The Pentagon issued a memo directing all military leaders and commands to pull and review books that address anti-racism, diversity, or gender issues from libraries operated by branches of the military. He initially focused on removing any so-called pro-DEI reading material from libraries within DOD-run schools.
The memo is perhaps the Department of Defense’s (DOD) broadest and most detailed directive so far in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s campaign to rid the military of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and materials.
The Associated Press (AP)obtained a copy of a memo which, signed Friday by Performing the Duties of Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Timothy Dill.
The memo on the latest library purge states educational materials at base operated libraries “promoting divisive concepts and gender ideology are incompatible with the Department’s core mission.” The memo directs department leaders to “promptly identify” books that are incompatible with these guidelines and sequester them by May 21.
The memo doesn’t mention what will happen to these books or whether they will be stored or destroyed, only stating that additional guidance will be provided on how to cull the initial list and determine what should be removed.
The memo indicates that the DOD will set up a temporary library committee to provide information on the reviews of and decisions upon reading material. The committee will set up a list of search terms to identify which works should be pulled for review.
These search terms include: affirmative action, anti-racism, critical race theory, discrimination, diversity, gender dysphoria, gender identity and transition, transgender, transsexual, and white privilege.
Books being purged include Maya Angelou’s autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which explores Angelou’s experience as a black youth living in the southern United States during Jim Crow-era segregation.
Other books in this purge detailing the experiences of African American women in the 19th and 20th century include Half American, about African Americans in World War II; A Respectable Woman, about the public roles of African American women in 19th century New York.
Additionally books about the Holocaust written by survivors trying to make sense of their trauma or those memoralizing the victims of the horrific event where purged including Memorializing the Holocaust.
Last month, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) — representing 12 plaintiffs from U.S. military schools —brought up a lawsuit against Pete Hegseth in his official capacity as Defense Secretary for ordering the removal of over 400 books from DOD school libraries. The plaintiffs argue that removing these books violates students’ First Amendment rights and denies these students the same educational opportunities as students in public schools.
On the same day that Dill issued his memo, Hegseth released a memo ordering military academies to admit students solely based on merit with “no consideration of race, ethnicity, or sex”, underlining the word “no.”
A nonbinary person in Brazil has been granted official documents with a neutral gender marker for the first time in a historic and unanimous court victory.
The case involves a person who originally requested to be recognized as male on their official documents after they started hormone replacement therapy, but they later regretted making this decision and appealed to the Supreme Court of Justice in Brasilia. The person’s name has not been published in the media.
A panel of five judges at the court ruled in their favor, with Judge Nancy Andrighi writing in her ruling: “This human being must be suffering greatly. To undergo surgery, take hormones, become what she thought would be good for her and then realize it was not the case.”
The case is currently sealed, but it represents the first time that someone in Brazil has been able to get gender neutral official documents in the country, according to the AP.
For over a decade, the organization I founded, Gays With Kids, has proudly stood as a beacon of support, education, and visibility for gay men on the path to fatherhood. From the beginning, our mission has been rooted in a singular belief: Every person, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, deserves the opportunity to create and raise a family. That belief hasn’t changed. But the world around us has.
Over the past year, we’ve watched with growing alarm as the movement against DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) has moved from fringe rhetoric to mainstream policy. Politicians and influencers alike have declared open season on the very principles that helped us inch closer to equality, principles that affirmed our right not just to live openly, but to love, marry, and parent with dignity.
These attacks have consequences.
When laws are passed to defund DEI initiatives, or when universities are forced to shutter offices that serve LGBTQ+ students, or when healthcare providers are threatened for offering gender-affirming care, the ripple effect is felt across every aspect of LGBTQ+ life, including family building.
Surrogacy, adoption, foster care, and fertility access are already complex and costly journeys. For LGBTQ+ people, they’re even more so, compounded by legal roadblocks, discriminatory policies, and social stigma.
DEI frameworks were never about “special rights”; they were about leveling the playing field, ensuring that our families had the same opportunities, protections, and support systems as any other. Without these systems in place, the path to parenthood becomes steeper, narrower, and more uncertain.
That’s why I’m thrilled that the GWK Academy is officially expanding its services beyond gay men to support all LGBTQ+ people with their family-building needs. In doing so, we are transitioning into a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization—a move that allows us to provide free, vital educational resources, advocacy, and community to anyone in our community hoping to become a parent.
This expansion comes at a critical moment. As anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric becomes more emboldened, as rights and resources are rolled back in state after state, and as disinformation spreads regarding what it means to be an LGBTQ+ parent, we are doubling down on our commitment to serve the entire community: gay dads, lesbian moms, queer parents, transgender and nonbinary people, bisexual parents, and anyone who needs a trusted, affirming guide to help navigate the journey to parenthood.
We are doing this not just because it is right, but because it is necessary.
Let’s be clear: The current wave of efforts against DEI is not just a political maneuver. It is a targeted attempt to silence, erase, and disempower marginalized communities, including LGBTQ+ families. These policies don’t just remove language from mission statements; they remove critical support from the real people who need it. For LGBTQ+ prospective parents, that can mean losing access to affirming healthcare providers, adoption agencies, legal protections, and financial resources.
By becoming a nonprofit, GWK Academy is taking a bold step to insulate our work from these attacks. We are building partnerships with LGBTQ+ affirming clinics, agencies, and legal experts to ensure our community can access accurate, inclusive, and life-changing information. We are creating new educational programs tailored to all family-building paths, from IVF to foster care, from co-parenting to adoption. And we are advocating — loudly and proudly — for a world where LGBTQ+ parents and their children are not just accepted but celebrated.
This is a deeply personal mission. Like so many LGBTQ+ people, I grew up believing that being gay meant I would never be a dad. And yet, here I am — a proud father, raising children in a loving and supportive home. I know the joy that comes from becoming a parent. I also know the fear, the confusion, and the heartbreak that can come with navigating a system that wasn’t built for us.
GWK Academy exists to change that.
To every LGBTQ+ person out there wondering if parenthood is possible for you: Yes, it is. And we are here to walk that journey with you, every step of the way. Whether you’re just beginning to explore your options, deep into the legal paperwork, or already a parent looking to connect with community, we’ve got your back.
When you think about Bible study, images might pop into your head of kids learning principles like forgiveness or loving thy neighbor, and that’s just what LifeWise Academy advertises on its website: “A supportive and inclusive atmosphere where everyone feels valued.”
But for many parents and LGBTQ kids in at least 591 American public schools with LifeWise programs, that’s far from the truth.
One parent says their daughter was “mercilessly bullied by LifeWise kids for ‘looking like a Lesbian who is going to burn in hell.’” Another had to remove their transgender son from school after he was bullied following the presidential election, with the school fearing LifeWise staff and students would make things worse.
And a third parent—a queer mom—says, “As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, my children’s safety in the public school setting is compromised when students are permitted to be removed from the school… to be taught discriminatory and harmful things about my family.”
For an hour a week, students from kindergarten through 12th grade learn about religious concepts rooted—in part—in homophobia and transphobia. For example, students are taught that anything other than a nuclear family, with one mom and one dad who are married, is wrong and that there is no such thing as being transgender.
LifeWise even requiresitsemployees to agree to their worldview statement, which says, “God’s design for the gift of sex is for it to be exercised and enjoyed exclusively within the covenant relationship of marriage between one man and one woman. Additionally, a person’s sex has been given as a gift from God and should not be altered.”
“This is not just learning about a religion,” says Sloan Okrey Anderson, an assistant professor of social work at St. Catherine University who researches LGBTQ populations and Christianity. “The content is from a very specific, hyper-conservative, white American evangelical perspective, a very specific white nationalist-adjacent version of Christianity.”
Since its inception seven years ago, LifeWise has grown massively with 50,000 students projected to attend LifeWise classes across 29 states. The organization was founded in Ohio, which has at least 197 programs, and it has a disproportionate presence in the Midwest.
LifeWise’s growth in the U.S. reflects a trend of politicians and lawmakers attempting to incorporate Christianity in public schools and minimize LGBTQ representation. Last year, Oklahoma’s superintendent of public education announced all schools in the state would be required to teach students about the Bible—a decision which came shortly after Louisiana attempted to mandate that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every classroom. This is all occurring as the Supreme Court seems poised to side with Maryland parents who want to remove their kids from classes that are teaching LGBTQ-themed books.
How LifeWise Is Allowed to Operate
Since American public schools aren’t allowed to promote any one religion, LifeWise uses what’s known as Released Time Religious Instruction (RTRI), a precedent set in a 1952 Supreme Court case that allows public school students with parental consent to receive religious education off school property during the school day, although it was only meant to be used by individual families, not a nationwide organization.
RTRI prohibits public funds from being used to facilitate the program and schools from promoting it, but LifeWise gets around this by having children recruit their peers and bribing them with sweet treats. For example, LifeWise in Wauseon, Ohio, has provided children with “student business cards” to hand out to friends and has said, “If you [can] get 90 kids to come, [we’ll] give you an ice cream party.”
LifeWise Academy Wauseon, OH. Student business cards | Screenshot: Wauseon Character Academy on YouTube
Curriculum
LifeWise teaches elementary and middle school students a variety of Christian principles. But embedded in the core curriculum are more insidious, anti-LGBTQ teachings. In a sixth grade lesson plan obtained by Uncloseted Media, LifeWise teaches 11– to 12-year-olds that “God created people as ‘male and female’” and “God designed two separate, distinct genders to complement one another in relationship.”
But high school is where the curriculum really sinks its teeth into issues related to LGBTQ identities. LifeWise’s high school curriculum uses the “Foundations” series that starts with “Understanding the Times,” based on a book by the same name.
The original book was written in 2006 by Jeff Myers and David Noebel, two conservative evangelicals, and contains a plethora of harmful and untrue homophobic, transphobic and even Islamophobic teachings.
On page 324, they write, “Being raised by parents who have been involved in same-sex relationships is correlated with several negative social outcomes, including crime, substance abuse, and forced sexual encounters.”
And on page 409, they critique people who disavow heteronormative power structures: “This way of thinking continues to creep into judicial decisions, most recently … through the decision of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy to overthrow the Defense of Marriage Act because he viewed it as oppressive to people experiencing same-sex attraction.”
Okrey Anderson says that reducing LGBTQ identities down to worldviews is a distinct form of othering. “You’re granting permission to and empowering these kids to go out and see people’s identities and lived experiences as a worldview to be debated and you’re othering them. … Every scrap of misinformation that you spread about trans people translates directly into violence against trans people.”
Beyond the curriculum, LifeWise has a rulebook that gives instructors—who are not required to have teaching certifications from the Department of Education—guidance on how to answer “difficult questions from students.”
Excerpt from Lifewise’s Difficult Questions from Students document. | screenshot
The document explains that anyone who is experiencing gender dysphoria or is attracted to someone of the same sex should deny those feelings. If a child asks, “What would God think if I changed my gender?” LifeWise teachers are instructed to deny that trans, gender diverse and intersex people exist, and to explain that “God made us male or female. No matter how we feel, or how confused we are, we should trust and respect God’s perfect design and how He created us.”
If a kid asks about same-sex relationships, LifeWise instructs teachers to explain that “God designed the first man and woman to have a loving relationship with one another in marriage” and “anything different from this kind of romantic relationship between a husband and a wife is sin.”
“It’s grotesque,” says Olivia Murray, a professor at Portland State University whose research focuses on education. “From a child, youth and adolescent perspective, how does this build critical thinkers?”
Murray says social and emotional learning should teach children to “call out and question what we know and think deeper into the how and the why of knowledge.” She says a better approach might be to ask a question in return like, “What do you think of your friend who was presumed male at birth that uses female pronouns?” or “What’s your interpretation of the Bible and how might that impact your religion and relationships in the world?”
Policies and Staff
LifeWise operates with little diversity. According to its website, all of its senior leadership boast nuclear families, and three-quarters are men.
Staff are expected to remain abstinent, with the only exception being for those in heterosexual marriages.
Excerpt from LifeWise’s team member conduct policy. | screenshot
Christopher Elder was a volunteer at LifeWise’s chapter in Paulding Village, Ohio, until he was terminated shortly after he started dating his boyfriend.
“My identity in Christ, to me, looks like loving and supporting my boyfriend and everyone in the LGBTQ community,” Elder, 25, told Uncloseted Media. But when he told his director he had a boyfriend and asked if he could continue to volunteer, he was surprised by the answer. His director said, “Since the LifeWise Worldview Statement is that God’s design is for marriage to be between one man and one woman and your current choice doesn’t align with that stance, I think it’s best that you not volunteer at this time.”
Christopher Elder {right} and his boyfriend [left} | Photo courtesy of Elder
The director at LifeWise’s Paulding Village, Ohio chapter did not respond to Uncloseted Media’s request for comment.
“I thought that as long as Jason and I are abstinent, then I [could] still volunteer,” says Elder. “I’m not killing anybody, I’m not blatantly opposing the Bible, it’s just this one thing. … It’s unfair and unjust because my biggest passion is serving Christ.”
Murray says this discrimination creates an awful learning environment for teachers and students alike. “From an educator perspective, we need to teach with integrity and oftentimes that means adhering to our identity,” she says. “To teach in ways that are closeted or against our lived experiences or desires can be disingenuous and students can feel that.”
LifeWise’s repressive policies extend as far as using the bathroom. Their policy manual states that “team members and students attending LifeWise will use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender identified on their birth certificates.” If staff don’t abide, they will face disciplinary action. If students don’t follow, they’ll be outed to their parents.
“It’s always gonna be based on passing,” says Okrey Anderson. “Even cis kids who are maybe ambiguous-looking—they’re going to be targeted specifically by leadership for a conversation where they’re told ‘Hey, you need to dress more femininely’ or whatever it may be.”
LifeWise did not respond to Uncloseted Media’s request for comment.
Concerned Parents
As the program infiltrates public schools across the country, some school districts are deciding not to allow LifeWise to operate. Last year, at a Board of Education meeting in Westerville, Ohio, one mom explained to the Board why she and her wife decided not to opt their daughter into LifeWise.
“LifeWise has a clearly stated anti-LGBTQIA policy,” she said. “My daughter has explained on numerous occasions [that] she has been confronted by peers in LifeWise. She’s been asked to explain why she does not attend and pressed about if she believes in Christ, in God, in religion. … All of this seems incredibly counterproductive for a school district that otherwise is so clearly committed to diversity, equity, inclusion and student safety and wellbeing.”
But parents are pushing back beyond School Board meetings. Revere City Schools—also in Ohio—have been under pressure from Revere Citizens Against LifeWise Academy, a group fighting to keep the program out of their community.
“Public education is literally the cornerstone of our democracy and it is just one more thing that is being threatened along with book bans and teachers,” Gaines told Uncloseted Media, adding that they have upward of 14,000 group members on Facebook. “We wanted to bring awareness to that, and the more we looked into it, the more nefarious it became.”
Since 2023, Parrish and Gaines’ group has amassed a massive collection of documents and knowledge on LifeWise and its operations, most of which would likely still be kept behind closed doors if it wasn’t for their work. Their website contains resources to help parents make an informed decision about whether to opt their children in, as well as testimony from concerned parents.
Among their findings are 140 internal policy documents, information about LifeWise’s funding—which includes over $3.4 million in grants, including some from the notoriously anti-LGBTQ National Christian Foundation—and details about how LifeWise conducts background checks and trains its educators.
In one shocking discovery, they found that an Ohio teacher, who was previously fired from a public school for sexting with a student, was subsequently hired to be a local program director at LifeWise.
Their methods for obtaining this information landed Parrish a lawsuit from LifeWise last year that ended in a settlement agreement.
Despite pushback efforts, LifeWise has forged a clear path for growth. In at least 11 states, school districts are required to have a policy that greenlights programs like LifeWise, leaving communities with no mechanism to keep the Academy out.
LifeWise’s ultimate goal is for conservative Christian teachings to be embedded in public schools across America.
And in select schools, this is already happening. Starting later this year, the LifeWise chapter in Liberty Center, Ohio, will begin offering a for-credit class for high school students. If LifeWise has their way, this could spread across the country thanks to model legislation provided by the Released Time Resource Institute, a LifeWise-founded think tank that provides resources for legislators and educators.
“A lot of people from conservative backgrounds often fear the recruitment of queer and trans folks recruiting other people in, and I feel like it’s really flipped on its head here,” says Murray. “This grooming that’s occurring here … is incredibly damaging.”
Okrey Anderson agrees. “By exposing kids to this type of theology—whether that’s queer kids or not—you are potentially robbing those kids of a future spiritual life. … You could be poisoning them forever to have a meaningful relationship to deity in a way that feels safe and comfortable for them.”
This story was originally published in Uncloseted Media. For all their LGBTQ-focused journalism, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber at UnclosetedMedia.com.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the largest U.S. professional association of pediatricians (representing an estimated 67,000 members), has condemned a report opposing gender-affirming care recently released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). As such, the AAP has directed its pediatric healthcare providers to “continue to support pediatricians and the well-being of all children” by continuing to provide gender-affirming care to youth as endorsed by almost all major U.S. medical associations.
“This report misrepresents the current medical consensus and fails to reflect the realities of pediatric care,” said AAP President, Dr. Susan J. Kressly, M.D., in a statement. “AAP was not consulted in the development of this report, yet our policy and intentions behind our recommendations were cited throughout in inaccurate and misleading ways. The report prioritizes opinions over dispassionate reviews of evidence.”
“As we have seen with immunizations, bypassing medical expertise and scientific evidence has real consequences for the health of America’s children,” Kressly’s statement continued. “Patients, their families, and their physicians—not politicians or government officials —should be the ones to make decisions together about what care is best for them based on evidence-based, age-appropriate care.”
AAP’s statement was co-signed by the American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American College of Physicians, American Osteopathic Association, and American Psychiatric Association.
At the start of May, the Trump administration’s HHS released a 400-page review of trans youth healthcare that called the current best practices for gender-affirming care— endorsed by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) as well as mainstream medical organizations and professionals — “unproven.” The report was completed in just 90 days, identified none of its contributors, and underwent no peer review process before publication.
The report ignored numerous studies in which trans people expressed happiness with their transitions and instead pointed to a 1988 study of low employment and romantic partners among trans people as evidence of trans people doing “poorly” after receiving gender-affirming care. The report also pushed conversion therapy to change the gender identities of trans youth and promoted long-debunked claims that trans youth identify as such due to a mass “social contagion,” and are likely to just be gay or to return to a cisgender identity later in life.
The report also pushed claims that European countries are “pulling back” on gender-affirming care after the review of the United Kingdom’s Cass Review, a four-year-long study of trans healthcare research that excluded numerous studies showing the benefits of gender-affirming care. Despite this claim, major medical associations from France, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland have all released reports condemning the Cass Review’s findings.
The AAP has roundly criticized legislative efforts to outlaw gender-affirming care. The AAP joined five other medical organizations representing 600,000 physicians and medical students opposing Republican infringements on the patient-physician relationship, including the Trump administration’s elimination of $477 million in related research grant funding-affirming treatments, removing gender-affirming care as a covered benefit for the children of federal employees and military members, and an April 22 memo from Attorney General Pam Bondi threatening physicians with felony charges for providing certain types of gender-affirming care.
Today, Frameline announced the full lineup for the 49th San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival (Frameline49), the largest and longest-running queer film festival in the world. Taking place June 18–28, Frameline49’s 11 days of programming feature nearly 150 films from 40 countries and bring many notable premieres to the Bay Area, including 17 World Premieres, 2 International Premieres, 12 North American Premieres, and 11 US Premieres, and numerous West Coast, California, and Bay Area Premieres.
Previously, Frameline shared its Opening Night film, Sophie Hyde’s Jimpa, a multi-generational drama starring Olivia Colman, as well as its First Friday film, Sam Feder’s 2025 Frameline Completion Fund film Heightened Scrutiny, a salient documentary that centers on ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio as he argues at the Supreme Court for trans rights. As of today, Frameline has revealed the films for the Festival’s other two big nights, Pride Kickoff and Closing Night. Frameline49 will launch into Pride Weekend with a screening of internationally acclaimed artist Rashaad Newsome and filmmaker Johnny Symons’ Assembly, which combines performance art, music, dance, and film into a powerful illustration of the complexity and resilience of the Black experience. On the final day of the Festival, James Sweeney’s Twinless, a Sundance standout, will serve as the Closing Night film.
“Usually we kick these things off by talking about how ‘thrilled’ we are, and while we areexcited for our filmmakers and eager to share their incredible work with you all, those familiar expressions of enthusiasm feel insufficient right now,” said Allegra Madsen, Frameline’s Executive Director. “I want to emphasize how deeply I value the extraordinary work of our filmmakers this year — their vision and courage are truly remarkable. All of us are weathering challenges that threaten our identities, our histories, and our everyday lives. Like many of you, I’m exhausted and angry. With Frameline49, I want us to examine our past of LGBTQ+ activism and art and I want to honor the powerful stories of this moment, to remind us all that Frameline is both a celebration and a statement. We’ll still engage in difficult conversations and recognize the realities reflected in our films, but we’ll also create spaces where we can untense our shoulders and laugh together, without having to defend our existence.”
In a continuation of Frameline48’s Juneteenth celebration, the Festival will present a special screening at KQED of Daniel Junge and Sam Pollard’s I Was Born This Way, a documentary centered on icon and activist Archbishop Carl Bean, who sang the titular gay anthem and founded both the Minority AIDS Project and the world’s first LGBTQ+ church for people of color. Bolstered by beautiful rotoscope animation, the doc features appearances by Billy Porter, Lady Gaga, Dionne Warwick, and Questlove.
Other highlights include the World Premiere of Oriel Pe’er’s A Deeper Love: The Story of Miss Peppermint, an intimate documentary about trailblazing artist and activist Peppermint; a free advance screening of Netflix’s The Ultimatum: Queer Love season 2 at the newly opened Rikki’s sports bar; a free outdoor screening at PROXY of Yashaddai Owens’ Jimmy, an impressionistic imagining of James Baldwin’s (Benny O. Arthur) time in Paris; and a screening at Oasis of Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror, a documentary about the queer touchstone directed by Linus O’Brien, the son of Rocky Horror writer Richard O’Brien.
Festival films will be screened at venues like the Roxie Theater, the American Conservatory Theater’s (A.C.T.) Toni Rembe Theater, CinemaSF’s Vogue Theatre, the Herbst Theatre, Oasis, Rikki’s, KQED, PROXY, and The New Parkway Theater. While the majority of the Festival will take place in San Francisco and Oakland, Frameline’s first-ever partnership with CAFILM Pride will bring a selection of Festival films to San Rafael (June 13–15).
“More than ever before, the Festival program was curated with community in mind,” Madsen added. “Not only do we want to center stories by and for the LGBTQ+ community, but we want to create experiences and spaces that foster crucial conversations, illustrate our collective supportiveness, and allow for resilience to the hard times to coexist with having a really good time together.”
In April, Frameline revealed its Pay-It-Forward initiative, calling upon the queer community and allies to show up for trans and nonbinary film-goers by covering the cost of their tickets to the First Friday screening of Heightened Scrutiny. Building on that momentum, the organization is launching its Queer2QueerCampaign, encouraging supporters to reaffirm their commitment to making LGBTQ+ films accessible by “adopting” a screening. By helping to cover the cost of a Festival screening, these supporters will help Frameline49 bring filmmakers and their works to the Bay Area in the face of grant cuts by The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and shifting corporate priorities.
Frameline’s new Director of Partnerships & Development, Matthew Ramsey, added that, “The NEA’s decision is a setback, but it will not diminish our resolve. Now is the time for our community to rally together through our Queer2Queer Campaign. Your support will directly enable us to bring vital queer stories to the screen, ensuring our filmmakers can realize their visions. Let’s show the world the unwavering strength and solidarity of the queer community!”
In that spirit of community, Frameline will continue its long legacy of throwing some of June’s best parties. Following the screening of Heightened Scrutiny on Friday, June 20, Frameline will host its First Friday Party at Charmaine’s, the Proper Hotel’s rooftop bar, where attendees can enjoy complimentary food and drink as well as a night of great music and conversation. On Friday, June 27, the screening of Assembly will be followed by Frameline’s iconic Pride Kickoff Party at Oasis, featuring drag performances by Reparations, an all-Black drag group curated by local star Nicki Jizz.
Frameline’s annual Out in the Silence Award, which is generously underwritten by Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson, honors an outstanding film that highlights brave acts of LGBTQ+ visibility. This year’s recipient is Grace Hughes-Hallet’s The Secret of Me, which centers on Jim Ambrose, who, after learning he was born intersex, helps uncover the truth about a bogus, bigoted medical study that harmed thousands of children. In addition to playing Heightened Scrutiny, Frameline49 will showcase the other features that were awarded 2025 Frameline Completion Fund grants: Niñxs by Kani Lapuerta for its North American premiere and Only Good Things (Apenas Coisas Boas) by Daniel Nolasco for its US Premiere.
Other Festival awards, which will be presented on the final day of the festival, include Frameline’s four juried awards — Outstanding First Feature Award; Outstanding Documentary Feature; Outstanding Narrative Short; and Outstanding Documentary Short — as well as the Audience Awards for Narrative Feature and Documentary Feature.
Alongside all of the new entries into the queer cinema canon, several retro films will also screen at the Festival, including the new 4K restoration of James Bidgood’s seminal underground classic Pink Narcissus; Mike Thomas’ newly-restored, San Francisco-shot landmark of early queer cinema, The Meatrack; Frances Reid, Cathy Zheutlin, and Elizabeth Stevens’ groundbreaking doc In the Best Interests of the Children; and Valencia to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Michelle Tea’s iconic SF-set book on which the film is based. Beloved film series, including Erotic Evenings and the horror-focused Frameline Fangs, will also return.
Frameline49 will also feature its first-ever showcase dedicated to past and present Colin Higgins Youth Filmmaker grantees. Now in its third year, the program, made possible by the Colin Higgins Foundation, provides young LGBTQ+ filmmakers with the much-needed financial support to continue their work and kick off their careers. The showcase, Outside Voices: New Leaders in Queer Cinema Supported by Colin Higgins Foundation, will screen at the Roxie Theater on June 25. In addition to spotlighting 2025’s films, A Bird Hit My Window and Now I’m a Lesbian by Carmela Murphy and AJ Dubler and Barbie Boy by Remi Gabriel, Outside Voices will feature the first two films made with the support of the Colin Higgins Youth Filmmaker Grant: Daisy Friedman’s Unholy and Karina Dandashi’s Baba I’m Fine.
As in years past, short films are each part of one of nine programs curated around certain themes or genres. Frameline49’s shorts programs include: Alien Extravaganza; It’s a Family Affair; Truth Be Told: Documentary Shorts; First Impressions, Lasting Connections: Date Night Shorts; Queer Quickies: Erotic Shorts; Fun in Shorts; Saturday Morning Cartoons; Homegrown; and Scared Shortless. Additionally, all four shorts projects that were awarded 2025 Frameline Completion Fund grants will screen as part of the shorts programs. These titles include: Budget Paradise by LaTajh Simmons-Weaver; Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites (ចៅសំណព្វចិត្ត) by Chheangkea; Rainbow Girls by Nana Duffuor; and The Roaming Center for Magnetic Alternativesby Brydie O’Connor.
The weekend before Frameline49 officially opens, CAFILM will help bring some Festival films to the North Bay in an exciting first-time partnership. CAFILM Pride Presents Frameline49 Picks, which runs June 13–15, will feature Elena Oxman’s San Francisco-based Outerlands, which stars Asia Kate Dillon (Billions); Rafaela Camelo’s coming-of-age drama The Nature of Invisible Things (A Natureza das Coisas Invisíveis); Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor’s Berlinale standout Dreamers; Darren Thornton’s award-winning dramedy Four Mothers; and the groundbreaking, recently restored In the Best Interests of the Children (1977) from directors Frances Reid, Cathy Zheutlin, and Elizabeth Stevens. This San Rafael-based showcase, as well as the Festival’s added screenings in Oakland, are part of The Bay & Beyond: Frameline49 in San Rafael, Oakland & SF, Presented by Bank of America. All five CAFILM Pride films will also play in the main Festival lineup.
Transgender / Genderqueer / Nonbinary / Genderfluid / Questioning This group is for anyone that has or is questioning their gender and has found themselves identifying with the masculine side of the spectrum. If you’re worried you aren’t trans enough, don’t be, you’ve found your people. We meet on the third Wednesday of every month in Santa Rosa from 6-7:30 pm with a optional social time until 8pm.
Email us for location, questions, or accessibility needs at: soco.tmasc.moc.sup@gmail.com
Two days after the College of Cardinals gathered to elect a new pope, a decision has been made. Robert Prevost has been chosen, becoming the first American pope in history. He’s adopted the name Pope Leo XIV.
Leo’s ascension to the papacy comes after Pope Francis, a relatively progressive pope when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights, died last month.
The new pope is from Chicago and is 69. He earned an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Villanova University in Pennsylvania, then received a diploma in theology at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago.
He previously served as a Catholic missionary in South America, CNN reports. He worked in Trujillo, Peru, for about 10 years and then served as bishop of the Peruvian city of Chiclayo from 2014 until 2023.
The outlet states that many believe Leo will continue many of Francis’s reforms.
In his first speech as pope, Leo said, “We have to seek together to be a missionary church. A church that builds bridges and dialogue.”
The new pontiff also honored his predecessor.
“Let us keep in our ears the weak voice of Pope Francis that blesses Rome. The Pope who blessed Rome, gave his blessing to the entire world that morning of Easter. Allow me to follow up on that blessing. God loves us. God loves everyone. Evil will not prevail.”
While he honored Francis, there are some questions about his support of LGBTQ+ rights. Francis made several pro-LGBTQ+ reforms during his papacy. But the new pope has made some anti-LGBTQ+ statements. In 2012, at a meeting of bishops, “he lamented that Western news media and popular culture fostered ‘sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the gospel,’” The New York Times reports. He specifically mentioned the “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children.” As bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, he objected to a plan to teach about gender in schools, saying, “The promotion of gender ideology is confusing, because it seeks to create genders that don’t exist.”
However, “he has voiced compassion for the LGBTQ community,” according to the Meidas Touch Network. But “while he may foster a more welcoming environment, he has not signaled any openness to changing Church teaching on same-sex marriage or the ordination of women,” Meidas Touch reports.
LGBTQ+ advocacy group GLAAD said it looked forward to working with Leo. The group had previously met with Francis to discuss LGBTQ+ rights.
“The Roman Catholic Church stands on the threshold of a hopeful and inclusive new chapter. With Pope Leo XIV’s leadership, there is an extraordinary opportunity to inspire billions around the world and further embrace LGBTQ people with compassion, dignity, and love,” GLAAD’s CEO and president Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement provided to The Advocate. “He can build on the progress already made and help create a Church that truly reflects the universal message of acceptance and care for all. We are hopeful to collaborate with Pope Leo, just as we did with Pope Francis, to help ensure the Church continues to grow as a welcoming home for everyone.”
Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, which works for LGBTQ+ equality in the Catholic Church, released a statement saying it was “disappointing” to hear of the new pope’s 2012 anti-LGBTQ+ comment. “We pray that in the 13 years that have passed, 12 of which were under the papacy of Pope Francis, that his heart and mind have developed more progressively on LGBTQ+ issues, and we will take a wait-and-see attitude to see if that has happened,” DeBernardo added.
“We pray that as our church transitions from 12 years of an historic papacy, Pope Leo XIV will continue the welcome and outreach to LGBTQ+ people which Pope Francis inaugurated,” he continued. “The healing that began with Who am I to judge? needs to continue and grow to ‘Who am I, if not a friend to LGBTQ+ people?'”
DignityUSA, another LGBTQ+ Catholic group, issued a press release saying in part, “We note that this [2012] statement was made during the papacy of Benedict XVI, when doctrinal adherence appeared to be expected. In addition, the voices of LGBTQ people were rarely heard at that level of church leadership. We pray that Pope Leo XIV will demonstrate a willingness to listen and grow as he begins his new role as the leader of the global Church.”
Like most Americans, I love visiting old places, whether Savannah, Seattle, or Santa Fe. I love historic architecture, gardens, and sacred sites. I like nothing better than hearing music in an old church, eating at a legacy restaurant, or staying at an old Airbnb.
But until a few years ago, I didn’t see myself in the historic sites I toured—not in the grand mansions built by the robber barons in the 19th century from Newport to the Coast of California, nor even in the homes of the founding fathers, from George Washington to John Adams. Though I enjoyed visiting and learned a lot, it was as if the place had to be for fancy or rich people to be a place people cared to save.
In recent years, historic places have begun to tell more stories about the many people who lived and worked there. Those stories can help people see themselves in the place and feel that sense of belonging that is essential for our mental and emotional health and to recognize the connections between us.
The descendants of Italian immigrants see themselves in the stories told at New York’s Tenement Museum and how their experience was like that of Irish immigrants. Jewish people can see themselves in the historic Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, and hear how religious freedom was equally essential to Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians. African-Americans can see themselves in the Sixth Avenue Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, and understand how civil rights impact everyone.
Lesbian, gay, bi, transgender, and queer people can see themselves at places that now tell these stories. From Iberia, Lousiana’s Shadows-on-the-Teche, which tells the story of not only of the plantation economy, but also of Weeks Hall and the creative society of straight and queer preservationists in Louisiana. The Pauli Murray House in Durham, North Carolina, tells the story of the lawyer, writer, and Episcopalian saint, Pauli Murray, who questioned her gender. These places tell stories that are layered and complex and include everyone in the history of America.
I’m deeply grateful we tell these stories. I wish these stories had been told when I was younger, because historic places do more than just educate visitors about the past. For many Americans, they are sources of profound personal meaning. But as the Trump Administration moves to erase stories about the fight for equality and equal representation, the stakes have never been higher.
Recently, the National Park Service removed references to transgender and queer people from the website for the Stonewall National Monument. This move completely negates the instrumental role of transgender and queer people who participated in the revolt that jump-started a more activist gay rights movement. This erasure not only prevents transgender and queer people from seeing themselves in our history, and knowing that they will be part of our future, it also erases the connections and complexity for everyone who cares about the progress of the United States toward a more perfect union.
This erasure can also be a matter of life and death for young people.
When I first consciously knew I was gay, my first thought was, Oh, that’s what I am. My second, and immediate, thought was, if anyone ever finds out, I will be killed. For over a decade after that, I was closeted. From time to time, I considered suicide. The rate of suicide among LGBTQ teens is four times the national average.
I wish I had heard and known the stories of LGBTQ+ people like Pauli Murray or Weeks Hall in the places I visited back then. The stories of these places may have given me a sense of belonging, of seeing myself in the world, and in this place we call the United States of America.
The same principle applies to all of us, regardless of who we love or what we look like. That’s why we must continue to tell these stories. They represent the history of our country’s quest to form a more perfect union and ensure that we live up to the ideals on which it was founded.
The California, 528 7th St, Santa Rosa, CA 95401, USA
About the event
Join us for Forbidden Kiss LIVE – Rawhide.
Cheryl King is the mistress of this particular saloon, and she’s got a Wild West show that will have you shouting for more!
See magic from Vixen, original comic songs from Karenna Slade, song&dance from Malia Abayon and Reilly Milton, Burlesque from Thotty McNaughty, Quad Squad, Velvet Thorn and Niki Six, and comedy sketches from Cheryl King and Underground Improv.
Prizes for contest winners from Secrets Boutique.
BUY TICKETS IN ADVANCE AND SAVE $5 PER TICKET! Tickets $18 in advance. Tickets at the door $25. DOORS OPEN AT 7 PM.
ADULT MATERIAL. 18+
Our kitchen is open and serving our bar bites menu during Left Edge Friday night shows, Happy Hours and most evening concert shows from the time doors open until end of intermission.
