Jack Walker

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Two more hospitals strike DOJ deals to end gender-affirming care for minors

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Major hospital systems in New York and Pennsylvania have struck deals with the Justice Department that carry steep financial penalties and keep gender-affirming services closed to minors. NYU Langone Health will pay the department $8.5 million, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center will pay $950,000, the department announced Friday. The deals come after providers in New York, Texas, Ohio and Connecticutadopted similar agreements. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. President Donald Trump has moved to ban gender-affirming care for minors since his second term began. Last December, the Trump administration threatened […]

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Nonprofit crisis line supports marginalized people wary of police intervention

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When Vanessa Green answers calls to Call Blackline, her responses vary widely. Some people need referrals to trusted nonprofits for emergency resources. Others just need to vent to someone who understands their experience, and Green is happy to fill that role. “We don’t give an opinion,” Green, who helped create Call Blackline in 2014, toldThe Advocate in an interview. “We’re there to affirm their experiences navigating racism and white supremacy and anti-immigration in this country.” Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. Call Blackline is a nonprofit crisis […]

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Hospitals dodge questions on restoring trans youth care despite judge ruling they can keep providing it

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Many hospitals that cut off youth from gender-affirming care over concerns around the Trump administration are remaining silent on whether they will resume care, despite a federal court giving their programs legal clearance. Last December, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, directed hospitals across the country to stop providing minors gender-affirming care, or risk losing funds from federal health programs like Medicaid. But on April 18, a federal judge in Oregon struck down the policy, ruling that Kennedy had overstepped the federal government’s role and created inconsistencies with existing laws. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The […]

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Minnesota town honors one of America’s earliest rural Pride movements with new monument

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A new historic marker is coming to a Minnesota small town where, more than two decades ago, one of the nation’s first rural LGBTQ+ Pride movements took root. On May 28, local LGBTQ+ advocates in Pine City will dedicate a historic marker commemorating the launch of East Central Minnesota Pride in 2005, which members describe as the country’s first rural Pride organization. The monument will be placed in Voyager Park, where the group held its first official celebration. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. “LGBTQ+ history is so […]

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Supreme Court passes on case over outing trans students

The U.S. Supreme Court has left in place a lower court decision granting schools discretion over whether they disclose to parents the name and pronouns a student uses. A circuit court in Massachusetts previously ruled that teachers and school staff were not required to provide parents with the information, but parents Stephen Foote and Marissa Silvestri appealed the decision, arguing that the policies of Baird Middle School in Ludlow led their child to be transgender. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. The student asked teachers to use a different name and […]

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Missouri Republicans advance bill to police trans people’s bathroom access

Another state is trying to police who can use what restroom. Republicans in the Missouri House of Representatives have passed a bill requiring public entities to divide their bathrooms and changing areas by sex assigned at birth or face financial penalties. HB 2536 passed along party lines on Monday. The bill would codify definitions of “male” and “female” based on an individual’s “reproductive system” at birth. Institutions that receive state funds, like schools, shelters, and jails, would have to use these definitions to establish “single-sex” restrooms, changing rooms, and sleeping quarters. State colleges and universities would be required to separate dorms by sex assigned at birth. Stay up […]

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Fewer young Americans support LGBTQ+ protections, survey finds

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Just 7 in 10 Americans aged 18 to 29 support nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ residents, a new survey has found. That is down from 80 percent expressing support in 2015, just ten years prior, primarily driven by a decrease in support from young Republicans, according to the Public Religion Research Institute. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. While support has decreased overall in recent years, protections for LGBTQ+ protections are still widely popular among Americans, according to the surveyreleased Thursday by the institute, titled the “2025 […]

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Want to support LGBTQ+ businesses? There’s an app for that

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Colored glass and antique tins line the walls of Again Vintage, each ware reflecting gentle window light. Here, the hustle of New York City finds calm, and by design. Co-owners Ryann Holmes and Sara Elise wanted to run a business but also cultivate a sense of relaxation. Some visitors tell them coming inside feels like an exhale, Holmes says. The tense political moment has made inclusivity in their business approach feel more urgent. Last year, the store joined Everywhere Is Queer, an app that maps out LGBTQ+ businesses globally. Holmes says the platform has united LGBTQ+ business owners and creatives […]

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ACT UP marks 39th anniversary with NYC die-in at Palantir over Trump administration contracts

In the middle of a busy New York City street, dozens of people lay still atop the pavement on Saturday afternoon. ACT UP, one of the world’s most prominent HIV advocacy groups, organized the demonstration outside Palantir, a software company that develops surveillance technology and contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The demonstration was a callback to die-ins staged by AIDS advocacy groupsfrom the 1980s onward to celebrate the organization’s 39th anniversary. Hundreds of protesters rallied at the New York City AIDS Memorial, then marched to Palantir’s unmarked office in Manhattan’s Flatiron District, protesting government spending on ICE and the war against Iran amid cuts to funding for […]

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Trans tech executive could become first out officeholder in western Tennessee

A Memphis-area tech consultant with a background in mutual aid and LGBTQ+ advocacy is now trying her hand at county government. If successful, Lena Chipman would be the first out trans person elected to public office in western Tennessee, according to her campaign team. Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate’s email newsletter. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. Chipman, a Democrat, is running for a seat on the Shelby County Board of Commissioners representing District 13, centered around East Memphis. Chipman told The […]

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