Top Stories

/ /

Lesbian Artist Receives Multi-Year Prison Sentence for Criticizing Putin, Military

,

To the shouts of “Shame!” in the courtroom, a judge in Russia last week sentenced a lesbian artist who criticized the country’s military actions in Ukraine in a supermarket protest last year to seven years in a penal colony. Alexandra Skochilenko, 33, was convicted last Wednesday of spreading knowingly false information about the use of the armed forces and the government’s use of its authority. On March 31, 2022, Skochilenko, also known as Sasha, had switched out the price tags at a Perekrestok supermarket with stickers that looked like price tags but contained a series of antiwar messages. A witness […]

/ /

Teachers and students grapple with fears and confusion about new laws restricting pronoun use

Indianapolis high school senior Caston Peters had used they and them or he and him pronouns at school for three years without a problem, but they came home a few days into this school year and told their mother that the situation had changed. Peters, 18 and nonbinary, heard from a teacher that a new state law meant they wouldn’t be able to use those pronouns, or the first name they’ve used for years, without explicit permission from a parent because the pronouns and name don’t correspond with their sex assigned at birth. This was news to Caston’s mother, Kim Michaelis-Peters, who […]

/ /

Discover the 30 Most LGBTQ-Friendly Colleges and Universities in the U.S.

,

Editor’s Note: It is difficult to fathom how any university or college can be deemed LGBT-Friendly when it’s campus is located in a state where LGBTQI+ rights and reproductive rights and health are threatened. Alas, this is a yearly index that some may find helpful. While we aplaud college’s that offerLGBTQI+ folks the right we deserve. we urge administrations to force state legislatures and governors to do the same. Campus Pride has released its annual Best of the Best list of the top 30 colleges and universities for LGBTQ+ students. The exclusive list is based on its Campus Pride Index which rates institutions based on […]

/ /

Ex-Chicago Police Sergeant Guilty in Transgender Woman’s Sexual Assault Case

,

Former Chicago police sergeant James B. Sajdak pleaded guilty on Monday to a misdemeanor civil rights violation related to the 2019 sexual assault of a transgender woman, Tyshee Featherstone.  This latest development is a significant shift from the initial charges that could have led to a life sentence for Sajdak, as reported by theChicago Sun-Timesand theChicago Tribune. The 65-year-old Sajdak, who served 29 years with the Chicago Police Department, faced the possibility of life in federal prison under a felony count. However, the plea agreement changed this to a misdemeanor count of deprivation of rights under color of law.  Related: Trans Woman Accuses Chicago Police Officer […]

/ /

Here’s why gay & bi young people smoke more than their straight peers

,

Gay, lesbian, and bisexual young people are more likely to use alcohol, e-cigarettes, cannabis, and tobacco than their heterosexual peers, a new study has found. Researchers say that stress from sexual orientation-based discrimination is to blame. The study — published this autumn in the American Medical Association’s open-access medical journal, JAMA Network Open — looked at data on the habits of 28,291 middle and high school students taken from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey. About 4.5% of student respondents self-identified as gay or lesbian, and 11.8% self-identified as bisexual. These percentages represent about […]

/ /

What it means to be an active ally to your LGBTQ+ co-workers

The act of ‘coming out’ is often done in steps and, for many, can be an ongoing process. For myself, I came out in stages, first to a small group of select friends in 1991, then to family in 1993. Over the following years, I came out to more and more of my friends. However, it wasn’t until many years later — in 1998 — that I came out at work. When I did, the CFO in our Corporate & Investment Bank — someone I’d worked with for years — said to me: “What could I have done better over […]

/ /

How to Produce ‘Gender Euphoria’ for Trans and Nonbinary Youth

,

Much is said about the struggles young transgender people face. But there’s less information about what makes them happy. The Trevor Project is adding to that info, however, with a new research brief, “Affirming Actions and Gender Euphoria Among Transgender and Nonbinary Young People,” released Wednesday for Transgender Awareness Week. “Gender euphoria is defined as satisfaction or joy caused when one’s gendered experience aligns with their gender identity,” the brief notes. The term “gender euphoria” has been around since 1976 but has been studied little. The Trevor Project has drawn on its 2023 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ Young People “to examine actions other […]

/ /

New antibiotic shows promise for drug-resistant gonorrhea

A new antibiotic has proven as effective as the last remaining recommended treatment for gonorrhea, helping to assuage mounting fears among public health experts about the emergence of drug-resistant strains of the sexually transmitted infection. Gonorrhea is the second most common STI in the U.S. and has developed resistance to all antibiotics used to treat it, except for the recommended combined therapy of an injection of the antibiotic ceftriaxone with one dose of azithromycin pills. In recent years, ominous reports have suggested that this antibiotic arsenal might not maintain its robust effectiveness against the fast-evolving pathogen for much longer. On Wednesday, results […]

/ /

Banning books: The greatest scheme to get kids to read again

Don’t touch that hot stove! Don’t pull the dog’s tail! Don’t say bad words! Tell a kid that they can’t do something and what’s the normal response? Do it. Why? Because your parents, the commanders of your universe, told you not to not to do it (which is the simultaneous birthplace of both your curiosity and independence). Don’t they remember being a kid — and that delicious wanting to know what’s on the other side of “Don’t?” One of my greatest joys as an author is to inspire kids to read. Books were my curiosity creators and my independence days, […]

/ /

The Trevor Project Extends 988 Crisis Line Partnership to Support Vulnerable LGBTQ+ Youth

,

The Trevor Project announced on Thursday the extension of its partnership with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, reaffirming its commitment to providing specialized assistance to LGBTQ+ people who call 9-8-8.  According to a press release announcing the development, the collaboration underscores the organization’s dedication to inclusivity and improved access to essential mental health services. Interim senior vice president of prevention at The Trevor Project, Kasey Suffredini, highlighted the impact of their collaboration with 988.  “The Trevor Project’s research indicates that 41 percent of LGBTQ young people seriously contemplated suicide in the past year, with more than half of those seeking mental health care unable to access it,” […]

«‹ 250 251 252 253›»