The Advocate

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Employees at VA hospital say they could be fired for wearing rainbow colors to work

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Employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Hampton Medical Center in Virginia say they were warned during the week of October 13 that they could be fired or disciplined for wearing or displaying rainbow-themed items, including official VA Pride lanyards, according to messages reviewed by The Advocate. The employees are being kept anonymous out of fear of retaliation. The exchanges suggest that the directive, which employees say came from local leadership, cited an “executive order,” creating confusion and fear among staff. That order appears linked to the Trump administration’s rollback of protections for transgender, nonbinary, and intersex veterans. As The Advocate previously reported, the VA in March rescinded Directive 1341, a […]

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Customs and Border Patrol says airlines may only use male and female gender markers for travelers

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The Trump administration has issued a new rule for airlines requiring an end to gender demarcations besides male or female. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol issued a new rule, citing an executive order signed by President Donald Trump the first day of his new term. The regulation demands carriers to update guidance for their Advance Passenger Information System, or APIS. Under Democratic President Joe Biden, airlines could note passenger gender with as male, female or other, but can no longer afford that recognition to genders outside the binary. “Existing APIS regulatory language provides that ‘M’ or ‘F’ (M=Male; F=Female) sex markers are to be accepted […]

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Ohio pastor who called being gay a ‘health risk’ charged with child rape, sexual battery

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An Ohio pastor who said that being LGBTQ+ is a “health risk” and that he became “sick” from reading gay romance has been charged with child rape.  Silas Shelton, the 48-year-old pastor of Blanchester Community Church, has been arrested on four felony charges, including rape, sexual battery, unlawful sexual contact with a minor, and gross sexual imposition, the Wilmington Police Department announced last week. He is accused of having inappropriate sexual contact with a girl in the fall of 2019, when she was 14 or 15 and a member of his congregation, until as recently as a few months ago.  Shelton spoke in front of the Little […]

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An Alabama LGBTQ+ bar advertised a drag show. Then the city denied its liquor license

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The owner of an LGBTQ+ bar and grill in Alabama that was forced to close down after officials denied its liquor and entertainment licenses has filed a lawsuit against the town for discrimination.  Thomas Fuller, who owned Crossroads Bar and Grill, asserts that the Town of Rockford “effectively singled [him] out because of his sexual orientation, deprived him of equal protection under the law, and forced him to close his business,” according to the lawsuit filed in September in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama Northern Division. After obtaining a business and an ABC Board liquor license in 2023, Fuller […]

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Federal judge orders Pentagon to restore LGBTQ+ books, gender & diversity lessons in military schools

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A federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia, has ordered the Pentagon to restore nearly 600 books and reinstate lessons on race, gender, and identity in schoolsserving military families, ruling that the Trump administration’s restrictions on classroom content likely violated students’ First Amendment rights. In a 44-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles concluded that the Department of Defense Education Activity removed books and altered curricula in ways that suppressed certain viewpoints and deprived students of access to ideas about race and gender. She found that the department’s actions caused real harm and were likely motivated by viewpoint discrimination. The ruling requires the Pentagon to immediately return […]

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Gay California State Sen. Scott Wiener to challenge Nancy Pelosi for her congressional seat

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California state Sen. Scott Wiener, one of the country’s most influential LGBTQ+lawmakers, is preparing to run for Congress. It’s a move that would set up a dramatic generational contest against Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who has represented San Francisco in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1987. As first reported by The San Francisco Standard and The New York Times, Wiener plans to launch his campaign formally later this month. Pelosi, 85, has not said whether she will seek reelection in 2026, but Wiener, 55, appears to be moving ahead regardless. Wiener’s candidacy has been years in the making. He filed paperwork for a congressional committee in 2023 and […]

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The kids aren’t alright: Depression and anxiety rates are skyrocketing among LGBTQ+ youth

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LGBTQ+ youth in the United States already had poor mental health — but it’s only gotten worse in the past two years. Mental health crises among LGBTQ+ youth have recently risen significantly, according to a new report from The Trevor Project, with anxiety symptoms climbing from 57 percent to 68 percent, depressive symptoms increasing from 48 percent to 54 percent, and suicidal ideation growing from 41 percent to 47 percent. While past-year suicide attempts declined from 11 percent to 7 percent, the rate remains higher than national estimates for cisgender heterosexual youth. “While many of the findings in this study are devastating, they […]

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NBC fires teams of journalists focused on marginalized communities, axing NBC Out & NBC BLK staff

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NBC News has laid off about 150 employees, roughly 7 percent of its newsroom, and dissolved its dedicated editorial teams covering Black, Latino, Asian American, and LGBTQ+ communities, according to The Wrap. The Advocateconfirmed the firings through a source who was affected by the cuts. The move is part of a reorganization that separates MSNBC from NBC News under a new entity called Versant. Executives described the decision as an efficiency measure to eliminate overlap and streamline operations across NBCUniversal’s news division. But it also dismantles the network’s identity-based teams: NBC BLK, NBC Latino, NBC Asian America, and NBC Out. NBC News confirmed that while some roles were […]

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Texas follows Florida’s lead in demanding end to rainbow crosswalks and street art

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Texas Gov Greg Abbott has joined the effort to blot out rainbow crosswalks on public streets. That means the Lone Star State will follow the lead of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and states including Florida, which has continued to erase all street art in the name of erasing “political ideologies” from the roadways. The Texas Department of Transportation sent a memo to local governments announcing it would adhere to Duffy’s direction to keep crosswalks “free from distractions.” That means Texas won’t allow any public art, political messaging, or any other nonstandard markings. “Pavement markings such as decorative crosswalks, murals, or markings conveying artwork or other messages […]

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Gavin Newsom signs several pro-LGBTQ+ laws, vetoes gender-affirming care and HIV coverage

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California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed several bills strengthening LGBTQ+ protections in the state, while vetoing two that would have expanded health care coverage, his office announced Monday.  Newsom signed Assembly Bill 82/Senate Bill 497, which strengthens confidentiality in health care — including for drugs used in gender-affirming careand abortion. The bill, introduced by out gay Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener, expands the state’s shield law by requiring law enforcement obtain warrants to access the California healthcare database and punishing unauthorized access as a misdemeanor.  “The Trump Administration is trying to make transgender people the scapegoats for their fascist takeover, and California must stand up to protect them,” Wiener said […]

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