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Gay U.S. Rep Robert Garcia elected top Democrat on powerful House Oversight Committee

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On Tuesday, Democrats in Washington, D.C., elected U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia of California as the new ranking member of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, making him the first out gay immigrant to lead the party on one of Congress’ most powerful and combative panels. House Democrats made the announcement official in a post on X, formerly Twitter, shortly before 11 a.m. Eastern. “House Democrats elect @RepRobertGarcia the Ranking Member of the @OversightDems,” they wrote. At 47, Garcia is not just the youngest Democrat to lead a major committee — he’s also one of the most outspoken. A former Long Beach mayor, an immigrant from Peru, and an unapologetically queer political figure, Garcia […]

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Why Do At Least Six Anti-LGBTQ Hate Groups Have Special Consultative Status Inside The United Nations?

In November 2023, at the United Nations in New York City, the Political Network for Values held its fifth Transatlantic Summit event.  The conference was called “Affirming universal human rights: Uniting Cultures for life, family, and fundamental freedoms.” It was attended by a variety of far-right Christian groups that have historically advocated for anti-LGBTQ policies.  Subscribe for LGBTQ focused journalism: One of those groups is Alliance Defending Freedom. At the conference, Emilie Kao, the group’s senior counsel and vice president of advocacy strategy, took the floor to express her outrage that a Finnish doctor was put on trial for referring to homosexuality as “a developmental […]

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600,000 same-sex couples have tied the knot since Obergefell ruling made marriage equality legal

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More than 591,000 same-sex couples tied the knot in the decade since the Obergefell v. Hodges decision made marriage equality the law of the land. That’s according to recently published research from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law that looks at the impact of the June 26, 2015, Supreme Court ruling. The academic institution figures that there are roughly 823,000 queer married couples in the U.S. today, double the number at the end of 2014, the last full year when states could bar same-sex unions. Before the court decision made clear that same-sex couples in every state had a constitutional right to wed a partner […]

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7 Revealing Findings from a First-of-Its-Kind Map and Analysis of American LGBTQ Bars

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Nightlife has long been a tool for queer communities in America to find each other, celebrate identity and feel accepted. In rural and urban areas alike, gay bars provide an enlightening—if imperfect—window into understanding the health and culture of America’s LGBTQ population. As anti-trans legislation and threats to marriage equality mount, many queer Americans are flocking to shield states with greater legal protections. For some, finding the nearest gay bar serves as a first step to finding community in their new homes. In a first-of-its-kind analysis, Uncloseted Media mapped every single LGBTQ nightlife location in the U.S. The data is based on a 2023 census of gay […]

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Texas sued over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law that bans LGBTQ+ student clubs

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Texas is being sued over its “Don’t Say Gay” law that not only bans discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms, but goes even further by completely outlawing LGBTQ+ student clubs. The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT) announced Monday that they will be filing a lawsuit against Senate Bill 12. Signed into law by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday, the law is scheduled to take effect September 1 and be implemented in the 2025-2026 school year. S.B. 12 flatly states that “a school district or open-enrollment charter school may not authorize or sponsor a student club […]

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Largest Human Pride Flag Ever Made by Mexican LGBTQ Activists Sets Global Record

In celebration of Pride Week, more than five thousand LGBTQ+ activistsconverged on Mexico City’s Zócalo to form the world’s largest human LGBT flag. Under a shower of rain and brandishing vibrant umbrellas, the colorful formation draped the historic Plaza de la Constitución, capturing global attention and shattering previous records. Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada joined the crowd led the choreography. She said during the event that “Mexico City is and will continue to be the city of rights and freedoms. This monumental image we draw with our bodies and colors will be a powerful message to the country and the world. Mexico City is the […]

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4 could be charged with hate crimes for destroying LGBTQ pride flags, Atlanta police say

Atlanta police said Tuesday that three men and a juvenile could face hate crimes charges after they pulled down LGBTQ pride flags and cut them up at an intersection known as the center of the city’s LGBTQ community. Police say they got calls at 1:40 a.m. Tuesday morning that six males were causing a disturbance near the corner of Piedmont Avenue and 10th Street, an intersection in the city’s Midtown neighborhood that is painted with rainbow crosswalks to honor its importance in Atlanta’s LGBTQ community. The men coordinated their plan and drove to Atlanta from their locations northwest of the […]

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LGBTQ+ households earn 85 cents for every dollar — What’s behind the disparity?

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The average LGBTQ+ or intersex household made just 85 cents for every dollar earned by those in other categories in 2024, says a new report from the Center for American Progress. “Over the course of a year, those 15 lost cents add up, amounting to about $12,600 in lost income per year for the average LGBTQI+ household,” says the CAP report, which was published as a column on CAP’s website Tuesday for LGBTQI+ Equal Pay Awareness Day. “That is more than the average household spends on food and gasoline in an entire year.” Discrimination may be a reason for the gap, CAP notes. “In 2024, approximately a […]

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Queer educators will soon unveil 10 new LGBTQ+ lessons for California public schools

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A coalition of local educators and LGBTQ+ organizations in California are unveiling 10 new LGBTQ+ history lessons for the state’s K-12 public school classrooms under the theme “Pride, Resistance, Joy: Teaching Intersectional LGBTQ+ Stories of California and Beyond.”  The curriculum was created by local K-12 teachers in collaboration with the LGBTQ+ history organization One Institute, the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, the UCLA History-Geography Project, and the queer student support program Out for Safe Schools at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. The ongoing collaborative partnership has been developing LGBTQ+ history curriculum for state schools since 2018. While the lessons will be unveiled on […]

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Pride Month display at NYC’s Stonewall National Monument excludes transgender flags

The transgender flags that usually adorn the Stonewall National Monument in New York City during Pride Month were missing this year, so some New Yorkers are taking matters into their own hands. This comes as the National Park Service is accused of actively erasing transgender visibility and history. “It’s a terrible action for them to take” During June, Pride flags are placed around the park’s fence. They usually include a mixture of rainbow LGBTQ+ flags, transgender flags and progress flags, which have stripes to include communities of color. Photographer and advocate Steven Love Menendez said he created and won federal approval […]

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