Poppy-Jay St. Palmer

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LGBTQ+ community raises $83k to save city’s only lesbian bar

Denver’s LGBTQ+ community has come together to raise $83,000 and save the city’s only lesbian bar. Speakeasy-themed sapphic bar and cafe The Pearl announced via Instagram on 11 April that it would be closing its doors for good at the end of the month after just one year of business. “This statement comes with a lot of respect and appreciation for everyone who patrons the bar and makes this space what it is,” The Pearl wrote. “From the bottom of our hearts, we have loved getting to create a space for everyone in our community. It’s communities that often get […]

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Trump’s Education Department ends agreement to protect trans students

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The Trump administration has backed out of an agreement to protect trans students in five district schools and a college. AP reported that the Education Department terminated the agreements, which were previously negotiated by the Obama and Biden administrations under Title IX, on 6 April. Title IX is a civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools and other education programmes that receive funding from the federal government. The previous administrations interpreted the law to include protections for LGBTQ+ students, particularly trans students. The original agreement pledged to help protect trans students by setting a federal obligation for the schools to run measures like faculty training […]

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India passes limiting trans protection bill that redefines who qualifies as trans

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The Lok Sabha, also known as India’s House of the People, has passed a new bill that limits the rights of transgender people in the country. Passed on 24 March, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill 2026 makes amendments to the previous 2019 law that pertains to the rights and wellbeing of trans people. The amendments redefine who qualifies as trans people and therefore who is protected by the law, and also introduces a new system for identity certification and stricter punishment for offences against the trans community. Under the new bill, a medical board will be formed to […]

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Leigh Ryswyk makes history as the first AFL player to come out as gay

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Leigh Ryswyk has made history as the first male Australian Football League (AFL) player to come out as gay. Speaking on radio show GayFL on 25 March, Ryswyk shared that he has been out to close friends for the last five years. “There will be people though, if they do listen to this, it will be the first time they know about this,” he said. “I’m a very private person, so it’s not all over my social media, and things like that, and that’s fine.” He continued: “It can be a bit of a shock to some people, they might not […]

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Kentucky to pass bill that would declare trans people mentally ill

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Kentucky is on track to pass a new bill that would declare transgender people mentally ill and ban trans teachers from working. State senator Gex Williams proposed the amendment to House Bill 759, which relates to teacher certification. The amendment itself does not mention trans people specifically, but would forbid the certification of teachers who have been diagnosed with or treated for any “disorder that is excluded from the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990”. The ADA sets out a list of “disorders” that are not protected by law, including “gender identity disorders”. Other listed disorders include transexualism, pedophilia, kleptomania, compulsive […]

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Man sentenced after defrauding gay men on dating apps for over £28,000

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A man who coerced gay men on dating apps and defrauded them for a total of £28,488 has been sentenced to three years in prison. Between July 2022 and November 2024, 26-year-old Thomas Godden was found to have tricked three men into thinking they were in romantic relationships with him. He then exploited them to send him money for what they thought were day-to-day costs, travel expenses and more, and ensured them that he would repay them. One of the men he victimised sent him more than £26,000. An investigation carried out by the City of London Police found that […]

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Kind strangers raise $90k for trans man’s college tuition after parents cut him off

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Hundreds of kind strangers have helped raise $90,000 so an MIT student could complete his college education after his parents cut him off for being trans. Matthew N, a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, lost his student housing when his parents financially cut him off when he came out as transgender. A GoFundMe for Matthew, which was set up by his friend and fellow MIT student Irene Dong, has surpassed the target of $81,100, meaning he will be able to graduate. One anonymous supporter even donated $10,000. “Matthew’s parents cut off their financial support after discovering he is transgender,” […]

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Man sentenced to prison for cyberstalking gay men since 2016

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A man from North Carolina who targeted gay men, stalked them and sent them death threats since 2016 has been sentenced to three years in federal prison. David Ryan Winters, aged 40, was convicted on cyberstalking charges after targeting men in the Raleigh-Durham area. The court heard that Winters himself was gay, and that he volunteered at Raleigh’s LGBT Center in 2013 and 2014. However, the News & Observer reported that “his behavior there bothered others to the extent staff told him he could visit but no longer volunteer”. The US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina said that […]

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Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles bans trans folk from changing gender on ID

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The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles will no longer accept court orders or medical documentations recognising transgender residents’ gender changes, effectively banning trans people from changing their gender markers on state ID. The change was announced in a small post on the BMV’s website on 9 February and went into effect on 12 February, meaning people had just three days to act. In a statement released on 9 February, LGBTQ+ advocacy group Indiana Youth Group said: “Denying people the ability to update the gender marker on their identification is not only discriminatory; it is dangerous. In an increasingly hostile climate, […]

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