Ryan Adamczeski

A gay asylum seeker from Jamaica is fighting to be released from ICE custody after he was detained before his asylum hearing. Rickardo Anthony Kelly, 40, was arrested by ICE officers at an immigration courthouse in Manhattan on Monday morning while he was waiting for his prescheduled hearing, accompanied by his attorney. Agents offered him $1,000 to self-deport, and apprehended him when he refused, Kelly said in a writ of habeas corpus petition filed Wednesday and reported by Courthouse News Service. Kelly said that he came to the U.S. on a tourist visa in 2021 shortly after he was the victim of a violent attack motivated by […]

21 states, 67 laws Anti-LGBTQ+ legislation isn’t slowing down in 2025 — it’s gaining traction.  Five hundred and ninety-eight bills restricting the rights of queer people have been proposed in state legislatures across the United States so far this year, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, with 67 becoming law. That’s compared to 533 proposed in all of last year, and 510 in all of 2023.  The 67 laws that have been enacted this year come from only 21 states, with just four of them accounting for 26 laws. Most target transgender people’s access to public facilities, gender-affirming care, and recognition in society.  […]

Harvard University has seemingly caved to the Trump Administration’s demand to end all diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives by removing the websites for its LGBTQ+ and women’s centers. The Ivy League’s pages for its Women’s Center, Office for BGLTQ Student Life, and Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations were removed Wednesday at the same time Dean of the faculty of arts and sciences, Hopi Hoekstra, revealed a new Office for Academic Culture and Community in an email to faculty shared with The Advocate. “This new office is part of the [university’s] ongoing effort to break down silos, ensuring all members of our community are connected, […]

Donald Trump‘s Department of Education is drafting plans to gut a student loan forgiveness program for public servants — and employees of LGBTQ+ groups are being singled out.  Trump signed an executive order in March dismantling access to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, directly pointing to nonprofits that serve transgender people as ineligible for loan forgiveness. Now, the Education Department has unveiled drafted plans that would follow through with the order. The cuts are expected to disproportionately impact LGBTQ+ people, who are more likely to have student loans and more likely to work for nonprofits.  “The proposed restrictions on student loans […]

Cutting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will disproportionately harm the LGBTQ+ community — and women and transgender people will bear the brunt of the changes.  About 15 percent of LGBTQ+ adults — nearly 2.1 million people, including 250,000 trans individuals and 1.3 million lesbian and bisexual women — received SNAP benefits in the past year, according to a new report by the Williams Institute, compared to 11 percent of non-LGBTQ+ adults. SNAP is the largest anti-hunger program in the U.S., supporting over 42 million people monthly. The current Budget Reconciliation Bill, Donald Trump‘s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” would cause an estimated seven million people to either lose their SNAP benefits or […]

The Trump Administration is ending the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services – but there’s still help available.  The federal government revealed it will be closing the program that provides emergency crisis support to queer youth considering suicide effective July 17, several months ahead of its initial October 1 closure deadline that was first revealed by leaked budget draft in April. While Congress can reverse the cuts, it’s unlikely under a Republican-controlled House and Senate.  There are still several existing lifelines for LGBTQ+ youth in crisis, whether it involves mental health, substance use, sexual health, or domestic violence. Here are some of the hotlines available […]

It seems not everyone is welcome in Idaho after the state’s attorney general ordered schools to prohibit signs that read “Everyone is Welcome Here” under a new state law. H.B. 41, which went into effect July 1, bans the display of banners or flags in K-12 classrooms that represent “political, religious, or ideological views, including but not limited to political parties, race, gender, sexual orientation, or political ideologies.” Republican Raúl Labrador issued guidance on how schools should apply the law, determining that the policy applies even to vague messages promoting kindness.  Labrador specifically referenced signs hung by Sarah Inama, a sixth grade history teacher at Lewis […]