The Advocate

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Gay Minneapolis pastor says ICE agent pointed gun at his face, blocks from Renee Good’s killing

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A gay Minneapolis pastor says federal immigration agents handcuffed him, pointed a gun at his face, and taunted him while he stood among nonviolent protesters just blocks from where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, a mother of three who also leaves behind a wife. The encounter has become a visceral symbol of fear, fury, and deepening mistrust between federal authorities and communities already scarred by violence. The Rev. Kenny Callaghan, a gay senior pastor at All God’s Children Metropolitan Community Church whose congregation sits near Portland Avenue and East 31st Street, told The Advocate in an interview Friday that […]

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Gen. Stanley McChrystal presides over historic farewell for five transgender troops forced into retirement

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On Thursday, the Human Rights Campaign dedicated its headquarters in Washington, D.C., to transgender military members and veterans, where people gathered to reckon with what advocates are calling one of the most consequential civil rights reversals in modern U.S. history. Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate’s email newsletter. At the organization’s Equality Forum, the day began with a policy panel titled Serving With Pride: The Future of LGBTQ+ Veterans’ Benefits & Recognition. It concluded with a retirement ceremony honoring five transgender service members whose distinguished careers were abruptly cut short by the Trump administration’s renewed transgender military ban. An unprecedented retirement ceremony The official party […]

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LGBTQ+ officials denounce ICE killing of Minneapolis woman, demand investigation

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Numerous LGBTQ+ elected officials, all Democrats, are speaking out on the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by Immigration and Customs Enforcementagents in Minneapolis Wednesday, saying there is no justification for ICE’s action and that there must be a thorough investigation. Good was married to a woman and had a 6-year-old son from a previous union. Minnesota U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, whose district is near Minneapolis, posted on X that she and her colleagues have often “warned of the dangers of the Trump Administration’s chaotic, reckless, and unnecessary ICE operations in our cities.” “Today, our worst fears became reality when an ICE agent shot and killed a woman […]

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Indiana town sued for blocking LGBTQ+ Pride festival (again)

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A town in Indiana is being sued once again for blocking an LGBTQ+ Pride celebration by imposing strict regulations on public events — and ignoring organizers even after they met the requirements.  The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana has filed both a lawsuit and a motion for contempt against the town of Loogootee over a “new” ordinance that bans special events from taking place within 240 feet of the town fountain, where the annual PrideFest is held. The town passed the resolution in December despite a near-identical policy being blocked by a court in August.  “The City of Loogootee has passed a series of ordinances […]

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Anti-LGBTQ+ Republican congressman from California dies suddenly

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U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a Republican lawmaker representing California, whose career included his opposition to marriage equality and transgender rights, died suddenly this week at 65, according to the House GOP. His death further narrows an already fragile Republican majority in the U.S. House and removes a central figure in the party’s escalating campaign against trans rights. “House Republicans mourn the loss of Congressman Doug LaMalfa,” the party wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “He proudly represented California’s 1st Congressional District from 2013 to 2026, serving as Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus.” House Speaker Mike Johnson, the Louisiana Republican, wrote in a statement that “Congress is devastated to learn this morning about […]

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Distraught woman says ICE killed her wife in video after deadly Minneapolis shooting

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A Minnesota woman sitting in the snow with her dog told a person filming her that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had just shot and killed her wife — now identified as Renee Nicole Good, 37 — according to newly circulating video that has intensified scrutiny of a fatal federal shooting during a sweeping immigration enforcement operation in south Minneapolis on Wednesday. “They killed my wife. I don’t know what to do,” the woman says through sobs in the footage, with a damaged SUV visible in the distance behind her. “We stopped to videotape, and they shot her in the head,” the woman […]

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All about the Mattachine Society, the first enduring U.S. gay rights group

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Before the National LGBTQ Task Force, before the Human Rights Campaign, even before the Stonewall uprising, there was the Mattachine Society. The organization, formed in 1950 in Los Angeles, can’t claim to be the first gay rights group (no one used LGBTQ+ back then) — that honor goes to the short-lived, Chicago-based Society for Human Rights, founded in 1924, and an inspiration for Mattachine. But Mattachine can claim to be the first one that lasted long — into the 1970s. The founders of the Mattachine Society included labor organizer Harry Hay, Bob Hull, Chuck Rowland, Dale Jennings, Konrad Stevens, James Gruber, and Rudi Gernreich (the latter […]

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Burkina Faso issues first sentence for ‘homosexuality and related practices’

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Burkina Faso has issued its first known conviction for homosexuality since banning same-sex sexual relations earlier this year.  An individual identified as K.M. was charged with sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment, a fine of 2,000,000 CFA francs (approximately $3,581), and ordered expelled from the country following completion of the sentence, the African Human Rights Coalition has confirmed. The official charges were “homosexuality and related practices.” “AHRC expresses grave concern over this conviction, particularly given the sweeping and vague language of the new law, its application against a vulnerable foreign national, and the penal severity including post-sentence expulsion,” the organization said in a statement. “This represents the […]

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Missing Black trans man Danny Siplin found dead in Rochester, New York

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Danny “Dusse” Siplin, a 33-year-old Black transgender man who was reported missing last Tuesday, was found dead Friday in Rochester, New York. Police do not suspect foul play but are still investigating, according to local media. “There does not appear to be any criminal intent involved with Siplin’s death,” police said, as quoted by TV station WROC. Anyone with information is asked to call 911. Siplin’s body was found near the Genesee River Gorge, and his vehicle was found on Upper Falls Bridge with the motor running, the doors closed, and his wallet inside, TV station WHEC reports. He had spoken on the phone to his mother, […]

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RFK Jr.’s HHS investigates Seattle Children’s Hospital over youth gender-affirming care

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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has launched an investigation into Seattle Children’s Hospital for providing gender-affirming careto youth.  The department announced Friday that it has referred the hospital to the Office of Inspector General for “for failure to meet professional recognized standards of health care as according to Secretary Kennedy’s declaration.” If the department concludes the hospital violated the policy, it could lose its Medicaid and Medicare funding. Cited in the referral is the agency’s announcement from earlier this month that it is proposing to ban the lifesaving care for those under age 18, and to prevent both Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance […]

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