Over 1,000 people, primarily trans folk, showed up in a “Trans Folks for Harris” Zoom call to express support for Kamala Harris, The 19th reports.
“A lot of times, elected officials have not really taken our issues seriously, in part because they think that we’re too small of a community to matter,” said Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, executive director of Advocates for Trans Equality. “Now we’ve been able to prove that that is not true at all.”
The call featured a who’s who of well-known trans people, particularly trans politicians. Co-organized by activist Charlotte Clymer, the meeting also put a spotlight on elected officials like the soon-to-be Congresswoman and current Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride (D) and Hawaii’s first trans lawmaker, Kim Coco Iwamoto.
“We have so much power,” Clymer said. “We have way more power than they think, that’s for damn sure. And when we use that power, when we organize together and have each other’s backs, we can do great things.”
Over 2,600 more people have been screened for the fundraiser, with organizers still waiting to see just how much money has been raised.
Some LGBTQ+ individuals still remain skeptical of Harris, however, based on her having denied a trans woman gender-affirming care while in prison. Harris, however, has since apologized for this and disavowed her previous position.
In an attempt to garner more support, she picked Minnesota’s pro-LGBTQ+ governor, Tim Walz, as her running mate. He passed several policies that helped trans people during his time as governor, including helping to make the state a refuge for trans folks.
Activists at the event show that a sizable portion of LGBTQ+ people support Harris, in large part because she has a record of opposing policies that former President Donald Trump has enacted.
“It’s a step forward to ensure that trans people, especially Black and Brown trans women, have the representation and the resources they need to live with dignity and pride,” said Zahara Bassett, CEO of Chicago-based trans advocacy organization Life is Work. “We need to make sure that our future is one of equity, justice, and liberation for us all.”
A secretly recorded conversation has exposed the dangerous and far-reaching plans being laid out by Russell Vought, a central figure behind Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s plan to reshape the federal government in a potential second term for former President Donald Trump in his image.
The Centre for Climate Reporting, which conducted the undercover investigation, revealed how Vought and his conservative allies are preparing a comprehensive set of executive orders, regulations, and policies aimed at implementing a radical agenda that poses a direct threat to LGBTQ+ rights.
The meeting, held in a luxurious Washington, D.C., hotel suite, was attended by two undercover journalists posing as wealthy donors interested in supporting Project 2025. Vought, the former head of the Office of Management and Budget under Trump and now president of the Center for Renewing America, which he founded, outlined the secretive second phase of Project 2025, which conservatives are hiding from the public to avoid scrutiny, according to the report.
CCR reports that Vought described his think tank as “the Death Star,” a reference to its powerful role in drafting the most extreme elements of Trump’s potential policy agenda. He revealed that his team is working on what he termed the “largest deportation in history,” aiming to expel millions of undocumented immigrants, a move that would also serve to dismantle multiculturalism in the United States. Trump has celebrated this notion, and Republicans celebrated the concept of mass deportations during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July. Vought said the plans were top secret and would be shared only with Trump’s transition team to avoid exposure through the Freedom of Information Act.
The project aims to roll back protections for LGBTQ+ people, dismantle gender-inclusive policies, and erase the progress made under the Biden administration. Project 2025 emphasizes a commitment to transforming America into a Christian nation and implementing a form of Christian nationalism that seeks to impose a rigid Judeo-Christian value system on the entire country.
The CCR’s investigation also uncovered that Vought and his colleagues are preparing for the possibility of mass protests in response to their policies, including the use of the military to suppress dissent. Vought dismissed concerns about legal restrictions, such as the Posse Comitatus Act, which limits the use of federal troops in domestic law enforcement, suggesting that Trump could bypass these laws to maintain order.
The CCR revelations come on the heels of training videos from Project 2025, obtained by ProPublica, which show former Trump officials mocking gender-inclusive language and dismissing the legitimacy of transgender people. These videos, as reported byThe Advocate on Wednesday, are part of a broader strategy by right-wing extremists to normalize discriminatory practices within the federal government.
Florida’s official tourism website quietly removed a landing page for the state’s LGBTQ-friendly travel destinations sometime in the past four months.
The website for the state’s tourism marketing corporation, VisitFlorida.com, had an “LGBTQ Travel” section that no longer exists, according to archived versions of the site viewable on the Internet Archive. The landing page previously featured blog posts and videos related to the state’s gay-friendly beaches, Pride events and LGBTQ road trip ideas.
“There’s a sense of freedom to Florida’s beaches, the warm weather and the myriad activities — a draw for people of all orientations, but especially appealing to a gay community looking for a sense of belonging and acceptance,” the landing page used to read. “Whether you’re a couple seeking a romantic getaway or a modern family searching for kid-friendly fun, here are some LGBTQ-friendly destinations for you, throughout the Sunshine State.”
The link where the LGBTQ Travel page had been (https://www.visitflorida.com/things-to-do/cultural/lgbtq/) now directs users to a general “things to do” landing page. It is unclear exactly when the landing page was removed, but it was available as recently as April 19, according to the Internet Archive. It is also unclear why Visit Florida, a nonprofit created as a public-private partnership by the Florida Legislature in 1996, removed the landing page and who was behind the decision.
The website does continue to provide travel information for destinations specific to other minority groups, including Black and Hispanic travelers.
Visit Florida did not immediately return a request for comment.
The deleted LGBTQ Travel section of VisitFlorida.com can be seen in this Internet Archive screenshot from Sept. 21, 2021. Internet Archive
Rachel Covello runs OutCoast, a travel blog that promotes Florida as an LGBTQ-inclusive destination. Covello, a lesbian who lives in St. Petersburg, said the “LGBTQ Travel” landing page has existed on Visit Florida’s website since at least 2021. She said she first noticed that the landing page was missing last month.
“It really feels like we were just erased in a way,” Covello said.
“We want LGBT people to come here, we have really cool places to highlight and showcase,” she added.“But when the state-run platform removes any trace of us being in Florida, it sends a pretty strong message to our travelers, to our community in Florida.”
Not all references to LGBTQ people or LGBTQ-friendly places have been removed from the site. For example, if one types “LGBT” in the site’s search function, five results pop up, three of them for venues described as “LGBT Friendly.”
Maryann Ferenc, a small business owner who served as the chair of Visit Florida from 2017 to 2018, said there was a lot of LGBTQ-related travel information on the site during her time, including information about suggested itineraries and recommended beaches. She questioned whether stripping the site of its LGBTQ Travel section and other LGBTQ-related content s was a smart business move.
“To be a great tourism community, you need to be open and welcoming. That’s the basics of hospitality, right?” she said. “When I was chair, we talked about, ‘Could we be No. 1 in hospitality? How could we measure being the most hospitable state in the Union?’ This certainly wouldn’t qualify for that.”
Ferenc added that diversifying the state’s tourism industry was one of her main objectives when she led the organization.
“All of our diverse markets are important to us getting all of the business that is our fair share of the statewide, national and international tourism market,” she said. “It’s important that we have that diversity, not only because of the amount of money that will be spent by a diverse market, but by the diverse places in which that money will be spent.”
The removal of the LGBTQ Travel section from VisitFlorida.com is the latest in a yearslong effort to restrict queer history and the expression of LGBTQ identities in the state.
In recent years, Florida lawmakers also unsuccessfully attempted to limit drag shows, an artform that has decades-old roots in the LGBTQ community. Some of the state’s schools have also voluntarily removed or banned LGBTQ-related books or books with queer characters.
Just last week, New College of Florida tossed hundreds of books in the trash, with many of the discarded titles appearing to be related to LGBTQ issues, race and women’s rights.
Last year, the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group, and the statewide LGBTQ nonprofit Equality Florida issued a travel advisory detailing the risks of traveling to the state and citing “the devastating impacts of laws that are hostile to the LGBTQ community.”
A recent survey of 2,300 LGBTQ Americans by the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association found that 52% of respondents indicated hesitancy or outright refusal to travel to Florida due to anti-LGBTQ legislation passed in recent years. However, about 66% of respondents also said that they would be willing to visit LGBTQ-friendly cities within states that have anti-LGBTQ laws.
In 2017, within days of former president Trump’s inauguration, his administration similarly scrubbed nearly all mentions of LGBTQ people and issues from the websites of federal agencies and the White House.
The 38th. Annual Art for Life fundraiser kicks off Aug. 22This year the event will be a hybrid event as the auction will be up online along with a Gallery Showing at the Santa Rosa Arts Center.
This event is not just about art; it’s about making a meaningful impact in the lives of those in need. We invite you to join us and become a part of this incredible cause by registering to bid on stunning artworks that will be up for auction.
IMPORTANT DATES Gallery ShowThursday, August 22 – Sunday, August 25th.Santa Rosa Arts Center 312 A Street, Santa Road Gallery Hours: 11am-3pm
ONLINE AUCTION Opens online Thursday, August 22nd. through Tuesday, August 27th at 8:00pm
The Democratic Party has released its official national platform for 2024, just in time for the start of its national convention, which begins today in Chicago, Illinois. The platform contains a section on “LGBTQI+” issues and also mentions the community and related issues in other sections, including those covering gun violence, the judiciary, education, and racial equity.
“This election will decide whether the next generation of Americans has more rights and freedoms than past generations or fewer,” the platform states. “Trump and Republicans are already ripping away Americans’ hard-won freedoms. Reproductive freedom, freedom from hate, freedom from fear, the freedom to control our own destinies and more are all on the line in this election.”
The LGBTQI+ section noted that Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, reversed “Trump’s un-American ban” on transgender military members, has aimed to protect LGBTQ+ children and parents in the adoption and foster care systems, has helped protect gender-affirming care, has implemented a strategy to end the HIV epidemic, opposes anti-LGBTQ+ book bans, established a task force to combat address online harassment, promoted international LGBTQ+ human rights, and ended the “disgraceful and discriminatory” ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men. It also mentioned that Biden has signed several executive actions to lessen anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination in housing, employment, health care, education, and the judicial system.
The section also notes that Trump seeks to repeal the Affordable Care Act—which prohibits LGBTQ+ discrimination and denial for pre-existing conditions—and that Trump has appointed judges who oppose same-sex marriage and have sided with businesses to reject LGBTQ+ customers.
“When a person can be married in the morning and thrown out of a restaurant for being gay in the afternoon, something is still wrong,” the platform states.
The platform then pledges to pass the Equality Act, a bill that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to existing federal anti-discrimination laws. The platform also pledges to prohibit anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination among federal government contractors, to ensure that federally-funded senior programs are LGBTQ+-inclusive, and to ban conversion therapy for queer youth.
“Trump is running on an extreme plan to punish doctors who treat transgender youth and to ban gender-affirming care, and his MAGA Republican allies have pushed a tidal wave of extreme anti-LGBTQI+ bills in statehouses across the country,” the platform accurately states. “Democrats will vigorously oppose state and federal bans on gender-affirming healthcare and respect the role of parents, families, and doctors– not politicians – in making health care decisions.”
The platform also pledges to end violence against transgender Americans, especially Black and brown transgender women, and to prioritize the investigation of hate crimes against trans and non-binary people.
LGBTQ+ mentions & issues elsewhere in the Democratic National Platform
In the section entitled “Violence Against Women,” the platform says that Biden is “keeping students safe on campus by restoring and strengthening protections under Title IX, including explicit protections for LGBTQI+ students.”
The “Judges” section notes that Biden has appointed many out LGBTQI+ judges as well as others who “represent the diversity of the American experience.” It then says that Trump has appointed far-right judges and that the next president could appoint “one, two, or more new Supreme Court justices who will determine what freedoms Americans have – or lose – for the next 30, 40, or even 50 years.”
Its plank on education opposes “the use of private-school vouchers, tuition tax credits, opportunity scholarships, and other schemes that divert taxpayer-funded resources away from public education.” Such schemes are a major aim of anti-LGBTQ+ Christian conservatives.
“Public tax dollars should never be used to discriminate,” the platform states. “And we’ll continue working to increase accountability at charters, holding them to the same transparency standards as public schools.”
While the platform pledges to institute mandatory background checks for all gun purchases, red flag laws, and a national ban on assault weapons, it also notes that Trump has told families devastated by gun violence to “get over it” and has bragged about “doing nothing” to restrict firearms during his presidency.
The criminal justice plank notes that Biden pardoned LGBTQ+ military service members who had received less than honorable discharges “just for being themselves.”
The plank of “racial equity” states, “Where MAGA extremists are politicizing our classrooms, banning books, and trying to erase history, we are fighting back, including by appointing a federal coordinator to address the threat these bans pose to students’ civil rights.”
The platform also states, “No one should be in jail for using or possessing marijuana.” While it calls for cannabis to be rescheduled, and for people convicted for possession or use to be released with expunged criminal records, the platform neither calls for national decriminalization nor for legalization.
Its plank on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza says that Biden has called for a ceasefire for Palestine to return all hostages kidnapped during Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel while maintaining humanitarian relief for displaced and suffering Palestinians. The plank pledges for a peace deal that will help Gaza rebuild and create a Palestinian state that does not allow Hamas to re-arm itself.
However, the plank does not pledge to end the U.S. supply of weapons to Israel, a major goal of pro-Palestinian protestors. Some pro-Palestinian voters have warned that their support could help ensure a Democratic electoral victory or defeat.
Last Friday, two New Hampshire teenagers – soccer players who have been living as girls since a young age – have sued the state of New Hampshire for instituting a transgender sports ban. The lawsuit was filed with help from the ACLU.
The lawsuit claims that the ban on trans inclusion in girls’ sports violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title IX, a 1972 amendment that further guarantees equal treatment in education on the basis of sex.
The lawsuit also reveals that the plaintiffs are aiming to file a restraining order against the defendants alongside their attempt to issue a temporary injunction on the bill to allow the girls to go back to playing sports.
Chris Erchull, senior staff attorney with GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), said in a statement, “Sports are a pillar of education in New Hampshire public schools because of the countless benefits of physical activity in a team environment, including physical and mental health, leadership skills, and social development. New Hampshire cannot justify singling out transgender girls to deny them essential educational benefits available to other students.”
H.B. 1205 was signed into law last month by Gov. Chris Sununu (R). The bill bans any transgender girl from participating on girls’ sports teams throughout high school. It was signed with two other anti-trans bills on the same day. A fourth bill, which would have overturned the state’s anti-discrimination measures for trans people, was vetoed by the governor.
The complaint names the Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Education, members of the New Hampshire Board of Education, as well as members of the girls’ high school school board, as defendants in the suit. The plaintiffs are represented by Chris Erchull and Ben Klein at GLAD, Henry Klementowicz and Gilles Bissonnette at the ACLU of New Hampshire, and Louis Lobel, Kevin DeJong, and Elaine Blais at Goodwin.
Henry Klementowicz, Deputy Legal Director of the ACLU of New Hampshire, said in a statement, “H.B. 1205 stigmatizes and discriminates against transgender girls and tells them they aren’t deserving of the same educational opportunities to other girls in public schools. All students do better in school when they have access to resources that improve their mental, emotional, and physical health and [the girls] deserve that same access.”
A young trans woman has been violently killed in Texas.
Dylan Gurley, 20, was found unconscious with multiple stab wounds by police on 23 July in Denton, Texas. The Little Elm resident was declared dead at a local hospital less than an hour after being found.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) reported that Gurley’s death is at least the 23rd violent killing of a trans or gender non-conforming person in the US in 2024.
A GoFundMe page created by Gurley’s sister is currently $500 away from its $5,000 target thanks to 77 donations. The funds raised will go towards Gurley’s memorial and marking her 21st birthday, which she would’ve celebrated on 18 August.
‘We are trying to put the pieces back together’
“We are just trying to put the pieces back together as best as we can and appreciate any and all help,” the fundraiser reads.
Little is currently known about the circumstances surrounding Gurley’s death, apart from the fact she was experiencing homelessness. At the moment no suspect has been identified.
According to tracking by the HRC, which began in 2013, Texas remains the state with the highest number of anti-trans murders. The taking of Gurley’s life marks the 36th since the organisation began tracking fatal violence in the state.
In Texas, trans and gender non-confirming people are not protected from discrimination across employment, housing, education and public spaces.
Texas’ Republican governor, Greg Abbott, is a vocal opponent of trans rights. In April, he said he wanted to “end” trans teachers expressing their identity in the classroom. In February he said the UN an “pound sand” after human rights groups raised concerns over the surge in anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the state.
Anyone with information regarding Gurley’s death can reach out to Denton Police by calling 940-349-7977. Anonymous tips can be reported at
A gay man from Britain who was jailed in Qatar after being entrapped by the police has finally been permitted to leave by Qatari authorities and has returned to the United Kingdom after months of imprisonment in inhumane conditions.
Manuel Guerrero Aviña, a gay man who has British/Mexican citizenship, was arrested in February 2024 in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal. Aviña was a former employee of Qatar Air Lines. He was convicted of drug possession in a so-called “honey trap.”
Aviña said he responded to fake messages on Grindr that were actually sent by the police.
He was lured to a location in Doha, where the profile he was messaging with said would meet other gay men, he says. In Doha, the police were waiting to arrest him. The police say they found methamphetamine in his apartment during the arrest, which Aviña says they planted there.
He was jailed on February 4, and was given a suspended six-month prison term and a fine at Al Sadd Criminal Court in the capital city of Doha in June.
While jailed, Aviña was deprived of antiretroviral medication that he needs as an HIV-positive man. He was also forced to sign documents pertaining to his imprisonment that were written in Arabic, which he does not speak, without a translator. He said that he was forced to identify which contacts in his phone were his sexual partners, and subjected to “psychological torture.”
Aviña’s family and LGBTQ+ rights advocates around the world launched a campaign for him to return home, which was finally successful this week.
The X account @QatarFreeManuel announced yesterday, “At this moment Manuel flies free and dignified towards London! We are grateful for the unwavering support in this fight for justice. There is no doubt that ‘solidarity is the tenderness of peoples.’”
A statement posted on the accounts reads, “Manuel and his family thank you for your tireless support in this emblematic struggle against injustice, against homophobia and in favor of human rights for all people. But, as the saying goes, the struggle goes on, it is not over, and it will not end until there is justice for all people. Manuel’s case, and all the cases we have defended, teach us that only organisation, solidarity and courage can change this world and its injustices.”
Aviña himself spoke about his release, saying, “Although I welcome the fact that I can leave the country, I still condemn the unfair trial I have been subjected to and the torture and ill-treatment I endured during my preliminary detention.”
“I urge the UK and Mexican governments to raise concerns with the relevant Qatari authorities about the unfair trial and the violations of due process,” he added.
Valentina Petrillo will get to show her speed at the Paralympic Games in Paris, after more than four years of uncertainty and setbacks.
The Italian Paralympic Committee confirmed her selection to their Paralympic team over the weekend. The selection makes Petrillo the first publicly out transgender athlete in Paralympic history.
Ness Murby came out publicly as trans after the last time they competed at the Paralympics. They did not compete at the Tokyo Paralympics after coming out and is not currently listed to compete in Paris.
“I have been waiting for this day for three years and in these past three years I have done everything possible to earn it,” she told BBC Sport. “The historic value of being the first transgender woman to compete at the Paralympics is an important symbol of inclusion.”
Petrillo, visually impaired since contracting Stargardt disease at age 14, will compete at 200-meter and 400-meter races in the T12 classification, which adjusts for visual impairment.
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Petrillo may lack sight, but she’s had a sharp focus on a vision of being on this grand stage for most of her life. She’s stayed the course and keeping running fast even when the way to the Paralympics looked to be a dead end.
How Valentina Petrillo got to the Paris Paralympics
Prior to transition, Petrillo was an 11-time national champion in the men’s competition. She sought to compete in women’s para athletic events since deciding to come out as trans in 2018 and starting hormone replacement therapy in 2019.
She met International Paralympic Committee and World Para Athletics standards to compete in the female category. But she ran up against friction from FISPES (Italian Federation for Paralympic and Experimental Sport), the national governing body for adaptive sport.
Officials initially refused to allow her to compete in female events. They finally relented prior to their national para athletics championships at the end of the 2020 season.
Petrillo became the first transgender woman to compete and win a national athletics championship in Italy in 2020. (Photo by Marco Mantovani/Getty Images)
The next barrier her way came in 2021 when she was reclassified from T12 to T13 at mid-year, which meant having to meet a faster qualifying standard. Despite setting a 400-meter national record and promising international debut with a 5th-place effort at the 2021 European Para Athletic Championships, Petrillo was left off Italy’s roster for Tokyo.
“The day that I learned I was not going to Tokyo, I happened to find myself on an athletics track,” she stated in an interview with BiDiMedia in 2023. “From that day I immediately started to think about Paris and building what was possible.”
She met the next obstacle in her path in March 2023. Petrillo withdrew from the World Masters Indoor Athletic Championships in Poland due to anti-trans threats and concerns for her safety. A few days later, the ban on transgender women by World Athletics went into effect and worries grew that World Para Athletics would follow suit.
World Para Athletics choose to stay with current IOC standards and guidelines instead, and Petrillo earned a place at that year’s World Para Athletics Championships. She ended up a pair of bronze medals in Paris, including a personal best at 400 meters and huge boost toward to making a return trip for the big show in 2024.
The scrutiny, hopes and a dream from the past
Petrillo is scheduled to make her first appearance on the Paralympic stage on September 2. She will step in the starter blocks for the opening round of the women’s T12 400 meters, where she has the 6th fastest time in the world this year.
The discussion and speculation around a transgender woman with speed and accomplishment is brewing with competition more than two weeks away, as expected. Some say the scrutiny around Petrillo may be worse than the recent Olympic boxing controversy.
Pietro Mennea’s golden sprint at the 1980 Olympics inspires Petrillo’s try for Paralympic gold in 2024. (Left photo by Tony Duffy/Getty Images Right Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)
The 200 meters is Petrillo favorite event because of Mennea. The memory of his win 44 years ago has been her inspiration since. “I play that race over and over again,” she remembered in an interview with Outsports in 2020. “It gives me that same feeling of motivation and excitement.”
The memory spurs her bring her best races to the Paralympics, but she also seeks to set an example through her story which write a new chapter in front of the world.
I want to become the symbol of a world that is rebelling. I believe that in the future we need examples like mine,” Petrillo noted in an interview with Fanpage.it in July. “I am convinced that it will lead to something. Just see me in Paris at the Paralympics “
“I’m going to do the most beautiful thing, the one I’ve always dreamed of in life,” she continued. “I’m running with women.”
Fun, sexy, Greek, and low-budget – those are the guidelines a foreign movie producer has given twinky actor Nikitas (who keeps losing roles for acting “too gay”) for a potential film project. So over the course of a long afternoon at a scenic gay nude beach, Nikitas and his BFF Demos, a former actor turned pencil-pushing public servant, begin to write the screenplay for what they hope will be their big cinematic break. Nikitas fancies himself the next Xavier Dolan, and Demos has dreams of a Hemsworth brother playing him. Under the beating sun on the blue Mediterranean, the besties (who met in film school) uncover the perfect subject matter as they recall the chaotic, fruitful antics of their respective love lives two summers ago. Break-ups, hook-ups, and a dog named Carmen… look out Cannes, here comes the next big thing in queer cinema!
Laugh out loud hilarious and unrelentingly horny, The Summer with Carmen brilliantly blends its intersecting narratives, as memory collides with fantasy and art rubs up against truth.
