News

/ /

Board members called this nonbinary teacher a “groomer.” Now the district has to pay up.

,

An Arizona school district has settled a discrimination lawsuit brought by a former teacher who is nonbinary. As The Arizona Republic reports, River Chunnui sued the Peoria Unified School District and two members of its governing board, Heather Rooks and Rebecca Hill, last year, alleging “discriminatory, retaliatory, and torturous actions” based on Chunnui’s gender identity. According to their March 2024 complaint, the former Desert Harbor Elementary School special education teacher sent a March 31, 2022, email informing fellow staff members of how they could support and acknowledge trans and nonbinary students on International Transgender Day of Visibility. After their email began circulating online […]

/ /

Florida Republican official suspended for social posts mocking Pulse murder victims

,

A Florida city suspended one of its council members over hateful social media posts, including one mocking victims of the Pulse shooting. Now, she has sued while alleging that some of the posts were doctored. The Groveland City Council last week suspended Councilwoman Judith Fike after nearly decade-old posts resurfaced, including one in which she wrote victims of the nearby Pulse mass shooting were killed more easily than if they had been hurled from buildings. According to The Orlando Sentinel, the post read: “‘Duh….why would the shooter target a gay club? My answer…Easier than marching them up steps to push off the roof..some […]

/ /

Baylor University to return $643,000 LGBTQ-inclusion grant

Baylor University, a Baptist institution in Waco, Texas, announced Wednesday that it would rescind its acceptance of a $643,000 grant that it had recently been awarded to study the inclusion of women and LGBTQ people in the church.  In a letter posted to the university’s website, Baylor University President Linda Livingstone said returning the funds “is the appropriate course of action and in the best interests” of the school.  “We remain committed to providing a loving and caring community for all — including our LGBTQIA+ students — because it is part and parcel of our University’s mission that calls us to […]

/ /

Trump poised to make LGBTQ+ nonprofit workers ineligible for student loan forgiveness

,

Donald Trump‘s Department of Education is drafting plans to gut a student loan forgiveness program for public servants — and employees of LGBTQ+ groups are being singled out.  Trump signed an executive order in March dismantling access to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, directly pointing to nonprofits that serve transgender people as ineligible for loan forgiveness. Now, the Education Department has unveiled drafted plans that would follow through with the order. The cuts are expected to disproportionately impact LGBTQ+ people, who are more likely to have student loans and more likely to work for nonprofits.  “The proposed restrictions on student loans […]

/ / /

Protesters rally against closing largest gender-affirming care center for kids in the U.S.

Growing up, Sage Sol Pitchenik wanted to hide. “I hated my body,” the nonbinary 16-year-old said. “I hated looking at it.” When therapy didn’t help, Pitchenik, who uses the pronoun they, started going to the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, the country’s biggest public provider of gender-affirming care for children and teens. It changed their life. But in response to the Trump administration’s threat to cut federal funds to places that offer gender-affirming care to minors, the center will be closing its doors July 22. Pitchenik has been among the scores of protesters who […]

/

Positive Images is Moving

 While this year has brought deep challenges — including harmful federal policies that threaten our safety and well-being — we know that joy, connection, and care are acts of resistance. They are vital to our survival.          That’s why today, we’re overjoyed to share a bright moment of our own: Positive Images is moving to a new home!          For nearly a decade, we’ve welcomed you into our space on Montgomery Drive — a place where we laughed, cried, found community, and held each other through it all. But we’ve outgrown it. Our community deserves […]

/ /

LGBTQ+ groups face alarming funding crisis as Republican anti-trans attacks mount, new report finds

,

Philanthropic support for LGBTQ+ causes is collapsing just as queer and transcommunities face an escalating national crisis. New data from Funders for LGBTQ Issues shows foundation funding for LGBTQ+ organizations in the U.S. dropped sharply to $209.4 million in 2023. That’s a staggering decline of nearly $49 million, or 19 percent, from 2022. When adjusted for inflation, that cut deepens to 22 percent. Even as the funding picture grows increasingly dire, many philanthropic institutions are opting to remain anonymous. The report omits the names of top funders and grantees for the first time in decades, reflecting a growing trend among donors who fear political retaliation […]

/ /

Authors and Illustrators Issue Personal Statements in Response to Ruling in Supreme Court Banned Books Case

,

This past Friday, June 27, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a blow to public school education and the freedom to read with their ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor,allowing a preliminary injunction to remain in place for a small group of Maryland parents seeking to opt their kids out of LGBTQ-inclusive children’s books at school. The nine authors and illustrators named in the case issued a joint statement following the decision, slamming the ruling and stating in part:  “We created our books for all children. We believe young people need to see themselves and families like theirs in the books they read; this is […]

/ /

More than 100 trans inmates ‘missing and presumed dead’ after Israeli strike on Iranian prison

,

More than 100 trans prisoners are reportedly missing, and presumed dead, after the infamous Evin prison in the Iranian capital city of Tehran was hit by Israeli airstrikes. Situated in the Evin neighbourhood of north Tehran, Evin Prison was opened in 1972 and has a long and bloody history of human rights abuses, including beatings, torture, prolonged solitary confinement, sleep deprivation and sexual abuse, alongside poor conditions.  The prison is the main site for detaining the Islamic Republic’s political prisoners, journalists, academics and foreign citizens accused of spying – including dual-British-Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, human rights activist Narges Mohammadi and Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert. The prison […]

/

Wisconsin Supreme Court clears the way to enact a conversion therapy ban

The Wisconsin Supreme Court cleared the way Tuesday for the state to institute a ban on conversion therapy in a ruling that gives the governor more power over how state laws are enacted. The court ruled that a Republican-controlled legislative committee’s rejection of a state agency rule that would ban the practice of conversion therapy for LGBTQ people was unconstitutional. The decision, which has a broad impact far beyond the conversion therapy issue, takes power away from the Legislature to block the enactment of rules by the governor’s office that carry the force of law. The 4-3 ruling from the […]

«‹ 60 61 62 63›»