Perspectives

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California defies Trump, won’t ban trans athletes from school sports

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California officials say they will not comply with Donald Trump’s order to keep transgender athletes out of K-12 school sports. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon gave the state 10 days, beginning June 27, to sign on to an agreement “to rescind any trans-inclusionary guidelines and send cisgender female athletes who lost to a trans opponent personalized apologies,” The Sacramento Bee reports. The U.S. Department of Education’sOffice for Civil Rights had determined that California had violated federal nondiscrimination law by letting trans girls and women compete against cis females. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 bans sex discrimination in educational programs that receive federal funds. Democratic administrations have interpreted it as […]

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Harvey Milk is an icon. Pete Hegseth is an idiot

Pete Hegseth likes to puff out his chest and wrap himself in the flag, replete with his eye-rolling star-spangled banner pocket square. His entire act is so phony, so immature, so beyond the realm of what gentlemen should be.  He screams “warrior,” but in reality he is weak, and weak on innumerable levels. Hegseth tosses around phrases like “warrior ethos” as if he has a trademark on courage, sacrifice, and honor. But make no mistake, Hegseth, Donald Trump’sclueless Defense secretary and longtime right-wing provocateur, is not a warrior by any measure of what a warrior should be. He is a coward. He […]

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Australian hockey stars wear rainbow socks to support gay teammate

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Members of Australia’s national field hockey team have sported rainbow socks to mark Pride month – and support a gay teammate.  Davis Atkin was accidentally outed as gay to his coach at the University of Canberra by a team psychologist in 2021. The following year he told Outsports: “Last year, I was in a pretty dark place.”  The midfielder has now played for the Kookaburras 20 times, including in the 4-3 win over England in an FIH Pro League game on Saturday. A photo of the team posted on Instagram revealed they were all wearing Pride rainbow socks.  Atkin told Hockey Australia: “I said […]

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Trans woman swims topless at meet to protest being forced to compete against cis men

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Anne Isabella Coombes, a 67-year-old transgender female swimmer, swam topless with her breasts exposed at the Cornwall County Masters swim meet as a protest to being forced to compete with cisgender men by Swim England, the UK’s governing body overseeing the country’s competitive swimming. Swim England told Coombes she was no longer eligible to compete in the women’s category, despite her doing so in 2022 and 2023. So the organization placed her in a new “open” category where trans female and nonbinary competitors swim against cis men. Swim England replaced its men’s category with its open category starting in September […]

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World Cup: A Year Out, Growing Attacks on Rights

 The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) should take immediate and demonstrable steps to safeguard human rights for all people involved in the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup, the Sport & Rights Alliance said today. With just one year until the monumental event kicks off across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and only days until the Club World Cup kicks off on June 14, 2025, escalating attacks on human rights and civil freedoms threaten to undermine FIFA’s human rights commitments and responsibilities. “In 2018, the US, Mexico, and Canada provided clear human rights commitments in their bid documents to host the 2026 FIFA Men’s World […]

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LGBTQ-Affirming Kids Books to Rewrite Messages from the Playground

The fight to offer diverse children’s books in public schools will go national this month when the Supreme Court issues a ruling on Mahmoud v. Taylor. The case surrounds three couples who objected to a small number of LGBTQ-inclusive children’s books offered as nonmandatory supplemental learning materials in Montgomery County Public Schools, in Maryland. Because the district did not offer an opt out clause to prevent access to their children, they claimed infringement on their religious rights. “What’s at stake in Mahmoud v. Taylor isn’t just access to books—it’s whether LGBTQ kids get to see themselves reflected in the world around them,” author […]

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The New York Mets went all out for Pride Night 2025, and homophobes are – predictably – furious

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New York Mets fans have praised the iconic baseball team’s celebration of Pride Month, flying the Progress Pride flag during the national anthem and spotlighting a gay kiss on the jumbotron. On Friday (13 June), the Major League Baseball (MLB) game between the Mets and the Tampa Bay Rays became a showcase of LGBTQ+ acceptance and joy, marking the Mets’ ninth annual Pride Night celebration. As per the Mets website, Pride Night is “one night each year when Citi Field swaps blue and orange for the entire rainbow!” Despite losing the game (9-0), the Mets pleased many fans with their full volume support of LGBTQ+ rights. A couple […]

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In 2025, Why are Men Still Afraid to Come Out in Professional Sports?

When Jason Collins came out in a 2013 Sports Illustrated cover story, he broke down the long-sealed closet in men’s sports by becoming the first openly gay active player in any major league sport. President Barack Obama called him to offer his support, saying he “couldn’t be prouder,” and Oprah Winfrey called him “a pioneer.” “By not having to hide who I am, just being able to live an authentic life, there’s something powerful about being the one to out yourself and step forward and speak your truth,” Collins told Uncloseted Media. “There’s no greater feeling.” Many thought that Collins’ announcement would lead to […]

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‘Targeting trans people and migrants isn’t where oppression ends – it’s where it begins’

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When I arrived in the UK six years ago as an asylum seeker, I was stunned by how LGBTQI+ friendly the country seemed. Compared to Ukraine and Russia – where I had previously lived – it felt almost like time travel. I’ve known I was trans since I was four years old. But it was only here, in the UK, at the age of 24, that I finally felt safe enough to come out. Since then, much has changed. The political climate has shifted. Laws have shifted. In 2015, the annual Rainbow Map and Index by ILGA-Europe ranked the UK as the […]

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Dismantling the top 5 myths about trans athletes

“You ready?” the doctor asked, syringe poised. “Yep,” I replied tentatively. “One, two, three.” He jabbed my right thigh into my muscle. Even though I’d been preparing for this, I’d never had a shot in my leg before. Almost immediately, it felt achy. As that first drop of testosterone hit my bloodstream, I violated the rules of my women’s hockey league and said goodbye to my life as a professional hockey player and my identity as an elite athlete. It hurt. As a kid, I always played women’s sports. I didn’t think too much about how men and women are divided in […]

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