Features

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Out Attorney General issues stark warning to “cowardly” hospital eliminating trans health care

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Gay Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) has issued a warning to the University of Michigan after the school’s medical center announced Monday it will no longer provide gender-affirming care to patients under 19 due to threats from the federal government. “The announcement from the University of Michigan that they will no longer provide their transgender patients with all of the healthcare options available is shameful, dangerous, and potentially illegal,” Nessel said in a statement. “This cowardly acquiescence to political pressure from this president and his administration is not what patients have come to expect from an institution that has labeled itself, ‘the leaders […]

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Google Sends Parents of LGBTQ Kids to Conversion Therapy Websites

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Google is the most powerful search engine in the world, commanding nearly 90% of the global search engine market and generating over $348 billion in revenue last year. Over half of Americans say they trust Google more than their formal education. But how does Google’s algorithm decide which results show up? And how do these results influence LGBTQ kids, their parents and Americans at large who are searching for help? Uncloseted Media asked five Americans from around the country to Google five common queries related to LGBTQ identity, religion and parenting. The results were alarming and raised an urgent question: With nearly 40% of LGBTQ youth […]

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Crumbl Cookies founder Sawyer Hemsley comes out as gay

Sawyer Hemsley, founder of Crumbl Cookies who serves as the company’s Chief Branding Officer, came out as gay late Monday night after various videos and social media threads publicly discussed his sexuality based on the entrepreneur’s online presence. Hemsley wrote in an Instagram post shared on Monday, August 25: “Over the past little while, there have been people online trying to define me, twist things, and share conversations in ways that feel harmful. Instead of letting others write my story, I want to share it in my own words. The truth is, over the past few years I’ve come to […]

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Alaska’s medical board moves to ban gender-affirming care for trans minors

An Alaskan podiatrist is leading the State Medical Board’s efforts to take away life-saving health care from transgender youth. The Board unanimously approved a proposal last week spearheaded by Dr. Matt Heilala, of Anchorage, to move towards eradicating gender-affirming health care for trans minors by reclassifying such treatments—such as puberty blockers, hormone treatments and surgeries—as “unprofessional conduct.” If finalized, this would also give the board broad discretion over the enforcement and “sanctions” doled out, such as fines or loss of licensure. No such restrictions are proposed for the care of cisgender people. The rule must still undergo a legal review followed by a 30-day […]

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South Carolina rushes emergency petition to U.S. Supreme Court over trans student’s bathroom use

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South Carolina is pressing the U.S. Supreme Court to immediately reinstate a policy that bars transgender students from using bathrooms that match their gender identity, escalating a fight that could set national precedent for the rights of LGBTQ+ youth. In an emergency petition filed Thursday, state officials urged Chief Justice John Roberts to overturn a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals injunction that blocked the measure just as the school year began. The provision, enacted as part of the state budget in July 2024, requires school districts to restrict multi-user restrooms by “biological sex” or forfeit 25 percent of their state funding. The dispute began last November, when the […]

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Pope Leo meets LGBTQ Catholic advocate and vows continuity with Francis’ welcoming legacy

Pope Leo XIV met Monday with one of the most prominent advocates for greater LGBTQ inclusion in the Catholic Church and encouraged his ministry, just days before a planned Holy Year pilgrimage of LGBTQ Catholics to the Vatican.  The Rev. James Martin, a New York-based Jesuit author and editor, said Leo told him he intended to continue Pope Francis’ policy of LGBTQ acceptance in the church and encouraged him to keep up his advocacy. “I heard the same message from Pope Leo that I heard from Pope Francis, which is the desire to welcome all people, including LGBTQ people,” Martin told The Associated Press after the audience. […]

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Education Department says Denver school’s all-gender bathrooms violate Title IX

The U.S. Education Department said Thursday that Denver Public Schools violated Title IX protections against sex-based discrimination in education by creating all-gender bathrooms and allowing students to use bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity. The finding followed an unprecedented probe of Denver’s East High School that marked a sharp departure from the department’s investigations under former Democratic President Joe Biden. It’s part of a push by President Donald Trump’s Republican administration against local and state policies that make allowances for transgender students. The investigation in Denver began after the school district converted a girl’s restroom into an all-gender restroom while […]

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UK woman found guilty of sexual assault for failing to disclose she was trans

A 21-year-old trans woman, Ciara Watkin, has been found guilty of sexual assault after a court heard she did not tell the man she was dating that she was not assigned female at birth.  The BBC reports that Ciara Watkin told the man she was on her period to stop him finding out she had not yet had gender confirmation surgery. The court heard that she had identified as female and used the name Ciara since the age of 13. Prosecutors argued that the man was unable to make “informed consent”, after he claimed he wouldn’t have had sexual contact with Watkin […]

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The president just halved the budget of a massively successful HIV-prevention program

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The current presidential administration is slashing the lifesaving PEPFAR program for HIV relief, despite earlier public assurances to lawmakers and advocates that funding for the program was secure. Funding will be cut by half for both this and next year’s federal budgets, before he shuts down the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) completely, according to members of the program’s staff as well as budget documents viewed by The New York Times. PEPFAR has saved an estimated 26 million lives since it was introduced by President George W. Bush in 2003. The massive cuts come after PEPFAR’s supporters were lulled into […]

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Despite claims it’s ‘too woke,’ Cracker Barrel actually has a fraught LGBTQ+ history

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Conservatives are threatening boycotts of Cracker Barrel after the company swapped its rustic logo for a cleaner design, accusing the chain of betraying its “middle-American values.” But LGBTQ+ historians say the uproar ignores a deeper irony: Just three decades ago, the Tennessee-founded restaurant was notorious for firing queer employees and became the target of one of the country’s longest-running equality battles. The chain, famous for its biscuits, rocking chairs, and Southern nostalgia, introduced a new logo last week, retiring the mustached man leaning against a barrel in favor of a simplified yellow-outlined wordmark. The update was part of a $700 million rebrand meant to […]

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