Features

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North Carolina’s Lt. Gov. faces backlash over anti-transgender remarks ahead of primaries

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Nex Benedict’s death in Oklahoma has shined the spotlight on anti-trans rhetoric in politics in other conservative states. After the transgender teenager lost his life following a school bathroom attack, North Carolina’s Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has come under intense scrutiny for his anti-transgender rhetoric.  Robinson is running for governor. As the state’s primary elections loom Tuesday, Robinson’s views have ignited a firestorm of criticism, not least because of his recent endorsement by former President Donald Trump, who called Robinson “better” than Martin Luther King Jr. Robinson has repeatedly expressed views that are antagonistic toward transgender individuals. In one of his Facebook posts, he shared a magazine cover featuring a transgender child, labeling them as […]

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Google blasted over its “woke” AI image generator, but others are racist and sexist

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Google has partly disabled its artificial intelligence (AI) image generator Gemini after the software produced racially diverse and historically inaccurate images of Black Vikings, female popes, and people of color as the United States “founding fathers.” Gemini produced these images without being prompted by users, leading right-wing critics to blast the software as “woke.” However, the incident revealed not only a technical problem but a “philosophical” one about how AI and other tech should address biases against marginalized groups. Related: “It’s clear that this feature missed the mark. Some of the images generated are inaccurate or even offensive,” Google Senior […]

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Federal investigation opens into Owasso Public Schools after death of Nex Benedict

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In response to a formal complaint the Human Rights Campaign lodged last week regarding the handling of sex-based harassment incidents, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has initiated an investigation into Owasso Public Schools. The investigation, announced late Friday, aims to address the Oklahoma school district’s response to harassment that may have contributed to the tragic death of Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old transgender student of Choctaw heritage. HRC President Kelley Robinson spearheaded the complaint to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona last week, urging the department in a letter to use its enforcement mechanisms to prevent future tragedies and hold those responsible for Benedict’s death accountable. “Nex’s […]

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National LGBTQ group sues Texas after state AG demands records about trans youths

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton faces a lawsuit after he demanded an LGBTQ group turn over all records related to its support of Texas families seeking transition-related medical care for their transgender youths.  PFLAG, a national group that supports the families of LGBTQ people, sued Paxton on Wednesday night, calling his demand “a clear and unmistakable overreach” in retaliation for two other lawsuits PFLAG is involved in regarding minors’ access to gender-affirming care in the state.  Paxton’s demand for the records, the group said, is part of the state’s “relentless campaign to persecute Texas trans youth and their loving parents.”  The PFLAG […]

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For lesbian couples in Alabama, court’s embryo ruling is chilling

Elishea Jones has lived in Alabama her entire life, but since the state’s highest court ruled that embryos are legally children last week and three major fertility clinics halted in vitro fertilization procedures because of the potential legal liability, Jones is questioning everything.  “It’s not a political issue. They claim that we’re about saving the babies and what’s good for the children. This is what makes children happen for some families,” said Jones, who attended a rally outside Alabama’s State House on Wednesday to advocate for IVF protections.  Jones, 34, and her wife, Paige, 41, live in Alabaster with their 4-year-old son, […]

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New Findings Show 60+ Anti-LGBTQ+ Incidents Targeting US Religious Institutions

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Churches, synagogues, and other places of worship have found themselves in the crosshairs while in the pursuit for LGBTQ rights and safety. According to new findings from GLAAD and the Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism, from June 2022 – January 2024, researchers documented at least 66 incidents in which religious institutions were targeted over their perceived support for and inclusion of LGBTQ people in the US. These incidents included arson, property theft and destruction, and threatening letters, emails, and phone calls — illuminating that religious institutions are not immune to the alarming rise of anti-LGBTQ hate sweeping the US. Places of worship from […]

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By defining sex, some states are denying transgender people legal recognition

Mack Allen, an 18-year-old high school senior from Kansas, braces for sideways glances, questioning looks and snide comments whenever he has to hand over his driver’s license, which still identifies him as female. They’ve come from a police officer responding to a car accident. They’ve come from an urgent care employee loudly using the wrong name and pronouns. They’ve come from the people in the waiting room who overheard. “It just feels gross because I’ve worked so hard to get to where I am now in my transition, and obviously I don’t look like a woman and I don’t sound […]

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Ban on gender-affirming care for minors allowed to take effect in Indiana

A federal appeals court on Tuesday allowed Indiana’s ban on gender-affirming care to go into effect, removing a temporary injunction a judge issued last year. The ruling was handed down by a panel of justices on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. It marked the latest decision in a legal challenge the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed against the ban, enacted last spring amid a national push by GOP-led legislatures to curb LGBTQ+ rights. The law was slated to go into effect on July 1, 2023. But the month before, U.S. District Court Judge James Patrick Hanlon issued an injunction […]

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Religious trauma still haunts millions of LGBTQ Americans

Experts say LGBTQ people experience religious trauma at disproportionate rates and in unique ways. Justin J. Wee and Evan Jenkins for NBC News Kellen Swift-Godzisz, 35, said he doesn’t go on dates, struggles with erectile dysfunction and is hesitant to trust people. For more than 20 years, he’s experienced intense bouts of anxiety and depression that have had a “major hold on his life.” “Imagine being told by everyone you trusted that you’re going to hell because you like men,” Swift-Godzisz, a marketing project manager living in Chicago, told NBC News. At just 11 years old, Swift-Godzisz recalled, he would sit […]

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The first at-home cervical screening device is under clinical trial, and it’s about time

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The first at-home cervical screening device is currently under clinical trial to become FDA-approved in the USA, and we think it’s about time for a change.  For women and those with uteruses, undergoing a regular pap smear to prevent cervical cancer can be an unpleasant experience thanks to the speculum used.  The outdated device used in pelvic appointments to separate the vaginal walls can be cold and uncomfortable. The clamp-like instrument was invented in the mid-19th century and hasn’t adapted much since its origins.  The new device called Teal Wand, designed by women-led company Teal Health, is an at-home cervical […]

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