Opinions

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Democrats must humanize marginalized voices for election success

Since the 2024 election, some Democratic commentators have suggested that Democrats need to flip the switch. They call on Democrats to abandon so-called identity politics and ‘move back to the middle.’ I understand the fury. I appreciate the anger at what we all expected, but the idea that we should abandon our principles is the ultimate betrayal. Instead, I argue that the Democratic Party must return to being a party of pragmatic ideas and solutions, actively anti-corruption and anti-bigotry, and pro-inclusion. The party once hailed as the beacon of the underdog has lost its pragmatism and ability to talk to people. The party that […]

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Is the U.S. government turning back to the ‘Fellow Travelers’ era for LGBTQ+ people?

In a recent article, Mother Jones highlighted a chilling resurgence of fear among LGBTQ+ federal employees, reminiscent of the oppressive Lavender Scare of the 1950s. The Trump administration’s recent policies, including a memorandum from the Office of Personnel Management prohibiting employee resource groups that promote diversity initiatives, have instilled anxiety among LGBTQ+ workers.  Reports of mass terminations and demands for the names of LGBTQ+ employee resource group leaders have only heightened these concerns. This hostile environment has forced many LGBTQ+ resource groups to go underground, as employees fear being targeted or fired based on their gender identity or sexual orientation. Then, as The Advocate reported, the Trump Administration announced […]

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Protecting the rights of LGBTQ+ families in the second Trump presidency

In the wake of election day, my office phone and email exploded with concerned clients desperate for answers. “Is my name on the birth certificate enough?” “Do I need a parentage order?” “Do I need to adopt my own child?” “Should I move my embryos?” “Should I move my home?” As a family formation attorney and reproductive rights advocate, most of my clients are LGBTQ+. Regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, my clients all have one shared characteristic: they have all had children through assisted reproduction, whether IVF, egg donation, sperm donation, embryo donation, surrogacy, or adoption. And now, they all share […]

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Here’s why GLSEN plans to transform and relaunch amid attacks on LGBTQ+ youth

For 35 years, GLSEN has championed and expanded safe, inclusive K-12 environments where children can thrive, and learn free from fear. We are proud of the work we have done, to build acceptance and protection for LGBTQ+ students, and particularly in recent years, to build a sterling organizational reputation among our constituent communities, a committed and strong staff that is unified in its approach and thinking, and a known brand that generates awareness and hundreds of millions of impressions annually throughout the world. Despite decades of hard-won victories, there is no denying the unprecedented nature of the current political and fundraising landscape. We […]

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I wish Donald Trump could understand this simple thing about my trans daughter

The following is a letter I sent to President Trump in response to his comments about gender on day one of taking Office. I was seeking a publication with a wide audience to get this message out. The lives of my daughter and countless others depend on it. Dear Mr. President, Sometimes words from our leaders can shake a parent’s entire world. On Monday, your words shook me to my core. As I listened to your statement, I felt a physical pain in my chest – the kind of visceral fear that only a parent can understand when they sense […]

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This is why it’s okay to be angry at anyone who voted for Trump

I have a message to anyone who voted for Donald Trump, particularly those who thought he’d lower their food and gas bills, or those who questioned whether Kamala Harris was a good candidate: your stupidity is revolting. You deserve all the tyranny that is about to befall you — and unfortunately, the rest of us who heeded the waterfall of warnings about Trump and voted for Harris.  I’m laughing about how obtuse Trump voters were about him “lowering prices” while telling them about increasing tariffs. Practically every economist in the world warned that prices would rise if Trump imposed new tariffs. Mark Cuban told me the same […]

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Trump’s pardoning of insurrectionists will turbocharge trans violence

Since coming into office, Trump and his Republican allies have moved swiftly to enact their shared radical agenda-one that centers around a mass political upheaval of our democracy and institutions with the goal of authoritarian control. In that context, Trump’s pardon of 1,500 January 6th insurrectionists and right-wing paramilitary leaders Enrico Tarrio and Stewart Rhodes have set free insurgents who posed the single largest threat to democracy in the U.S. since 1861. Their get-out jail-free card wasn’t just about Trump appeasing his voters. It set loose the shock troops to force the MAGA agenda on the country through extralegal means and solidify the GOP alliance with these extremists at […]

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I work at NIH. The fear among staff is palpable.

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The science world is in disarray. In just the last 10 days, the Trump administration has paused external communication and most travel for staffers within the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); froze NIH grant review panels—and therefore, new funding; and instructed employees across the federal government to report their colleagues for attempting to “disguise” DEI—diversity, equity, and inclusion—programs, sparking confusion. International HIV/AIDS aid was also put on hold, and then reinstated, at least in part. The result, researchers say, has been a chilling […]

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BLACK HISTORY MONTH: The stories of Black queer people with HIV cannot be told in statistics

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HIV has never been just a statistic for me. It has never been a distant concern or a nameless condition existing in the abstract like it is for so many. It has never been something that merely existed as a plotline in a movie. It has never been an unseen boogeyman used as a scare tactic. It has always been real, personal, tangible, and deeply rooted in my life as a Black, sexually fluid man living in the Bible Belt.  My earliest encounter with HIV would shape my entire life. At a young age during the early 2000s, I watched […]

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Trump’s definitions of “male” and “female” are nonsense science with staggering ramifications

A few hours after taking the Oath of Office on Monday, President Donald Trump issued an executive order purporting to redefine “male” and “female” by fiat. The order, with the cumbersome title “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” instructs all executive agencies—including those governing education, health, housing, and employment—to use new definitions of “male” and “female” in every aspect of their work: (d)  “Female” means a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell. (e)  “Male” means a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the small […]

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