The Advocate

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Gavin Newsom’s homophobic Grindr controversy explained

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing criticism from LGBTQ+ advocates after his press office used Grindr as a punchline in posts targeting conservative commentator Benny Johnson—the latest controversy for the governor, who is widely seen as positioning himself for a potential 2028 presidential run. The backlash comes amid broader unease among LGBTQ+ leaders over Newsom’s recent comments urging Democrats to be more “culturally normal” and to spend less time on “pronouns” and “identity politics,” remarks critics say echo language historically used to marginalize LGBTQ+ people. What happened The controversy stems from a series of social media posts by Newsom’s press office during an ongoing […]

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Elon Musk-linked mural at Rhode Island gay bar sparks backlash

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A mural honoring a slain Ukrainian refugee at a Rhode Island gay bar has been halted after revelations that it is part of a controversial national campaign reportedly backed by Elon Musk, prompting objections from Providence’s out mayor and sparking backlash within the LGBTQ+ community. Providence Mayor Brett Smiley’s office told a local NBC affiliate, WJAR, that he wants the building-sized painting of Iryna Zarutska — a Ukrainian stabbed to death on a Charlotte, North Carolina light rail train last year — to be removed. Artist Ian Gaudreau had largely completed the mural painted on the side of the gay bar The Dark Lady before the owners called for the project […]

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LGBTQ+ Task Force’s Evan Low: What’s at stake this midterms

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Amid a torrent of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and a national political climate increasingly defined by fear and distortion, Evan Low has come to an unsettling realization: What the country is living through right now is not normal. Low, the president and CEO of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund and Victory Institute and a former California state lawmaker, had just returned from Creating Change, the annual gathering of LGBTQ+ advocates and organizers hosted by the National LGBTQ Task Force in January. The conversations, he said, were less about inspiration than confirmation that the scope, coordination, and intensity of attacks on LGBTQ+ people have […]

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NASCAR indefinitely suspends driver who mocked IndyCar racer’s ‘gay voice’

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NASCAR indefinitely suspended Kaulig Racing driver Daniel Dye after he mocked another driver with a homophobic remark during a livestream, triggering swift disciplinary action from both his team and the sanctioning body. The sanctioning body announced the suspension on Tuesday, saying Dye violated a rule prohibiting members from making public statements that “criticize, ridicule, or otherwise disparage” someone based on characteristics, including sexual orientation. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. The move happened after Dye, in a livestream on social media, insinuated an IndyCar driver […]

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Fewer young Americans support LGBTQ+ protections, survey finds

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Just 7 in 10 Americans aged 18 to 29 support nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ residents, a new survey has found. That is down from 80 percent expressing support in 2015, just ten years prior, primarily driven by a decrease in support from young Republicans, according to the Public Religion Research Institute. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. While support has decreased overall in recent years, protections for LGBTQ+ protections are still widely popular among Americans, according to the surveyreleased Thursday by the institute, titled the “2025 […]

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Want to support LGBTQ+ businesses? There’s an app for that

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Colored glass and antique tins line the walls of Again Vintage, each ware reflecting gentle window light. Here, the hustle of New York City finds calm, and by design. Co-owners Ryann Holmes and Sara Elise wanted to run a business but also cultivate a sense of relaxation. Some visitors tell them coming inside feels like an exhale, Holmes says. The tense political moment has made inclusivity in their business approach feel more urgent. Last year, the store joined Everywhere Is Queer, an app that maps out LGBTQ+ businesses globally. Holmes says the platform has united LGBTQ+ business owners and creatives […]

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Mormons remind trans members they aren’t welcome at temple rituals until detransition

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The Mormon church updated its official principles to remind transgendermembers they will only be recognized in rituals by their “biological sex at birth.”  The update to the General Handbook of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not mark a formal change in doctrine, but it offers more detailed guidance on how gender transition affects eligibility for temple participation. “Worthy members who do not pursue surgical, medical, or social transition away from their biological sex at birth may receive a temple recommend and temple ordinances,” the handbook reads. That follows a prior update to church doctrine in 2020 that reflected a […]

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Judge hints at federal class action, orders DOJ evidence in trans military ban case

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A federal judge on Monday ordered the Trump administration to turn over the evidence behind its restrictions on transgender military service members, while laying the groundwork for a potential class action that could extend the case’s protections to transgender troops across the armed forces. The hearing in Talbott v. United States had originally been scheduled to take place in person at the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C. But Judge Ana Reyes moved the proceeding online due to forecasts of widespread severe weather across the capital region. Reyes granted in part the plaintiffs’ request to move the case forward and denied, for now, a government motion seeking to […]

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State Department visa rule sets stage for ICE scrutiny of transgender immigrants

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The U.S. Department of State has finalized a new immigration rule requiring visa applicants to identify their sex assigned at birth. Advocates warn that the change will expose transgender and nonbinary travelers to scrutiny, delays, visa denials, or deportation if their documents do not align with the Trump administration’s definition of sex. The regulation, published Wednesday in the Federal Register, updates federal immigration procedures to align with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump last year directing agencies to recognize sex as a fixed biological classification and remove references to gender identity from federal policy. Under the new rule, visa and immigration systems will record sex assigned […]

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Former DOGE staffer says ChatGPT helped feds cancel grants mentioning ‘LGBTQ+’

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A former Trump administration staffer testified under oath that humanities grants referencing LGBTQ+ people were flagged for cancellation, sometimes simply because the word appeared in a project description. The testimony from Nathan Cavanaugh, a political appointee in his late 20s who worked with billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team via the General Services Administration, offers an unusually detailed window into how the administration moved to purge diversity-related projects from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The NEH distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in grants each year to support historical research, museums, archives, and public humanities programs across the United States. Cavanaugh’s January […]

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