Ives debuted the t-shirt as he took a bow at his Fall/Winter 2025 show at London Fashion Week. Due to high demand, the t-shirt was put on sale, with all proceeds going to Trans Lifeline, a peer support and crisis hotline supporting trans people in the United States and Canada.
The new campaign re-established support for the ‘dolls’, the term an informal descriptor for trans women or transfeminine non-binary people.
For MAC, four “trailblazing dolls” star in the campaign: Dominique Jackson, Josephine DuPont, Ivy Stewart and Green Kim.
Mac will be releasing a limited-edition collection featuring an update of the designer’s iconic shirt and new VIVA GLAM MACximal Lipstick. The release states that sales “give back 100% to charities advancing trans equality and healthy futures for all.”
Previously, the cosmetics brand collaborated with trans icon Kim Petras for a Viva Glam campaign.
‘100% of proceeds go back to trans organisations’
The new MAC Silky Matte VIVA GLAM x Conner Ives ‘Protect the Dolls’ Lipstick. (MAC)
Speaking to Hypebae, Ives shared that the t-shirt was a very last-minute decision stemming from wanting to speak out during a time when trans rights are under attack.
Ives said: “We went on to raise over $600,000 for Trans Lifeline — and here we are now with MAC VIVA GLAM. It’s an incredible next step for us.
“I think it’s important that people know that 100% of proceeds go back to trans organisations. It’s a conversation starter, it’s very important to educate yourself.”
MAC’s global creative director Nicola Formichetti also shared love for the ‘Protect the Dolls’ messaging.
“I was a huge fan of what Conner was doing and with his “Protect the Dolls” initiative,” Formichetti also shared.
“It genuinely touched me and spoke to me in a very personal way, and at the right time. So when I first joined MAC, I wanted my first collaboration to be something very special.
“With VIVA GLAM, 100% of proceeds go to charity — and that’s what Conner was doing. I wanted to create a bigger stage for that [using] the power of VIVA GLAM, so that two powerhouses could come together and do something even bigger.”
The MAC Silky Matte VIVA GLAM x Conner Ives ‘Protect the Dolls’ Lipstick and MAC VIVA GLAM x Conner Ives ‘Protect the Dolls’ Shirt will be available online in the UK and US on March 29th 2026 at 11am GMT and at select MAC locations across the UK.
A new billboard campaign declaring “God Made Trans People” is rolling out across Kansas highways just weeks after the state took the extraordinary step of invalidating transgender residents’ driver’s licenses. That development has left many navigating daily life without a valid ID or with an identification that no longer reflects who they are.
The four-week campaign, launched by Mayday Health, spans major corridors in Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita. Organizers say seven billboards are expected to reach more than 1.2 million drivers over the next month.
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For Liv Raisner, the organization’s executive director, the placement is intentional.
“We wanted to put these billboards up on the roads because a lot of trans Kansans right now are driving with identification that doesn’t reflect who they are, and that can be really painful,” Raisner told The Advocate. “We want trans Kansans to know while they’re driving to work, to the grocery store, throughout their own state, we want them to see themselves reflected back.”
The campaign arrives amid a comprehensive rollback of transgender rights in Kansas.
In February, the state enacted a law requiring all state-issued identification to reflect sex assigned at birth, retroactively invalidating driver’s licenses and birth certificates that had been updated by transgender residents. The policy reversed years of legal recognition and forced affected individuals to obtain new documents that do not match their gender identity.
The law builds on a 2023 statute redefining sex in state law and is part of a broader slate of measures targeting transgender people’s access to public life, including restrictions on bathroom use in government buildings. The measure creates a bounty system for people who suspect they may encounter a transgender person in a restroom that doesn’t correspond to their sex assigned at birth.
Kansas, Raisner noted, is among the most religious states in the country, and many of the lawmakers advancing these policies cite faith in their arguments.
“We’re not arguing with them about politics. We are meeting them on their own terrain,” Raisner said. “If you think God doesn’t make mistakes, that includes trans people.”
Each billboard directs drivers to Mayday Health’s website, which provides information about accessing gender-affirming medical, mental health, and financial support, resources organizers say remain available even in states where care is increasingly restricted.
The campaign is already resonating with some of the people it was designed to reach. Raisner said a transgender woman running for state office told them she saw one of the billboards during her morning commute and “it made her smile.”
That response, Raisner said, highlights the campaign’s core purpose: visibility at a time when state policy is moving in the opposite direction.
“I hope people are reminded that trans people exist,” Raisner said. “Legislators can pass laws that erase trans people from their documents, but they cannot erase trans people from Kansas.”
The campaign also reflects Mayday Health’s broader strategy. Founded after the U.S. Supreme Court’sDobbs ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, the organization focuses on distributing information about health care that is restricted or banned in certain states, including abortion access and gender-affirming care.
“When state governments target folks and violate their fundamental rights, we respond,” Raisner said.
Barbara Vick had long been a regular donor at the San Diego Blood Bank, but during a routine visit one day in 1983, she noticed something different. As she thumbed through the standard paperwork, Vick paused on a new memo informing donors that “men who have sex with men” were now banned from giving blood.
A lesbian and member of the Women’s Caucus within the LGBTQ+ group, the San Diego Democratic Club, Vick was no stranger to the era’s escalating AIDS epidemic. The private nature of the San Diego Blood Bank allowed individuals and organizations to create blood funds that specific groups could draw from. AIDS patients frequently needed access to the limited blood supply, which Vick knew would only grow smaller now that even fewer people were allowed to donate.
Vick thought about a private blood fund run by one of her former employers and the many conversations she’s had with other club members about how to support people with AIDS. A new thought emerged: What if Vick and her peers organized their own blood drive and created a fund for folks with AIDS to ensure their continued access?
“I went back to the group and said, ‘Hey, what do you think about a blood drive?’ Simple origins,” Vick told LGBTQ Nation. “We honestly thought if we could get 30 people to show up, it would be a success. We didn’t have grandiose plans, and we certainly weren’t thinking of making history.”
Nevertheless, the organization that came to be known as The San Diego Blood Sisters is now embedded in American LGBTQ+ History through both its own work and the advocacy efforts it inspired across the country. Today, the Blood Sisters’ legacy underscores the enduring importance of intracommunity advocacy, especially in the most dire of times.
A way you could give of yourself
| Provided by Barbara Vick
By 1983, it was becoming impossible to ignore the heightened threat of AIDS. This new reality felt especially heavy for men in the LGBTQ+ community, who were helplessly witnessing peers fall ill and living with constant fear that they may be next.
Information about AIDS and its transmission was still limited, though it was generally understood that lesbians and other queer women were not among the most vulnerable groups.
The growing public perception of AIDS as a “gay disease” and the lack of federal funds to address the epidemic brought mounting fear to the community. Congress didn’t approve funding for AIDS research and treatment until July 1983 – despite the CDC releasing its first official report on the mysterious illness in 1981 – leaving queer men across the country with a growing sense of alienation and helplessness.
“If straights had more brains, or were less bigoted against gays, they would see that, as with hepatitis B, gay men are again doing their suffering for them, revealing this disease to them,” wrote Larry Karmer for a March 1983 article in the New York Native. “They can use us as guinea pigs to discover the cure to AIDS before it hits them, which most medical authorities are still convinced will be happening shortly in increasing numbers.”
At the time, 25 states still criminalized homosexuality, and it would take another year before researchers identified HIV as the cause of AIDS. It would also be two more years before antibody screening tests were licensed to detect infection.
In short, the community needed help.
Vick joined forces with fellow Democratic Club members Sue Biegeleisen and Nicolette Ibarra to organize the inaugural blood drive. She said it simply felt like the right thing to do.
She also noted that at the time, women were even more economically disadvantaged and largely didn’t have extra finances to contribute. “So, how can you help? I think a blood drive was very appealing on many different levels to women, because it was a way that you could give of yourself. There were a lot of people that probably were blood donors or were open to being a blood donor.”
The founding members of the San Diego Blood Sisters started spreading the word. Vick nodded to the clever marketing materials, some designs playing off Rosie the Riveter and her flexed arm, and another reminiscent of the Superman logo.
Vick planned the drive for a Saturday and assumed there would be no need for extra help. It took place at the San Diego Blood Bank on Upas Street in Hillcrest on July 16, 1983, and far exceeded Vick’s initial estimate of 30 donors. Nearly 200 women showed up and gave more than 130 donations.
“The lesbians kind of took over the waiting room,” Vick said. “It was kind of the place to be that Saturday, because there were so many people there. There wasn’t enough seating for people, so you had people sitting on the arm of a chair with another person in the chair. People knew each other, and it was really a great time for the people that donated. We were just kind of blown away.”
The power of our community
| Provided by Barbara Vick
The drive later gained national attention, with key LGBTQ+ groups like the National Gay Task Force (now the National LGBTQ Task Force) praising the Blood Sisters’ efforts. Queer women across the country saw the outpouring of support in San Diego and sought to organize blood drives in their own communities. In turn, the Blood Sisters put together a “how-to” guide for others.
“It was amazing, successful, and very inspiring,” Vick said. She noted the drive’s lasting impact in subsequent years and its role in unifying the community. All the while, the Blood Sisters admired other innovative ideas to cover potential gaps, like a service to care for pets of people lost to AIDS and others centering on food delivery or additional patient care needs.
“Stuff like that really moved me; I would see it and think, ‘Oh, wow, what a wonderful idea,’” Vick said. “I’m not saying that that was lesbian driven; I’m just saying that there just was a great outpouring of support within the community. It was an example of the power of our community and how we rally around each other.”
Looking back on that time, Vick feels a mix of complex emotions: the power of showing up for one another, the joy of shared LGBTQ+ community during a time of strife, and the surreal brutality of unrelenting grief.
“There are many memories and representations of that time and many, many, many losses,” Vick said. “It’s really hard to describe… This wiped out almost a generation of healthy young, vibrant men.”
The Blood Sisters and others helped bridge the gap in those initial years, aiding community members overwhelmed by unknowns and compounded by a slow response from those best equipped to help.
The group hosted 12 total drives between 1983 and 1992 before the organization was ultimately dissolved in 1993. Eventually, research and administrative efforts amped up. Through the ‘80s and ‘90s, our collective knowledge of HIV and AIDS expanded rapidly, but it wasn’t until 1996 that the number of Americans dying from AIDS each year began to decline.
In retrospect, the Blood Sisters’ actions underscore the political prejudice and inaction of those early days. The persisting impact lies in their courage and compassion during a time of crisis.
Blood is a life force
| Provided by Barbara Vick
As LGBTQ+ folks face a slew of new challenges today, Vick still finds solace in community. She’s currently part of a gay feminist chorus, composed of both queer women and allies. That feeling of belonging to something, that sense of unconditional community support, is just as important today as it was back then, she said.
As bad as things were under the Reagan Administration in the early days of the AIDS epidemic, Vick said, “it’s mild compared to the insanity of today.”
Vick still resides in San Diego, where she’s frequently reminded of the prevailing impact of the group she co-founded all those years ago. She’s one of numerous Blood Sisters still in the city.
She often ponders why the Blood Sisters are remembered to this extent, when there were so many others who may have provided even more support at the time. It was just an idea, one that “transcends us and kind of has a place in history,” she said.
Blood is a life force, and the act of sharing it to support one another reflects the lengths to which we will go for our own community, Vick said. Our ability to continue showing up for each other, embracing pride and community in times of both triumph and struggle, reflects the magic of LGBTQ+ people – and a grit that is crucial as we navigate yet another trying time.
“I can validate that things have never been as bad in my lifetime as the political climate today, but I don’t buy that it’s going to last,” Vick said. “It’s a really hard time that we’re living through – and all the more reason to be there for one another right now.”
Kentucky is on track to pass a new bill that would declare transgender people mentally ill and ban trans teachers from working.
State senator Gex Williams proposed the amendment to House Bill 759, which relates to teacher certification.
The amendment itself does not mention trans people specifically, but would forbid the certification of teachers who have been diagnosed with or treated for any “disorder that is excluded from the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990”.
The ADA sets out a list of “disorders” that are not protected by law, including “gender identity disorders”. Other listed disorders include transexualism, pedophilia, kleptomania, compulsive gambling and voyeurism, amongst others.
Speaking to the Herald-Leader on 9 March, Williams said: “Those who continue to promote such transitions and gender confusion or are themselves confused should not have teaching certificates giving them the privilege of having care, custody and control of Kentucky’s most valuable asset, our children.”
The amendment will also require doctors licensed in Kentucky to “diagnose the disorders [excluded from the ADA] based on the disorder definitions in the DSM III”.
This means doctors will need to utilise outdated terms like “transexualism” and “gender identity disorder” instead of gender dysphoria and reclassify being trans as a mental illness for the first time since 2013.
Following a session on 28 March, Senate Republican leadership put the bill on the consent orders for 31 March, which is a fast-tracked process meant for “uncontroversial bills”, Transitics reported.
This fast track means that the bill will be voted on without being debated beforehand. It will be passed as default if no other Senators oppose Williams’ amendments.
A man who coerced gay men on dating apps and defrauded them for a total of £28,488 has been sentenced to three years in prison.
Between July 2022 and November 2024, 26-year-old Thomas Godden was found to have tricked three men into thinking they were in romantic relationships with him.
He then exploited them to send him money for what they thought were day-to-day costs, travel expenses and more, and ensured them that he would repay them. One of the men he victimised sent him more than £26,000.
An investigation carried out by the City of London Police found that Godden used Tinder and Bumble to target his victims, presenting himself as a gay man looking to get into a serious relationship.
Unbeknownst to his victims, Godden is heterosexual and was already in a relationship at the time.
Detective Constable Melissa Morgan, who works on the Fraud Operations team for the City of London Police, said of the case: “Godden deliberately targeted men who were seeking companionship and a genuine emotional connection. He abused their trust, manipulated their vulnerabilities and caused significant financial and emotional harm.”
She continued: “This was a calculated pattern of offending, not a misunderstanding or a civil dispute, but a clear case of fraud by false representation.”
When the victims challenged Godden about repaying the money, he became “hostile, made excuses, or threatened to cut off contact”, according to a statement from the City of London Police. In some instances, he “used emotional blackmail, including threats of self-harm, to maintain control and continue receiving funds”.
The investigation also found that Godden used the dating apps solely to procure money, and that his internet search history included questions like: ‘Can you go to jail for romance scamming?’ and ‘Can you go to the police if someone owes you money?’
Godden pleaded guilty to three charges of fraud by false representation in December 2025 and was sentenced to three years in prison on 17 February 2026 at Canterbury Crown Court.
A spokesperson for Bumble said: “We are deeply concerned about anyone taking advantage of our community, and are saddened to hear of these experiences. The safety of our members is our top priority and fraudulent activity is not tolerated on Bumble.”
Trans immigrants in the US could find themselves barred due to a new rule coming into play on April 10.
The rule would mean immigration officers could revoke the visas of those with green cards or who are applying if they do not share their “biological sex at birth”.
According to an update to the Federal Register, the amendments to the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, is an attempt to “improve the integrity of, and combat fraud in, the program”.
When the new rule comes into force, applicants will be made to provide passport documentation and upload a scan of the biographic and signature page.
The word “gender” has been replaced with “sex”, with applicants made to state their “biological sex at birth” regardless of whether it differs from current documentation they may hold.
As per GCN, the new rule comes after an executive order from the Trump administration, as part of the “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” order.
It states: “The term ‘sex’ shall refer to an individual’s sex at birth. Only male and female sex options are available for entrants completing the Diversity Visa entry form.
“The marker reflected in the ‘sex’ field on any visa application, including the entry form, should match the applicant’s biological sex at birth, even if that differs from the sex listed on the applicant’s foreign passport or other identifying documentation.”
It’s feared that if a trans applicant does not provide their “biological sex at birth” on the forms, they’ll have their visas revoked as it may be deemed fraudelent.
Worryingly, the same can be said for immigrants already living in the US, who could face deportation.
Hundreds of kind strangers have helped raise $90,000 so an MIT student could complete his college education after his parents cut him off for being trans.
Matthew N, a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, lost his student housing when his parents financially cut him off when he came out as transgender.
A GoFundMe for Matthew, which was set up by his friend and fellow MIT student Irene Dong, has surpassed the target of $81,100, meaning he will be able to graduate. One anonymous supporter even donated $10,000.
“Matthew’s parents cut off their financial support after discovering he is transgender,” Dong wrote in the fundraiser’s description. “Since then, he has worked multiple jobs, maxed out on loans, and exhausted every option to stay afloat. Our goal is to raise money to fund his senior year’s tuition and housing, to allow him to graduate this spring.”
When the fundraiser was set up, Matthew was just weeks away from graduating but being evicted from his student housing meant that he would have been forced to leave MIT before completing his degree in physics.
MIT’s policy around financial aid being dependent on students’ parents’ financial status meant that Matthew wouldn’t have qualified for assistance, the fundraiser states.
“Despite submitting statements from therapists, psychiatrists, and an organization supporting LGBTQ+ students without parental support (the Wily Network), his appeals for independent financial status have been repeatedly denied,” it continues. “Now, as he approaches the finish line of his MIT education, Matthew has run out of options.”
Matthew hopes to pursue a career in astrophysics after graduation.
“I have known Matthew for three years, and I can personally say that he is one of the kindest, most generous, and most amazing people I’ve ever met in my entire life,” Dong continued.
“I have watched him struggle for years against his family and with MIT Student Financial Services – towering forces that do not care for his health or his future, but nonetheless wield an immense degree of control over his life.”
Following the incredible response to the fundraiser, Matthew himself left an update expressing his gratitude to all who supported his cause.
“Thank you so much to everyone who has donated,” he wrote. “I’m amazed at how many people have come together to support me! I was forced to move out of my dorm this morning, but I am safe and have a place to stay temporarily. I’m in the process of late registering for the fall and the spring, and I am still keeping up with my classes. It looks like I am on track to graduate this May.”
He continued by confirming that any additional donations will be put towards helping him pay off his existing loans.
“I am in awe of the immense kindness and generosity of everyone who donated, reached out, and helped to spread my story,” he continued. “From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much. I am incredibly excited to graduate!”
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 who often “operate in silos.”
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“People want to support Black- and queer-owned businesses, especially as a form of resistance to a lot of the stuff that we’re seeing now politically,” Holmes says. “It’s been a real connective tissue for us that folks are able to see us on the app already knowing that we’re a queer-affirming space.”
About four years ago, a hub for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs was an idea Charlie Sprinkman had just brought to life. Everywhere Is Queer went live in January 2022 and today is funded through a mix of brand partnerships and paid perks, like in-app prioritization. A string of viral moments since has pushed the app past 20,000 participating businesses.
Sprinkman says threats facing the LGBTQ+ community are cause for strengthening that network even further. As of February, the American Civil Liberties Union reported that at least 398 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were being considered in statehouses around the country this year, many of them targeting transgender rights.
“It’s a really difficult time for our community right now,” Sprinkman says. “It’s now more than ever important that we really put the money in the hands of the people that see us as our most authentic selves.”
LGBTQ-owned businesses that use Everywhere Is Queer submit details about their companies for approval, then get marked by a pin on the map. Businesses can be filtered by type, from bars to hotels to retail, and can even advertise jobs.
“We’ve grown tremendously,” says Chris Redrich, the app’s developer. “We have about a quarter of a million app installs at this point, so we’re seeing pretty regular, repeat usage from users coming back, looking for connection and queer community around them.”
Again Vintage shop in NYCJack Walker
Sprinkman says he struggled to find centralized resources for LGBTQ+ people when he came out as a young adult. As he gradually found comfort and community in LGBTQ+ spaces, Sprinkman saw value in bridging that gap for others too.
Outside of liberal strongholds like New York City, business owners tell The Advocate that being featured on the app has not spurred a notable uptick in sales, likely because there are fewer users nearby. But they describe different benefits, like networking with other business owners and publicly signaling their connection to the LGBTQ+ community.
Rachel Csontos of St. Petersburg, Florida, launched their small business in 2024 without a physical storefront. Sales for their brand, Queer’d Apparel, came through social media and via the pop-up art markets that dot central Florida. The app has helped them meet other LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs.
“I kind of expected it to be an avenue for business, but it’s been more of an avenue for connection,” they say.
Kelsey Riker manages Kindred Post — a gift shop, event space, and contract postal unit in Juneau, Alaska. A tourist last year recommended that her store join the app, she says. Riker hopes the listing will draw new attention during this summer’s cruise season.
Everywhere is Queer creator Charlie Sprinkmancourtesy Everywhere is Queer
“We have a lot of businesses here in Juneau who are very friendly and welcoming and affirming to the queer community,” Riker says. “We want people to know that when they come and visit us here.”
Looking ahead, Sprinkman, who hails from a small town near Milwaukee, says Everywhere Is Queer is looking to develop new features to enhance user experience, though the specifics are not yet public.
In the meantime, he says building the platform has taught him a great deal about creating space for the LGBTQ+ community — and, ironically, starting a business himself.
“It’s just been the most incredible experience of my life,” Sprinkman says. “Hundreds of thousands of people have come across and interacted with Everywhere Is Queer. It’s just so beautiful.”
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 crackdown on transgender identity. It’s a doubling down that has offended ex-Mormons, already driven from positions in the church based on their identity.
“This is specifically focusing on a very narrow exception to the point of vindictiveness, codifying the exception to the exception,” Laurie Lee Hall, a former stake president excommunicated from the church, told The Salt Lake Tribune.
Church leaders have continued to emphasize that transgender people are welcome in regular worship services. “All of Heavenly Father’s children are welcome at church,” the church says on its website.
The handbook also outlines a pathway for those who detransition. “Members who have taken steps to transition and then transition back to their biological sex at birth and are worthy and committed to keeping God’s commandments may receive [temple rituals],” the update states.
The change to the official text of the organization comes as the LDS Church has wrestled openly with LGBTQ+ tolerance. The update reflects the church’s broader approach to LGBTQ+ members: encouraging participation in congregational life while restricting access to certain rites. The faith allows gay and lesbian members to attend and serve in some capacities, but continues to teach that same-sex marriages are a sin.
The handbook also encourages bishops to work with members on a case-by-case basis with “sensitivity and Christlike love,” and advises those experiencing questions about gender identity to seek guidance from church leaders.
When Pornhub released its most-watched categories of 2025, queer-themed content held the top two spots: “Lesbian” was the most viewed category and “Transgender” was the second most viewed, up five spots from 2024.
The global appetite for LGBTQ adult content is increasing in tandem with the explosion of AI porn. Over the last year, Google searches for “AI porn generators” have steadily climbed, with one site receiving 8.57 million visitors in January. But unlike porn made up of real people, AI porn is largely unregulated, opening the door for the exploitation of queer bodies.
“More often than not, AI-generated pornography falls under this umbrella of ‘non photo-realistic media,’ or ‘non hyper-realistic adult content,’ not unlike illustration,” Aurélie Petit, a postdoctoral researcher at the Quebec research chair on French-language artificial intelligence and digital technologies, told Uncloseted Media and GAY TIMES. “And the moment you don’t know how to address this kind of content, then you don’t know what to do with a big part of AI adult productions.”
Though there have been steps taken to regulate the AI porn industry, there is still a long way to go. Last year, Congress passed the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which bans the publication of intimate, non-consensual images in the U.S., including AI-generated images. And the sharing of these images, known as deepfakes, is now a felony in Tennessee.
But much of AI porn isn’t based on one person’s likeness. Rather, it’s generated from a vast database of preexisting content used to teach the AI model. So any user who wants to create porn can simply ask an AI model to create their dream scenario, and—in a matter of minutes—a video to their liking that depicts realistic people is created.
“There’s a very real concern that some of the worst types of content on the internet—hateful content, non-consensual content of children … those exist on the internet, and we cannot verify that data sets [used to power AI algorithms] don’t include those images,” says Miranda Wei, postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University’s Center for Information Technology Policy.
Outside of deepfakes, U.S. laws leave AI-generated porn in a legal gray area, often varying by state or municipality. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill cracking down on deepfakes and requiring AI-generated content to be watermarked. But there is yet to be consistent policy across the board on how to legislate AI porn.
“When you have real people, or images that look like real people, we understand harm,” says Petit. “But most platforms do not know what to do. … It’s really a legal blur, a policy blur.”
Depictions of Trans Women
Because transphobic people make up a significant chunk of porn consumers, mainstream trans porn is often designed in a way that leans into prejudice. Videos using slurs or harmful tropes perform well on porn websites, and Google trends show that searches for “tranny porn” and “shemale porn” remain high. On Reddit, the largest trans-related subreddit is r/traps, a porn-sharing group named after a derogatory term that describes trans women as “traps” for cis men.
“[The internet] is still often reflecting a very heteronormative mindset. … Those preexisting biases for what kinds of content exists on the internet informs the data that is fed into those AI models,” Wei told Uncloseted Media and GAY TIMES.
A quick search for “AI trans porn” produces countless generated images of hyper-feminine trans women with unrealistically large penises, often the same length as their torsos. Other videos show trans women being penetrated by men with penises so large that, in real life, they would inevitably cause physical harm.
“When they say trans, you need to really understand it’s trans women, and a trans woman who still has a penis … it’s really a fetishization of trans women pre-operation,” Petit says.
One of Google’s first search results for “AI trans porn” is for CreateAIShemale. On the site, users can build a trans woman from a wide variety of options. They can choose her age, the size of her breasts, butt and penis, and select from nearly 70 modifiers including “bimbo,” “spanked, hand print,” “impregnation” and “pony cock.” The site also lists 42 options for “race,” with strange inclusions such as “goblin” and “green skin.”
On a separate but similar site, the owners write: “Your fantasy, your rules. With Trans AI customization, you can design every detail of your AI companion—from physical characteristics and outfits to voice tone and personality traits. … Our shemale AI models can generate images and videos on demand, making your interactions more vivid and exciting. … Shemale AI makes it possible instantly.”
Brandon Robinson, associate professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of California, Riverside, says these infinite customization options are concerning: “[It] can further the objectification of trans women, as it treats them as just sex objects that can be changed and customized to one’s own likes and desires,” they say. “It also erases that trans women are real, actual human beings, with their own wants, needs, and desires.”
Beyond the fetishization lies a celebration of violence against trans women. A quick search yields videos with headlines that include “AI Generated Shemale Getting Destroyed by a Massive Dick.”
Robinson says these depictions exacerbate preexisting stereotypes. “A lot of men come into dating or hooking up with trans women with these stereotypes.”
Screenshot from PornHub.
Depictions of Gay Men
While deepfake laws in the U.S. now offer some protection, AI porn that isn’t based on one person’s likeness is harder to prosecute. And that’s concerning when you look at the global appetite for gay porn. In 2025, Pornhub reported that “femboy” and “twink” were the site’s two most searched for gay terms. And “Femboy Fixation” was one of the top five trends that defined 2025, with searches for “cute femboy” and “sexy femboy” up 79% and 93%, respectively.
What’s concerning is that AI has the ability to produce depictions of categories—which are code words for skinny, younger men—that take it to the next level. Many AI-generated depictions of these men show very thin, often emaciated, bodies. “It’s giving very unrealistic body ideas,” Robinson told Uncloseted Media and GAY TIMES. “And we know that there’s a history of eating disorders and body dysmorphia within the gay community.”
Screenshot from PornHub.
Depictions of children in AI porn is another space that has opened the door for bad-faith actors. A 2026 issue brief from UNICEF found that across 11 countries, at least 1.2 million children reported having had their images manipulated into sexually explicit deepfakes through AI tools in the past year. And while there have been regulations on deepfakes, groups devoted to creating twink and femboy AI porn can create videos that depict youthful, small bodies, potentially making content that blurs the lines between adult content and child pornography.
While some may find it hard to believe that something as sinister and criminalized as child pornography could be informing AI models, Wei says it’s happening. “Using Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) is definitely not legal. It is awful. But lots of illegal things still happen,” she says. “People do use generative AI to generate AI CSAM, because the models have probably ingested CSAM before.”
Screenshot from PornHub.
Lesbian Porn and AI
Unrealistic depictions of lesbian sex are also popping up in AI porn. One AI-generated lesbian porn video shows a woman licking semen out of another woman’s vagina—inserting an invisible male presence into sex between women.
Another disturbing part of AI’s representation of lesbians has to do with how it often makes women look identical. In one AI-generated image, two lesbians in matching black bikinis sit on the beach. Their haircuts, facial features and bodies are the same. Through these kinds of images, AI risks encouraging viewers to overlook women’s individuality or—worse—lean into the fetish of incest.
In addition, many of the AI-generated depictions of women are feminine, extremely thin, white, and often have unrealistically large breasts and butts. While these attributes are already sought after in conventional porn, AI generators have the ability to produce depictions of women with impossible body proportions.
“[AI porn] maintains unrealistic beauty standards that most people can’t conform or live up to but also it pushes most people out of being seen as desirable and beautiful,” says Robinson.
The Impact on the Viewer
AI-generated porn can be harmful for those who watch it, especially for young people: Pornography is already highly addictive, with one study finding a 91% increase in pornography consumption since 2000. Another study found that between 17-24% of adolescents have experienced a dependency on AI.
Wei finds this troubling because much of how AI porn is generated is a black box. “From a consumer standpoint, you don’t really have the ability to audit how this tool was made,” she says.
Because of this, users may unknowingly consume media that is based off of abusive imagery or even child pornography. This is because the massive amount of data that tech companies use to feed their AI models is gathered from across the internet, making it impossible for individuals to vet each piece of information. “It feels more risky to use it when you don’t know who created [the AI porn], what their intentions were, or how they collected the data that was used to make it.”
Wei says what’s most concerning is that the data that tech companies use to feed their AI models is not always publicly available. “Large tech companies can be very protective of where they get their data. That is part of their business,” she says. “The scale at which these data sets are being collected means that you cannot have a human manually go through and verify that every piece collected was consensual [or] that a queer person was accurately depicted.”
What Can be Done?
Some popular generative AI models say there are safety regulations in place. ChatGPT’s website states that the model cannot be used for the creation of “illicit activities” or “sexual violence.” But Petit says that bad-faith actors may still succeed in skirting regulation. “There’s so many AI generators, and there’s people whose entire game is to break the generation,” she says. “You can tweak it more and more and can make the AI do something it doesn’t want.”
In one Reddit thread, a user of Elon Musk’s Grok expressed frustration about newly developed moderation making it harder to generate explicit images. In response, another user seemingly confirmed they were able to find a workaround: “Right now I’m generating realistic videos of completely naked men with tentacles and fluids and non-con sex talk and moans and it works great,” the user wrote.
The potential for nefarious uses of AI came to light when it was revealed that, starting in December 2025, Grok produced and shared upwards of 1.8 million sexualized images of women over the course of nine days. “As we’ve seen with Grok and the numerous scandals over the past few years, the ability to stop an AI model from creating explicit imagery of someone is … unsolved,” Wei says.
Wei doesn’t have a bulletproof solution. “I’m not necessarily aware of a universal technique that could prevent, 100% of the time, the creation of images of other people,” she says.
There are, however, strategies that help safeguard AI models. For example, red teaming, which consists of prompting an AI model to generate illicit content, is an ethical tool companies can use to spot regulatory weaknesses. “[It’s] a way to adversarially test, to attack a model and see if it can do harmful things which you are trying to prevent it from doing,” says Wei.
With some companies like Google employing hackers to red team in hopes of identifying security concerns, Wei thinks other AI companies should do the same.
Another approach lies in public model cards, which are small files accompanying AI models that provide information about the data the model was trained on, as well as the AI’s intended use and limitations. Both of these methods are in pursuit of transparency, which Wei sees as necessary to safer AI use. “There should be a way to make technologies safe when people want to use them. … Transparency is needed in order to make progress on safety issues, but that’s again, ongoing.”
In the meantime, Wei says that “tech companies and lawmakers need to step up” and implement greater regulation around AI porn. “Effective regulation also needs the input of people who already have lived experience with pornography, like sex workers and adult actors, and anyone who would be depicted in this imagery.”
