LGBTQ Nation

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Illinois Gov. signs 3 trans rights bills into law & then marches in Pride parade that afternoon

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On Sunday, just hours before he marched in the Chicago Pride Parade, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) signed three trans rights bills into law.  HB 5095 solidifies the process for trans people to correct the gender marker on their IDs to male, female, or X. HB 5492 mandates that insurance companies cover up to a 6-month supply of prescribed hormone therapy, as well as “the necessary supplies for self-administration.” Both laws take effect on January 1, 2027. HB 4834 updates the Illinois Prescription Monitoring Program (ILPMP) to remove testosterone and prohibit the addition of estrogen, mifepristone, and misoprostol. The law, effective immediately, will prevent […]

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“Crying in my arms”: People are moved to tears as these dads come to Pride to play catch

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Over seven years and thousands of tossed balls, “Play Catch With a Dad” has become a ubiquitous part of Pride celebrations everywhere. John Piermatteo started the sessions in 2019 in his hometown of York, Pennsylvania, at their Unity Fest, inspired in part by “Free Mom Hugs.” Now Piermatteo is joined by scores of dads — most of them straight like him — at as many Pride events across the country. The latest are Pride Nights at MLB games. After a Pride Night at Wrigley Field in Chicago last year, the group was invited to play catch at ten Major League games […]

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New Africa “charter” attempts to impose Christian nationalist ideology across the continent

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In Ghana last week, participants from 20 African nations advanced the latest iteration of the African Inter-Parliamentary “Family, Sovereignty and Values” Charter, a document African rights activists say threatens to dismantle protections for women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people in service of a Christian nationalist worldview. Attendees at the annual conference have set an ambitious goal to realize the document’s illiberal agenda: ratification of the charter by the African Union General Assembly. Organizers hope to take it to the pan-African governmental body next February, where it would be put to a vote. “It is a license to oppose, regress on, or […]

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Governor’s races have never been more important for trans rights than this year

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It can be easy to forget about gubernatorial races as we head towards the midterms. They are, ultimately, state-level elections at a time when we’re focused on national problems. The balance of power in the Senate and the House of Representatives is the focal point for many of us as we hunt for a way to stem the bleeding caused by Donald Trump. But governors wield a huge amount of power, especially when it comes to protecting trans rights. There’s a lot a governor can do to make a state safer for trans people (see Tim Walz’s work to make Minnesota […]

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With its efforts to placate Trump, business is proving once again that it is a fickle LGBTQ+ ally

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With so many frontal attacks on the LGBTQ+ community coming from the federal government, it’s easy to overlook the impact from the private sector. But according to a new report from Out Leadership, which describes itself as “the global LGBTQ+ network,” it finds that the red and blue state divide matters and affects the ability of businesses to thrive. According to the 2026 State LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index, “the gap between inclusive and hostile states is wider than it has ever been, and it is still widening.” Indeed, the current index, the eighth that Out Leadership has released, expanded its methodology […]

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Trans teens who receive hormone therapy are less likely to run away from home

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Transgender teens who received hormone replacement therapy (HRT) are less likely to run away from home, according to a new study. Researchers at Southern Oregon University and Rutgers University examined data from about 1,101 respondents to the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey who began receiving HRT between the ages of 14 and 18. The survey asked respondents whether they had ever received HRT and whether they had run away from home because of their trans identity. The survey asked respondents who answered yes to either question their ages when both incidents occurred. Researchers then compared the answers of those who received HRT […]

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These queer seniors organized for visibility & connection

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or Chicagoan David Zak, a longtime LGBTQ+ activist and veteran of community and arts programming in the Windy City, “visibility itself can be a form of activism, especially when it gives voice to people or experiences that haven’t always been represented.” Take, for instance, the trolley ride that his social club, Chicago PrimeTimers, takes every year in the city’s Pride Parade. “I think there’s something especially moving for people about seeing older LGBTQ+ adults proudly participating in Pride,” Zak tells LGBTQ Nation of the annual ride. “Sometimes, younger people along the route will stop cheering and suddenly become emotional when they realize […]

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63 years ago, the Quakers stood up for gay dignity & they’re still fighting for our LGBTQ+ rights

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Quakers, like most Protestant denominations, hold differing views of homosexuality within their ranks. But no other mainstream Protestant religion has embraced LGBTQ+ identity like the Quakers, known officially as the Religious Society of Friends. The clearest example is a text promulgated over seven years in meetings by a group of Quaker writers, psychiatrists, psychologists, and teachers, assembled to consider issues surrounding homosexuality. Published in 1963, “Towards a Quaker View of Sex” asserted, “An act which expresses true affection between two individuals and gives pleasure to them both, does not seem to us to be sinful by reason alone of the fact that […]

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Queer Sikhs are challenging bigotry by mixing their identities, faith, & cultural traditions

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Followers of the Sikh religion believe in a genderless, eternal, omnipresent God who views all humans as equal; the religion also emphasizes the importance of helping vulnerable people in need, and its central holy religious text, the Guru Granth Sahib, contains no anti-LGBTQ+ scriptures. However, the religion also originates from India — a country with few LGBTQ+ legal protections where 59% of people consider homosexuality “morally unacceptable” — many LGBTQ+ Sikhs, who are part of the estimated 25 million Sikhs worldwide, say they still struggle to find a place in their religious communities.  Gurleen Kaur, a 30-year-old queer Sikh Kaur told Queerbeat that she never felt that […]

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Europe has a new best country for LGBTQ+ rights

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ILGA Europe has published its annual Rainbow Map and LGBTQ+ rights index, and Spain has now claimed the number one spot for the most LGBTQ+-positive laws and policies. Spain displaced Malta from the number one spot, a position that Malta had held for the last 10 years. ILGA explained in its report that, “Spain’s rise to the top reflects a combination of achievements, including a fully functioning depathologization of trans identities in healthcare, new legal protections, new national LGBTI and trans strategies, a new independent equal treatment and non-discrimination authority, and a determined fightback against far-right attempts to dismantle national trans […]

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