in daily life and can hinder travel, especially without access to a passport that matches their actual physical appearance. It is unclear exactly how Trumps executive order will affect Americans with an X gender marker on their passport, which became available in 2022, but Trumps administration seems poised to stop issuing passports with that marker.The order also calls for transgender women to be housed with men in federal prisons and for an end to any gender-affirming care being provided to trans people incarcerated in federal facilities. The federal government has long denied transition-related surgeries to detainees, including under the Biden administration. Although Trump campaigned on ending transition care access for trans inmates, U.S. prisons offered gender-affirming care during his first term.Trump is also directing federal agencies to exclude transgender people when enforcing laws that protect against sex discrimination but this declaration does not mean that trans people are left unprotected. Federal judges across the country have found that discrimination against transgender people is a form of sex discrimination, citing Bostock v. Clayton County, the Supreme Court case that found LGBTQ people are protected against workplace discrimination.The Trump administration will likely run into legal trouble as it works to implement these rules.The order directly contradicts a 2009 law passed unanimously in Congress called the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), which provides transgender people who are incarcerated a say in where they are housed if their safety is threatened. The law is intended to apply to all facilities where people are detained, including prisons, jails and detention centers, but reporting shows it has historically been ignored.Still, PREA is more powerful than Trumps executive order, as it was passed by Congress.In 2018, the Trump administration rescinded President Barack Obamas Transgender Prison Manual, which aimed to enforce PREA in federal prisons. President Joe Biden reinstated the guidance in 2022.Subscribe nowThe Trump administration could also face legal challenges in its efforts to restrict federal identity documents. The first U.S. passport with an X gender marker was issued as the culmination of a six-year legal battle between an intersex and nonbinary Navy veteran and the U.S. State Department. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit ordered the agency to reconsider its prior refusals to issue the veteran, Dana Zzyym, an accurate passport noting that forcing intersex people to pick a male or female gender marker creates inaccurate data.Trumps executive order could run up against the Zzyyym ruling and other laws and precedents. One such precedent is in the International Civil Aviation Organization Treaty Standards, which mandates that sex be listed on passports and that the three permissible options are M, F or X.Jennifer Pizer, chief legal officer at Lambda Legal, which fought and won Zzyyms case, said its unclear if the Trump administration can prevail in arguing any legal basis for its executive order. Pizers organization sued under the Obama administration and fought for their X gender marker through Trumps tenure. They were finally granted a passport under the Biden administration.We had multiple rounds of this litigation, and the government kept failing to be able to justify requiring somebody like Dana to be inaccurate, insisting on giving an inaccurate identity document, said Pizer I dont think theres any reason to think that the Trump administration is better suited now to justify that kind of a rule.Logan Casey, director of policy research at the Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit that tracks LGBTQ legislation, pointed out an executive order being signed doesnt equate to immediate policymaking or new laws. Instead, executive orders typically direct federal agencies to begin changing their policies and these orders can be easily challenged in court.They will issue executive orders and actions and other directives, but it will still take time before those things actually become law, if they ever actually go into effect, he said.As the second Trump administration takes shape, Maha Ibrahim, a program managing attorney at the nonprofit civil rights group Equal Rights Advocates, wants young LGBTQ people to continue to pay attention, demand action from their elected officials and remember that they deserve the rights that they have.Weve got a lot of students in university right now, where all of their formative years, with the exception of one small gap, were spent under an administration that was trying to erase them, she said. Im less concerned about the force of law Im more concerned about the will and the energy and belief in LGBTQIA students that these rights have been fought for decades in their name, and that were here to continue the fight and we havent abandoned them.If objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button:Donate to Uncloseted Media

By: Piper Hutchinson This article was originally published in the Lousiana Illuminator. Hundreds of people gathered at Washington Square Park in New Orleans on March 31, 2023, for a march to mark Transgender Day of Visibility. (Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator)Subscribe nowA federal district court judge in Kentucky has struck down President Joe Bidens effort to protect transgender students and make other changes to Title IX, ruling the U.S. Department of Education violated teachers rights by requiring them to use transgender students names and pronouns.The ruling issued Thursday, which applies nationwide, came as a major blow to the Biden administration in its final days and to LGBTQ advocates. It comes less than two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, when the rule was likely to face more scrutiny from a candidate who took aim at transgender people in a culture-war focused campaign.The Biden administration rule was released last April and aimed to protect LGBTQ students in K-12 schools, colleges and universities. The rule also conferred protections for pregnant students. The update to Title IX, the federal law that forbids sex-based discrimination in education, was expanded to include gender identity and sexual orientation.In his opinion, Chief Judge Danny Reeves of the Eastern District of Kentucky wrote in his opinion that the education department could not expand Title IX to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity. Reeves was nominated to the bench by President George W. Bush.Gender identity refers to the gender that an individual identifies as, regardless of their sex assigned at birth.The entire point of Title IX is to prevent discrimination based on sex throwing gender identity into the mix eviscerates the statute and renders it largely meaningless, Reeves wrote.Subscribe nowLouisiana was among the states that sued the Biden administration over the rule. Its case was pending in the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals at the time of the ruling in Kentucky, which came in the case Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti brought.Louisiana is honored to have litigated this issue alongside Tennessee and our sister States, Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement to the Illuminator. This is a great day for America!Gov. Jeff Landry also praised the decision in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.Bidens attempt to rewrite Title IX is dead!, Landry posted from his personal account. Its a shame this even had to go to court, but pleased to see this win for women and girls across our Nation.Prior to Thursdays decision, the rule had been temporarily blocked in nearly half of U.S. states, including Louisiana and Tennessee, as litigation played out.While Reeves opinion references a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that limits the regulatory authority of federal agencies, it also notably rejects the rule on First Amendment grounds.The First Amendment does not permit the government to chill speech or compel affirmance of a belief with which the speaker disagrees in this manner, Reeves said, referring to sections of the law that could be interpreted as defining deadnaming and misgendering of students as harassment.Deadnaming is when someone uses a transgender or nonbinary persons birth name or dead name against their wishes. Misgendering occurs when someone refers to an individual by a gender they do not identify as.If objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button:Donate to Uncloseted Media

At only 17 years old, Neha Sikder founded Desoire, her own fashion line of genderless clothing to inspire femininity for everyone. Desoire strives to be a sustainable brand challenging a fashion industry that often promotes only the masculine side in unisex clothing.Sikder was only 13 years old when the idea for Desoire came to her. She was listening to a podcast and heard the term genderless fashion for the first time. After doing some research, she was drawn in by this whole realm of expression. Despite having no previous experience, Sikder jumped in to learning about clothing design and manufacturing.I knew I wanted to have a positive impact on the world, and this seemed like a way to do that, Sikder said.She saw that there were many brands in the market attempting unisex clothing lines, but they were only focusing on masculine styles. There can be a lot of stigma around how men express themselves, even though clothing has no bearing on ones gender or sexuality. Here was a market where Sikder could do something different and work to redefine gender norms.I drew a lot of inspiration from my Indian heritage and the way my male ancestors approached fashion, Sikder explained. This style of clothing touches on more feminine styles for everyone.She has found the process to be a lot more approachable than most people realize. Sikder began by reaching out to people already in the industry and found a mentor to help her map out the steps to starting a company. At this point, she had already done some market research and identified a gap in what was being sold, so the main difficulty was legalities, which were compounded because she was still under the age of 18.Sikders parents have been a big support throughout the process. Theyve really allowed me to have full control of the direction of the company, she explained. Her parents have been involved since the beginning, offering guidance and necessary backing.In fact, the name of the company was inspired by Sikders parents. Her stepmom is French, and Sikder asked her to come up with a name that sounds fancy. She provided a phrase; Sikder unscrambled the words and picked out what sounded to her like high fashion, Desoire.The next step was figuring out the design and manufacturing process. It can be incredibly daunting to find a manufacturer that meets all of ones requirements, and Sikder wanted to find a domestic producer that paid its employees fairly. Thankfully, the Council of Fashion Designers of America has online resources, including an open-access directory of over 340 U.S. fashion manufacturers. Sikder called every single number on the directory until she found the best fit for her brand.It is a long process from initial conception to having the product ready to sell. Sikder begins by digitally sketching her designs. Those sketches are then sent to a pattern maker who creates a digital pdf, and that gets sent to the manufacturer in Brooklyn. For Sikder, it typically takes two weeks from drawing the idea sketch to having a pattern. The turnaround time to get the first sample can be anywhere from one to two months depending on how busy the manufacturer is.Once a sample is created, the next step is figuring out adjustments. Sikder first decides how the garment fits on her, and then goes to friends or hires models to try out other sizes. The smaller end of our sizes fit differently on people than the larger sizes, so there is some work in adjusting it to work on everyone, Sikder explained.It was really exciting to get my first-ever sample and be able to hold something I designed, Sikder recalled.It was also a big learning moment.The first garment Sikder made was an asymmetrical, cropped, black sleeved tee, listed on Desoires website under The Cropped One. The first sample was made with fabric that was much thinner than Sikder wanted it to be.This was also the first garment Sikder saw an influencer style, and it was awesome.It was amazing to see people enjoying something I created and support my mission, Sikder said. Im very attached because theres so much that went into that piece, so it was great to see people praise the style.The inspiration for Desoires clothing comes from all over. Sikder gets a lot of ideas from watching fashion and runway shows. She also finds inspiration in music and architecture, and she will even craft a collection around an emotion.Of course, she also draws parallels from her Indian heritage. A lot of it is trial and error, Sikder said. I want to be experimental with my designs and play with conventions.When founding the company, Sikder wanted to ensure sustainability was a core value. Fast fashion is a big contributor to environmental deterioration.At Desoire, fabrics are either made from recycled or organic materials. All packaging is recyclable and biodegradable when possible. The company is registered with the United Nations Fashion and Lifestyle Network, a collection of almost 300 other companies committed to global sustainability.Desoire is committed specifically to sustainable development goals 12 and 13: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns, and take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.Desoire is also looking into a new concept of sample making. This is currently a very time intensive process, that produces a lot of waste as designers work to figure out the sizing of their clothes. With new 3D sampling technology, creators use a digital system to see their designs on an avatar. This helps eliminate the time and fabric wasted as one can more accurately tell proportions before the first sample is created.As of now, Desoire is an online only company, but Sikder hopes to one day have a physical location. Next up, she is working on a skirt design to be available soon. Its something our consumer platform is showing interest and enthusiasm in, Sikder said.In addition to changing the fashion industry, Siker wants to inspire tomorrows leaders. One thing I hope I can achieve is letting young entrepreneurs know their dreams are possible, she said. Her advice is to find what youre passionate about, believe in yourself and eventually youll make baby steps towards your dream.So far she is on track to reach her goals. Her genderless fashion brand is being well received and has already been featured in multiple publications. Desoire is a brand, Sikder said, designed so everyone can embrace their femininity.This story is part of the Digital Equity Local Voices Fellowship lab. The lab initiative is made possible with support from Comcast NBC Universal.The post Sustainable, genderless and bold fashion: The vision behind Desoire appeared first on News Is Out.

LGBTQ+ leaders have criticized Meta CEO Mark Zuckerbergs decision to end third-party fact checking and content moderation on Facebook and Instagram posts.In the video released on Tuesday, Zuckerberg said the platform would move to a community notes form of content moderation, similar to Elon Musks X, which Meta claims will be less prone to bias.Zuckerberg stated that legacy media and governments had pushed to censor more social media content and that after the recent election, the country has reached a cultural tipping point to once again prioritizing free speech.We plan to phase in Community Notes in the U.S. first over the next couple of months and will continue to improve it over the course of the year, said an accompanying statement from Meta.As we make the transition, we will get rid of our fact-checking control, stop demoting fact-checked content and, instead of overlaying full-screen interstitial warnings you have to click through before you can even see the post, we will use a much less obtrusive label indicating that there is additional information for those who want to see it.Zuckerberg addressed the 2016 election and concerns raised about the spread of disinformation threatening democracy.We tried in good faith to address those concerns without becoming the arbiters of truth, but the fact-checkers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than theyve created, especially in the U.S., said Zuckerberg.Zuckerberg also announced the removal of restrictions on topics like immigration and gender, which he said are just out of touch with mainstream discourse.Advocacy organization GLAAD sent out a press release addressing Zuckerbergs announcement and recent changes made to Metas Hateful Conduct Policy. (You can see the logged changes here.)The new Hateful Conduct changes now includes a section saying, We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words like weird.'Todays sweeping and extreme policy changes represent a wholesale abandonment of the norms and best practices of content moderation, said the GLAAD release. The new language of Metas Community Standards includes numerous changes that will result in Instagram, Facebook, and Threads becoming unsafe landscapes filled with dangerous hate speech, violence, harassment, and misinformation.GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis also shared her concerns in a statement.Zuckerbergs removal of fact-checking programs and industry-standard hate speech policies makes Metas platforms unsafe places for users and advertisers alike. Without these necessary hate speech and other policies, Meta is giving the green light for people to target LGBTQ people, women, immigrants, and other marginalized groups with violence, vitriol, and dehumanizing narratives. With these changes, Meta is continuing to normalize anti-LGBTQ hatred for profit at the expense of its users and true freedom of expression. Fact-checking and hate speech policies protect free speech.GLAADs 2023 social media safety index found that Facebook and Instagram failed to protect LGBTQ+ content and users and that was with fact-checking and content moderation still in place.In a press conference today at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, President-elect Donald Trump was asked about Metas changes by a reporter.Do you think Zuckerberg is responding to the threats youve made to him in the past?Trump responded, Probably. Yeah, probably.Zuckerberg and Trump met for dinner at Trumps private club in late November, after the election.The post What does Metas rollback on moderation and fact checking mean for the LGBTQ+ community? appeared first on News Is Out.

Martin Luther King (MLK) Jr. Day 2025 marks the holidays40th observance.The theme, Mission Possible: Protecting Freedom, Justice, and Democracy in the Spirit of Nonviolence 365,is challenging in this politically polarized era.With this new presidency, we are called to reaffirm our values and hold them against a hard reality in order to provide a promise for future generations.Americans on the margins have the most to lose now in a countryeroding, if not dismantling, decades-long civil rights gains that allowed protection and participation in an evolving multicultural democracy. Related Martin Luther King Jr. shows us how to harness the immense power of the queer community King understood how to change hearts and minds. We must follow in his footsteps. For King, protecting freedom, justice, and democracy was more than a racial, legal, or moral issue it was a human issue. He passionately demonstrated this concern in his work on a wide range of social issues. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The revolution for human rights is opening up unhealthy areas in American life and permitting a new and wholesome healing to take place, King once told a racially mixed audience during his 1967 speech, Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence. Eventually, the civil rights movement will have contributed infinitely more to the nation than eradicating racial injustice, he said. Moral leadership played a profound role in Kings justice work. He argued that authentic moral leadership must involve itself in the situations of all who are damned, disinherited, disrespected, and dispossessed. He also believed that moral leadership must be part of a participatory government that is feverishly working to dismantle any existing discriminatory laws that prevent full participation in the fight to advance democracy.However,if King were among us today, he would say that it is not enough to look outside ourselves to see the places where society is broken. It is not enough to talk about institutions and workplaces that fracture and separate people based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and other experiential lines.Oftentimes, these institutions and workplaces are broken, dysfunctional, and wounded in the same ways we are the structures weve created mirror not who we want to be but who we are.King would remind us that we cannot heal the world without healing ourselves. In light of Kings teachings, healing ourselves is the greatest task and the most difficult work we must do. This work must be done in relation to our justice work in the world. In A Farewell to Arms written during World War I Ernest Hemingway said that the world breaks us all, but some of us grow strong in those broken places. Kings teachings invite us to grow strong in our broken places not only to mend the unhealthy world we live in but also the unhealthy world we carry around within us.If you want to see love, be love. If you want to receive compassion, be compassionate. If you want respect, you have to show respect,BerniceKing said in an interview promoting her 2022 childrens book It Starts With Me. Dr. Bernice A. King is the CEO of The King Center and the youngestsurviving daughter of MLK. Stop waiting on the next leader, the next Martin Luther King Jr. it starts with you! I know that the struggle against racism that King talked about is only legitimate if I am also fighting anti-Semitism, homophobia, sexism, and classism not only out in the world but also in myself. Otherwise, I am creating an ongoing cycle of abuse that goes on unexamined and unaccounted for.We are foolish if we think we can heal the world and not ourselves. And we delude ourselves if we believe that King was only talking about the woundedness of institutional racism and not the personal wounds we all carry as human beings. Ironically, our culture of woundedness and victimization has bonded us together in brokenness. Sharing wounds to depict and honor our pain has created a new language of intimacy, a bonding ritual some feel more able to trust. When we trauma bond only in these unhealthy ways, we miss opportunities to work collaboratively with others to effect change in seemingly small ways that eventually lead to significant outcomes for ourselves and our communities.When we use our gifts to serve others, as King has taught us, we shift the paradigm of personal brokenness to personal healing. We also shift the paradigm of looking for moral leadership from outside of ourselves to within ourselves, thus realizing that we are not only the agents of change in society but also the moral leaders we have been looking for.Therefore, our job in keeping Kings dream alive is to remember that our longing for social justice remains also inextricably tied to our longing for personal healing and it starts with you.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

On January 20, 2025, we experience a political planetary alignment of sorts. Though his birthday was on January 15, the United States will commemorate Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s national holiday. Following the recent death of Jimmy Carter, our 39th President, flags throughout the nation including in Washington, D.C., over the Capitol, White House, and other public buildings will remain at half-staff.The official inauguration of the nations 47thpresident, Donald John Trump, will also be held. Related Donald Trump is targeting trans rights. Sydney Duncan is fighting back. The senior counsel for Advocates for Trans Equality gets real about the future for trans Americans. And here, the confluence ends. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dedicated his entire life to promoting peace and civil rights for people of color and other marginalized groups. He based his actions on his assertion that, There can be no justice without peace, and there can be no peace without justice. Dive deeper every day Join our newsletter for thought-provoking commentary that goes beyond the surface of LGBTQ+ issues Subscribe to our Newsletter today On December 14, 1967, Dr. King chanted these words outside a California prison that was holding Vietnam War protesters. In his commitment and passion for justice, and in his inimical and profound way, he understood several connecting strands: I see these two struggles as one struggle.King argued that by fighting a war against the self-determination of the Vietnamese people, the United States of America had been proliferating injustice. Fighting for the rights of people in his home nation without opposing what King believed to be the clear exploitation of the Vietnamese people would have contradicted his declaration that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.Dr. Kings late wife, Coretta Scott King, remarked at the 2000 National LGBTQ Task Force Creating Change Conference: My husband, Martin Luther King Jr., once said, We are all tied together in a single garment of destiny an inescapable network of mutuality I can never be what I ought to be until you are allowed to be what you ought to be. Therefore, I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.s dream to make room at the table of brotherhood and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people. Dr. King is one of countless social justice activists across the planet, some known and some unrecognized. They have placed their values and their very lives on the line to ensure a better, more peaceful, and equitable world for themselves and their descendants.Jimmy Carter came to this work later in his life, having been raised in the segregated, racist environment of the Jim Crow South. Through his deep religious faith, he became one of the most forward-thinking and acting of all our presidents in the advancement of human and civil rights throughout the world.The time for racial discrimination is over,Carter declaredon the steps of the Georgia State Capitol after becoming that states 76th governor. No poor, rural, weak, or Black person should ever have to bear the additional burden of being deprived of the opportunity of an education, a job, or simple justice. Prior to serving as governor, Carter was a Georgia state senator from 1963 to 1967. During that time, he worked to repeal laws that made it harder for Black people to vote. His anti-racism and pro-integration stances were likely what caused him to lose his first campaign for Georgia governor in 1966.Carter won his bid to become governor in 1970, serving from 1971 to 1975. During his term, Black appointees on Georgia state boards and agencies rose fromthree to 53, and he increased the overall number of Black state employeesby 25%.While serving as the nations 39thpresident from 1977 to 1981, Carter made human rights and peace both at home and abroad a central issue. He was instrumental in the 1978 Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, which became one of his greatest achievements. On January 20, 1977, he stated in his inaugural address: Because we are free, we can never be indifferent to the fate of freedom elsewhere. Our moral sense dictates a clear-cut preference for those societies which share with us an abiding respect for individual human rights.Following his presidency, Carter supported and volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, a Georgia-based organization that builds homes for those in need all over the world. He created the Carter Center and went on missions across the globe to negotiate the end of conflicts, prevent disease, advance human rights and economic development, and promote democratic principles.In 2002, Jimmy Carter became the second Georgian to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. The first was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1964. Dr. King and Carter worked for a world with a more level playing field between people of every identity and background and for a world with a safety net to catch people who have hit tough times and meet the needs of people with limited abilities.Because of their courageous dedication to the concept of fairness and justice in the relationship between the individual and the state and also between states and in their devotion to obliterating the barriers of social mobility by working actively for equality of opportunity and economic justice they have given us so much and have served as positive role models for every generation.The only tangential connection in the lives of Dr. King and Trump is the fact that they were both convicted for breaking established laws. Acting on his philosophy of nonviolence based on his studies of forward thinkers like Gandhi, Tolstoy, and Thoreau, Dr. King and the Rev. Ralph Abernathy led a march in defiance of an injunction against civil rights demonstrations, and they were arrested on April 12, 1963. During his eight days in jail, King wrote his now-famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail.On the topic of civil disobedience, King wrote: An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.Trump, on the other hand, was charged withfour criminal indictments and convicted of 34 felony counts in his so-called hush money case.Two indictments were on state charges (one in New York and one in Georgia) and two indictments (as well as one superseding indictment) were on federal charges (one in Florida and one in the District of Columbia). Due to his victory in the 2025 presidential election a well as the Supreme Courts ruling inTrump v. United Statesthat a president cannot be held criminally liable for conducting official actions while in office, three of the four indictments were reversed. Though he remains a convicted felon as determined by a jury of his peers, he received no penalties for his 34-count conviction. Prior to his entry into politics, Trump and his father, Fred Trump, were convicted of perpetrating racial discrimination by refusing to rent their properties to Black people, over which they were sued and eventually signed a consent decree.Dr. King opposed and violated unjust and discriminatory laws on high moral and ethical grounds to advance the cause of peace and justice. Trump, however, opposed and violated just and fair laws to advance his own greed, prejudice, lust, and power. Once identifying himself as a Democrat, Trump has transformed himself, at the very least, into the mouthpiece of the far-right and white Christian nationalists.In political terms, a strongman is one who leads by force within an overarching authoritarian, totalitarian, dictatorial regime. Sometimes the formal head of state and sometimes another political or military leader, the strongman exerts more influence and control over the government than traditional laws or constitutional mandates sanction.On the right-wing side of the dictatorial strongmans political spectrum, we find the philosophy and practice of fascism. While also deployed as an epithet by some, fascism developed as a form of radical authoritarian nationalism in early 20th-century Europe in response to liberalism and Marxism on the left. We have evidence of the ways Trump governed during his first term in office, and if prelude is any indication, his second term promises to be more extreme and detrimental to all people outside of the oligarchal class.Trump represents the opposite extreme of the moral and ethical words and actions advanced by Dr. King and President Carter. Trump appeals to nationalism, presented in the guise of popularism. He feeds on peoples fears and prejudices, a tactic that has already resulted in the segregation of people and nations from one another, along with threats of violence and actual violence. He has promises to continue rolling back many of the rights and protections marginalized people have tirelessly fought for: reproductive rights, voting rights, citizenship rights, anti-torture guarantees, rights of unreasonable search and seizure, rights of assembly, disability rights, freedom of religion, transgender rights and bodily autonomy, and possibly marriage equality.He scapegoats already disenfranchised identity categories as the internal and external enemies of the United States: Muslims and anyone from Muslim-majority countries, Mexicans and all Latinx people, urban thugs, the press, the ACLU, liberals, illegal aliens, transgender people, Democrats, etc.His toxic, misogynistic utterances and allegations of sexual harassment by numerous women have reached historic proportions. He continually threatens to destroy the countrys Fourth Estate by employing libel laws to sue the crooked and lying media (Lgenpresse,lying press popularized by the German Nazis to silence opposition).His continual cries against Islamic jihadist terrorists as a major threat to our nation exposes U.S. Muslims to increased calls for a national registry and surveillance to track their movements.Trumps attendance at several Christian prayer vigils and appearances at right-wing Christian conferences and universities gives a subliminal battling cry to make America white and Protestant again. His increased promises to deregulate corporate business sectors with massive tax cuts and other financial incentives, such as continuing massive tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, will increase the already overwhelming income and wealth gaps between the super-rich and everyone else in the United States.Under Trumps second term, we will most likely see the privatization of entitlements, advocacy for the abolition of a national minimum wage and a minimum yearly income above the poverty level, and a reduction in the rights of workers to organize and negotiate collective bargaining agreements.Assisted by the larger Republican party and the Supreme Court gutting of the 1965 Voting Rights law, we will see an increase in voter suppression campaigns, effectively reducing the number of polling stations in primarily marginalized communities and limiting days and times for pre-election-day voting. So, on January 20, 2025, I will be remembering the higher moral standards set by President Jimmy Carter and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.As Trump places his hand on the Bible atop the U.S. Capitol and perjures himself for a second time in taking the oath tofaithfully execute the Office of President of the United States and preserve, protect and defend the Constitution,I will be rereading Kings historic, Letter from a Birmingham Jail, which declares that Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Look out, music! Theres a new powerhouse on the scene and this trio is raising the roof around the globe. Aptly titled CelloVoci, though they are young, they are true music veterans with extensive credits as separate, consummate performers. Married couple Branden and James make up the internationally renowned cello/vocal duo. Branden has continued to []The post CelloVoci is a Queer Powerhouse Trio appeared first on GEDmagazine.

She walks into a room, and all at once, this tall drink of water exudes a spark in the air, she is glamorous, plain and simple. As one of the shows that she has hosted says, shes got the lips, looks, and lashes. You never know where she is going to show up next, whether []The post Mind, Body, and Art: Aurora Forte appeared first on GEDmagazine.

Journalists covering legislation about transgender participation in sports should include these facts and context in their coverage, seek transgender voices in stories about transgender issues, challenge politicians rhetoric to provide facts to back up any claims, and include any history of targeting LGBTQ people (200+ profiles on the GLAAD Accountability Project, here). Transgender people make [...]The post Fact Sheet for Reporters: Transgender Participation in Sports first appeared on GLAAD.

With the holiday break over, a number of state legislatures are reconvening starting this week to hold their 2025 sessions, and LGBTQ-related bills and policies are already on the docket in many states. Massachusetts, Montana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New [...]The post State Legislatures Reconvene to Consider 2025 LGBTQ-Related Bills first appeared on GLAAD.

The most special moment is getting to hear how this show has impacted people's real lives, gushes Anna Cathcart, who stars as the eponymous Kitty Song Covey in XO, Kitty, to PRIDE. I've had many people, even personally, who I've known in my life, or who I went to elementary school with, or someone that I haven't talked to in a long time, reach out and say Kitty's experience with her sexuality and how she discovered that and how she went through it, is so reflective of something that they'd gone through in their own lives. Just hearing that this could help them feel prouder of who they are is something that, honestly, I will never take lightly, and it just means so so much.It could sound trite, but in 2025, when a real and pervasive feeling of anxiety is moving through the queer community about their continued safety, let alone visibility, these bright spots of representation, connection, and empathy just hit differently. Theres a reminder of the power of seeing and being seen that can easily be taken for granted. But for Cathart, and her costars Anthony Keyvan, Gia Kim, and Regan Aliyah Dennis-Jones, who regularly hear from fans who are moved by their characters and performance, it's impossible to ignore the show's impact.For the uninitiated, the series is a spin-off of the massively popular To All the Boys Ive Loved Before films. It sees the movies lead characters youngest sister, Kitty, heading off to an elite school in Seoul, South Korea in pursuit of both a relationship with her longtime boyfriend and to learn more about the mother she lost as a child and who attended that same school at her age. She discovers a lot: Secrets about her classmates and even the school faculty, that the road to romance is never as smooth as it is in our fantasies, and that her romantic desires are a bit more complicated than she realizes when she ends up falling for her rival turned friend, Yuri (Kim).The first season ends with Kitty realizing she has strong feelings for Yuri, but isnt quite ready to fully act on them particularly since, with her help, Yuri has reunited with her girlfriend Juliana (Dennis-Jones). Its all very dramatic in the ways you would expect from a teen drama, but it's also incredibly sweet, wholesome, heartwarming, and, if youve ever had a crush on a friend, relatable. This is due in large part to its charming and charismatic cast, led by Cathcart, who was enthusiastic about leaning into Kittys bisexuality in season two. Honestly, it's one of my favorite parts of the season, favorite parts of the show, she says. I love that we get to explore this part of her and do it in such a way that it just shows her being so, so comfortable with who she is, which is not something that's easy and something that requires a lot of bravery. That's something I admire about Kitty a lot.Despite Yuri being happily committed to Juliana, Kitty is determined to strike out on her journey of self-discovery and even begins dating a new girl in school. Whats refreshing to see is what a nonissue this pursuit is for Kitty, her family, and her schoolmates.Getting to see her so determined and so excited to jump into this part of who she is, which I know can be a very, very scary thing, but she's diving in head first. It's so lovely to see on screen, and to see a teen in that space, says Cathcart. There's a lot less uncertainty this time, and there's a lot more power in her identity. I loved getting to explore that. It was so special.This newfound confidence is bolstered by a cast of queer characters including Kittys closest friend Q, played by Love, Victors Keyvan who has plenty of romantic drama of his own, but who, like Kitty, grows a lot in this sophomore season. Q had an interesting choice in season one. I think his heart was there, though, and I think there was love there with Florian. He definitely made some choices that kind of caused a rift and made the entire school feel a certain way about him, Keyvan tells PRIDE. With season two, we're seeing him being able to explore love on his own, instead of with the assistance of Kitty. We love Kitty being a matchmaker and all, but sometimes it has to happen organically.There are many lessons in the series, not that it's by any means didactic. It's more that the show is a reflection of how love and the pursuit of personal identity can be messy and there are plenty of bumps in the road along the way. But thats what makes it relatable, and its that connection with the audience that Kim is repeatedly blown away and moved by. Honestly, it's been such a rewarding journey, she tells PRIDE, adding that getting to portray queer love in a way that continues to normalize it has been a powerful experience. I feel like it's so normal that I forget that they're queer love lines. It's just love. You know, love is love, is love, she says. I do get personal DMs from fans who watch the show, and they tell me about how this show has impacted them specifically, even in their lows. And it's so touching.For Dennis-Jones, who plays Yuris onscreen love, this is even more personal. I live my life very out, proud, and loud. So I think it's really cool to be on a show that's also very out and loud and proud about it as well, she tells PRIDE. Were not trying to sneak those storylines in. No, this is what it is. You're gonna accept it, and you might learn something about yourself or learn something about the people around you.I know when I was young and trying to figure out, am I a lesbian? I'm not. Am I this? Am I blah, blah, blah. I would have loved to see these characters figuring out love, Dennis-Jones continues. This probably would have helped me, and I probably would have come out a little bit sooner, because I saw myself being reflected on screen in this.That sentiment is something the cast as a whole comes together around, and sees as the show and their work in particular having the power to not just entertain, but also help those whove struggled with similar situations in their lives.It is the number one reminder that I love what I do, Cathcart concludes. I'm so grateful I get to do this, because even if it's just a few people, if you can make them feel more loved and understood, it's such a powerful thing that I do not take lightly.

Our favorite muscle queen is ready to bare all.For years, fans have considered Kameron Michaels to be the ultimate trade from RuPaul's Drag Race. Now, the season ten finalist is expanding his empire by finally stepping into two sexy industries... fitness and OnlyFans.Michaels has been very vocal on his passion for the gym, so the handsome model decided to become a certified personal trainer and start his own program titled Kameron Michaels Fitness.While no official launch date has been announced, people can start signing up for individualized workout regimens with the Drag Race star very soon."It's such a long time coming! I wanted to do this from the very beginning. I know that fitness has changed my life over the years and I want to share that with other people," Michaels tells PRIDE. See on Instagram Although his latest business venture is a huge milestone in his career, Michaels is taking things up a notch by also launching his own OnlyFans account. The best part? The star will be posting full frontal content beginning February 14. Talk about the ultimate Valentine's Day package!"I've had the URL for about four years. It's been waiting in the wings this entire time. 2025 is the year that I do exactly what I want to do, regardless of what people think. I'm having fun so far! You are getting things that you are not going to find anywhere else on the internet."OnlyFans has become more accepted in society with many other celebrities joining the popular website over the years. With so many people thirsting over Michaels since his debut on Drag Race, now felt like the right time for Michaels to create his own profile."I should have done it back then, but I was worried about the impact it would have on my career. In 2025, we're not really caring for opinions that don't serve me! There's going to be a lot of stuff that you wouldn't expect me to post. It is getting spicier as we go." See on Instagram Michaels isn't the first Drag Race alum to join OnlyFans. Gothy Kendoll, Tessa Testicle, Jade Jolie, and many other queens have posted spicy content on the steamy website in recent years. So, that begs the question... would Michaels collab with her fellow sisters?"People have asked! As of right now, there are no plans for that, but never say never. Who knows? I might be willing to explore that down the road."Fans can learn more about Kameron Michaels Fitness and subscribe to his OnlyFans here. To see the full interview, check out the video at the top of the page.

We caught up with acclaimed comedian, actor and author ALOKs (they/them) following the release of their newest comedy special BIOLOGY!The special is a hybrid blend of standup comedy and poetry, and is free to stream exclusively on alokvmenon.com. ALOK taped the hour-long special in NYC after they toured the special over 150 shows in 36 countries.Tell us about your new comedy special, BIOLOGY! and what the title means to you.Well firstly it means that if people dont watch my special they are in fact erasing biology, and thats very hypocritical! Hehe. Jokes aside, what I started to notice was that often people use biology and biological to say that something is fixed and permanent. But truth is our biology is constantly changing every part of us is constantly shifting, being regenerated. So I wanted to call the show biology because its a show about transformation: from grief to joy and back again. The true biology thats being erased isnt gender, its what it means to be human. And what it means to be human is that we are in constant flux.How do you think comedy, laughter, and the community of a comedy show can impact peoples mental health?In a world in which large crowds of people gather from fear, aggression, and distrust it feels powerful to bring people together in shared delight. Theres something that happens, and its really magical to witness, when peoples individual laughter melts into a collective. Or when someone like guffaws or snorts, and it gives permission to someone else to do the same. In our dissociated world laughter is one of the first points of entry back into our bodies. Laughter is a pathway to connect to one another, to feel like something greater than themselves. I often hear from audience members after the show that they didnt realize how much they needed to laugh and what a cathartic release it feels like. And how healing and meaningful it is to be with a group of LGBTQ+ folks laughing despite everything were going through.Your comedy tour spanned 150 shows in 36 countries! With such a demanding tour schedule, how did you support your mental health? What did your self-care look like?It was definitely grueling, but Ive been doing this for a while so Ive developed some practices that help me. I have rituals on the road that ground me in who I am and why I do this like breathing exercises and maintaining a journal. I try to bring friends with me so I have a support system, someone to debrief and process all the chaos around me. I work with promoters to collaborate with LGBTQ community across the world: as photographers, makeup artists, designers. That way I have instant community in a place where I might feel isolated.Can you please share an inspiring message for LGBTQ+ young people? I know that things might feel impossible right now but I want to remind you that you are part of a community that defies whats possible every day. We come from a longstanding, sacred legacy of people who despite everything found ways to find each other and persist. You are never alone because you are part of something greater than yourself.The post ALOK on Their New Comedy Special and the Impact of Laughter appeared first on The Trevor Project.

The Trevor Project sat down with transgender activist, actress, and influencer Dylan Mulvaney and Harper Steele, writer and star of Netflixs documentary film Will & Harper. In this exclusive blog, the two trailblazers interviewed each other about their experiences as transgender women and the rewards and challenges of living openly as their authentic selves. With the rights of transgender people being debated across the country, this conversation is more timely than ever.HARPER: You are so unafraid of being out front and online. Does it ever scare you?DYLAN: I constantly go between the desire to be seen and wanting to hide under my covers and never come out. I think my craving for visibility first developed as a young queer kid attempting to overcompensate for my femininity, and now in my adulthood it manifests as pride for this second chance Ive been given in life. I was so eager to share my new confidence with the world after transitioning, and now Im a bit more reserved at times due to all the hate. Ive been feeling super happy lately, and I feel myself riding a new wave of optimism!HARPER: I felt the joy radiating off you when we first met. How do you deal with online hate?DYLAN: Sometimes hate comments or videos send me into a puddle of tears, but usually a bath cheers me up quickly. When Im tempted to react or respond to the hate, I take a moment to think through the trajectory of me adding fuel to the already blazing fire. If my response isnt helpful or constructive, I move on like water off a ducks back. I also have an excellent therapist and bffs on speed dial at all times. What about you? What has the reaction been like since Will & Harper premiered on Netflix?HARPER: Ill be honest, Im not really sure about the reaction. I dont ever look at reviews good or bad. Friends have been sending me lots of congratulatory messages and a few have sent me a review or a post someone made and those have all been positive because, well, friends sent them to me. Netflix seems to be happy that people are talking about it and watching it so Im guessing thats a good thing.DYLAN: What do you hope people will learn after watching Will & Harper?HARPER: From a trans perspective, what I want is for people to understand the damage that happens when you stop people from becoming who they need to be. If you deprive people of their gender, youre depriving them of a chance at true joy. I think the other big takeaway from the film is that friendship is about being present, listening and caring if someone you love is going through a period of change, spend time with them. Sometimes time is all it takes to say, Im here for you.DYLAN: Absolutely, its the simple things that go a long way.HARPER: How do you feel about being trans?DYLAN: I love my transness 99% of the time. It is a gift and one that I keep unwrapping. For a long time, I felt like an alien on this planet with few people to relate to, and now I feel a connection to other trans folks stronger than ever. The 1% of disliking my transness, it comes in times of comparison to cis folks. When I try to run from my transness and cruelly critique my body or mind, I remind myself that everyone is plagued by different insecurities, and that mine just happen to be linked to identity. I hope soon that the world will see trans people as a gift, too.HARPER: Insecurities are definitely a universal experience trans or cis. Can you name three heroes of yours that are not friends or family?DYLAN: Dolly Parton because she, a ciswoman, has given me the courage to stand strong as a transwoman in my celebration of hyperfemininity. She loves pink, and God, and doesnt believe a higher power would shame us for loving who we love or being soft-hearted. She has the largest portrait amongst the wall of my women heroes in my bedroom. This might be a cop out, but a good majority of Gen Z are my heroes. They arent afraid to speak their minds and they make me feel like trans people might be universally accepted if these are the kinds of humans who are growing up to have thoughtful, kind souls. Alan Cumming. This is technically cheating because he is a dear friend, but I find Alan Cumming to be the loveliest human on the planet and has been a crucial role model to me in my life. Alan is a master of bringing queerness and intelligence into his work, but always finds the funny. He is actively listening to the world around him and what sets him apart from the rest is that he is ready to take action to fix things with an empathetic approach.HARPER: All excellent choices.DYLAN: How do you think allies can show up for people in our community in a real and impactful way?HARPER: I believe in the micro over the macro so I think if you are cis or you are not queer, you can always start a conversation with Hey, cool shoes or I love your hair you know, what they used to call being friendly. Tiny moments like that have always allowed me to feel safer in spaces Im not comfortable in. Allyship is important but as a trans woman Im not here to explain my existence to anyone. I find this can be confusing for cisgendered people. To somehow connect with me, they need to understand me. Our allies need to know theres a certain wonderful thing about being trans that they will never understand. Maybe stop trying to understand us and instead just be there for us either at a voting booth or just being friendly. Outside of that, if you are a true ally, stop bitching about pronouns. If you can play Wordle you can figure it out.DYLAN: Exactly. I do a lot of work for The Trevor Project, and their research found that 46% of trans and nonbinary youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. Its devastating. Yet, the findings also show that transgender and nonbinary young people who had access to gender-affirming clothing, gender-neutral bathrooms at school, and had their pronouns respected by the people they live with, had lower rates of attempting suicide. Theres simple actions everyone can take that are quite literally life-saving. Just let us live openly as our authentic selves.HARPER: Perfectly said. Lets end this with some joy whats a vacation look like for you?DYLAN: Oh I LOVE a vacation. If its up to me Ill bring my best friend Lily somewhere special and well order room service and wear the fluffy white hotel robes. I usually dont end up doing tourist activities, but Im a huge animal lover so Ill often try to visit some sort of animal sanctuary or excursion. For example in Scotland this last summer, it was my goal to see a Highland cow (and I did!) I also am addicted to jacuzzis, so anywhere I can find a great jacuzzi I am down.The post Dylan Mulvaney & Harper Steele In Conversation appeared first on The Trevor Project.

Calls to LGBTQ+ mental health and crisis hotlines surged dramatically on Monday as Donald Trump was sworn in for his second presidential term, with many expressing fear and distress over his administrations early policy moves targeting the LGBTQ+ community.By early Monday afternoon according to The Advocate, the Rainbow Youth Project USA Foundations hotline had fielded more than 1,400 calls, a sharp increase compared to previous years. Prior to Trumps first term, the organization received about 3,765 calls per month. However, after Trumps victory in the 2024 election, the number of calls has escalated significantly, with the foundation reporting more than 8,000 calls in both November and December 2024.In just the first 19 days of January 2025, nearly 4,000 calls had already been logged, marking a staggering rise in the need for LGBTQ+ crisis support. The calls, many from vulnerable youth, reflect the increasing anxiety and fear among LGBTQ+ individuals in the wake of Trumps anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and policy changes.A Nation on Edge: Crisis Calls Reflect Growing ConcernKristen Johnston, case manager and crisis team leader at the Rainbow Youth Project USA Foundation, expressed alarm over the sharp rise in calls, particularly on the day of Trumps inauguration. Our hotline serves as a critical lifeline for LGBTQ+ youth grappling with the challenges of bullying, social stigmatization, and the looming threat of institutionalized discrimination, she said. The data were seeing is alarming, and it underscores the urgent need for advocacy, community support, and immediate action to protect our youth.LGBTQ+ mental health advocates warn that the heightened anxiety following Trumps inauguration is a result of both his divisive rhetoric and the rapid signing of executive orders aimed at dismantling protections for LGBTQ+ individuals.Trumps Inaugural Speech and Early Executive Orders Prompt Immediate ReactionsIn his inaugural speech, President Trump reaffirmed his stance on LGBTQ+ issues, stating, As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female. This declaration, coupled with promises to end government policies promoting race and gender diversity, sent a chilling message to many LGBTQ+ advocates.Within hours of taking office, Trump signed a series of executive orders targeting LGBTQ+ rights. One executive order defined sex as strictly based on reproductive biology at birth, a move that would restrict transgender and nonbinary individuals from obtaining federal identification that reflects their gender identity. The order also aimed to undermine the impact of the Supreme Courts landmark decision in Bostock v. Clayton Co., which affirmed that discrimination against LGBTQ+ employees constitutes sex-based discrimination under federal law.Additionally, Trump rescinded key policies put in place by his predecessor, President Joe Biden, to protect LGBTQ+ individuals. Among the actions revoked were Bidens Executive Order 14021, which mandated protections for LGBTQ+ students in schools that receive federal funding, and Executive Order 14075, which advanced protections for LGBTQ+ families and sought to reduce the harm caused by conversion therapy.The moves were met with widespread condemnation from LGBTQ+ organizations. Todays expected executive actions targeting the LGBTQ+ community serve no other purpose than to hurt our families and our communities, said Kelley Robinson, President of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect in all areas of their lives. No one should be subjected to ongoing discrimination, harassment, and humiliation where they work, go to school, or access healthcare.The Impact on LGBTQ+ Youth and Mental HealthMental health professionals and LGBTQ+ advocates are particularly concerned about the impact of these actions on young people. Many of those reaching out to the Rainbow Youth Project USA Foundation have reported heightened stress, feelings of rejection, and fear about their future security. LGBTQ+ youth, who are already at higher risk for mental health struggles, are facing new layers of uncertainty and concern about their rights and safety.The Trevor Project, a leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ youth, has also reported a spike in calls and messages since the inauguration. The organization provides confidential support via phone, text, and chat, helping young people navigate the emotional turmoil triggered by policies that undermine their rights and dignity.Its clear that these policy shifts are having a profound effect on our community, especially among young people who are already vulnerable to mental health crises, said Amit Paley, CEO of The Trevor Project. In times like these, its vital that we continue to provide spaces for LGBTQ+ youth to feel heard and supported, and we encourage anyone who is struggling to reach out.Available Support for LGBTQ+ Individuals in CrisisFor those struggling with the emotional toll of the current political climate, several organizations are offering immediate support. Individuals can reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling or texting 988, or visit 988lifeline.org for help in both English and Spanish.Additionally, The Trans Lifeline (1-877-565-8860) offers peer support specifically for trans individuals, while The Trevor Project provides crisis intervention for LGBTQ+ youth via chat, text (678-678), or phone (1-866-488-7386). These services are available to help individuals navigate the challenges they face in an increasingly hostile environment.Looking Ahead: A Call for Action and AdvocacyAs the political landscape shifts under the new administration, LGBTQ+ advocates are calling for renewed action to protect the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. While the surge in calls to mental health hotlines underscores the urgent need for support, it also highlights the broader fight for equality and dignity.We must not allow the progress weve made to be rolled back, said Robinson of the HRC. Now more than ever, its essential that we stand together as a community to protect the rights and well-being of all LGBTQ+ individuals.With a new administration in place, LGBTQ+ groups are preparing to challenge harmful policies and continue their fight for equal treatment and protections under the law. For now, LGBTQ+ individuals and their allies remain focused on providing support and resources to those who need it most, particularly as a wave of uncertainty and fear continues to impact the community.The post LGBTQ+ Mental Health Crisis Hotline Sees Surge in Calls Following Trumps Inauguration and Anti-LGBTQ+ Policy Moves appeared first on Gayety.

Montana Republican lawmakers in the states House of Representatives voted Thursday to pass a controversial bill that would ban transgender people from using restrooms in public buildings that align with their gender identity. The bill, which now heads to the state Senate, passed by a 58-42 party-line vote.Introduced by Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe (R), the bill specifically targets public facilities, including schools, prisons, jails, and domestic violence shelters. It would prevent transgender individuals from using restrooms consistent with their gender identity in these places. Additionally, the legislation allows anyone who encounters a transgender or nonbinary person in a restroom to file a lawsuit against that person or the facilitys administrators, up to two years after the encounter.Lawmakers Speak OutDuring debate, Democratic Reps. Zooey Zephyr and SJ Howell, both transgender, expressed their deep concern about the bills potential impact on their lives and the transgender community. Zephyr, who has been a vocal advocate for trans rights, said the bill would exacerbate the challenges already faced by transgender people in Montana. Trans people walk through the state of Montana afraid enough already, Zephyr said. Leave trans people alone. Let me be the woman Im happy to be. Let me live my life.Zephyrs impassioned plea for understanding was met with little support from Republican lawmakers, who argued that the bill is necessary to protect the privacy and safety of women. Seekins-Crowe, who has previously made inflammatory statements about transgender people, argued that the bill is a response to cultural trends threatening womens rights. She claimed that the legislation would help protect womens privacy, although there is no evidence to suggest that transgender women pose any threat to cisgender women in public restrooms.Controversial Arguments for the BillIn addition to concerns about privacy and safety, some Republican lawmakers presented another argument for the bathroom ban, claiming that certain transgender womenspecifically lesbiansshould be excluded from womens restrooms. State Rep. Jedediah Hinkle (R) pointed to a trans woman he knew who was attracted to women, suggesting that her presence in a womens restroom was somehow inappropriate because of her sexual orientation.So we have an individual who is dressing like a woman, changing [their] name to a woman but is also at the same time attracted to women, Hinkle said during the debate, misunderstanding the concept of lesbianism, which is the sexual attraction between women. Hinkles comments seemed to conflate transgender identity with voyeurism, invoking an example of a cisgender male janitor who allegedly misused womens restrooms in the past. This remark appeared to be a misguided attempt to frame transgender people as potential threats, despite there being no evidence of such behaviors among transgender individuals.The bills supporters argue that its vital to safeguard womens spaces, but critics contend that it unfairly targets transgender people and could lead to increased discrimination and harassment.Next Steps for the BillThe bathroom ban bill is not yet law. After passing the House, it must be voted on once again in the state House before moving to the state Senate, where Republicans hold a majority. If the Senate passes the bill, it will be sent to Governor Greg Gianforte, who has yet to publicly state his position on the measure.In December, Montana lawmakers had already voted down a proposed amendment that would have banned transgender individuals from using appropriate restrooms in the state Capitol. However, the latest bill represents a significant step in a broader trend of anti-trans legislation sweeping several U.S. states.Backlash and Community ReactionsThe bill has sparked widespread backlash from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, who argue that it is part of a broader effort to roll back trans rights. Montanas transgender community, along with national civil rights organizations, have condemned the bill, calling it discriminatory and harmful to vulnerable individuals.Trans people already face significant barriers in accessing public facilities and services, said a representative from the Montana LGBTQ+ advocacy group. This bill will only further marginalize an already vulnerable community and make it harder for transgender people to live their lives safely and authentically.As the debate continues in Montana, the outcome of this bill could have wider implications for other states considering similar legislation. Activists vow to continue fighting for transgender rights and protections in Montana and beyond.The post Montana Republicans Pass Bathroom Ban Despite Pleas from Trans Lawmakers appeared first on Gayety.

President Donald Trump, left, and first lady Melania Trump attend the national prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)2025-01-21T19:56:17Z Follow live updates on President Donald Trumps return to Washington WASHINGTON (AP) At the inaugural prayer service, the Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, made a direct appeal to President Donald Trump to have mercy on the LGBTQ+ community and undocumented migrant workers.Referencing Trumps belief that he was saved by God from assassination, Budde said, You have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.The Trump administration has already issued executive orders rolling back transgender rights and toughening immigration policies.When he returned to the White House, Trump was asked about the sermon.Not too exciting, was it? the president said as he walked with staff toward the Oval Office. I didnt think it was a good service. They could do much better. The Washington National Cathedral service was largely focused on national unity. Trump and Vice President JD Vance were in attendance with their families, along with House Speaker Mike Johnson and Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth. In her sermon, Budde said they gathered to pray for unity as a people and a nation not for agreement, political or otherwise but for the kind of unity that fosters community across diversity and division.She added, Unity is not partisan. Evangelicals were at the service but not on the programMore than a dozen religious leaders spoke during the interfaith service, including those from Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu traditions.Notably absent from the invited clergy with speaking roles were conservative evangelicals, who are among President Trumps strongest supporters.Nonetheless, some of those evangelical supporters were in the pews.In attendance were Robert Jeffress, a longtime Trump supporter and pastor of Dallas First Baptist Church; Paula White-Cain, a televangelist and key spiritual adviser during Trumps first term; and Lorenzo Sewell, the pastor of Detroits 180 Church who gave a spirited benediction at Mondays inauguration. A new kind of inaugural prayer serviceThe Washington National Cathedral has hosted 10 official inaugural prayer services for presidents of both parties. The tradition dates back to 1933.The latest service had a different emphasis than previous ones. Its focus was on the nation instead of the new administration a plan made before Election Day.We are in a unique moment in our countrys history, and it is time to approach this differently, said the Very Rev. Randy Hollerith, dean of the Episcopal cathedral, in an October statement.This will be a service for all Americans, for the well-being of our nation, for our democracy.The texts and songs revolved around themes of compassion and togetherness, including a reading from Deuteronomy 10:17-21, which speaks of taking care of orphans and widows and all who are in need.Sermons at inaugural services have often been given by ministers aligned with the incoming administration. In 2021, the Rev. William Barber, a progressive civil rights leader, preached before President Joe Biden at the cathedral.Budde, who gave this years sermon, has joined other cathedral leaders in criticizing Trump previously, rebuking his racialized rhetoric and blaming him for inciting violence on Jan. 6, 2021. Budde was outraged in 2020 after Trump staged an appearance in front of St. Johns Episcopal Church, which is near the White House. He held up a Bible after the area had been cleared of peaceful protesters.Buddes sermon directed at Trump on Tuesday provoked a lively reaction on social media. Austen Ivereigh, a biographer of Pope Francis, wrote on X that the bishop named the truth when she spoke to Trump and Vance. Their expressions of fury and discomfort suggest she nailed it. Jeffress, in contrast, posted on X that Budde insulted rather than encouraged our great president and that there was palpable disgust in the audience with her words. Music made for TrumpThe one part of Tuesdays service that seemed tailor-made for Trump was the inclusion of opera singer Christopher Macchio, who also sang the national anthem at the inauguration.The tenor sang Ave Maria, a favorite song of Trump and one that Macchio sang at a Trump rally and the Republican National Convention.Before the service began, Macchio performed hymns like How Great Thou Art and another Trump favorite, Hallelujah, written by Leonard Cohen.As the prayer service neared its end, Trump joined others in singing America the Beautiful. Trump also thanked many of the clergy who participated as they processed past him except for Budde, whom he did not acknowledge. ___Associated Press reporter Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.___Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. TIFFANY STANLEY Stanley is a reporter and editor on The Associated Press Global Religion team. She is based in Washington, D.C. twitter mailto

People walk past the 1900 Storm memorial sculpture on Seawall Blvd. during an icy winter storm on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025 in Galveston, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)2025-01-21T21:21:47Z A winter storm sweeping through the U.S. South on Tuesday was dumping snow at levels millions of residents havent seen before.Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico was combining with a low-pressure system and chilly air to drop significant amounts of snow in some spots. That included 10.5 inches near Lafayette, Louisiana by midday Tuesday within striking distance of the state record of 13 inches set in 1960.Baton Rouge, Louisiana, had 6 inches. More than 5 inches had fallen in New Orleans, breaking the record of 2.7 set in 1963. In Texas, the Houston-Galveston area had 2.4 inches before midday. A person walks on a snow covered street Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis) A person walks on a snow covered street Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More The National Weather Services Lake Charles, Louisiana, office issued its first-ever blizzard warning Tuesday. The NWS Mobile office reposted video on X of two people having a snowball fight in Orange Beach, Alabama, just steps from the Gulf of Mexico. This is a once-in-a-lifetime event for a lot of these folks down there. For kids that have never had snowball fights theyre going to have one, said Tom Kines, a meteorologist at AccuWeather. The U.S. Gulf Coast is the most hurricane-prone region in the country and snow is a fairly rare phenomenon, said Bradley Brokamp, meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Houston. You dont usually get them in the same areas that often, Brokamp said. The combination is more typical in the Northeast that sees snowy winters and the occasional tropical storm. A person uses cross-country skis as he walks through a snow covered hill at Herman Park Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis) A person uses cross-country skis as he walks through a snow covered hill at Herman Park Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More In Houston, where 2 to 4 inches of snow was forecast, the Yale Street Grill was virtually the only business open in one inner-city neighborhood. A couple of the restaurants workers had time to venture outside and build a 3-foot tall snowman complete with carrot nose and scarf. Ive seen all the storms. Ive been through all the hurricanes. So, this has been really fun. I have a 4-year-old daughter at home who Im ready to get back to so she can play in the snow, said Emma Kratky, a waitress and assistant manger. Elsewhere, Floridas Panhandle had a forecast of 2 to 4 inches. The states snowfall record is 4 inches, set March 6, 1954. Mobile was forecast to get 3 to 6 inches; its record is 5 inches, set Jan. 24, 1881.Even the double-digit snowfall near Lafayette was well short of the Valentines Day snowstorm that struck parts of the Gulf Coast in 1895. That storm dumped 19 inches on Houston and 15.4 on Galveston. Paige Encarnacion builds a snowman on the beach during a winter storm on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025 in Galveston, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP) Paige Encarnacion builds a snowman on the beach during a winter storm on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025 in Galveston, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Winter cold blasts and climate changeMeanwhile, cold is blanketing the majority of the continental U.S. thanks to a polar vortex disruption. The Arctic polar vortex is a band of strong winds above the North Pole that usually locks in extremely cold air, but right now is stretching south, allowing bone-chilling air to flow down. For example, parts of south central and southeast Texas are expected to see wind chills as low as 10 to 15 degrees into Wednesday, according to an extreme cold warning from the NWS. Scientists say these stretching events are becoming more frequent and have been linked to the planet-warming emissions that humans are releasing. Studies report human-caused climate change is raising Arctic temperatures at an alarming rate and decreasing the pressure and temperature differences between cold Arctic air and warmer air underneath it, heightening the chance for polar vortex disruptions. People walk in the French Quarter as snow falls in New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) People walk in the French Quarter as snow falls in New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More ___Associated Press reporter Kristie Rieken contributed from Houston. ___The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Subscribe nowBy: Mia MaldonadoThis article was originally published in the Idaho Capital Sun. Idaho state Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, walks to the lectern to present a piece of legislation during the House State Affairs Committee on Jan. 7, 2025, at the State Capitol Building in Boise. (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun)The first pieces of legislation introduced in the Idaho Capitol this session address same-sex marriage and Boise State Universitys decision to forfeit its womens volleyball matches against San Jos State University.On Tuesday morning, legislators in the Idaho House State Affairs Committee voted to move two items a memorial and resolution forward.Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, was the first to introduce her memorial to the committee. The memorial pushes to restore the authority of defining marriage to the states and urges the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider its 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges that legalized same-sex marriage.A memorial is not a bill, but rather it is a petition or representation made by the House of Representatives and concurred in by the Senate, or vice versa, addressed to whoever can effectuate the request of the memorial, according to legislative rules. The committee voted to move the resolution forward with a hearing that will take place at a later date.The second piece of legislation came from Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, who introduced a concurrent resolution commending the Boise State University womens volleyball team for forfeiting its matches against San Jos State University in protest of the team having a transgender athlete, Idaho Education News reported.Ehardt, a longtime college basketball coach, said Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in sports, changed her life. She said a transgender athlete should have never been allowed to play in the Mountain West Conference.Shame on the Mountain West for allowing this to happen and not changing their policies, she said. Even bigger shame we call out the NCAA (President) Charlie Baker for allowing this to happen. It should never have happened. Their regressive policies are putting men in womens sports, men in single sex spaces, and its not right.The concurrent resolution doesnt have the force of law. Instead, it expresses the opinion of the Legislature on a topic. The committee voted to move the resolution forward to a full public hearing to be held at a later date.If objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button:Donate to Uncloseted Media

BREAKING: State of Washington Passes Bill To Take Minor Children Away From Parents If They Refuse to Agree to Gender Transition Surgery.ALERT: CANADA JUST MADE IT ILLEGAL TO PROTEST AGAINST THE LGBT!NEWSFLASH: CALIFORNIA GOV. JERRY BROWN TO FORCE SCHOOLS TO SHOW KIDS GAY SEX AS PART OF INCLUSIVE LGBT CURRICULUM.No, none of the above are accurate or factual (its fake news!). But yes, all of the above are real headlines posted to Facebook in the last few years that were presented as real news.Theyre produced by content factories or thirsty influencers trying to make money by getting as many clicks as possible by having you get riled up enough to at least say, f*ck it, I wanna read more.Click.And as of Tuesday, Metawhich owns Instagram, Facebook and Threads and has upwards of 3.3 billion usershas canned their fact checkers, which were put in place in the wake of Trumps 2016 election. But whats most alarming about Metas new rules is that while the social media giant will still prohibit insults about someones intellect or mental illness, there is now a caveat for accusing LGBTQ people of being mentally ill because they are gay or transgender. We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words like weird, the revised company guidelines state.The decisionwhich comes at a time when 41% of queer kids seriously considered suicide in the last yearis seen as Zuckerbergs latest bow to Trump. The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point toward once again prioritizing speech so were going to get back to our roots and restore free expression on our platforms, Zuckerberg announced in a video he released on Tuesday. The tech CEO, whose company donated $1 million to president-elect Trumps inaugural committee and dined at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida in late November, says his fact-checkers had become too politically biased. He went on to say Meta will use a community notes feature, similar to what Elon Musk has done with X, to help users understand the legitimacy of posts.Trump said Zuckerbergs new approach was probably due to threats he made against the tech mogul.Subscribe nowMeta's New Hate Speech Guidelines Permit Users to Say LGBTQ People are Mentally Ill (NBC)Changes to its hate speech guidelines were among broader policy shifts Meta made to its moderation practices.Pentagon Agrees to Historic Legal Settlement with Gay and Lesbian Veterans (CBS)The Pentagon has reached a historic legal settlement with more than 35,000 gay and lesbian military veterans who were dismissed because of their sexual orientation, and in many cases denied an honorable discharge and the array of services they had earned.The Vivienne, Winner of RuPauls Drag Race UK, Dies at 32 (The New York Times)James Lee Williams was best known by that stage name and also built a career in musical theater.Pope Names LGBTQ Supportive Cardinal as Head of Archdiocese of Washington (Washington Blade) McElroy was praised as a brilliant theologian and astute political analyst.Instagram Blocked Teens From Searching LGBTQ-Related Content for Months (Teen Vogue)Posts with LGBTQ hashtags were hidden under Meta's sensitive content policy which restricts "sexually suggestive content."We are officially partnering with The Stranger, a Seattle-based news publication! Check out our story that they republished this week here. This weekend, be on the lookout for new Uncloseted reporting: I interviewed fellow Substacker Judd Legum of Popular Information about Metas new rules and how they could affect the LGBTQ community. Weve explored the challenges surrounding PrEP access before, but this weeks story delves deeper into a high-stakes legal battle. A controversial lawsuit argues that requiring insurance coverage for PrEP violates employers' religious rights. What could this mean for HIV prevention efforts nationwide? Thanks for reading! And feel free to email me with questions, complaints, tips and story ideas! Spencer Macnaughton, Editor-In-Chiefspencer@unclosetedmedia.comIf objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button:Donate to Uncloseted Media

Its important not to lose sight of LGBTQ+ joy, especially when times get tough. Here are five queer reasons to cheer.Rep. Sarah McBride sworn in: Congratulations to McBride, who is officially the first out transgender member of the U.S. House of Representatives. McBride, who was formerly the first out trans Delaware state senator, was sworn in on Friday, Jan. 3. McBride has been a rising star in the Democratic Party since becoming the first openly trans person to address a major party convention at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.Queer Golden Globes: On Sunday, the 82nd annual Golden Globes were held in Los Angeles, and the star-studded event included several LGBTQ+ nominees and winners. Emilia Perez, a musical about a trans Mexican cartel leader starring trans actress Karla Sofa Gascn, took home the awards for Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and Best Motion Picture Non-English Language. Hacks and Baby Reindeer, which both heavily feature LGBTQ+ themes, won in their categories, as did lesbian Baby Reindeer actress Jessica Gunning. Finally, Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or a Motion Picture Made for Television went to Jodie Foster for True Detective: Night Country. After being lovingly heckled by fellow nominee Sofa Vergara, Foster thanked her team, her sons, and the love of my life, Alex (Hedison), ahh, thank you forever.Creating Change 2025: The National LGBTQ Task Forces Creating Change conference is happening Jan. 22-26 in Las Vegas. Started in 1988, this conference attracts more than 3,000 attendees to experience the latest in research and strategies to secure LGBTQ+ rights, network to acquire best practices and new teaching techniques. This year, News is Out will attend the conference for the first time and will report back on what we learn. Stay tuned.WorldPride in D.C.: After an exuberant and successful WorldPride in Sydney, Australia in 2023, World Pride is back in the states. Washington, D.C., will host WorldPride May 17 through June 8, 2025. Tapestry of Pride at the Kennedy Center, a sports festival, and an opening night concert featuring Shakira are part of the dozens of events hosted throughout WorldPride.Marriage equality champions receive the Presidential Citizens Medal: President Joe Biden took time during his last weeks in office to celebrate the achievements of U.S. citizens who have made a difference. Biden presented the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second-highest civilian honor in the U.S., to two pioneering marriage equality advocates: Mary Bonauto and Evan Wolfson.Bonauto was one of the attorneys who argued Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015 and, prior to that, was instrumental in passing marriage equality legislation in New England.Wolfson is an attorney, author, and advocate who founded the organization Freedom to Marry.The post Finding LGBTQ+ joy in challenging times: 5 reasons to cheer appeared first on News Is Out.

In 2021, trans folks on Twitterdebatedabout the ethics and usefulness of a venture-funded app suite calledEuphoria, meant to facilitate transitions.While the trans world moved on, one trans guy didnt. Oliver Haimson was fascinated. In 2019, he opened a note on his phone titledTrans Technology and started a running list. It had four initial entries:MyTransHealth, aKickstarter-fundedhealth resource site.Solace,the firstof the Euphoria app suite.Transdr, an appostensiblyfor transgender dating.TransTech Social Enterprises, atechnology skill-buildingcommunity for trans folksIt demonstrated an emerging trend the trans academic was interested in: the intersection between trans people and technology. This was a very new concept, termed by Haimson and three others in apaperpublished that year.The four entries spanned the breadth of what trans technology could be. Trans people were harnessing technology to their unique struggles like access to jobs and medical information.And,technologists were seeing trans people as a new market for products, which the Euphoria app foundercalleda $200 billion industrya numberfrequentlyrepeatedby conservative commentators. Some founders were trans, others were cis. Some entities were profit-oriented, others were not.The information studies student was trying to figure out if this could be an acceptable research area in academic computing spaces. To his delight, it was warmly received so he kept digging.Six years and several papers later, Hamisons list has grown to 100 and has turned from a phone note to a unique body of scholarly work. Now an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Information, Hamisons first book, titledTrans Technologies,will be published by MIT Press in February 2025.The Blade read a copy of Hamisons manuscript and chatted with him about the state of tech and trans people. The book is drawn from Hamisons interviews with the creators of all 100 entries on the list.Hamison emphasizes these 100 are just a sample.I kind of could have kept going forever, he says.I really didnt intend to talk to that many people, because usually with these interview studies we talked to about 25 people.At the end of every interview, Hamison asked participants if there was anyone else who may be a good candidatea method called snowball samplingand the project just kept growing.I just had to cut myself off at around 100 interviews, because I wanted to actually move forward with the analysis and writing, he says.Many of those that Hamison interviewed may be recognizable. He spoke to trans pioneerLynn Conwaybefore her death this June. He spoke to trans journalistErin Reed, known for her informed consent clinic and trans risk maps.If the names are not recognizable, the projects often are. While Kai Jackson may not be a trans household name,TransTape, a technology highlighted in the book, is ubiquitous in most transmasculine communities. The same could be said with the many interviewee names associated withTransLifelineorPlume.Transness is about change and transition and crossing over boundaries and borders.Oliver HaimsonThe technologies profiled were diverse, bound by a definition given to Hamison by artist and theoristSandy Stonein an interviewTechnology is anything that extends your agencywhich in turn had been drawn from media scholar Marshall McCluhans 1964 definition of technology as any extension of ourselves. Hamison likes Stones wording better.But ultimately, it was Hamisons job to define the bounds of trans technology. Was it a piece of technology created by a transgender person? Was it a piece of tech used primarily by transgender people? Was it a piece of tech only concerned withtrans things, whatever those are?Drawn from his hours of interviews, Hamison proposed there were two definitions of trans technology.One is a more practical definition, he says.Trans technology is a kind of technology that can help address some of the needs and challenges that trans people and trans communities face. He explains that these technologies address the practical needs of the trans community, ranging from underemployment to lack of access to healthcare to risk of violence.That cant encapsulate everything though.Theres also this more theoretical definition, Hamison says.A lot of the technologies that I talk about in the book are creating these new trans worlds, new possibilities that might not have been possible before thinking about technology and transness together.Transness is about change and transition and crossing over boundaries and borders, says Hamison.There are ways that that could apply to technology.Hamison argues that trans people and transness bring something unique and powerful to the tech space.Technology can open up these new possibilities for trans people, but at the same time, trans identity opens up new possibilities for technology and what it means and what it can do.Asexciting and big and interesting as this world is, Hamison emphasizes that the trans-tech space does not fully represent the diversity of the trans communityIt was pretty clear early on in the study that the people who were creating trans technologies were most likely white, highly educated, [and of a] higher socioeconomic status, he says.Many of the people I interviewed have Ph.D.s or other types of graduate degrees, and that doesnt line up with the broader trans population.Per the2020 Transgender Survey, only 18% of trans people have completed a bachelors degree or higher. This compares to 37.9% of the U.S. population, per theU.S. Censusas of 2021.A lot of these creators, even people who are creating really amazing things, are creating based on their own experiences, Hamison explains. Many trans technologies are more likely to meet the needs of people who are white and highly educated and of higher socioeconomic status.He advocates for a community-based design approach that involves the whole of the trans community. There are some things that are really needed, he says, citing newer efforts to monitor violence, They are important because they are coming from what the community needs, not just the more privileged members of the community.Though many technologies Hamison researched address with the practical issues of healthcare, employment, and safety, others grapple with the complex, varied emotional experiences of the trans community.He cites creator Sasha Winters game jams where videogame developers come together to make and share games under the topics of trans fucking rage and trans joy. Developers created more than 100 unique video games for the jams, many of which are available for free or cheap download.I think this is such a great example of trans technologies more broadly, Hamison reflects,All of us hold this rage and joy together at once.This story is part of the Digital Equity Local Voices Fellowship lab through News is Out. The lab initiative is made possible with support from Comcast NBCUniversal.The post From TransTape to risk maps, how trans people use technology appeared first on News Is Out.

In the small town of Alpena, Michigan, pop. 10,197, an obsession with pornographic LGBTQ+ library materials has rewarded two conservative activists with seats on the board that determines official library policy, Book Riot reports.Campaigns to ban the coming-of-age memoir All Boys Arent Blue and a dozen other books that parents rights advocates have deemed grooming materials landed the two long-time book challengers and public comment speakers, Traci Collins and Julie Brynes, with appointments to the Board of Library Trustees by county officials allied with their book-banning efforts. Related School district bans 400 books in response to anti-LGBTQ state law The list includes Dr. Seuss childrens books and graphic novels that appeal to the prurient interest, according to school officials. The two conservative activists joined the board after a years-long campaign that saw multiple resignations from the library and the board overseeing it, public attacks on library staff, and threats from religious activists and county commissioners to defund the library entirely if their demands werent met. 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 Byrnes met with newly-hired library director Debra Greenacreand assistant director Jessica Luther in 2023 to complain about All Boys Arent Blue, George M. Johnsons queer coming-of-age story that has become a favorite target among right-wing book-banning groups. Byrnes had earlier demanded the book be relocated out of the teen book section but was rebuffed. She filed a formal request with the new director but was again told the book wouldnt be relocated.Incensed, Byrnes filed an appeal, this time stating that her request was at the behest of a previously unknown parents rights group she called STAC, or Save The Alpena Children.In response to inquiries from the Board of Trustees, Director Greenacre provided an updated collection management policy to explain how decisions are made on where to place collection materials, citing age-appropriate guidance from publishers and their own research.The board responded by deleting the entire section on Intellectual Freedom in the proposed new collection development policy, opening the door to the moving or banning of books in the collection unilaterally, a function explicitly prohibited in trustee bylaws. The next month, a petition begancirculating in Alpena, sponsored by the local Shoreline Church, where Collins husband is pastor. The petition expressed shock that children could browse the local library unattended and encounter books the church deemed pornographicWe just started checking into it and realizing that any child walking up would see those books and then be exposed to things that, if somebody gave those books to our kids on the street, they would be called groomers and people who are preparing kids for sexual exploits, Collins husband toldThe Alpena News.The group cited 14 books out of the librarys collection of 50,000 items, including Making a Baby, which elicited concern from the church for its portrayal of What may be seen as grooming techniques: images of naked adult men next to children in the same locker room showering and changing together. Throughout this period, both Collins and Byrnes were regular attendees at library board meetings pressing their demands, which were seconded by Trustee Dustin Budd, who was aligned with conservative members of the County Commission. They used an upcoming funding referendum for the library as leverage to carry out bans on books they agreed were grooming materials. They also threatened to sack the entire Board of Trustees if the collection management policy wasnt changed to suit their demands.By the end of 2024, both library Director Greenacre and her successor, Jessica Luther, resigned under pressure. In the wake of a successful funding referendum, The County Commission rescinded its threat to fire the library board, which now had two open seats. Collins and Brynes took their seats in December.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Will gay country crooner Orville Peck wear one of his signature face masks when he makes his Broadway debut this spring?Thats what fans of the singer are asking after producers announced this week that Peck will replace Adam Lambert as the Emcee inCabaret at the Kit Kat Club, starting in March. Related Willie Nelson & Orville Peck just sang a very gay country duet together The duo just released a new cover of Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other from Peck upcoming album. Leave your troubles outside, Peck teased on his Instagram page, @orvillepeck.Catch my Broadway debut as the Emcee inCabaret at the Kit Kat Clubbeginning March 31! Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Peck will play a 16-week engagement at New Yorks August Wilson Theatre from March 31 to July 30. Lamberts previously-announced last performance as the Emcee will be on Saturday, March 29. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Orville Peck (@orvillepeck)Peck will be joined by two-time Tony Award nominee Eva Noblezada, who is taking over for queer actress AuliI Cravalho in the role of Sally Bowles. Lambert and Cravalho replaced Eddie Redmayne and Gayle Rankin, who opened the musical on Broadway last April.This will be the first appearance on Broadway for Peck, whos known for his sultry, bass-baritone voice and highly-theatrical concerts, music videos and annual rodeos with numerous other queer performers. His 2024 album,Stampede, featured collaborations with stars such as Elton John, Kylie Minogue, Beck, Shania Twain and Willie Nelson, with whom he sangCowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond Of Each Other. His other albums includePony in2019 andBroncoin 2022, along with the EPShow Ponyin 2020. He has a reputation for always appearing onstage in a face mask sometimes fringed, sometimes not and not showing his face publicly. He said he started wearing a mask so audiences would focus on his music, not his appearance. Deadline.com first reported the casting change. Peck, 37, said in a statement that hes wanted to perform inCabaretfor years.The Emcee has been my dream role since I was a teenager, he said. The nature of the character allows for complete freedom of individual expression. It can be portrayed through such a vast range of emotions, perspectives, and performance styles. That kind of freedom is every actors dream.The casting changes were announced by producers Adam Speers for ATG Productions, Underbelly, Gavin Kalin Productions, Hunter Arnold , Smith & Brant Theatrical and Wessex Grove. Casting for the two roles after July 20 will be disclosed this summer. Though this will be Pecks first appearance on Broadway, its not his first theatrical production. A native of South Africa, he was trained as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and appeared inPeter Pan Goes Wrongat the Apollo Theatre on Londons West End in 2016. He lives in Los Angeles with his partner and last year received the Vito Russo Award at the GLAAD Media Awards, given to an LGBTQ+ media professional who has made a difference in accelerating LGBTQ+ acceptance.I truly cannot believe Im getting to make my Broadway debut in one of my favorite shows and in probably my favorite role in all of musical theater, Peck said in a statement. I grew up in the theater. I was a working actor and a dancer for many years before I started making music. I did the hustle, and the struggle, for a long time, trying to make things happen for myself. But it taught me so much of who I am as a performer and a person, so it feels very full circle to be making a return to it at this point in my career.After such a brilliant collaboration with Adam Lambert, Im thrilled to be able to bring yet another incredible contemporary musician into the role of the Emcee,Cabaretdirector Rebecca Frecknall said in a statement. Orville brings such theatricality to his own musical performance and has one of the most crystalline voices in music Its going to be exciting to see him become a part of our production and hear him sing John Kander and Fred Ebbs score. Based on Christopher IsherwoodsGoodbye to Berlinand John Van Drutens dramatization of it,I Am a Camera,Cabaretis set in Weimar-era Berlin as American writer Clifford Bradshaw arrives to work on his novel and soak up the nightlife. He meets English cabaret performer Sally Bowles and a complex relationship develops, all as the Nazis rise to power and the specter of World War II looms on the horizon.The originalCabaretfrom Kander and Ebb opened on Broadway in 1966. Its 1972 movie adaptation won eight Academy Awards, including Best Actress for Liza Minelli; Best Supporting Actor for Joel Grey and Best Director for Bob Fosse. It holds the record for the most Academy Awards won by a film that didnt win Best Picture.For the current production, the August Wilson Theatre has been transformed into an in-the-round Kit Kat Club. Ticket holders receive a club entry time before their show date so everyone can take in a pre-show, which can even include a full dinner at some ticket levels. The prologue company, a group of 12 dancers and musicians, welcomes theatergoers with a pre-show performance beginning about 75 minutes before curtain time. Cabaretalso stars two-time Tony winner Bebe Neuwirth as Fraulein Schneider; Calvin Leon Smith as Clifford Bradshaw; Steven Skybell as Herr Schultz; Henry Gottfried as Ernest Ludwig and Michelle Aravena as Fritzie/Kost. Tickets are available at the productions website.Orville Peck fans are ecstatic for the singer and are already getting into the spirit of the show.Willkommen, Bienvenue, yeehaw, exclaimed one fan on Instagram.Fremde, etranger, cowboy, said another. Are we finally getting the mask reveal? asked a third.Neither Peck nor the producers would say whether the singer will appear with his trademark mask.As Peck told Varietys Marc Malkin: People will have to buy a ticket to find out.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

(@) Mysogynistic alpha male influencer Andrew Tate may have just been released from house arrest by a Romanian court, pending the outcome a criminal investigation, but hes been unable to escape the brutal and emasculating memes on social media.The anti-LGBTQ+ manosphere personality is facing allegations of trafficking minors, sexual intercourse with a minor, and money laundering. Combine those charges with the toxic brand of masculinity Tate peddles to young men, and the internet seems to delight in cutting him down to size.Thats exactly what happened yesterday when an intrepid X (formerly Twitter) user posted a meme featuring side-by-side photos of Tate and a lollipop covered in hair with the simple yet effective caption, Alpha. This is especially funny considering how much stock he puts into being a so-called alpha male.The meme quickly went viral its been viewed close to a million times at the time of publication with people running to the comment section to dunk on Tate. From people joking that their balls have better coverage to saying he looks like a mid-transition werewolf to someone quipping that Bro looks like hes going backwards through evolution, the jokes were coming in fast and furious.Keep scrolling to see the funniest reactions to Tates bald head being compared to a hair-covered sucker. (@) (@) "No wonder he shaved his head. My balls have better coverage." (@) "Nonceferatu." (@) "One's his head and the other is his testicle?" (@) "Looking like a mid-transition werewolf" (@) "Bro looks like hes going backwards through evolution" (@) "The lolly pop has a better chin" (@) "The Pubesicle" (@) "Alpha" (@) ". he makes woman moist?" (@) (@) "Alfalfa" (@) "The hairy lollipop still looks nicer than that 'alpha'" (@) "It's uncanny" (@) "Whoever posted this was being very generous" (@) "Alpha; An early version of a program or application, typically unstable" (@) "I cant spot the difference" (@) "Uncanny resemblance " (@) "Too much hair on the lollipop" (@) "Looks like the missing link" (@) "Why did you post separate pictures of two testicles total?" (@) "I didn't need to see either of Andrew Tate's testicles in full HD colour." (@) "Why is there just two pictures of the same person?" (@) "Thanks i cant unsee this now" (@) "Last thing I wanted to see today was a pubepop."

Fox News is calling for a boycott of Ethel Cain over recent comments she made on social media, but the way things have played out has been absolutely priceless.Earlier this month, Cain reacted to the killing of health insurance CEO Brian Thompson with a series of Instagram posts that suggested people should "#KillMoreCEOs.""corporations giggle at protesting. why would anyone ever willingly come down off their throne that theyve spent years building off the suffering of their fellow man?" she asked. "nobody is getting visited by the ghost of christmas future, no one is having a change of heart."its simple, you make them fear for their lives and hit them in the only place they hurt or nothing will ever get done. i dont even see how thats an incredibly radical idea. it seems quite straightforward to me. 'violence is never the answer' wrong. sometimes it is." (@) Fox News shared select quotes from her statement and clutched their pearls on air, bemoaning a society in which anyone would ever advocate killingyou know, something right wing politicians and Fox News pundits have definitely never done.Just moments after claiming Cain is facing "backlash" for her comments, they also pointed to surveys that suggest younger Americans are more sympathetic to Luigi Mangione, the suspect in Thompsons murder, than Thompson himself. And, despite making no mention of the political makeup of those polled, of course they jumped at the opportunity to blame "woke" for it. (@) "Youre talking about Gen Z kids who are going to college, and theyre studying woke curriculums, and theyre telling them capitalism is bad, free markets are bad, CEOs and companies are bad," Jackie DeAngelis lamented. "And theyre condoning killing people in cold blood when you dont like a policy versus having a conversation about it, writing to a lawmaker about it, trying to affect change in a different way."That, she claimed with a straight face, is to blame for why "this country has gotten so polarized and so unable to have a conversation."Its beyond parody to see people on Fox News point the finger at literally anyone outside of their studio for a political divide so deep that rationality and reaching across the aisle has gone out the window. But what really makes this so delicious is that they appeared to be completely clueless that Cain is trans."I think she might be singing a different tune if there were people out there saying, 'Well, you know whats really harming society? Singers who call for murders. Maybe they should be killed in the streets,'" Guy Benson chimed in. "If youre willing to call for the murder of one group because you think it will help society improve things, then theres no way to cordon off yourself from another mob deciding youre the problem and saying maybe you should be killed out there."Regardless of anyones personal stance on murdering CEOs, the ignorance (and hypocrisy) on display is positively staggering once the larger context of Cains identity is taken into consideration. Because as we all know, if theres one group out there who has absolutely no idea what its like to have people constantly calling for an end to their existence for the alleged benefit of society, its trans people. (@) "love the part where theyre like 'can you imagine if she were part of a group that that was harassed as badly as shes harrassing ceos' and its like lol" (@) "that they are asking ethel cain to 'imagine' being a part of a group that people 'inciting violence against like she is with CEOS'(?) is crazy... surprised they were even using the right pronouns? makes me think they don't know she's trans" (@) "them counter arguing saying 'what if we turned the tables and said we should kill her' as if trans people arent one of the most vulnerable populations for being hate crimed and killedand also they can always tell yet if they knew u know they would misgender her." (@) "Funniest part about this is they DEFINITELY dont know Ethel Cain is trans. Theyre making all these arguments like She says its ok to kill CEOs what if someone called for the death of all SINGERS??? instead of, yknow."Also, its just funny. (@) "No one talking about her being trans is so satisfying somehow. Stealthel Cain.""'We can always tell crowd' cannot, and also doesnt do any research lol." (@) "I know they were absolutely fuming once they realised they were gendering her correctly. This is hilarious." (@) "Correctly gendering Ethel Cain, calling her a woman, and fear mongering what she said so much that it makes it seem cool to any viewer rocks so hard. Fox News incompetence >>>>>>>>>" (@) "they so caught up in defending corporations they don't even know my girl is trans."And anyway, whatever Fox News was throwing down didnt land with younger Americans, who have spent much of their lives being told that the fear of being shot in cold blood is just something everyone has to live with in this country, who have learned firsthand that conversations arent possible when misinformation and fearmongering is constantly being forced down the throats of their parents and grandparents, and who have seen time and time again that lawmakers either dont or cant enact change supported by the majority of Americans. (@) "hey guys so 'young americans' are now mentally unwell for not siding with the billionaire who basically made money off of people with illnesses and ailments being exploited. anyways hi ethel x" (@) "It is fascinating how out of touch these people on Fox News are and cannot begin to understand why people sympathize with Luigi Mangione, or the underlying reasons for poor Americans rage towards healthcare CEOs. Protect Ethel Cain." (@) "Venn Diagram of Luigi sympathizers and Ethel Cain listeners is a circle idk who they think is about to boycott her ajdjjsjdjsjsjs." (@) "You can tell how stupid they are when they bring up the whole 'have a conversation/write to your lawmakers' bullshit. That shit DOESNT WORK. Its ridiculous (not surprising) how out of touch this idiots are" (@) "'i hope she gets called out for this' the calling out in question:" (@) "'singer ethel cain is facing major backlash' everyone who knows who ethel cain is agrees with her so is the backlash in the room with us" (@) "This is only making Ethel cooler, actually. Negative press for her is like Gatorade; it replenishes her electrolytes." (@) "maybe Im biased but you can just feel how hard theyre trying to warp near unanimous hatred of our healthcare system into being a terrorist issue. Its very off-putting to see them trying so hard."If only Americans could come together instead of demonizing entire groups of people, right? Right?

Josh Lederer wears a mask to protect him from fumes as he retrieves his children's clothes from his fire-ravaged property in the aftermath of the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)2025-01-21T20:37:25Z Toni Boucher threw up the first time she saw the charred remains of her home and neighborhood after this months deadly Los Angeles-area wildfires. Now she wonders if its worth it to go back to sift through the ashes and try to find her grandmothers wedding ring.Its not just that shes worried about the trauma she experienced from seeing the destruction in Altadena, where Boucher, 70, has lived for decades. She is also concerned about possible health risks.They talk about asbestos and theyre talking about lead and theyre talking about all of the things that have burned in the loss of the homes and the danger of that, Boucher said. Experts warn that the blazes unleashed complex chemical reactions on paint, furniture, building materials, cars, electronics and other belongings, turning ordinary objects into potentially toxic ash that requires protective gear to handle safely. The ash could include harmful lead, asbestos or arsenic, as well as newer synthetic materials. Ash is not just ash. Go back to the garage or whats in your home. What is your furniture made out of? What are your appliances made out of? What is your house made out of? asked Scott McLean, a former deputy chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protections communications bureau. A lot of its petroleum product and different composites that are extreme hazards due to fire when they combust. That is especially a problem when people start to sift through fire damage. Studies show that people involved in recovery in ash-affected areas could face health risks from breathing in whatever is there. Even safe chemicals commonly found in household materials such as titanium dioxide in paint or copper in pipes can form compounds that are more reactive after a fire, said Mohammed Baalousha, a professor of environmental health sciences at University of South Carolina, who studies ash samples to better understand what materials are present and how they change in the wake of wildfires. Scientists are still trying to understand exactly what those chemical changes do to human health, not just in California but in places such as Maui and other areas scarred by wildfire.Maui residents were kept out of contaminated areas for nearly two months, but they still worry about long-term health impacts. In California, officials arent letting residents return to many locations, likely for at least a week, while they restore utilities, conduct safety operations and search for people, according to Los Angeles Countys recovery website.Some chemicals are linked to cardiovascular disease and reduced lung function. Other adverse health effects might arise from inhaling more mobile and toxic forms of arsenic, chromium and benzene. Exposure to magnetite, which can form when fire burns iron, has been linked to Alzheimers disease, for example.It really could take a long time to tease out all of the potential health effects of these particles because of how many complex chemical reactions are going on and how many substances still remain to be studied, Baalousha said. Researchers point to the variety of health problems potentially linked to dust from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.I always kind of reminded myself of all the people that ran into the World Trade Center on 9/11, and were really there for not that long of a period of time in terms of their total exposure, said Jackson Webster, who studies fire aftermath as a professor of civil engineering at California State University, Chico. But there is increased cases of all kinds of different illness, sickness.Baalousha added that scientists also worry about where all the waste will go. Some potentially hazardous materials could end up in drinking water or even flow into the ocean, adversely affecting marine life. Thats something experts in Hawaii are studying after the deadly fire in Maui last year.While researchers continue their work, people returning to their homes in California should put their safety first, he said. We know its a lot of emotions and feelings going on that you can put down your guard, but you shouldnt do that, Baalousha said. Just be safe. Be careful. Put all the gear you can at least an N95 mask, gloves and stay safe. Because you lost your property. But you dont want to damage also your health in the longer run.___Associated Press reporter Alexa St. John contributed from Detroit.___Follow Melina Walling on X @MelinaWalling and Bluesky @melinawalling.bsky.social. Follow Alexa St. John on X @alexa_stjohn and reach her at [emailprotected].___The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. MELINA WALLING Walling covers the intersections of climate change and agriculture in the Midwest and beyond for The Associated Press. 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U.S. flags around the Washington Monument are at full staff ahead of the 60th Presidential Inauguration, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. Flags are supposed to fly at half-staff through the end of January out of respect for former President Jimmy Carter, who died Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)2025-01-21T20:09:47Z NEW YORK (AP) He talked of a new Manifest Destiny and a Golden Age. He invoked the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. An honor guard appeared with tricorn hats, fifes and drums all traditional Revolutionary War iconography. Those in attendance heard tunes deployed from the classic American songbook from Scott Joplins The Entertainer to Woody Guthries This Land is Your Land.At the inauguration Monday, American history in its varied stripes was firmly planted. We will not forget our country, President Donald Trump said.In summoning people to his vision for the future throughout a day of pageantry, Trump assembled a dizzying collage of American myths, tropes and ideals. His new Golden Age was brimming with the stories that shaped the nations past. But how will he use them?A presidential inaugural address is typically a projection of the balance between American yesterdays and American tomorrows. Trump came to power the first time, and regained it the second, with an exhortation to reclaim the past and Make America Great Again. In his address on Monday, he conflated a vast and sometimes confusing array of national imagery from across the centuries to make his larger point. Manifest Destiny returns to center stageMost epic, perhaps, was the notion of American expansionism once called Manifest Destiny a romantic story about the God-given right to push westward and outward that has defined the nations growth even while oppressing and killing many others as it has played out over 350 years.This, coupled with his recent comments about absorbing Greenland, making Canada the 51st state and taking over the Panama Canal, suggests Trump and his administration consider expansionism to be not a sliver of history but a matter for here and now. Consider Trumps sweeping statement:The spirit of the frontier is written into our hearts. The call of the next great adventure resounds from within our souls. Our American ancestors turned a small group of colonies on the edge of a vast continent into a mighty republic of the most extraordinary citizens on Earth. No one comes close. Americans pushed thousands of miles through a rugged land of untamed wilderness. They crossed deserts, scaled mountains, braved untold dangers, won the Wild West, ended slavery, rescued millions from tyranny, lifted millions from poverty, harnessed electricity, split the atom, launched mankind into the heavens and put the universe of human knowledge into the palm of the human hand. Manifest Destiny was itself fueled by the equally foundational notion of American exceptionalism colonial Gov. John Winthrops 17th-century statement of being as a shining city upon a hill as an example to others. That was one of the few dominant threads of American history Trump didnt invoke on Monday, possibly because Ronald Reagan resurrected it so famously in his 1989 farewell address. Its echoes, though, were everywhere in Trumps words.The notion of American exceptionalism is itself a freighted topic. For some, it is triumphal and natural the United States is the greatest nation on Earth and must act that way. For others, it is a statement of eternal potential and example-setting that does not necessarily place Americans above others. Trump leaned hard into the former definition. America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on Earth, inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world, he said.We will pursue our Manifest Destiny into the stars, Trump said. One news outlet declared in response: MAGAfest Destiny.A pitched battle between past and future That kind of language has never rolled easily off Trumps tongue. He tends to favor more blunt, even brutish rhetoric to make a point. The overall effect was an exercise in looking over the national shoulder even as he talked about moving toward new horizons. Simply by saying that the nations Golden Age had just begun a seemingly forward-looking statement Trump was employing terminology that hints at the past.Some of the American cultural mashups that popped up were a bit puzzling like the 1980s Guns N Roses hit Sweet Child of Mine echoing across a packed Capital One Arena as the jumbotron showed billionaire Jeff Bezos, in sunglasses, striding in. Or Elon Musk entering with his already highly questioned gestures to the tune of AC/DCs Thunderstruck. Even the strains of Scott Joplins ragtime a key marker in American racial and musical history seemed designed to make a larger point, though maybe a song is just a song.Or maybe its more. The use of This Land Is Your Land, by Woody Guthrie a song composed as a rejoinder to the saccharine patriotism of Irving Berlins God Bless America was a curious choice. After all, it came from the mind of a man who railed against injustice and famously wrote upon his guitar: This machine kills fascists. Theres enough American history there for both sides to claim. For all the focus on what came before, Trumps immediate acts after the inaugural were not reactionary but in their 21st-century context, at least quite radical. His flurry of executive orders, executed as promised, included pardons for about 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants, the renaming of Denali to McKinley and perhaps most saliently sweeping restrictions on immigration that evoked 19th-century and early 20th-century exclusion rules.When Trump summoned so much of the American past including parts of it that are still hotly contested, not least by those whose ancestors suffered through them he assembled it into a tapestry of what he called liberation (itself an often radical term) that led to this conclusion that seemed decided at odds with public sentiment: National unity is now returning to America and confidence and pride is soaring like never before.Thats what I want to be a peacemaker and a unifier, Trump said. One question, though, hangs in the air, as it often does at a hinge point like this one. Its a question that he must address, but even more so its something to consider as his second administration begins with the statement that he has the winds of history at his back: Of the American past, what is worthy of carrying into the American future? Thats the risk of history, and its reward, too: It can be disassembled, recombined, reinterpreted at will. The most fascinating aspect of Trumps inaugural was, perhaps, how so many of the currents of American history from the Monroe Doctrine to the Pax Americana are still alive, still potent, still being used by countless constituencies and stakeholders to tell the stories that they wish to tell. The past is never dead, William Faulkner famously wrote. Its not even past.___Ted Anthony, director of new storytelling and newsroom innovation for The Associated Press, has been writing about American culture since 1990. Follow him at http://x.com/anthonyted or https://bsky.app/profile/anthonyted.bsky.social TED ANTHONY Anthony writes about American culture and international affairs for The Associated Press. He has been with AP since 1992 and has reported from more than 30 countries. twitter mailto