The Advocate

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U.S. Cardinal Robert Prevost becomes Pope Leo XIV. Here’s what he’s said about LGBTQ+ people

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Two days after the College of Cardinals gathered to elect a new pope, a decision has been made. Robert Prevost has been chosen, becoming the first American pope in history. He’s adopted the name Pope Leo XIV. Leo’s ascension to the papacy comes after Pope Francis, a relatively progressive pope when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights, died last month.  The new pope is from Chicago and is 69. He earned an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Villanova University in Pennsylvania, then received a diploma in theology at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago. He previously served as a Catholic missionary in South America, CNN reports. […]

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Poland’s last ‘LGBTQ-free zone’ is no more

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The last “LGBTQ-free zone” in Poland has been abolished. The governing council of Łańcut County voted last Thursday to repeal the resolution that created the zone, formally called a Charter of Family Rights, Notes From Poland reports. The vote was 13-5. Council members made clear, however, that they were motivated only by financial considerations. The European Union is withholding funds from cities and counties that had such zones. “The [council] is of the view that the over 80,000-strong community of Łańcut County cannot be deprived of benefits resulting from participation in many programs and grants,” said a statement from the council, as translated by Notes From Poland. The decision “is […]

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Lesbian Minnesota Congresswoman Angie Craig launches historic U.S. Senate bid

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U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, the first out LGBTQ+ person elected to Congress from Minnesota, officially launched her campaign Tuesday for U.S. Senate—setting the stage for a closely watched Democratic primary in a political climate increasingly hostile to queer Americans. In a campaign video released on President Donald Trump’s 100th day back in office, Craig, a Democrat representing Minnesota’s Second Congressional District, slammed the Republican for “trampling our rights and freedoms as he profits,” accused billionaire Elon Musk of trying to “burn [the government] to the ground,” and called out a “cowardly Republican Party” enabling it all. “There’s chaos and corruption coming out of Washington, crashing down on all of us every […]

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Trump HHS posts ‘so-called report’ pushing conversion therapy for trans kids

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The Trump administration escalated its assault on transgender youth Thursday with the release of a controversial new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that promotes conversion therapy and discredits gender-affirming care. Advocates and experts have said the report is filled with misinformation about both.  Commissioned under President Donald Trump’s January Executive Order 14187, the 409-page report falsely claims medical transition is harmful and unproven, and promotes “exploratory therapy”—a rebranded version of conversion practices widely condemned by major medical associations. The order directed HHS to attack WPATH’s standards of care, revoke federal funding for transition-related treatments, and reshape public health policy to align with […]

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Jill Sobule, ‘I Kissed a Girl’ singer-songwriter, dies in house fire

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Bisexual musician Jill Sobule, the singer-songwriter behind the 1995 sapphic anthem “I Kissed a Girl,” died Thursday in a house fire at age 66. Firefighters were called about 5:30 a.m. to a home in Woodbury, Minnesota, a suburb of the Twin Cities, The New York Times reports. They found Sobule dead inside the house. She was staying with friends while rehearsing for a performance of songs from her autobiographical one-woman show, Fuck 7th Grade, which was to take place Friday at the Swallow Hill Music Festival in Denver, Sobule’s hometown, her publicist said. Sobule’s “I Kissed a Girl” came out 13 years before Katy Perry’s different […]

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Her partner of 45 years developed Alzheimer’s. She’s sharing their story to ‘take away fear’

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Janice Goldberg still remembers the first moment she laid eyes on her partner Sue. It was over 45 years ago in the small beach town of Ocean City, Maryland. Janice had gotten a job waiting tables at an upscale restaurant after spending the first part of her summer in Europe. She wasn’t quite sure what the future had in store for her – then “there she was.” Sue, who lived in Florida at the time, had travelled up the coast to spend the summer in Ocean City with her then-boyfriend. The two decided one day to treat themselves to a meal at a […]

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Economic insecurity linked to LGBTQ+ youth mental health issues: Trevor Project report

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t’s well documented that LGBTQ+ young people are at greater risk of mental health problems and suicidal ideation or attempts than their straight and cisgender peers. Now a new research brief from the Trevor Project shows how economic insecurity correlates with that. Food insecurity, being unhoused, and being unable to meet basic economic needs were all associated with increased odds of mental health issues, according to the brief, “The Impact of Houselessness and Food Insecurity on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People,” released Wednesday. It draws on data from the Trevor Project’s 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People. “Overall, economic insecurity […]

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Meta AI tilts right, recommends conversion therapy: report

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Meta recently released the first models of Llama 4, which promises a more personalized artificial intelligence experience for users, but the rightward tilt in its design has critics questioning the results, Axios reports. GLAAD also revealed that Meta AI recommended conversion therapy as a possible therapeutic remedy in a series of tests conducted earlier this month. Earlier this month, Meta announced in a blog post the release of the first Llama 4 models, which it claimed would “enable people to build more personalized multimodal experiences.” But their efforts have led to some problematic results. Previously it created a “disturbing” profile of a fictitious Black queer woman and now it appears to recommend conversion therapy. “Meta AI is […]

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Target foot traffic down for 10th consecutive week amid boycott over DEI abandonment

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An ongoing boycott against Target appears to be taking effect as foot traffic declines for the tenth consecutive week. Foot traffic in Target stores declined 9 percent year-over-year in February and 6.5 percent year-over-year in March, according to data from analytics firm Placer.ai reported by CNN. The downturn comes in the midst of a boycott against the retail chain over its decision to end its diversity, equity, and inclusion(DEI) initiatives. Meanwhile, Costco — which rejected calls to abandon its DEI efforts— marked its sixteenth straight week of increasing foot traffic. The boycott against Target began at the start of Lent, a Christian observance that occurs in the 40 […]

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Alabama House passes ‘Don’t Say Gay,’ drag ban, and Ten Commandments bills all at once

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The Alabama state House of Representatives passed three anti-LGBTQ+ laws on the same day. Republicans approved the bills Thursday, which included an expansion of the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law to encompass grades K-12, a ban on drag performances in some public spaces, an LGBTQ+ Pride flag ban in public schools, a ban against school employees using students’ preferred names and pronouns, and a law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displaced in all public education institutions — even colleges. The bills now head to the state Senate.  HB 244 would “prohibit classroom instruction in public school prekindergarten through the twelfth grade related to gender identity or sexual orientation; to […]

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