Daniel Villarreal

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Democrats release national platform, promising end to anti-transgender violence

The Democratic Party has released its official national platform for 2024, just in time for the start of its national convention, which begins today in Chicago, Illinois. The platform contains a section on “LGBTQI+” issues and also mentions the community and related issues in other sections, including those covering gun violence, the judiciary, education, and racial equity. “This election will decide whether the next generation of Americans has more rights and freedoms than past generations or fewer,” the platform states. “Trump and Republicans are already ripping away Americans’ hard-won freedoms. Reproductive freedom, freedom from hate, freedom from fear, the freedom to […]

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Trans woman sues Whole Foods & Amazon after allegedly “humiliating” harassment

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A transgender woman in Washington, D.C., Ximena Navarrete, claims she was sexually harassed, raped, and generally discriminated against while working at local Whole Foods supermarkets. She has filed lawsuits against the company and its parent company, Amazon, seeking a combined $2.5 million in damages. Navarrete, age 46, allegedly endured sexual harassment, assault, and transphobic harassment, including nonconsensual touching, name-calling, indecent exposure, and lewd gestures, her lawsuit states. Amazon has denied any wrongful conduct. She filled online food orders at several D.C.-area Whole Foods stores from September 20, 2020 to October 6, 2021. Even though she reportedly made it clear to […]

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Over 25,000 LGBTQ+ people attend call for Kamala Harris as enthusiasm mounts

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Over 25,000 LGBTQ+ people attended the Human Rights Campaign’s “Out for Kamala Harris” virtual event last night. During the event, over 40 LGBTQ+ and allied actors, activists, government officials, and drag performers all shared their enthusiasm for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Together, the attendees and featured guests helped raise over $300,000 for the Harris campaign, and 1,500 attendees signed up to help get out the vote for Harris.  The event, which was live-streamed via Zoom and YouTube, included queer actors George Takei, Raven Symoné, Sophia Bush, Wilson Cruz, Zachary Quinto, and Jonathan Del Arco; Democratic LGBTQ+ elected officials […]

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Over 40 attacks on LGBTQ+ symbols occurred in 21 states during Pride month

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Attacks on rainbow flags, crosswalks, and other LGBTQ+ symbols occurred in over 40 cities nationwide during Pride Month, according to NBC News. Overall, the attacks occurred in 21 states; a majority occurred in blue states like California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Washington, but some also occurred in red states like Idaho, Montana, Texas, and West Virginia.  While most of the theft and vandalism of these symbols seem to have been carried out by “lone wolf” individuals rather than coordinated by extremist groups, many local police, news reports, officials, and victims stated that this year’s number of attacks increased from previous years. […]

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Biden asks tech companies to help stop AI-generated sexual deepfakes used to harass gay students

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The administration of President Joe Biden is urging tech and financial industries to help stop the spread of abusive, AI-generated “deepfake” sexual images used to harass real-life school kids and educators — particularly girls, women, and gay kids in schools. These images can ruin their lives, the Biden Administration says, but current school policies and laws don’t provide consistent ways to prevent their dissemination. “As generative [artificial intelligence] broke on the scene, everyone was speculating about where the first real harms would come. And I think we have the answer,” said Biden’s chief science adviser Arati Prabhakar, director of the […]

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Texas GOP platform calls for ban on same-sex parenting because being gay is “abnormal”

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A completed draft Texas Republican Party platform refers to homosexuality as “an abnormal lifestyle choice,” gender-affirming care as “child abuse,” and Drag Queen Story Hour as “predatory sexual behavior.” The platform has been voted on by state party delegates and will be formally adopted on Wednesday after a final vote count. The list of state party priorities calls for an end to legal same-sex marriages, same-sex parenting, all LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination laws, all transgender rights — including gender-affirming care for children and adults — a ban on LGBTQ+ content in schools and libraries, the defunding of all diversity-equity-inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and legal protections […]

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Police identify 12th victim buried on estate of closeted Republican murderer

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Police in Indianapolis have identified a 12th body buried on the estate of now-deceased wealthy Republican businessman Herbert Baumeister, a closeted gay man who is believed to have murdered over 20 men and boys that he met in Indianapolis gay bars during the mid-1980s and ’90s. DNA and forensic genetic genealogy testing helped police determine that a bone found on Baumeister’s 18-acre Fox Hollow Farm estate in Westfield belonged to Jeffrey Jones. Jones lived in Fillmore, Indiana — a city located 63 miles southwest of Westfield — when he mysteriously disappeared in 1993. A team of law enforcement and forensic […]

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Neurodiversity Pride isn’t centered on LGBTQ+ people, but perhaps it should be

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Neurodiversity Pride Day will be observed internationally on June 18, 2024 as a way to celebrate people who have neurologically atypical ways of thinking, learning, and behaving, and to reduce stigma against these people. The neurodiversity (ND) movement often uses a rainbow infinity symbol — one that’s also used by autism awareness advocates. But while neither movements are specifically centered on LGBTQ+ people, perhaps it’s time to re-think that, especially since LGBTQ+ identities have long been stigmatized as forms of mental illness and numerous studies have linked queerness with autism. Below is a quick look at the slippery concept of […]

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Congress replaces statue of white supremacist with statue of anti-LGBTQ+ zealot

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This week, Congress will replace a statue of a white supremacist with one of a queerphobe… and its unveiling ceremony on Thursday will likely be attended by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R), who has ties to anti-LGBTQ+ Christian nationalists. A statue of influential anti-LGBTQ+ evangelical Christian Rev. Billy Graham statue will replace one of former North Carolina Gov. Charles Aycock (D). Aycock was an early 20th-century education advocate and slave owner who sought to permanently disenfranchise and subjugate Black voters. He said Black people contributed nothing to society, despite America’s wealth being built on the backs of unpaid Black labor. […]

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South Carolina will soon ban gender-affirming care & out trans kids to their parents

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The South Carolina legislature has just passed a ban on gender-affirming care, making it the 25th state to do so. The ban also requires educators to out trans students to their potentially unsupportive parents. Gov. Henry McMaster (R) has signaled that he’s likely to sign it into law. If he does, the law will take effect immediately. House Bill 4624 will prohibit healthcare professionals from providing puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or surgeries to people under the age of 18, even though such surgeries are rarely ever performed on minors. Any professional who provides these to a minor can risk being disciplined […]

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