Opinions

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Texas wants Bibles in public classrooms as another way to bully, harm, and exclude LGBTQ+ kids

I went to a Catholic school for eight years, so I had no choice when it came to learning about the Bible. I remember being confused by scripture on many occasions. As a child, I could not comprehend how Noah got all those animals onto a small boat. It was around the same time I began to wonder how Santa could carry presents for all the children in the world on his small sleigh. Nevertheless, I came to respect the Bible and what it stood for. Some might say it was eight years of brainwashing, but I prefer to think of […]

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Gay billionaire Peter Thiel is now a self-appointed theologian

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Having apparently exhausted his interest in seasteading and blood transfusions from young people to ward off aging, gay Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel has found a new topic to explore: the anti-Christ.  Since last fall, Thiel has been touring a four-part lecture series on the figure mentioned in the New Testament as the primary opponent of Jesus in the final days before his second coming. If that seems like an offbeat topic for a Silicon Valley millionaire, Thiel has always been known for his esoteric interests.  Thiel’s interest in the anti-Christ may date back to his own upbringing, as he was raised an […]

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The far-right’s dehumanization of trans people is similar to the Nazi’s treatment of Jewish people

Throughout history, autocratic regimes, especially authoritarian or populist ones on the far left and the far right, have demonized what they have determined to represent their nations’ “internal enemies,” foes who, if left to thrive, would undermine the security and very existence of these societies. Regimes have done this to consolidate and expand its power, to divert attention away from misdeeds and failed economic and social policy initiatives, to justify repressive tactics, to stifle critical thinking, and to create a more pliant and obedient population. Though the processes of marginalizing and isolating these purported internal enemies vary by case and […]

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The Federal Bureau of Prisons is running a conversion therapy program. We must not let it stand

On February 19, 2026, the Federal Bureau of Prisons issued a new policy on the “Management of Inmates with Gender Dysphoria.” The title sounds clinical. The reality is brutal: the federal government has now officially placed itself in the business of punishing transgender people for being who they are, by withdrawing their medical care, confiscating their personal belongings, and subjecting them to forced psychological treatment. It is, in every meaningful sense, a blueprint for a government-run conversion therapy program, one targeting thousands of incarcerated people who have nowhere to turn. NCLR condemns this policy in the strongest possible terms. For now, […]

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Budget cuts and ignorance of history are racing us towards another HIV & AIDS epidemic

I’m old enough to remember what it looked like when the government decided AIDS wasn’t its problem. I remember the silence from the Reagan White House as funerals piled up. I remember watching and hearing about brilliant sons, partners, uncles, friends, entire communities disappear while officials shrugged and said this was a “gay” disease, something that happened to people who had brought it on themselves. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. Working on the Hill at the time, I listened to the horrid bigotry […]

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Christian nationalism’s role in the war with Iran — and U.S. LGBTQ+ rights

On Saturday morning, in the southern Iranian city of Minab, an airstrike struck a girls’ elementary school shortly after classes began. Rescue workers spent hours digging through the collapsed building. By the end of the day, between 165 and 180 people were dead, most of them girls between the ages of seven and twelve. The strike was part of a widening military campaign carried out jointly by the United States and Israel against Iran, a conflict that has already spread across multiple countries and killed hundreds of civilians. Events like this should force a moment of moral clarity. The deliberate or reckless […]

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My Life With Chemsex and After Parties: The Grey Zone of Substance Use

This story was produced with the support of MISTR, a telehealth platform offering free online access to PrEP, DoxyPEP, STI testing, Hepatitis C testing and treatment and long-term HIV care across the U.S. MISTR did not have any editorial input into the content of this story. “Should we order some more drugs?” asked the half-naked, blurry-eyed accountant from across the room filled with half a dozen other guys. My first reaction was confusion. It was 9 a.m. and we’d been partying, fucking and awake for 38 hours. One person was passed out in the corner of the room, two others were […]

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Virginia’s HIV Safety Net is Fraying. Lawmakers Must Act.

This past Friday, I was asked point blank: “What would happen if we don’t have funding for your Ryan White Part B program in April?”  It was framed as a hypothetical. For our organization, it is not.  As Executive Director of Health Brigade, I have led through uncertainty before. We are one of Richmond’s longstanding providers of HIV prevention and care, and the need for our services has always exceeded available resources. But in May 2025, Virginia cut $20 million in Ryan White Part B (RWB) funding at the state level. For Health Brigade, that meant a 75% reduction in […]

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Does the American Dream Still Exist for People Like Me?

“That’s fine dude. I’m not mad at you.” Those are the first and last words I heard Renee Good say, seconds before she was brutally murdered on Jan. 7 by ICE agent Jonathan Ross. I came across the video as I watched my fiancée scroll through her social media feeds while sitting in our Brooklyn apartment. We proceeded to scour TikTok to gather more information. Overwhelmed by the sheer number of videos of the shooting—all from various angles—I asked her to put the phone down. We sat in silence as I interrogated the pit forming in my stomach. I was […]

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The mental health system is failing queer kids of color—and we’re letting it happen

Jayden is a 16-year-old Black queer teenager living in a low-income neighborhood on Atlanta’s west side. When he was unable to attend school because of his worsening panic attacks, he finally asked for help, but his cries went unanswered. The mental health system in this country wasn’t made for queer kids of color, which is why even when they go out to search for mental health care, too many are met with doors closed or closed minds. Jayden isn’t real, but his story is. It is built from interviews, national survey data, and the experiences of BIPOC LGBTQ+ youth in low-income communities […]

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