Features

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Trump’s Education Department ends agreement to protect trans students

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The Trump administration has backed out of an agreement to protect trans students in five district schools and a college. AP reported that the Education Department terminated the agreements, which were previously negotiated by the Obama and Biden administrations under Title IX, on 6 April. Title IX is a civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools and other education programmes that receive funding from the federal government. The previous administrations interpreted the law to include protections for LGBTQ+ students, particularly trans students. The original agreement pledged to help protect trans students by setting a federal obligation for the schools to run measures like faculty training […]

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Transgender Latina beaten outside Washington LGBTQ+ bar after helping man recalls attack

Lilith Barraza Garcia, 22, says she and her friend were physically assaultedoutside Rumors Cabaret Bar in Bellingham, Washington, while simply trying to provide aid to someone who was intoxicated and slouched over outside. Garcia filed a police report with the Bellingham Police Department on the day of the incident, and the suspect was initially charged with a misdemeanor. However, Garcia told The Advocate that the misdemeanor is being upgraded to a felony, citing hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people.  According to Garcia, on March 23, she was outside the queer bar helping a visibly intoxicated person, “getting him a bottle of water and checking in […]

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House Republicans push bill forcing states to stop acknowledging trans people in schools

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When Congress returns to session next week, Republicans in the House of Representatives are expected to move forward on a bill that would give the federal government unprecedented power to pressure public schools into removing books and materials that acknowledge the existence of transgenderpeople. H.R. 7661, introduced by GOP Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois and titled the “Stop the Sexualization of Children Act,” is claimed by its supporters as a measure to shield children from inappropriate content. But buried in the text is language that has alarmed educators, librarians, and LGBTQ+ advocates. The bill defines “sexually oriented material” to include anything that “involves gender dysphoria or ‘transgenderism.’”  Detractors use that term to […]

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Trans Women in Prison Tell Their Stories

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On his first day back in office, President Trump signed an executive order that banned all forms of gender-affirming care for trans people in federal prisons. Six months later, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) from enforcing the order. This block is still in effect today. Despite the judge’s order, Uncloseted Media’s Hope Pisoni spoke with eight incarcerated trans women and reviewed legal statements by several more and found that the BOP is still denying trans people access to gender-affirming accommodations. Over the course of her monthslong investigation, Pisoni also found that the women who stood up for […]

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LGBTQ Travel Community Rallies Around Queer Scout After Boy Scouts of America Files Federal Lawsuit

The LGBTQ travel community is rallying around Queer Scout, an emerging travel brand serving adult LGBTQ travelers, following a federal lawsuit filed by the Boy Scouts of America earlier this year. In recent days, support has accelerated as a fundraising campaign launched by its founder, Sam Castañeda Holdren (he/him), has gained visibility through growing engagement from industry voices across the LGBTQ travel sector. That early momentum is beginning to resonate across the LGBTQ travel sector, where many see the case as extending beyond a single brand and raising broader questions about visibility, identity, and the realities facing small, independent travel businesses. […]

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‘Take the Test, Risk Arrest’: Why Some HIV-Positive Americans Are Still Forced to Register as Sex Offenders

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For nearly 17 years, Lashanda Salinas-Hicks remained shackled to the reality of life on the sex registry: She was legally required to stay 300 feet away from schools, parks and playgrounds, and she was forced to report to the sheriff’s office four times a year or risk a felony charge. That’s because in 2006, Salinas-Hicks’ partner pressed charges against her after a break up, accusing her of having sex without disclosing that she was HIV-positive. Although she says her partner knew of her status before engaging in intercourse with her, that didn’t stop her from being jailed for about two […]

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Connor Ives and MAC team up to re-release the iconic ‘Protect The Dolls’ t-shirt

The ‘Protect The Dolls’ tee became an overnight fashion sensation, with A-listers from Pedro Pascal to Charli XCX proudly wearing the top.  Now, fashion designer Connor Ives and Mac Cosmetics have teamed up to re-release the beloved ‘Protect the Dolls’ shirt. 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. […]

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‘God made trans people’ billboards hit Kansas highways after state revokes transgender people’s IDs

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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. Support Independent Journalism For Liv Raisner, the organization’s executive director, the placement is intentional. “We wanted to put […]

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Gay men couldn’t donate blood during the AIDS crisis. These lesbians stepped up & made history.

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 […]

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Kentucky to pass bill that would declare trans people mentally ill

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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 […]

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