Molly Sprayregen

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HHS cancels $12 million sex-ed grant after California refuses to eliminate gender identity lessons

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The federal government has ended a major grant for California sex education over the state’s refusal to eliminate trans and gender identity content from course materials. A letter from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) states that “the funded programs and services include gender ideology, which is outside the scope of the statute.” The letter quotes California officials’ response to its initial request it remove the material, which declared the state would “not make any such modifications at this time.”  HHS also claims that “gender ideology” is “irrelevant to teaching abstinence […]

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Inclusive church turns hateful graffiti into Pride mural: “We make beautiful things out of the dust”

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After an LGBTQ+-inclusive church in Austin, Texas, was vandalized on Thursday, the community came together to transform the act of hate into something beautiful. The vandals tore down the Pride flag at Life in the City UMC and graffitied “Pride was the 1st sin” on the front of the building. Afterward, volunteers joined the church for a “creative restoration project” to transform the graffiti into a mural featuring two Progress Pride flags flanking the church doorway. “At Life in the City, we strive to welcome those on the outside to the inside of the circle because Jesus’ greatest commandment was […]

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Trump libel lawsuit over alleged Jeffrey Epstein letter will be heard by gay Obama-appointed judge

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A gay Obama-appointed judge will preside over Donald Trump’s libel lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal over claims the president once sent an NSFW birthday card and doodle to the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.  Trump is suing for $10 billion after denying he ever wrote the letter, and now Judge Darrin Gayles, who became the first out gay Black man appointed as a federal judge, has been assigned to the case.  The Senate unanimously confirmed Gayles after he was appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2014. Politico pointed out he earned such widespread support for being relatively bipartisan. Two Republican governors […]

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British Library to reinstate Oscar Wilde’s reading pass in symbolic gesture of repentance

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The British Library has announced it will posthumously reinstate gay poet and playwright Oscar Wilde’s reader pass after revoking it in 1895 due to his homosexuality.  Known at the time as the British Museum Reading Room, the venue banned Wilde after he was found guilty of “gross indecency” with men and sentenced to two years of hard labor. The symbolic pass will be presented to Wilde’s grandson, Merlin Holland, at an event on October 16, Wilde’s birthday. Asked how Wilde might react to the gesture, Holland told The Guardian, “He’d probably say ‘about time’ too.” Holland, who is also a Wilde scholar, said […]

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Converse celebrates 10 years of Pride collections with powerful “Proud to Be” campaign

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Converse has long been known for its fantastic Pride collections. The iconic shoe brand has celebrated Pride Month with rainbow footwear every year since 2015. This year, the company is celebrating its 10-year anniversary of showing its Pride. “Converse has always stood with the bold, the daring, and the unapologetic,” the website says. “For our 2025 ‘Proud to Be’ celebration, we’re not looking back, we’re lighting the way forward towards a future of love and joy for everyone.”  The brand also invited members of past Pride campaigns to write love letters to their future selves.  “I know that you are somewhere creating […]

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Tim Walz shames Dems who have abandoned trans people: “We need to be the party of human dignity.”

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As the Democratic party argues over whether standing up for trans people is bad for their brand, Minnesota Gov. and former vice presidential candidate Tim Walz (D) has held strong in his support for the community. During an impassioned speech at the annual California Democratic Convention over the weekend, Walz made his stance perfectly clear: “I’m just going to say it, shame on any of us who throws a trans child under the bus for thinking they’re going to get elected,” he said.  “That child deserves our support. Don’t worry about the pollsters calling it distractions, because we need to be the […]

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Affirming haircuts are a human right: The stylist fighting tooth & nail to upend salon gender norms

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When customers book hair appointments at Chicago’s Logan Parlor, owner Jamie DiGrazia asks only two questions: How long is your hair, and how long do you want it to be? These questions may seem simple and even quite logical, but in fact, they are quietly revolutionary.  While it’s quite common for a person’s hair length and style to deviate from gender norms, it remains standard practice in the beauty industry for pricing menus to offer women’s cuts and men’s cuts. DiGrazia says the model is both inefficient for salons as well as unfair and unaffirming for customers.  “Everyone has the […]

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Major LGBTQ+ organizations initiate mass layoffs in the wake of right-wing hate

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Two major LGBTQ+ organizations – GLSEN and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) – both recently announced major layoffs, with HRC planning to lose 20 percent of its workforce and GLSEN losing a whopping 60 percent of its staff. Both organizations claim the layoffs will not affect their strong resistance to the Trump administration.  GLSEN executive director Melanie Willingham-Jaggers said the organization has experienced a sharp revenue loss and the layoffs are part of plans to “right-size” the educational advocacy organization. “We are not an injured version of the GLSEN we were before Monday. We are a new organization,” they told Advocate, confirming […]

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Federal healthcare plan halts gender-affirming care coverage for trans people under 19

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The government’s largest health insurance program for federal employees has officially ended coverage of gender-affirming care for anyone under 19 years old in compliance with Donald Trump’s executive order mandating it.  The U.S. Office of Personnel and Management’s Healthcare and Insurance program – which covers “8 million Federal employees, retirees, former employees, family members, and former spouses,” according to the handbook – sent a directive to health insurance companies that work with the federal government stating they must comply with the order, along with another one Trump signed declaring there are only two sexes, male and female. “All Carriers for Plan Year […]

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Michigan expands hate crime law to protect LGBTQ+ identities

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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) has signed a bill adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s hate crime law, along with a companion billamending sentencing guidelines for hate crimes.  The 1988 ethnic intimidation law initially applied only to religion, ethnicity, and race. The new law adds LGBTQ+ identities, as well as sex, age, disability, national origin, and affiliation with these groups.  The bill was originally proposed in 2023 but faced controversy after conservatives spread false claims that it would criminalize the act of misgendering someone. Lawmakers introduced a new version of the bill this year.  “As a Jew in a time of rampant […]

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