Opinions

/ /

For Anita Bryant, there will be no orange juice in hell

I know you’re not supposed to say anything bad about the dead; however, when Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson died, I broke decorum, and with Anita Bryant’s death I shall do the same. When I heard that she died, all I could think about was that Satan himself greeted her with a pie in the face upon her entrance to hell. Bryant was once celebrated as a singer and beauty queen, but those of us who are old enough remember her, nightmarishly, as a vehement anti-LGBTQ+ activist in the 1970s. She went on a horrible antigay crusade that inflicted significant harm on countless people and left an indelible […]

/ / / /

As HHS secretary, RFK Jr. would be a direct threat to LGBTQ+ health

Among Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees, it’s hard to choose who is the most dangerous to LGBTQ+ rights. But it’s easy to pick out who is the most dangerous to LGBTQ+ health: Robert Kennedy Jr. As the nominee to run the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Kennedy has the potential to make literal life-and-death decisions about the nation’s health. But his crackpot ideas are a direct threat to the very issues that can matter most to the LGBTQ+ community.  Much has been made of Kennedy’s conspiracy-ridden, fringe beliefs. He believes that vaccines cause autism, even though abundant evidence has shown no […]

/ /

Was America ever really made for you and me?

Throughout my 78 years of life, I have felt inspired by the insightful lyrics and melodies of one of my cultural heroes: U.S. folk music singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie, whose themes include labor rights and organizing, socialism, anti-fascism, and anti-racism. Guthrie was born and raised by middle-class parents in Okemah, Oklahoma. He first married at age 19, but he left his wife and three children at the beginning of the Midwest dust storms that signaled the Dust Bowl period. He joined the thousands of Okies who migrated to California looking for employment. Over the course of his life, he married three times and fathered eight children. He succumbed to Huntington’s […]

/ / / /

Trans people are entering a new chapter of resistance. We are ready.

,

Many of us have watched with alarm as trans people have been increasingly targeted by extremists – culminating in Donald Trump’s hateful presidential campaign.  Trans people deserve full, authentic, and healthy lives, not to be attacked by anti-trans politicians who are trying to distract and divide us.  Now, we are entering a new chapter of resistance, and we are ready. Having already lived through a Trump presidency, we know firsthand the devastating impact a second term could have on our rights, our safety, and our future. Many in the LGBTQ+ community, particularly trans people and their families, are understandably feeling […]

/ /

We’re going to get through this together

,

Here are this week’s most popular positive stories, with some fun social media posts tossed in too. Like seeing uplifting content like this? Sign up for our Good News email. It has been a hard week, and while we’re more committed now than ever to sharing empowering, uplifting stories, we wanted to offer some compassion and encouragement too: It’s an emotional time, and it’s good (and vital) to express our feelings, both alone and with others. Remember, nearly 70 million others also voted for progress, equality and decency — and we’re heading into the future with them. Throughout history, we’ve needed […]

/ /

We elect presidents that reflect who we are, and in Trump, America proves to be inherently selfish

There’s a well-proven theory that America elects presidents that reflect who we are. In the Gilded Age, America felt powerful and invincible and elected Theodore Roosevelt, a man who exuded strength and vitality. Thirty years later, America was ravaged by a depression, and we elected a president ravaged by polio when we elected Franklin Roosevelt. In 1952, America was booming again. We were commanding. We had won a war and elected the redoubtable Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower.  In 1976, after the saga and stain of Watergate, we yearned to be thought simple and wholesome and elected the kind and unassuming […]

/ /

Kamala Harris is fighting for us—it’s time we stand up and fight for her

As a proud Black man, a gay man, and someone who has survived and spoken out against sexual violence, I want to talk to my community—Black men, Black gay men, and the LGBTQ+ family. We’re not going back, so we need to rally behind Vice President Kamala Harris. She’s been fighting for us, and now it’s our turn to stand up and fight for her by voting—and voting now. Some of you may have seen me on MTV’s Catfish, where I shared my story as a survivor of sexual violence. That’s why supporting Kamala Harris is so important to me, as she’s fighting for people like […]

/ /

Lessons in resistance: How AIDS activism can teach us to save ourselves from hate

The Reagan Administration was determined to ignore the AIDS epidemic. As the death toll climbed across the country, Reagan refused to even say the word “AIDS,” waiting until 1985 to name the deadly illness. It wasn’t until 1987 that he formed a task force to address the disease, and his administration did not implement a single one of its 597 recommendations.  In response, a group of four gay men in Minneapolis came together to form the Philanthrofund Foundation, or PFund for short, in 1987. Aaron Zimmerman, the current Executive Director of the organization, told LGBTQ Nation the founders’ primary principle: “We need to save […]

/ /

2024 Election: What’s at stake for the queer and trans community

Before we know it, election day for the November 2024 presidential election will be upon us. We’ve heard time and again that this is the most important election of our lives, something we might be tired of hearing every four years. There is obviously a lot at stake in this election, from abortion rights to how future elections will be held. But what is at stake specifically for the queer community? Many members of the LGBTQ+ community likely already know who they are going to vote for. In the broadest terms, Donald Trump’s campaign has attacked LGBTQ+ rights and Kamala […]

/ /

LGBTQ+ rights have long been at the mercy of public opinion. This November will be no different.

,

LGBTQ+ ballot initiatives have long been used as a wedge issue to turn out the conservative vote and to give or take away freedoms that are usually guaranteed by the government. The 2024 election is no different. This November continues a decades-long tradition of leaving LGBTQ+ civil rights up to public debate. New Yorkers will consider whether to add sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression to their anti-discrimination amendment in the state constitution. Reproductive rights are on the ballot in 10 states as well. And California, Colorado, and Hawaii voters will decide if their states will repeal their constitutions’ […]

«‹ 6 7 8 9›»