Matt Lavietes

Throughout her 30 years as a teacher, Patricia Nicolari said she faced repeated harassment from students due to her sexuality. Some left notes on her desk asking if she is a lesbian. Others called her a “dyke” under their breaths. And one day, students carved “Lez” into her car. “At the time, I remember thinking, ‘I’m going through so much anxiety as a teacher. I can’t imagine what our students go through questioning themselves and how unsafe it is for them to come out,’” Nicolari said. Years later, Nicolari is done imagining. Instead, she’s taking action.  In September, she plans […]

The deadly attack at an LGBTQ club in Colorado last month — where a shooter turned the venue’s “Drag Divas” night into a massacre — has made an already harrowing year for drag performers worse. Eight of the country’s top drag queens told NBC News that the current environment has subdued their larger-than-life personas, prompting four of them to increase security at their events in recent weeks. The Nov. 19 shooting at Colorado Springs’ sole LGBTQ nightclub, Club Q, left five people dead and 17 others shot and injured. The 22-year-old suspect is being held without bond on suspicion of murder and hate […]

The cases were weeks apart and eerily similar: Two young men at popular New York City gay bars. They each left with at least one mysterious person. They were both found dead. Both of their bank accounts were drained. And they may not be the only ones. More gay New Yorkers are coming forward for the first time with accounts that share notable similarities to the unexplained deaths this spring of Julio Ramirez, 25, a social worker, and John Umberger, 33, a political consultant. The biggest difference so far: They survived. NBC News spoke to two people who described harrowing experiences that […]

The New York City Police Department confirmed Monday that it is investigating a string of robberies and assaults that may be connected to the deaths of two gay men earlier this year shortly after they left gay bars in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood.  In an emailed statement, Julian Phillips, a spokesperson for the NYPD’s Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information, confirmed that the deaths of Julio Ramirez and John Umberger are being investigated among “several incidents where individuals have been victims of either robberies or assault.” No arrests have been made in Umberger’s death, which remains under NYPD investigation, according to […]

Democrat Becca Balint is the winner of Vermont’s at-large Congressional District race, NBC News projected. She is the first woman and the first LGBTQ person elected to Congress from the state. With 72% of precincts reporting Tuesday night, Balint had 61.5%, while her Republican opponent, Liam Madden, had 28.8%. On Tuesday evening, Balint thanked her supporters in an Instagram post with a caption saying: “Today, we reaffirmed that Vermont, and this nation, is still a place where anything is possible. We’re still capable of change and progress.” She added, “Tonight, after 231 years, Vermonters are sending a woman and openly gay person to […]

Democrat Maura Healey is the winner of Massachusetts’ gubernatorial race, defeating Republican Geoff Diehl and making history as the first out lesbian to be elected governor, NBC News projected.  Healey is the state’s attorney general, and Diehl is a former state representative who co-chaired former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign in Massachusetts.  Addressing her supporters at a victory rally in Boston on Tuesday evening, Healey dedicated her win to “every little girl and every young LGBTQ person out there.” “I hope tonight shows you that you can be whatever, whoever you want to be,” she said to a roaring crowd. “And nothing […]

In the last leg of what has been a heated midterm election cycle, some conservative groups have ramped up misleading or inflammatory campaign ads targeting transgender rights, which have become an increasingly partisan and divisive issue. A radio ad from America First Legal, a conservative group founded by Stephen Miller, who served as a top adviser to former President Donald Trump, accused President Joe Biden and “progressive leaders” of pushing children to take hormones and undergo surgery “to remove their breasts and genitals.” “Not long ago, everyone knew that you’re either born a boy or a girl,” the narrator says […]