While every city’s neighborhoods change, few have experienced such thorough erasure from collective memory as San Francisco’s original gayborhoods. The gender-nonconforming stage acts of the Barbary Coast made North Beach home to some of the city’s earliest queer spaces. The Tenderloin was ground zero for the Gay Liberation Front and remains a hub for trans activism and culture. Polk Street hosted the discos of Sylvester, the drunken tales of Tennessee Williams, and more than a hundred queer-owned bookstores, clothing shops, bathhouses, and bars.
So why do we only talk about The Castro?
Join Unspeakable Vice’s Shawn Sprocket in conversation with Dr. Nan Alamilla Boyd, Marga Gomez, and Carolina Osoria as they discuss these often forgotten histories—and consider the reasons that have caused them to fade from public memory.
This program is part of Speaking Of, a new quarterly series from the GLBT Historical Society and Unspeakable Vice Walking Tours, bringing historians, researchers, and the community together to explore today’s questions through the lens of the past.
After two years of living with tuberculosis (TB), 38-year-old Selina Kimuto’s condition is worse than ever. A single mother living in Kibera—Nairobi’s biggest slum—Kimuto had been receiving medication to treat her infection. But in June, her hospital told her that they wouldn’t be able to give her any more until October, due to severe shortages caused by the sudden pull-out of U.S. foreign aid.
Since then, Kimuto’s condition has rapidly deteriorated.
Photo by Brian Otieno Storitellah for Uncloseted Media.
“I’ve really tried, but I can’t do it alone, to wash even my own clothes by myself,” Kimuto told Uncloseted Media. “Even the housework, I’m not doing it by myself. Sometimes I have to call my neighbors to come and help me.”
Kimuto’s medication had been funded in part by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the U.S. foreign aid program that has been a leading force in the global fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic since it was launched by President George W. Bush in 2003.
But on day one of President Donald Trump’s second term, the program was hit with a stop-work order and a complete funding freeze on all foreign aid. While limited services have been restored, the State Department is reportedlydrafting a plan to shut down the program in its entirety, with some countries getting as little as two years’ notice before a complete withdrawal of services.
In June, Uncloseted Media reported that a cessation of PEPFAR funding could cause as many as 3 million preventable HIV/AIDS related deaths and 11 million new infections. But the impacts cut much deeper, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and other heavily impacted countries like Haiti and Ukraine.
In Kenya, HIV funding from the U.S. in fiscal year 2024 totaled $307.9 million, equivalent to almost a third of the country’s entire domestic health spending that year. In addition to HIV/AIDS, that money supports TB treatment, women’s and children’s health care, and even the electronic record-keeping for health systems as a whole.
“Health care is dependent on that aspect of the foreign aid to be able to function,” says Dr. Davji Atellah, secretary general of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union. “A big population is affected, and it means that living conditions must change.”
The Impact on Tuberculosis
Like in many other countries, Kenya’s HIV care is integrated with care for TB because it is a very common infection for people whose immune systems have been weakened by AIDS. PEPFAR funding frequently supported efforts against both epidemics.
Over 23,000 Kenyans are estimated to have died of TB in 2023, with 124,000 cases overall. Dr. Atellah says that there has been a lot of fear in Kimuto’s neighborhood, where TB is particularly prevalent and medications are becoming harder to access.
TB can weaken the lungs, leading to chest pain, weight loss, fever and hemoptysis, or the coughing up of blood. When left untreated, it can be deadly.
Photo by Brian Otieno Storitellah for Uncloseted Media.
Since losing access to the TB medication Rifampicin, Kimuto—who also lives with HIV—now vomits frequently and has been too weak to do her usual work of selling vegetables and cleaning clothes, leaving her short on money, food and rent.
Photo by Brian Otieno Storitellah for Uncloseted Media.
“They told me in the hospital that they were under a shortage of the medicines,” she says. “They were telling us that the drugs were coming from outside the country, so it stopped.”
Anisha Parambi, an OB-GYN at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, says that Kimuto’s situation is common and that patients who previously could pick up their medication once a month now need to come twice as often as the hospital has been forced to ration supplies.
“Often they’re able to see less patients than they used to see because they don’t have the staff or resources,” Parambi told Uncloseted Media.
Women and Kids in the Crossfire
In addition to TB care, the Trump administration’s cuts are especially affecting women and children. PEPFAR previously supplied 24% of Kenya’s contraceptives, with its disappearance leaving a void which has led to shortages and heightened risks of unintended pregnancies. While some women’s health services, such as cervical cancer screenings, were reauthorized in February, local NGOs have reported that even these services have experienced disruptions and lack of funds.
In 2024, PEPFAR provided care to over 1.3 million survivors of gender-based violence, including rape kits, STI testing and PrEP. Multiple Kenyan sources told Uncloseted Media that these and other social programs had been disrupted since the start of Trump’s second term.
Photo by Brian Otieno Storitellah for Uncloseted Media.
Last year in Kenya, 127 femicides were reported, the most since the country started recording in 2016. The problem has only gotten worse now that gender-based violence programs are closing down: Kenya’s National Police Service reported that 129 women were killed from January to March of this year.
David Oduor knows this better than most. He says his mother suffered abuse and was treated “like an animal,” “beat” and “insulted.” He says the stress caused his mother to suffer from strokes, blood clots and heart failure. She ultimately passed away from complications with the conditions.
He now runs Joy Hope, an orphanage in Kibera, where he says that 90% of the kids he sees live with single moms due to gender-based violence. His organizations have worked to provide counseling for survivors and hold discussions to spread awareness in the community, and he says that the disappearance of aid organizations has made the weight they carry heavier.
Photo by Brian Otieno Storitellah for Uncloseted Media.
At the end of 2024, PEPFAR estimated that they were supporting nutritional, educational and psychosocial services for 6.6 million orphans, vulnerable children and their caregivers in 55 countries
Photo by Brian Otieno Storitellah for Uncloseted Media.
“These children are innocent, so we are just chipping in to help them,” Oduor told Uncloseted Media. “It is really really difficult, and it’s a burden, and we need some people to stand with us.”
The Kenyan government has had its own plan since 2023 to tackle what it calls the “triple threat”: adolescent STI infections, teen pregnancy, and sexual and gender-based violence. While the program had seen some success through providing education and community events for teenagers, one epidemiologist who spoke with Uncloseted Media says that the sudden loss of PEPFAR funding has made it challenging to market itself.
“You can’t bring teenagers together and not have something fun for them—they won’t turn up,” he says. “You have to have a bit of entertainment, or some refreshments, or some skit they can listen to, videos they can watch. All these have been hampered … so we are having challenges with bringing these teenagers together in a forum where … you can actually educate them on how to avert gender-based violence.”
In addition to medication, PEPFAR funding is estimated to have supported and trained 342,000 health workers as of 2024. But the cuts have had devastating effects on employment. In Kenya, roughly 54,000 people lost their jobs just over a month into Trump’s second term due to the U.S. foreign aid freeze.
“In a population of 56 million, when over 50,000 jobs are being lost, then there is a serious problem in terms of the population’s access to health care,” says Dr. Atellah, whose union has been scrambling to get laid-off workers new jobs. “Those who remain in services will be extremely overwhelmed, and therefore there is a need to ensure that there are alternative plans.”
One Kenyan epidemiologist, who specializes in treating especially difficult cases of HIV/AIDS, told Uncloseted Media that he’s been unable to find employment for months after being fired by a health care NGO. He says it’s because the Kenyan government rarely hires specialists, instead focusing on primary care doctors.
“You have to contend with just working as a general doctor, of which the government does not have enough slots for you,” he says. “So you work part-time in a few private health care facilities just to try as much as possible to bring food to the table.”
He says that because HIV and TB specialists like him are getting fired, patients with these conditions are being sent to general providers who aren’t trained to deal with these viruses.
He says this has caused intense disarray: Patients are being prescribed the wrong regimens; difficult and resistant cases are going unnoticed; people are falling out of care; and higher viral loads are contributing to more deaths.
“There’s no individualized care anymore, so the patients are running away from care, and some of them, if they stop taking their medication, they get sick at home,” he says.
The epidemiologist adds that it’s hard to know the scale of the epidemics because shortages and service reductions have limited the number of people who can get tested, often excluding the worst cases and thus skewing the data.
In addition, PEPFAR programs typically use their own information systems to manage health care data. But because these record-keeping systems are managed by the U.S., disruptions to PEPFAR are causing countries to lose access.
That happened in Kenya in March, when government officials reported that they had lost access to several health information systems, including those that track the spread of infectious diseases, vaccine stocks and even patients’ electronic health records. While the cloud storage for the systems has been restored, funding cuts have made it unreliable, with some facilities resorting to using paper documents.
Without good record keeping, “You’re blindly treating the patient, you don’t know the challenges, you’re starting from afresh,” says the epidemiologist. “The quality of care you’re going to offer the client is going to be heavily affected.”
Dr. Atellah says the Kenyan government may have to start developing a new system—a very real risk given that the State Department plans to defund billions of dollars in electronic record keeping despite the fact that, by their own admission, these systems “are in nearly every case unlikely to be financially sustained by the country government.”
Dr. Atellah says that the Trump administration’s removal of aid is disastrous for Kenya. He adds that Kenya’s dependency on the U.S. is so intense and the country’s government has been relatively slow and ineffective in their response, which exposes the flaws and corruption in their health system as a whole.
He says the Kenyan government should put more support into public health, PEPFAR or not, noting that the pilferage of public funds is one reason this isn’t happening.
“The Trump administration has said ‘America first,’ and therefore the time has come for the [Kenyan] government to put Kenya first,” says Dr. Atellah. “And there’s no possibility to do that if the access to health care for the over 2 million [people] living with HIV and over 100,000 people living with TB are not covered.”
Despite this, Dr. Atellah and the experts who spoke with Uncloseted Media agree that the Trump administration’s sudden and rapid cessation of aid is not a solution. In April, a group of 18 global public health experts published a policy proposaladvocating for a five-year plan to transition the leadership on the fight against HIV from the U.S. to the most impacted countries’ governments. But according to the State Department’s plans, PEPFAR would end in most countries in two to four years.
Photo by Brian Otieno Storitellah for Uncloseted Media.
The sudden cuts continue to be felt by Selina Kimuto in the Kibera Slums, whose condition is deteriorating because she can no longer access the appropriate amount of medication that can help her manage her TB, leaving her unemployed and struggling financially, physically and emotionally.
“The place that I stay right now, I’m really struggling to pay my rentals—when I get it, I try to at least pay it, but most of the time I don’t get it, so all I’m asking for is for you to help 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:
Under the Trump administration, the EEOC has abandoned trans workers, says the suit, in which FreeState Justice is represented by Democracy Forward and the National Women’s Law Center. It was filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland and names the EEOC and Acting Chair Andrea Lucas as defendants.
The EEOC, established in 1965 by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, is tasked with investigating all forms of workplace bias. Filing a discrimination complaint with the EEOC is a precondition to filing a federal employment discrimination lawsuit. “The EEOC, in turn, serves those charges on the employers, investigates the charges, resolves matters through conciliation or settlement where possible, and, in some circumstances, files lawsuits in federal court to vindicate the charging parties and advance the public interest,” the suit notes.
“But the EEOC has now abdicated this core duty,” it continues. “In derogation of its statutory and constitutional obligations, the EEOC has foreclosed transgenderworkers from the full set of Title VII-mandated charge-investigation and other enforcement protections that all other charging parties enjoy.” The suit calls current EEOC policy a “Trans Exclusion Policy.”
Soon after Donald Trump became president, the EEOC moved to dismiss the employment discrimination complaints it had brought on behalf of trans people, according to the suit. “The cases that the EEOC sought to abandon concerned transgender workers who had been subjected to egregious conditions in the workplace: slurs and grossly derogatory statements, graphic sexual comments and unwanted physical touching, misgendering, unfavorable shift changes, and termination after disclosing their gender identity — often in combination,” the complaint says.
In April, the commission “directed that all charges of gender-identity discrimination be categorically classified as meritless and suitable for dismissal,” it goes on. Now it claims “to accept for processing only certain kinds of charges brought by transgender charging parties—standalone hiring, firing, and promotion claims — but no others,” the suit says.
The EEOC has interpreted Title VII’s ban on sex discrimination as encompassing gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination since at least 2011, the complaint says. The U.S. Supreme Court interpreted Title VII that way in Bostock v. Clayton County in 2020. “In other words, Bostock cemented protections for LGBTQ+ workers that the EEOC had already recognized for years,” the suit notes. But now, in keeping with the Trump administration’s denial that trans people exist, Lucas is ignoring gender identity discrimination, the document continues.
Before the EEOC became anti-trans under the Trump administration, Freestate Justice “typically advised clients wishing to file employment-discrimination charges to file with the EEOC rather than the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights,” the suit says, as “the EEOC provides charging parties with more information and engages in more resolutions of matters” than the state body. Now FreeState Justice refers clients to the Maryland commission, whose “charge-investigation process is not an equal substitute for the EEOC’s,” according to the complaint.
The Maryland commission has a broader mission than the EEOC — it investigates charges of discrimination in housing, public accommodations, and other area, not just employment — and it may soon stop investigating gender identity discrimination because the EEOC will not reimburse it for this work.
The EEOC’s “Trans Exclusion Policy” violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the equal protection guarantee of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and the Administrative Procedure Act, the suit alleges. It asks for the court to order the EEOC to end this policy and award FreeState Justice costs, attorneys’ fees, and other appropriate compensation.
“Policies like the EEOC’s undermine the law and endanger people. They force LGBTQI+ people and other marginalized communities to choose between their job and being true to who they are,” Lauren Pruitt, legal Director at FreeState Justice, said in a press release. “These harms show up in the daily lives of the communities we serve through our legal work, who are being pushed further into the margins. We are fighting back because no one should have to live in fear of discrimination or retribution just to go to work.”
“For over 60 years, the EEOC’s mandate has been to protect workers from discrimination, not to pick and choose who is deemed worthy of protection based on political interference,” added Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward. “The Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful effort to erase protections for transgender people is cruel, and a violation of the law and the Constitution. We are honored to be alongside our partners and clients to hold this administration accountable and ensure every worker is protected under the law.”
“Instead of serving its critical role to prevent discrimination in the workplace, the EEOC, under Andrea Lucas’ leadership, is actually promoting discrimination,” said Gaylynn Burroughs, vice president for education and workplace justice at the National Women’s Law Center. “Transgender workers deserve to be protected against harassment, and the EEOC is obligated to do so under law. But the Trump administration seems hellbent on bullying transgender people in every possible way and ensuring that they are pushed out of all forms of public life, including their workplaces, so we’re taking the administration to court.”
Cheryl King hosts this talent-packed show, featuring magic from Vixen, the Forbidden Magician, burlesque from Thotty McNaughty and Velvet Thorn, artist Laidbackzach (LBZ). Also featuring singer/songwriters Karenna Slade and Faethora, and Underground Improv.
Prizes will be awarded for different costume categories – Fuzzy, Sexy, Weird, Sloppy, Anime and more!
PURCHASE IN ADVANCE AND SAVE!. Advance tickets $18, Tickets at the door $25.
This event’s address is private. Sign up for more details.
About this event
In Summer 2025, it’s time to Turn up the Heat. Trump and his billionaire buds continue to push the limits of the presidency, and people are pissed and terrified. Whether it’s about slashing Medicaid for 9 million people or kidnapping our immigrant neighbors, it’s clear that the far right is escalating their racist, billionaire agenda.
Have you ever gone to a protest or an action because you were pissed off, scared or wanting a way to get things off your chest? It can feel empowering and connecting to show up and take action, especially for the first time. But what comes after that? Join SURJ for a community meeting to get grounded together, get clear on our analysis of how we got here – and then get organized for the work ahead.
Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) is the largest organization in the US that explicitly organizes white communities for racial and economic justice– because white people have a responsibility to step up and make sure our communities take a stand.
Accessibility
Mainly flat ground
Wheelchair ramp
Wide doorways and walkways
Dedicated seating
Have accessibility questions? Reply to your registration email to confirm your requirements or request more information.
For more than four years, theFoundation for California Community Collegeshas partnered with Crisis Text Line to help spread mental health awareness and to support students in their time of need. Crisis Text Line is a nonprofit organization that provides free, 24/7, confidential text-based mental health support in both English and Spanish. Anyone—students, faculty, and staff— seeking support can text COURAGE to 741741 to reach a live, volunteer Crisis Counselor.
Crisis Text Line data shows that school-related stress or anxiety is quite common, as 30% of texters (among the ages 18 through 24) discussed this issue. When discussing school-related stress, texters talked specifically about financial stress, having to find a job, failing, as well as specific mental health diagnoses. Every year, these conversations surge when school is in session.
“Partnering with Crisis Text Line has been a vital step in advancing our mission to provide equitable and holistic support for California Community College students, including 24/7 mental health care,” said Iris Aguilar, Vice President of Equity and Community Impact at the Foundation for California Community Colleges. “In just the past academic year, Crisis Text Line supported over 700 students through more than 1,100 conversations and safely de-escalated 13 serious mental health crises. This year alone accounts for nearly 17 percent of all crisis de-escalations since 2018, with 67 percent being first-time texters, underscoring the growing demand for timely, confidential support. That’s why this partnership matters: it ensures students don’t face mental health challenges alone. We are meeting them where they are, when they need us most.”
Since launching the partnership in July 2021, Crisis Text Line has handled more than 16,000 conversations with members of the California Community Colleges community. Nearly half of the conversations (46%) were about anxiety and stress, and one-third of the conversations (33%) mentioned depression or sadness.
More than half of our conversations (59%) were with students aged 18-24, while about a fifth (19%) were with students aged 25-34. These numbers reflect a growing demand for accessible, 24/7 mental health care, especially around issues like anxiety, academic stress, and isolation.
“Crisis Text Line is ready to support students with whatever the semester brings,” said Jana French, Community Partnerships Director at Crisis Text Line. “We’ve trained more than 85,000 volunteer Crisis Counselors—many of them college students themselves—who bring texters from a hot moment to a cool calm through empathy, active listening, and by empowering each texter to use their own strengths and coping strategies.”
Crisis Text Line’s text-based service supports people of all ages but was specifically created for young people, allowing for on-demand support through text message – a medium most people use and trust. The nonprofit organization uses a triage algorithm to identify texters at high risk of imminent harm. It moves them to the front of the queue, just like a mental health emergency room.
Those seeking free, 24/7 confidential mental health support through Crisis Text Line can connect via text, web chat and WhatsApp in English and Spanish. To reach a live, trained volunteer Crisis Counselor, text COURAGE to 741741, or 443-SUPPORT in WhatsApp, or to 442-AYUDAME in WhatsApp for Spanish, or connect with us via web chat.
About the Foundation for California Community Colleges
The Foundation for California Community Colleges works to benefit students, colleges, and communities by accelerating paths to economic and social mobility, strengthening communities, and reducing barriers to opportunities for all Californians. FoundationCCC is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization founded in 1998. It serves as the official statewide nonprofit organization supporting the California Community Colleges, the largest system of higher education in the nation. For more information, visit www.foundationccc.org.
About Crisis Text Line
Crisis Text Line is a leading nonprofit organization that provides free, 24/7, confidential text-based mental health support in English and Spanish. Since its launch in 2013, we have supported over 11 million conversations in the United States and more than 15 million globally together with our affiliates in Canada, the UK and Ireland. Crisis Text Line’s more than 85,000 live, trained volunteer Crisis Counselors bring texters from a hot moment to a cool calm through nonjudgmental support and empowers each texter to use their own strengths and coping strategies. We are committed to creating an empathetic world where nobody feels alone. Individuals seeking confidential support can connect with us via text, web chat and WhatsApp. To be connected to a live, trained nonjudgmental volunteer Crisis Counselor, text HELLO or HOLA to 741741 or 443-SUPPORT in WhatsApp or text HOLA to 741741 or 442-AYUDAME in WhatsApp for Spanish or connect with us viaweb chat.Visit Crisis Text Line onInstagram,Twitter andFacebook.Additional information, including how to become a volunteer or how to support Crisis Text Line through donations or partnerships, is available atwww.crisistextline.org.
Earlier this year, 16-year-old AB Hernandez became the target of nationwide hate and harassment when the president of a local school board publicly doxxed the track and field athlete and outed her as transgender. Right-wing activists misgendered her and called her mom “evil;” swarms of adults showed up to heckle her at games; Charlie Kirk pushed state governor Gavin Newsom to condemn her; and President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from California over her participation.
While transgender athletes are very rare, this type of harassment towards them is playing out across the country and internationally. A trans girl was harassedat a soccer game in Bow, New Hampshire, by adult protestors wearing XX/XY armbands, representing an anti-trans sports clothing brand. And in British Columbia, a 9-year-old cis girl was accosted by a grown man who accused her of being trans and demanded that she prove her sex to him.
While research into the relative athletic capabilities of trans and cis women is ongoing, far-right groups, including the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Leadership Institute, have been putting hate before science to turn the public against trans athletes since at least 2014. And it’s working.
Laws, rules or regulations currently ban trans athletes from competing in sports consistent with their gender identity in 29 states, with 21 beginning the ban in kindergarten. The majority-conservative Supreme Court announcedthis month that it’ll be taking on the question of the constitutionality of the bans. Meanwhile, the federal government is pressuringstates without bans to change their policies in compliance with a Trump executive order that attempts to institute a nationwide ban.
Trump signs an executive order calling for bans on trans women and girls from women’s sports. Photo by: The White House.
These bans have been successful in part because of a toxic and ruthless ecosystem of far-right influencers, like Riley Gaines, who have formed entire careers around attacking trans athletes by prioritizing hate and misinformation.
“So much of what we see … just seems like it’s wrapped up in really hateful and negative messages that aren’t good for anyone,” says Mary Fry, a professor of sport and exercise psychology at the University of Kansas. “We’re creating issues where maybe we don’t need to.”
Harassment and Mental Health
Grace McKenzie has been deeply affected by these hate campaigns. A lifelong athlete, McKenzie has stayed healthy by playing multiple sports where she’s met “amazing people.” Shortly after she transitioned in 2018, she was thrilled when she was invited to join a women’s rugby team at the afterparty of a Lesbians Who Tech conference.
Grace McKenzie. Photo courtesy of McKenzie.
“Rugby became my home, it was my first queer community, it was the space where I really discovered my own womanhood,” McKenzie told Uncloseted Media. “I could be the sometimes-masculine, soft-feminine person who play[s] rugby and loves sports.”
But that started to change in 2019, when McKenzie and others on her team started to hear rumors that World Rugby was considering a ban on trans athletes. Fearing the loss of her community, she started a petition that racked up 25,000 signatures—but it wasn’t enough, and the ban took effect in 2020.
As anti-trans rhetoric in sports has ramped up, McKenzie says she’s had soul-crushing breakdowns that have left her “sobbing uncontrollably and unconsolably.”
“It would be these waves of such intense despair and rage—it was like going through grief for five years,” she says. “I have to wake up every single day and read about another state or another group of people who say that they don’t want me to exist.”
While McKenzie says she’s found the strength to keep playing where she can, sports psychologist Erin Ayala has seen clients leave sports altogether due to the hate toward trans athletes.
“It can be really difficult when they feel like they’re doing everything right … and they still don’t belong,” says Ayala, the founder of the Minnesota-based Skadi Sport Psychology, a therapy clinic for competitive athletes. “Depression can be really high. They don’t have the strength to keep fighting to show up. And then that can further damage their mental health because they’re not getting the exercise and that sense of social support and community.”
That was the story of Andraya Yearwood, who made national headlines in high school when she and another trans girl placed first and second in Connecticut’s high school track competitions. The vitriol directed at her was intense: Parents circulated petitions to have her banned; crowds cheered for her disqualification; the anti-LGBTQ hate group Alliance Defending Freedom launched a lawsuit against the state for letting her play; and she faced a torrent of transphobic and racist harassment.
“It’s a very shitty experience,” Yearwood, now 23, told Uncloseted Media.
Fearing more harassment, she quit running in college.
“I understood that collegiate athletics is on a much larger and much more visible scale. … I just didn’t want to go through all that again for the next four years,” she says. “Track obviously meant a lot to me, and to have to let that go was difficult.”
It’s understandable that Yearwood and other trans athletes struggle when they have to ditch their favorite sport. A litany of research demonstrates that playing sports fosters camaraderie and teamwork and improves mental and physical health. Since trans people disproportionately struggle from poor mental health, social isolation and suicidality, these benefits can be especially crucial.
“In some of these cases, kids have been participating with a peer group for years, and then rules were made and all of a sudden they’re pulled away,” says Fry. “It’s a hard world to be a trans individual in, so it’d be easy to feel lonely and separated.”
Caught in the Crossfire
The anti-trans attacks in sports are also affecting cis women. Ayala, a competitive cyclist, remembers one race where she and her trans friend both made the podium. When photos of the event were posted on Facebook, people accused her of being trans, and she was added to a “list of males who have competed in female sports” maintained by Save Women’s Sports.
Ayala isn’t alone. Numerous cis female athletes have been “transvestigated,” or accused of being trans, including Serena Williams and Brittney Griner. During the 2024 Paris Olympics, Donald Trump and Elon Musk publicly accused Algerian boxer Imane Khelif of being trans after her gold medal win, as part of a wave of online hate against her. She would later file a cyberbullying complaint against Musk’s X.
While women of all races have been targeted, Black women have faced harsher scrutiny due to stereotypes that portray them as more masculine.
Yearwood remembers posts that would fixate on her muscle definition and compare her to LeBron James.
“I think that is attributed to the overall hyper-masculinization and de-feminization of Black women, and I know that’s a lot more prevalent for Black trans women,” she says. “It made it easier to come for us in the way that they did.”
Joanna Harper, a post-doctoral scholar at Oregon Health & Science University and one of the world’s leading researchers on the subject, says that the jury is still out on whether the differences in athletic performance between trans and cis women are significant enough to warrant policy changes.
“People want simple solutions, they want things to be black and white, they want good guys and bad guys,” Harper says, adding that the loudest voices against trans women’s participation do not actually care about what the science says.
“This idea that trans women are bigger than cis women, therefore it can’t be fair, is a very simple idea, and so it is definitely one that people who want to create trans people as villains have pushed.”
Even Harper herself has been the victim of the far-right’s anti-trans attacks. Earlier this year, she was featured in a New York Times article where she discussed a study she was working on with funding from Nike into the effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on adolescents’ athletic performance.
Riley Gaines and OutKick founder Clay Travis attack Harper’s study on X.
“That Nike chose to fund a study on trans athletes doesn’t actually say that they’re supporting trans athletes. They’re merely supporting research looking into the capabilities of trans athletes,” Harper says. “You don’t know what the research will show until you get the data … but the haters don’t want any data coming out that doesn’t support what they want to say.”
Harper says this anti-trans fervor and HRT bans are making it more difficult to conduct studies in the first place.
And while the far-right argues that they are “protecting women’s sports” in their war on trans athletes, multiple athletes and experts told Uncloseted Media that this distracts from bigger issues in women’s sports, including sexualharassment by coaches and a lack of funding.
“If the real goal was to help women’s sports, they would try to increase funding [and] support for athletes,” says Harper, noting that women’s sports receive half as much money as men’s sports at the Division I collegiate level. “But that’s not what they’re doing, and it becomes pretty evident the real motivation behind these people.”
Since Trump’s reelection, Grace McKenzie has somewhat resigned herself to the likelihood of attacks on trans people getting worse. Despite this, she finds hope in building community with other trans athletes, such as the New York City-based trans basketball league Basketdolls.
“If that’s the legacy that [the anti-trans movement] wants to leave behind, good for them,” McKenzie says. “Our legacy is going to be one about hope, and collective solidarity, and mutual aid, and I would much rather be on that side of the fence.”
Meanwhile, Fry remains hopeful that conflicts can be resolved and that trans people may be able to find a place in sports over time.
“If we could all have more positive conversations and not create such a hateful environment around this issue, it would just benefit everyone.”
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:
A week before the league begins, we are hosting an informational and sign-up night. On Tuesday, August 26th, at 6:30 pm, anyone interested in the league, seeking more information, or ready to sign up is invited. We will assist people with the sign-up process and answer any questions. Additionally, we will discuss the rules and accept nominations for league officer positions. The official league positions are:
President
Vice President
Secretary
Sergeant at Arms
Social Media Coordinator
Games Coordinator
We will officially vote on the new positions on the first night of bowling on September 2, 2025.
If you have a team of four, only one person should attend to provide input on the rules we discuss. All four team members are welcome.
If you need to find a team or are a team that needs a player, this sign-up event is perfect for connecting with new people.
Location:
Bowlero/Double Decker Lanes
300 Golf Course Drive, Rohnert Park
***In the bar area***
League Details
The league officially starts on Tuesday, September 2nd at 6:30 pm. We ask that people arrive at the bowling alley by 6:15 pm so we can vote on the league officials and the rules. League details are below:
Bowling Details
• Inclusive & Welcoming Weekly Space • 16-week Season • $25/Week
• $25 Sanction fee – one time and covers this season and the winter season
• Week 16 Fun Tournament • Each team is guaranteed to win money at the end of the season!
Each week, Shelly will have team envelopes at the bowling alley. Please ensure you put your money ($25 per person, $100 per team) into the envelope and give it to Shelly by the end of your first game each week. The total cost of the league is $376 per person plus $25 for sanctioning cards. You can pay with cash or check (checks made payable to Bowlero). Please try to bring cash, as the ATM at the alley can be temperamental. International Gay Bowling Organization (IGBO)
Each bowler in the Sonoma County Pride Bowling League automatically becomes a member of the International Gay Bowling Organization. This membership allows bowlers to earn awards for their achievements and compete in LGBTQA+ tournaments across the US, including those in San Francisco, San Jose, and Sonoma County (summer 2026). Your IGBO membership is paid through games played during our league nights. For more information about IGBO, visit https://www.igbo.org/.Side Pot Games
During our bowling nights, we offer two extra games you can join. These weekly games are organized by two of our bowlers (THANK YOU Jean and John). The games and their costs are:
Poker – It costs $5 a week, and it counts for all three games. For each strike you bowl, you receive 2 cards. For each spare, you receive 1 card. At the end of each game, you use the cards to make your best 5-card poker hand. If you’re unfamiliar with how to play poker, don’t worry, we’ll help you. The winner of each poker game typically wins between $20 and $35 per hand. Part of the proceeds from each week’s games go toward paying for IGBO memberships for bowlers.
Brackets – In brackets, you are randomly paired against another bowler, and at the end of each game, your score (including handicap) is recorded. The winner of the first game advances to the second round. The winners of the second games are guaranteed money and move on to the third round. If you win the final bracket, the bowler usually receives between $20 and $25. You can participate in multiple brackets, and each bracket costs $5.
Both poker and brackets are voluntary weekly games. You can participate every week or just occasionally. They are both enjoyable ways to socialize and have the chance to win some extra money each week.
Brunch Bowling Details – DATE UPDATE
Our third and final pop-up event of the summer is being pushed back one week. Our August event is now going to be Sunday, August 10th
, at 11:00 am
. Details below. Please let us know as soon as possible if you will be attending, so we can ensure there is enough space for everyone.Who is the event for?
The event is open to anyone. You can be a current Pride League bowler, a previous Pride League bowler, interested in joining the Pride League in September, someone looking to make new friends, or someone who wants to have fun in an LGBTQA+ dominated space. There is no experience needed and it is just a fun pop-up event. Cost of the event?
The cost for the event is $20 per person, which includes 3 games of bowling. Bowlero is covering the cost of your shoe rentals, so you don’t have to worry about that extra expense. Consider bringing some extra cash ($5-$10) because we may have a couple of additional fun side things (like poker).
***No food or beverages are included, but available for purchase***Location?
Bowlero/Double Decker Lanes
300 Golf Course Drive, Rohnert ParkWhat to expect?
Each lane will have up to 4 bowlers. You can be part of a group you come with or we can help match you with some fun folks. The goal is for people to have a fun time and enjoy brunch bowling together. Sign-Up
To sign up, please respond to this email with your name and the number of people attending with you. This will help ensure we have enough lanes reserved. Bowlero is opening a little early for us on pop-up Sundays to make sure we have space. Please feel free to share this email and this event with others you think would enjoy it.
We look forward to seeing everyone in just a couple of weeks.
The Department of Homeland Security will update visa policies to prevent transgender women from traveling to the U.S. to participate in elite women’s sporting events.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued guidance Monday intended to bar trans women athletes from obtaining “extraordinary ability” visas to compete in female sports, as was first reported by the conservative news website The Daily Wire. The guidance builds off of an executive order President Doanld Trump issued during the early weeks of his presidency that intended to bar trans women from competing in female sports.
The guidance doesn’t use the word transgender or refer to trans women, but rather refers to “male athletes” who seek to compete in women’s sports.
Matthew Tragesser, a spokesperson for USCIS, said in a statement that the agency is “closing the loophole for foreign male athletes whose only chance at winning elite sports is to change their gender identity and leverage their biological advantages against women.”
“It’s a matter of safety, fairness, respect, and truth that only female athletes receive a visa to come to the U.S. to participate in women’s sports,” Tragesser said in the statement. “The Trump Administration is standing up for the silent majority who’ve long been victims of leftist policies that defy common sense.”
The policy update applies to three visa categories for individuals who possess “extraordinary ability” in science, art, education, business or athletics. It also affects national interest waivers, which allow applicants to self-petition to waive the labor certification for a green card if they can show that their work serves the national interest.
The updated guidance clarifies that USCIS “considers the fact that a male athlete has been competing against women as a negative factor” in determining whether they are among the top in the sport.
The guidance adds that it is not in the national interest of the U.S. to waive the labor certification requirement for trans women athletes “whose proposed endeavor is to compete in women’s sports.”
USCIS did not respond to a request for comment regarding how many people could be affected by the new policy or whether there are recent examples of trans female athletes traveling to the U.S. under the affected visa categories.
Within the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the nonprofit group that regulates college athletics, about 25,000 international student athletes compete in NCAA sports out of the more than 500,000 total who compete each year, according to the association. While it’s unclear how many NCAA athletes are trans, the association’s president, Charlie Baker, told a Senate committee in December that he is aware of fewer than 10.
The USCIS policy update may have affected athletes who planned to travel to Los Angeles for the 2028 Summer Olympics; however, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee barred trans women from competing in female sports last month.
Only a handful of trans athletes have ever competed in the Olympics. Weightlifter Laurel Hubbard became the first out trans athlete to compete in the Olympics in the Tokyo Games in 2021, though she did not medal. American skateboarder Alana Smith and Canadian soccer star Quinn also competed in the Tokyo Games, and Quinn became the first nonbinary and trans athlete to ever medal when their team won gold that year.
Bowling Details