The Advocate

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Community rallies to save Florida’s largest Pride celebration as law sparks corporate sponsors’ retreat

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As Florida restricts public funding for diversity celebrations, St. Pete Prideleaders say their event needs community support to cover a financial shortfall. The 24-year-old St. Petersburg organization just launched a fundraising drive, hoping to raise $289,000 by the end of November. The organization said it needs that money to cover outstanding expenses from this year. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. “Declining corporate sponsorships, rising event costs, and years of carrying expenses from one Pride season into the next have put the organization in a difficult financial […]

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‘It seems intentional’: Massachusetts town officials face questions over rainbow crosswalk removals

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As Pride rainbow crosswalks have been erased in conservative states across the country, officials in one Massachusetts town must explain why the same happened there. Residents of Swampscott, about 15 miles north of Boston, are demanding answers after two rainbow crosswalks painted in support of the LGBTQ+community were restriped in black and white by town officials. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. On October 9, Swampscott officials posted on the town’s website and Facebook page that “regularly scheduled maintenance” had taken place and acknowledged that “two crosswalks that had previously been painted in […]

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Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy dodges question on LGBTQ+ equality in new interview

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In his first-ever broadcast interview with Today, CEO Andrew Cathy dodged questions on Chick-fil-A’s longstanding homophobic views. “I think that everybody that would be willing to walk in the door, they’ll see that they’re welcome to come eat with us,” he said about the company’s position on equal rights. The origins of the Chick-fil-A controversy goes all the way back to 2012. In Pride Month of that year, then-CEO (and Cathy’s father) Dan Cathy publicly stated in interviews that the company was supportive of the “biblical definition of the family” and opposed same-sex marriage. Throughout the years, the company’s charitable arm, […]

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Too young to vote, these LGBTQ+ teens are organizing for a say in their future

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For young people exhausted by attacks on their rights, Queer the Ballot offers practical tools to influence decisions about their lives — before they can cast a ballot. In eighth grade, Bekah Garlikov began taking a screenshot of the news headlines about transgender people every day. He wanted to understand what people like him were going through. What he found initially left him feeling powerless. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. Now 17, the Bay Area high school senior is helping other young people influence decisions about their […]

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Nebraska court rules voters can decide whether to cement an anti-trans sports ban in state constitution

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The Nebraska Supreme Court has ruled that an initiative to bar transgenderathletes from girls’ and women’s sports will remain on the state’s ballot. A voter sued to block the measure, arguing that its summary failed to adequately explain the implications of the proposed amendment to the state constitution. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. But in a unanimous opinion written by Justice Jason Bergevin, the court said the ballot language gave voters enough information to understand what they were voting for or against. “The right of initiative is precious to the […]

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LGBTQ+ congressional candidates could deliver a historic rebuke to MAGA Republicans at the ballot box

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Weeks before her congressional primary, Marni von Wilpert received a call that upended every campaign calculation. Doctors had detected early-stage breast cancer. Her first response, she recalled, was that she didn’t have time. She was running for Congress to represent her California district. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. Surgery followed. Sitting in hospital waiting rooms, the San Diego City Council member thought about the security of knowing she could afford the care that might save her life — and the Americans who could not. “And the person […]

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Voting 101: 7 ways to make your midterm ballot count

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The midterm elections on November 3 will test the narrow congressional majority held by Republicans since President Donald Trump took office last year. They also come as the president pushes to change how elections are conducted nationwide, falsely portraying fraud as a pervasive issue. The Trump administration has called for a federal voter database using citizen data, plus new ID requirements spurred by false claims of noncitizen voting. In July, Trump also gutted a bipartisan commission created to uphold election integrity across the United States. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your […]

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Texas A&M’s Republican drag ban gets its day in court before 17 federal judges

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The full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday in two cases that could determine whether public universities may bar drag shows from campus venues. Federal judges reached conflicting rulings in the disputes involving the Texas A&M University System. The legal fight began in 2023, when West Texas A&M University President Walter Wendler canceled a student drag show organized by Spectrum WT. The group and two student leaders sued the school, arguing that the cancellation violated their First Amendment rights. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days […]

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Pittsburgh LGBTQ+ bar under fire for allowing blackface drag performance

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An LGBTQ+ bar in Pittsburgh has come under fire after a performer went on stage in blackface during its open stage event. Blue Moon Bar hosts open stage events weekly, inviting local artists to perform for bar patrons. Last week, posts began circulating on social media of a drag participant performing in blackface during the September 23 showcase. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. “How this person was even allowed to step on stage wearing this is beyond me,” Pittsburgh drag artist Pineapple Honeydew wrote on Instagram. “This is actual disgusting, […]

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As hospitals make deals with Trump ending trans care, protesters warn NewYork-Presbyterian: Don’t follow them

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Dozens of people picketed outside NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Thursday afternoon as part of a campaign challenging restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors at New York City hospitals. Protesters allege that the Manhattan-based hospital has stopped accepting new minor patients for gender-affirming care, mirroring restrictions at other health centers nationwide that cut youth off from gender-affirming care amid pressure from the Trump administration. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. “We’re at NewYork-Presbyterian because they have ended care for trans kids, capitulating to the Trump administration’s attacks,” said Eliel Cruz, deputy […]

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