Oak Lawn United Methodist Church in Dallas received formal approval from the city’s Landmark Commission last week after officials, members, and volunteers painted the Late Gothic Revival building’s staircase the colors of the rainbow in October.
The building has local landmark status, and it’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The dramatic gesture reimagining the church steps was executed as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) carried out the Trump administration’s order to tear up rainbow crosswalks across the state, including one in front of the church’s historic building, home to a large and welcoming Methodist congregation.
Church officials and members at Oak Lawn called painting the stairs an act of faith.
“Silence in the face of harm always sides with the oppressor,” Oak Lawn Senior Pastor Rachel Griffin-Allison said at the time.
“Painting our steps in the colors of the rainbow is a visible witness to the gospel we preach: that every person is created in the image of God and worthy of safety, dignity, and belonging,” she said.
At a packed meeting last Monday, members of the Landmark Commission agreed, granting a three-year approval to the “temporary art installation.”
All of the speakers at the public forum spoke in favor of keeping the rainbow steps.
“This is religious expression,” said former Landmark Commissioner Cindy Steiner.
One speaker after another used the word “safe” to describe how the rainbow steps to the church made them feel, including at least one straight congregant, the Dallas Voice reports. They asked the commission to “respect the wishes of the congregation.”
A gay congregant from Denton, north of Dallas, said he was speaking because he was shunned at his former church after he came out. He knew he was welcome at Oak Lawn.
“Keeping the rainbow steps is Christlike,” he said.
The church’s petition originally requested a one-year approval for the rainbow-painted staircase. Asked by a commission member if the church would reapply again after the year was up, Senior Pastor Griffin-Allison replied yes, and the member asked for an amendment extending the certification to three years.
The approval was granted unanimously.
Following the meeting, Griffin-Allison said the turnout and the commission’s action “filled my heart.”
Drug and alcohol related deaths are significantly higher among queer people, a “deeply concerning” study has found.
The findings come from analysis by the Office for National Statistics in the UK, which cross-referenced 2021 census data with death registrations between March 2021 and November 2024.
Multiple studies have revealed that LGB+ people are disproportionately affected by addictions, including alcoholism and drug use. The study specifically used the definer LGB+.
According to the study, suicide and drug and alcohol overdoses are among the most significant causes of death for members of the LGB+ community.
The study revealed that there were nearly three times as many “drug poisoning” deaths among the LGB+ population compared with the “straight or heterosexual” group, with alcohol-related deaths being almost twice as high for those identifying as LGB+, compared with those who are straight or heterosexual.
LGB+ men were reported to have a higher risk of alcohol-specific death than their straight counterparts, while the risk of drug related death was 2.8 times higher for those who identify as LGB+, compared with their heterosexual counterparts.
Females who were part of the LGB+ community had a higher risk of death due to drug poisoning (3.4 times higher), while men experienced a 2.4 times higher risk than their straight peers.
Overall, the risk of death from any cause was found to be 1.3 times greater overall for people within the community, compared to those who are straight.
Among the leading causes of death for people within the community was inadequate blood supply to the heart (11.9 per cent) and intentional self-harm and events of undetermined intent (7.1 per cent). Self-harm was not listed within the top five causes of death for the straight population.
Mark Winstanley, chief executive of the charity Rethink Mental Illness, told The Guardian that the findings are “deeply concerning”.
“It is deeply concerning that the data shows suicide is the second leading cause of death among LGB+ people. The causes of suicide are complex, but we know that LGBTQ+ people face discrimination in many areas of their lives and encounter harassment, from physical attacks to online hatred.”
He continued: “Today’s data reinforces the urgent need to address the risk factors that LGBTQ+ people face, as well as ensuring that mental health services are available and accessible for this group.”
LGBTQ+ people are going back into the closet during Donald Trump‘s second term as queer visibility decreases across the board, new research has found.
Nearly half of LGBTQ+ adults (47.5 percent) report being less out somewhere in their lives over the last 12 months, according to the Annual LGBTQ+ Community Survey from the Human Rights Campaign, including workplaces (26.5 percent), healthcare (25.4 percent), and public spaces (28.3 percent).
Over half of LGBTQ+ workers (57.4 percent) with employers that ended or scaled back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) reported experiencing stigma and bias at work. This stigma appears to be increasing in all areas, as 51.1 percent of queer adults report being less visible than last year, and 40.1 percent of LGBTQ+ parents with school-aged children report being less visible at schools.
“Trump and his allies made no secret about their plans; they laid it out for all to see in Project 2025,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a statement. “Over the past year, his Administration has pushed forward efforts to eliminate civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ Americans — with funding cuts, regulatory changes, and bullying from the bully pulpit. Now, LGBTQ+ Americans are deeply hurting.”
LGBTQ+ adults were also nearly twice as likely to say that their financial situation has worsened over the past 12 months compared to non-LGBTQ+ adults. This has impacted their access to health care, as those on Medicare or Medicaid are now more than two times more likely to report barriers to HIV prevention or treatment than LGBTQ+ adults with another form of insurance.
Some first-year Trump administration policies detailed in the report as negatively impacting LGBTQ+ people include:
“Still, for all the pain Trump has caused, the LGBTQ+ community’s resilience drives our power,” Robinson continued. “Together, we continue to fight for a future in which everyone has the freedom to be who they are. I, for one, believe that, together, we will come through this stronger, more united, and victorious.”
West Texas A&M University is facing an ongoing federal court battle after administrators attempted to ban student-organized drag performances, a move judges have repeatedly ruled likely violates the First Amendment.
The dispute began in 2023, when WTAMU President Walter Wendler prohibited drag shows on campus, citing his personal religious beliefs as part of his justification in a campus-wide letter. Spectrum WT, an LGBTQ+ student organization, sued, saying the ban amounted to unconstitutional content-based censorship at a public university.
While the U.S. Supreme Court declined emergency relief in 2024, federal courts ruled decisively in 2025, with a district judge blocking the ban and the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals allowing drag events, including Draggieland, to proceed while litigation continues. Courts found drag performances likely constitute protected expressive conduct.
A federal bench trial will begin in late January 2026, aiming to resolve the broader dispute. The university argues the events are inappropriate for campus, while students maintain the ban targets speech based on viewpoint, an argument courts have repeatedly accepted.
The case has drawn national attention from free speech and civil liberties advocates. Kevin Bolling of the Secular Student Alliance said the controversy strikes at constitutional fundamentals:
“This comes to the very core of what we hold as principles in the U.S. Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion,” Bolling said. “President Wendler repeatedly cited his personal religious beliefs as a public official to cancel an approved student event at a public university. Separation of church and state is vital, and he clearly violated that.”
Legal experts say the outcome could shape how public universities nationwide regulate student expression, particularly when administrators object to speech on moral or religious grounds.
About the Secular Student Alliance The Secular Student Alliance is the largest organization in the U.S. representing secular and nonreligious students, with chapters at high schools and colleges across the country. SSA provides leadership training, legal support, and advocacy tools to empower the next generation of community and civic leaders.
Trans athletes are back in the news again and, as such, so are the myths some use to try to justify their exclusion from sports.
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments regarding two cases that could determine the legality of laws banning trans students from sporting events on Tuesday (13 January).
Several claims based on myths around physical ability in sport were used to justify bans in Idaho and West Virginia.
Here are some of the most common arguments used to ban trans women in sports, and why they’re nonsense.
‘Teams are sex-segregated because boys are better at sports than girls’
A woman playing tennis. (Getty)
This is untrue for multiple reasons, and is rooted in underlying misogynistic perceptions of women that date back to the 1830s.
While recorded depictions of sex-segregated sports date as far back as Ancient Greece, women were seldom allowed to play sports in the 19th century because of misogynistic perceptions of them as inherently weak and helpless, according to Goal Five.
Eventually, upper-class women were allowed to play tennis and golf at local country clubs and, by the turn of the century, women gradually fought for their right to compete. By the time of the early 1900s, many regulators introduced women’s-only categories over complaints that they were “intruding” on male spaces.
Thus, sex-segregation became the norm in the sporting world and has since persisted partly due to tradition, but also to allow opportunities for both female and male athletes. Not because of “biological” advantages, but because of issues such as the gender pay gap.
Sex-segregated categories are also not innate. Many argue the practice is increasingly untenable, according to The Society Pages, and leads to further misogyny over who can and can’t compete in the women’s category, such as the controversy over Caster Semenya, who is a cisgender woman.
‘Transgender women are taking away opportunities for cisgender women’
There are two fundamental problems with this argument. The first is that there are virtually no trans women competitors who are at the top of their respective sports. The second is that trans women are women and, as such, deserve to compete as much as their cisgender competitors.
According to WorldAtlas, the five biggest sports by number of fans are football (soccer), cricket, hockey, tennis, and volleyball. Of those sports’ respective annual rankings, none have ever featured a trans woman.
The only people taking opportunities away from women are the national and international sports bodies that have implemented bans on trans competitors, many of which still insist they believe that trans women are women.
Football legend Gary Lineker himself deplored the rising number of bans in May 2025, describing trans people as “some of the most persecuted on the planet”.
‘Excluding trans women from women’s sports isn’t transphobic, it’s just a game after all’
Protestor holds up a sign in support of trans people playing sports. (Getty)
Puzzlingly, excluding trans women from women’s sports is one of the most commonplace anti-trans beliefs among the general public.
A YouGov poll from February 2025 found that 74 per cent of the UK public think trans women should be excluded from women’s sports, while 60 per cent feel the same way about trans men in men’s sports.
This viewpoint is likely so common because of a perception that sports are nothing more than unserious games detached from real life. That, in turn, makes the transphobia easier to digest because it isn’t viewed as ‘real’ transphobia.
The issue here is that sports are not detached from reality. Sporting is a $417 billion industry that has real sway over people’s perceptions of reality. Its influence is why riots are so common following major sporting events.
Sports are so influential, in fact, existing tension between El Salvador and Honduras turned into a brief war, known as The Football War, in 1969 after riots over the results of a 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifier. While the roots of the conflict ran much deeper, it contributed to the build-up of the war, which took place between 14-18 July 1969, hence its other name, the 100 Hour War.
Whether you’re a fan or not, it’s undeniable that sports have a huge influence over the world, from its culture to its politics. When trans people are denied the right to play, they are denied the right to participate in a major part of global society.
‘Trans women are injuring cis women during sporting events and are dangerous’
This claim is common among more anti-trans pundits and groups, many of whom are trying to demonise trans people across all walks of life.
The most notorious example used is volleyball player-turned anti-trans pundit, Payton McNabb, who was injured playing high school volleyball against a trans competitor in 2022. McNabb has since become an ambassador for the Independent Women’s Forum (IWF). The IWF have been accused of aggressively lobbying for trans-exclusionary policies.
According to a 2023 study, 214,000 female volleyball players aged 14 to 23 have been injured since 2012. Nowhere in the study does it say trans people are vastly responsible for these injuries.
There is no evidence whatsoever that suggests trans women are inherently more dangerous or prone to injuring someone than cis competitors. None at all.
‘Sports bans are okay because there aren’t that many trans athletes’
Trans rights activists outside the Supreme Court during its oral hearing on sports bans. (Getty)
This argument was used by solicitor Hashim Mooppan while speaking to the US Supreme Court on behalf of the Trump administration.
Mooppan argued that laws banning trans women from competing in women’s sports should be permissible because trans athletes represent a tiny fraction of student athletes.
A report from the National Collegiate Athletic Association found that, in 2024, there were fewer than 10 of the 550,000 student athletes nationwide are out as trans.
The issue with this argument is that it could be, and is, just as easily used to justify why trans people should be allowed to compete.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has used that argument to justify overturning trans sports bans, arguing that the sheer public scrutiny against trans athletes far outweighs any possible damage they could cause, if any at all.
‘Trans women have an inherent, unchangeable advantage over cisgender women in sports’
This is the big one – virtually every single justification for banning trans women from women’s sports purports that, because they are assigned male at birth (AMAB), they have an inherent advantage.
One major logical problem with this is the state of women’s sports right now. If trans athletes, who have the same level of training as their cis counterparts, have an underlying advantage, surely every top-rated woman in sport would be trans?
A 2024 study backed by the International Olympic Committee found that, conversely, trans women could be in many ways disadvantaged in sporting competitions due to changes induced by feminising hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
Endocrinologist Dr Joshua D Safer told the ACLU in 2020 that a person’s genetic make-up, such as their sex chromosomes, are not good indicators of athletic performance.
“There is no inherent reason why [a trans woman’s] physiological characteristics related to athletic performance should be treated differently from the physiological characteristics of a non-transgender woman.”
This argument’s misogynistic foundations are best displayed when trans women are banned from non-physical sports such as chess or snooker. In 2022, British Open snooker champion Maria Catalano claimed trans women should be banned from competitions because cisgender women’s brains are “wired differently”.
On a cold, gray, and drizzly morning in Richmond, thousands of Virginiansgathered on the steps of the state capitol to witness a moment more than two centuries in the making: the inauguration of Abigail Spanberger as Virginia’s 75th governor and the first woman ever elected to the office.
Shortly before noon, Spanberger arrived at the Virginia State Capitol in a motorcade, pulling in behind the building, out of view of the crowds that had gathered in Capitol Square. Joined by her husband, the Democrat wore a brilliant blue-purple pantsuit. Most supporters never saw her arrival. Moments later, she emerged onto the dais to sustained applause, beaming, dressed in a striking white coat with a gold brooch, a bright contrast against the gray sky and rain-darkened stone.
Organizers anticipated the cold and wet, handing out plastic ponchos, hand warmers, seat cushions, hot chocolate, and water as people arrived early and waited through intermittent light rain. The discomfort only sharpened the sense of purpose that defined the day — a peaceful transfer of power in the state that Spanberger herself would describe as “a cornerstone of our American democratic experiment,” one begun by Virginian George Washington.
Just moments before Spanberger took the oath, Democrat Ghazala Hashmi was sworn in as Virginia’s lieutenant governor, and Democrat Jay Jones was sworn in as attorney general, completing a Democratic sweep of the Commonwealth’s top statewide offices. Hashmi is the first Muslim woman elected to state office in the U.S., and Jones is the first Black man to serve as Virginia’s attorney general.
The crowd reflected the political and historical weight of the occasion. U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner attended, alongside a bipartisan lineup of former governors. Democrats Ralph Northam, Terry McAuliffe, and L. Douglas Wilder were present, as was former Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell. Wilder, the first Black governor elected in Virginia and in the nation, drew sustained applause when Spanberger acknowledged that he was celebrating his 95th birthday. State Sen. Danica Roem, the first transgender person elected to state office in Virginia, was among the attendees, in her official capacity as part of the joint assembly.
Standing at that intersection of past and present, Spanberger delivered an address that functioned as both an inaugural speech and a guided history lesson, deliberately walking the crowd through Virginia’s outsized role in shaping American democracy. “Seventy-five times in Virginia’s storied history, we have witnessed this transfer from one governor to the next,” she said. “It is the honor of my life to stand before you and take the oath today. The history and the gravity of this moment are not lost on me.”
She invoked Patrick Henry’s warning against factionalism, recalled the suffragists who returned to those steps year after year seeking the vote, noted Virginia’s long delay in ratifying the 19th Amendment, and cited Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1960 address in Richmond, urging compliance with Brown v. Board of Education. The through line was unmistakable: Progress in Virginia has come through persistence, coalition-building, and the gradual expansion of who is included in the promise of democracy.
From history, Spanberger pivoted sharply to the present, voicing what she said many Virginians are feeling amid turmoil in Washington.
“I know many of you are worried about the recklessness coming out of Washington,” she said, pointing to federal policies she said are “hurting our communities, cutting health care access, and hollowing out rural hospitals,” while “closing off markets, hurting innovation in private industry, and attacking those who have devoted their lives to public service.” She warned of an administration she said was “gilding buildings while schools crumble,” “breaking the social safety net,” and “sowing fear across our communities,” betraying “the values of who we are as Americans.”
She tied those concerns directly to daily life in Virginia. “Across the Commonwealth, everything keeps getting a bit more expensive,” Spanberger said, listing groceries, medicine, child care, electricity, rent, and mortgages. Families, she said, are strained, and “so much seems to be getting harder and harder.”
Still, she struck a note of guarded unity. Acknowledging disagreement in the crowd and beyond it, Spanberger said differing perspectives need not preclude cooperation. “Your perspective may differ from mine,” she said, “but that does not preclude us from working together where we may find common cause.”
Spanberger framed Virginia as a commonwealth whose government exists to serve the common good and whose strength depends on embracing the full diversity of its people. She spoke of inclusive educational experiences, respect for immigrant neighbors, and the need to ensure that every Virginian, regardless of background, has a stake in the state’s future. Inclusion and diversity, she argued, are not abstract ideals but foundational to unity and prosperity.
At the same time, she addressed the anxieties weighing on families across the state. “Across the Commonwealth, everything keeps getting a bit more expensive,” she said, naming groceries, rent, health care, and energy bills. Her answer, she promised, would be pragmatic governance focused on affordability, stability, and results rather than ideological theater.
Those priorities were already visible in her first hours as governor. On her first day as governor, Spanberger signed a slate of executive orders aimed at lowering the cost of living, strengthening public education, protecting workers, and reversing select policies of her Republican predecessor, Glenn Youngkin. She rescinded Youngkin’s directive encouraging state and local law enforcement to assist in federal civil immigration enforcement, while leaving other late-term directives intact for now.
As the oath concluded, the atmosphere shifted. The rain stopped. The clouds lifted. And as the inaugural parade stepped off, sunlight broke through, turning the sky a clear, defiant blue.
Thousands remained to watch, cheering as marching bands, unions, community groups, and advocacy organizations passed the reviewing stand. Diversity Richmond and Virginia Pride were among those represented, painting the area in rainbow colors under the banner “We belong here” as more than 50 LGBTQ+ people and allies carrying Progress Pride and trans Pride flags walked together. The crowd erupted in cheers. From the reviewing stand, Spanberger smiled broadly and blew kisses as the flags passed.
Songs to fan the flames of discontent by David Rovics w/ Kamala Emanuel & Chet Gardiner & other performers! Delicious Palestinian Food, Wine, Beer & NA Beverages on sale. Volunteers needed, Local Groups Tabling, Outreach & Community. A benefit for UNDOCUFUND & From the Bay to Gaza Mutual Aid & to Honor Alice Waco.
Added due to popular demand, the Met-premiere production of Mason Bates’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay arrives in cinemas, recorded live earlier this season. The exhilarating operatic adaptation of Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel follows two Jewish cousins who create a comic-book superhero, hoping to recruit America into the fight against Nazism. Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the dynamic new production by Tony Award–winning director Bartlett Sher.
= FILM FACTS =
Running Time 187 min
Genre Opera
Starring Lauren Snouffer Sun-Ly Pierce Miles Mykkanen Andrzej Filończyk Edward Nelson
LGBTQ+ advocates are sharply criticizing Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration following the abrupt elimination of over $17 million in dedicated health equity funding for LGBTQ+ women, transgender men, and non-binary individuals, a move they say threatens access to vital care for some of California’s most underserved communities.
Joe Hollendoner, CEO of the Los Angeles LGBT Center, issued a strong statement denouncing the decision, calling it “a betrayal of queer and trans Californians.”
He added, “We call on the Governor and the State legislature to reverse this harmful decision by honoring the promise made by the legislature in 2019 and renewing this critical funding for next year.”
The cuts affect the LGBTQ Health Equity Fund, a state initiative established in 2019 to address long-documented health disparities in this population. According to Hollendoner, the California Department of Public Health convened an emergency meeting with grant recipients on May 10, informing them that all contracts would be terminated six months early, and that the Office of Health Equity, a division created to serve marginalized gender identities, would be shuttered entirely.
The result, advocates say, will be the discontinuation of services by June 30, leaving patients without access to care designed specifically to meet their needs.
“This is not a simple budget correction,” said Hollendoner. “It is a moral failure that strips life-affirming care from communities already burdened by systemic neglect.”
The Los Angeles LGBT Center had received $1.9 million in 2022 from the fund, in partnership with five organizations, to expand its Audre Lorde Health Program, which provides trauma-informed, gender-inclusive care to LGBTQ individuals. The program has since grown in staffing and services, and has helped rebuild trust among communities often excluded from traditional healthcare.
Hollendoner warned that eliminating this funding would not only halt that progress but also unravel relationships painstakingly rebuilt after years of medical mistrust and marginalization.
The governor’s proposed budget cuts also include a pause in enrollment for undocumented adults in state-funded healthcare programs—another blow to communities navigating intersecting barriers such as racism, transphobia, xenophobia, and poverty.
“Balancing the budget on the backs of vulnerable queer communities is indefensible,” Hollendoner said. “In cutting this funding, Governor Newsom has chosen to sacrifice the health and dignity of those already navigating intersecting barriers of misogyny, racism, transphobia, and xenophobia—including undocumented LGBTQ+ people. These cuts, along with the pausing of enrollment for adult undocumented Californians, are a clear attack on our healthcare system and the people who depend on it.”
This flag has flown on campus since 2019 as part of a student-led effort. Its removal appears to have happened without public notice, community input, or a school board discussion or vote. We have found no agenda item or public explanation for how or why this decision was made.
At a time when LGBTQIA+ students are feeling increasingly targeted and unsafe, this public action sends a dangerous message. Visibility matters. Belonging matters.
THIS CANNOT STAND. WHO would do this?
CALL TO ACTION!
We are demanding: • The immediate return of the Pride flag • Transparency from the School Board, Superintendent, and Principal • Accountability for how this decision was made
Please contact every Sonoma Valley Unified School District Board Trustee. Call. Email. Show up to office hours. Make your voices heard.
A community protest is coming. Wake UP Sonoma is standing with students and community members.
Understandably, the GSA students are managing this situation as best they can, and also, they should not have to be in this position. It’s overwhelming. After thinking this over, wisely, they think that a large number of community members showing up at flag raising may be confusing to other students since the flag is now flying again. However, they welcome the support of the community to help them ”plant” pride flags on the front lawn of the school. They now ask that community members gather on the front lawn rather than at the flag pole. We will provide small pride flags for you to help bring home the message. If you happen to have small pride flags to bring to plant please do so but we will have some available as well.Thank you for your support of this very important issue.
SVHS PRIDE fund – Wake UP Sonoma We are acting as a fiscal agent for them through these times to support their efforts. T-SHIRTS TO BE AVAILABLE SOON!
HOW CAN YOU CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE STUDENTS AT SVHS GAY STRAIGHT ALLIANCE? Gather at the front of the school grass at 8:00 to help plant pride flags on the front lawn Parking will be a nightmare, so park on side streets and walk in. Visibility is key now. SHOW UP at these meetings and state your opinion:January 26th City Council meeting, February 12th School Board meeting March 12 School Board meeting More details to come – possible protest being planned for one or all of these dates.
DONATE to the SVHS GSA fund to get T-Shirts, posters and banners out into the community. This is a special donation link for funds dedicated to keeping the rainbow flag flying at SVHS. SVHS PRIDE fund – Wake UP Sonoma We are acting as a fiscal agent for them through these times to support their efforts. T-SHIRTS TO BE AVAILABLE SOON!
Our Vision: To foster a vibrant, just, respectful and welcoming Sonoma Valley community. OUR MISSION IS TO: EDUCATE – by providing resources to Sonoma Valley residents to be informed and engaged. ADVOCATE – for local diversity, equity, inclusion, civic and corporate transparency. ACTIVATE – by promoting democracy and providing opportunities for local engagement.
We Educate. Advocate. Activate. on issues related, but not limited to: – LGBTQIA+ safety and visibility – Protection of our immigrant population – Defense against Christian Nationalism – Transparency in large corporate investment and responsible development – Active local civic engagement
