Features

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A ‘renaissance of gay literature’ marks a turning point for publishing

When Jenny Fran Davis set out to write her second book, she had already tasted literary success with her debut novel, 2017’s young adult coming-of-age story “Everything Must Go.” But instead of following her previous book’s proven path to acclaim, the queer 25-year-old author chose to write an adult fiction title that would probe the “interior world of femme characters.” In the end, the unapologetically titled “Dykette” — a comedy of manners centering on a desperately self-conscious femme lesbian named Sasha — became one of the most buzzworthy titles of 2023, demonstrating a growing fervor for LGBTQ fiction that is […]

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What It’s Like To Be a Pregnant Trans Man in America

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Three days after Roe v. Wade was overturned, Sam Guidogave birth to his first child. His doctors, unsure of what was still legal, didn’t prescribe misoprostol — a drug used in medication abortions — to help with contractions. That was another blow, another way in which Guido felt he wasn’t in control of his labor. Guido hadn’t wanted to give birth in a hospital at all — he was afraid to be there. As a transmasculine and nonbinary person, they have faced the same ignorance and discrimination in medical institutions that many trans people in the United States experience. But a home birth just wasn’t […]

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Hospital forces trans teens to de-transition after caving to right-wing political pressure

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At the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), a noxious combination of political ambition, billionaire privilege, and bureaucratic cowardice led the academic hospital to cut off gender-affirming care to minor patients, including patients younger than what the institution’s right-wing detractors had demanded. In September 2022, opponents of gender-affirming care in South Carolina latched onto a parenthetical included in a medical student’s graduate research at MUSC. The parenthetical comment described the youngest transgender patient to visit the hospital’s pediatric endocrinology clinic, just 4 years old, according to a report from ProPublica. Related: That fact morphed into fiction as far-right critics inaccurately claimed […]

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Record-breaking number of businesses showing real LGBTQ+ allyship, figures show

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New data shows a record-breaking number of businesses are displaying true LGBTQ+ allyship to their employees, proving they “aren’t buying” mounting anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation issued its Corporate Equality Index (CEI) this week, and determined that the workforce is “more allied than ever before.” The CEI, launched by the HRC Foundation in 2002, is a survey that measures company policies and practices regarding LGBTQ+ equality.  In its first year, 319 businesses participated to determine if their policies were up to scratch. This year, 1,384 companies took part in the review – and the results were overwhelmingly positive. The CEI reports […]

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Trans is not a trend: 4 gender-nonconforming historical figures who dared to be themselves

Any queer person who’s spent time on the internet has no doubt heard the tired, dismissive right-wing argument that LGBTQ+ folks are just some recent fad, that some nebulous combination of the internet, declining western values, and their favorite boogeyman, “Cultural Marxism” are to blame for the rise in visible, out queer people. This is a favorite refrain, especially when it comes to transgender folks, as anyone who’s faced the pain and ignominy of being called a “trans-trender” is well aware. The truth, of course, is very different. The historical record is replete with individuals who in one way or […]

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Human Rights Campaign hands Starbucks inclusion award despite anti-LGBTQ+ accusations

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The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has come under fire for endorsing Starbucks, despite the coffee chain’s alleged anti-union and anti-LGBTQ+ actions over the past year. As part of its 2023-2024 Corporate Equality Index report, the human rights group listed Starbucks Corporation among several other companies to gain a perfect score of 100 for its LGBTQ+ rights protections. The HRC wrote that the score was given to companies that it believed “took concrete steps to establish and implement comprehensive policies, benefits and practices that ensure greater equity for LGBTQ+ workers”. But the decision has been met with widespread criticism from LGBTQ+ […]

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How did testosterone become so criminalized?

Throughout the late 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, Americans became obsessed with anabolic steroid doping – i.e., hormonally altering one’s body to win sports competitions. In 1988, American Olympic sprinter Ben Johnson lost his gold medal from the Seoul Olympics due to doping with anabolic steroids. This was considered a national embarrassment, and after a series of hearings, the Anabolic Steroids Control Act of 1990 was passed as part of the Crime Control Act.  Twenty-seven steroids, including testosterone, were classified as Schedule III drugs and subject to imprisonment and fines for possession and distribution. Then-senator Joe Biden was invested in this issue, […]

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Tennessee’s penalties for HIV-positive people are discriminatory, DOJ says

Tennessee’s decades-old aggravated prostitution statute violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday after an investigation, warning that the state could face a lawsuit if officials don’t immediately cease enforcement. Tennessee is the only state in the United States that imposes a lifetime registration as a “violent sex offender” if convicted of engaging in sex work while living with HIV, regardless of whether the person knew they could transmit the disease. LGBTQ and civil rights advocates have long criticized the measure as discriminatory, making it almost impossible to find housing and employment due to the […]

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Will first FDA-approved at-home test for gonorrhea, chlamydia ease the epidemic?

The Food and Drug Administration’s first-ever approval of an at-home test for chlamydia and gonorrhea could help drive earlier detection and treatment of these sexually transmitted infections amid a ballooning epidemic in the U.S. But some sexual health advocates worry that the FDA’s proposal to begin stepping up regulation of over-the-counter self-testing of STIs could backfire. The need for new tools to combat these infections is dire.  Diagnoses of gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis have soared in the past two decades. Public health experts argue that this is at least partially driven by woeful long-term flat funding of the Centers for Disease Control and […]

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Gender refugees overwhelm sanctuary states & face long waitlists for gender-affirming care

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As Republican-led legislatures have limited or banned access to gender-affirming care for trans people across the country, states like New Mexico are witnessing a large influx of “gender refugees” seeking healthcare. Over the past two-plus years, nearly two dozen states have instituted limits or bans on gender-affirming health care for trans youth and adults. While trans people in red states seek out alternative sources of care and places to live, larger states and metropolitan areas like San Francisco and New York can prove prohibitively expensive. So smaller states like New Mexico, Minnesota, Colorado, Vermont, and Washington, with prohibitions on restricting gender-affirming health care and a lower […]

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