Gwen Aviles

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25 best LGBTQ books of 2020, According to Lambda Literary

Though the Lambda Literary Foundation had to cancel its annual and in-person Lambda Literary Awards ceremony given the coronavirus, the organization announced winners Monday. Twenty-five LGBTQ books earned awards across categories like fiction and nonfiction, comics, romance and anthology.In this article 2020 Lammy Awards winners Best LGBTQ books: Lammy Awards finalists and winners “Because of the pandemic, the list is even more vital because we’re feeling even more separated and isolated,” William Johnson, the deputy director of Lambda Literary, said. “I think the need to have some sort of communal celebration around queer art is only heightened as we’re operating under these extraordinary circumstances.” Lambda Literary is […]

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After Censorship of Gay Sex Scenes, ‘God’s Own Country’ Director Calls for Amazon Boycott

Francis Lee, the director of the film “God’s Own Country,” called for a boycott of Amazon after the company appeared to censor gay sex scenes from his 2017 film, stating that the version available on the platform is not the movie he “intended or made.” “Dear friends in USA, God’s Own Country appears to have been censored on @PrimeVideo (Amazon Prime),” Lee tweetedWednesday. “Until this is investigated please do not rent or buy on Amazon Prime.” A British drama starring Josh O’Connor and Alec Secăreanu, “God’s Own Country” explores the relationship between a sheep farmer and a Romanian migrant worker. While it received […]

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Katie Sowers to Make Twin Super Bowl History as first Out and Female Coach

Once rejected from a volunteer coaching position because of her “lifestyle,” Katie Sowers will make NFL history as the first openly gay and female assistant coach headed to the Super Bowl. Sowers is an offensive assistant coach with the San Francisco 49ers, whose win against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday secured the team’s spot in the championship game Feb. 2 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. The 49ers will face off against the Kansas City Chiefs. She is the second woman to coach in the National Football League and began her athletic career playing in the Women’s Football Alliance […]

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Best 24 LGBTQ Books of 2019, According to Lambda Literary

From memoirs to young adult novels, 2019 brought with it a bounty of books published by LGBTQ authors. If you want to get into reading one of them but feel intimidated by the onslaught of options, don’t fret. Lambda Literary, the premier organization promoting the development of emerging queer writers, recently relased its annual list of Lammy Award Recipients. The foundation has been issuing the awards since 1987. This year, 24 books earned Lammy awards, spanning distinct categories ranging from transgender poetry to lesbian romance. William Johnson, deputy director of Lambda Literary, explains Lammy Award categories could change depending on which books readers […]

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Trans Woman Forced to Remove Makeup for Driver’s License Photo

A transgender woman said she was “humiliated and traumatized” after she was forced to remove her makeup with hand sanitizer for her driver’s license photo. Jaydee Dolinar told NBC News that after her purse was stolen, she made an appointment at the Fairpark Driver License Office in Utah to obtain a replacement license last Wednesday. She said she brought the required documents to the appointment and “was fully prepared to have to say my dead name,” since she is currently in the process of changing her gender marker and legal name on her paperwork. A “dead name” describes a trans […]

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Principal Who Banned Gay Books Charged with Child Pornography

A former Kentucky school principal has been indicted on child pornography charges, a decade after he first made headlines for banning books with LGBTQ storylines. Phillip Todd Wilson, the former principal of the Clark County Area Technology Center in Winchester, Kentucky, was charged with 17 child pornography and distribution charges in August, according to Kentucky state police. A spokesperson for the Kentucky Department of Education told NBC News that Wilson was no longer employed at the school. Wilson, 54, was the principal of the Montgomery County High School, another institution in Kentucky, 10 years ago when he banded together with […]

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LGBTQ Acceptance Grew Globally Over Past Four Decades — but Not Everywhere

The “most accepting” LGBTQ countries are becoming “more accepting,” while “the least accepting” are becoming “less accepting,” according to a recent report from The Williams Institute, a think tank at the UCLA School of Law. In executing the study, which came out last month and was built upon the organization’s previous reports, researchers analyzed survey data from 174 countries to produce the Global Acceptance Index (GAI). The GAI uses a country’s public beliefs and policies regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people to determine the nation’s score, which was then used to rank each of the countries in order from most […]

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From ‘Schitt’s Creek’ to ‘Batwoman,’ LGBTQ Characters on U.S. TV Are at an All-time High

For the fourth consecutive year, broadcast television has featured a record percentage of LGBTQ characters, according to a report released Thursday by the media advocacy group GLAAD. Last year, GLAAD called on the broadcast networks to have 10 percent of its regular characters on prime-time scripted series identify as LGBTQ by 2020. According to its 2019-20 “Where We Are on TV” report, the networks more than exceeded that goal. Of the 879 regular characters scheduled to appear this season, 90, or 10.2 percent, are LGBTQ. This is the highest percentage GLAAD has found in the 15 years it has kept […]

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Comedian’s Death Underscores High Suicide Rate among Transgender People

The death of a comedian who was recently referenced in Dave Chapelle’s Netflix special “Sticks and Stones” has underscored the disproportionately high suicidality rate among transgender people. “I love you all. I’m sorry,” trans comedian Daphne Dorman wrote on Facebook on Oct. 11. “Please help my daughter, Naia, understand that none of this is her fault. Please remind her that I loved her with every fiber of my being.” Her sister Becky Kugler confirmed Dorman’s death in the comment section of the post. “I so wish we could all have helped you through your darkness,” Kugler wrote. “We’ll always love […]

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National Coming Out Day: 2019’s top LGBTQ Coming Out Stories

Founded in 1988 by psychologist Robert Eichberg and activist Jean O’Leary, National Coming Out Day is observed annually on Oct. 11, and it’s day to celebrate and promote the increased visibility of the LGBTQ community. The date was chosen to mark the anniversary of the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, which drew an estimated 500,000 people to the nation’s capital. “Most people think they don’t know anyone gay or lesbian, and in fact everybody does,” Eichberg said in a 1993 interview. “It is imperative that we come out and let people know who we are and […]

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