The Advocate

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Virginia school accused of failing to protect trans teen from planned attack

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On October 5, 2022, transgender high school student Tatiana Blount was the victim of a violent attack planned by fellow students that left her with serious and permanent injuries, according to a report from Norfolk, Virginia, ABC affiliate WVEC. Now, Blount is suing Lake Taylor High School in Norfolk for damages, attorneys’ fees, and court costs, claiming school authorities ignored her multiple requests for intervention and protection. The suit alleges that school officials displayed “gross negligence” and their actions violated Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. (Gender dysphoria is considered a disability under the ADA.) It goes on […]

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Delaware strengthens legal protections for LGBTQ+ families as other states move the opposite way

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As conservative lawmakers across the country target transgender rights and revisit long-settled questions about LGBTQ+ equality, Delaware moved in the opposite direction. On Tuesday, Gov. Matt Meyer, a Democrat, signed legislation modernizing the state’s parentage laws, expanding legal protections for children and families formed through assisted reproduction, surrogacy, donor conception, and other paths to parenthood commonly used by LGBTQ+ people. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. The updated Delaware Parentage Act may lack the political flash of debates over bathrooms, sports, or marriage equality — but for many LGBTQ+ families, advocates say, few laws […]

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NYC leaders denounce hospital for handing over trans patient records to Trump administration

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New York elected leaders slammed the Mount Sinai Health System after the medical provider said it would turn over records of transgender patients to the Trump administration. The New York City Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus said such a betrayal of medical privacy would contribute to an increasingly hostile environment for trans youth. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. “Let us be clear: transgender children are not political targets. Their private medical information should be exactly that — private. It should never be treated as evidence in a politically driven investigation, and hospitals entrusted with […]

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Federal judge declines to block DOJ efforts nationwide to obtain trans youth medical records

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Maryland U.S. District Judge Julie Rubin, a Biden-era appointee, rejected a first-of-its-kind bid from transgender advocates that would establish a national order preventing Trump’s Justice Department from strong-arming hospital systems and service providers into giving away sensitive patient information about trans minors who receive gender-affirming care, per Reuters.  Rubin heard arguments Tuesday from families of transgender children and LGBTQ+ legal advocates seeking certification of a class action lawsuit against the DOJ that would have blocked the department from pressuring hospitals to share private medical records. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. […]

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Hakeem Jeffries vows that House Democrats will stand with trans Americans ‘always and forever’

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As the Trump administration continues its unprecedented assault on LGBTQ+ rights, some of the nation’s most prominent queer leaders and allies gathered Tuesday night in Washington, D.C., with a message that was equal parts warning, celebration, and call to action: don’t give up. Bob the Drag Queen hosted Equality PAC’s annual National Pride Gala, attended by members of Congress, activists, celebrities, and donors, packed a ballroom just blocks from the Capitol, where speakers repeatedly returned to a common refrain — that the current wave of anti-LGBTQ+ attacks, particularly those targeting transgender people, can be defeated through political organizing, visibility, and persistence. Stay up to […]

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Trump admin eliminates health care programs for LGBTQ+ veterans

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The Department of Veterans Affairs has ordered health facilities nationwide to eliminate gender identity-based initiatives and strip the LGBTQ+ designation from a network of medical coordinators created to help LGBTQ+ veterans navigate care, according to an internal memorandum obtained by The Advocate. The June 12 directive, signed by Veterans Health Administration Under Secretary for Health John J. Bartrum, the VA official who oversees the nation’s largest integrated health care system, is the latest move by the Trump administration to remove references to LGBTQ+ and transgender identities from federal programs. It also raises new questions about the future of a specialized support network the VA […]

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Maine judge upholds block of anti-trans initiative on November ballot

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On Thursday, a Superior Court judge upheld the block of a referendum on transgender athletes from its November ballot, according to Maine Public. The proposal, launched by Protect Girls’ Sports in Maine, aimed to restrict transgender school athletes to compete only on teams that match their gender assigned at birth, or on co-ed teams. Further, it would enforce the use of separate “male” and “female” locker rooms, restrooms, and showers. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. The campaign gained momentum in February, when the group submitted a […]

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Kamala Harris thrills crowd with surprise appearance at iconic West Hollywood gay bar

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Former Vice President Kamala Harris spent part of Pride Month visiting a place that has long served as both a sanctuary and stage for LGBTQ+ Americans. On Saturday evening, Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, made an unannounced visit to The Abbey, the landmark West Hollywood gay bar that has occupied a singular place in American LGBTQ+ life for decades. Harris moved through the crowd, greeting patrons, posing for photos, shaking hands, and offering hugs. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. For roughly 20 minutes, according to witnesses, one of […]

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Donald Trump built a White House spectacle around beautiful men and muscle. During Pride Month

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I’ve been covering Donald Trump for The Advocate since 2019, through his first term, through his off years sulking and griping at Mar-a-Lago, and now through his nightmare return to the White House over the last two years. In that time, one thing has become unmistakably, almost comically clear: Donald Trump loves a beautiful man. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. Not that he would ever say so out loud. “Women, I like. Men, no, I don’t have any interest,” Trump actually felt like he had to announce that, […]

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Senators clash over whether parents or politicians should decide on trans youth care

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A Senate hearing on gender-affirming care for minors on Wednesday became a fight over who gets to make decisions for transgender children, whether politicians should override doctors and parents, and whether the Trump administration’s escalating campaign against gender-affirming care is rooted in concern for children or hostility toward transgender people. The hearing, convened by Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, came as the administration has intensified efforts to restrict care, including Justice Department subpoenas seeking records from providers that treat transgender minors. The committee listed three witnesses, including Dr. Kurt Miceli, chief medical officer of anti-trans and anti-diversity activist group […]

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