On April 21, an appeals court in the Polish city of Białystok threw out a case brought by Przasnysz county authorities against four lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights activists who founded the “Atlas of Hate” project. This is the first final verdict in favor of the activists who are facing multiple lawsuits for drawing international attention to Poland’s discriminatory “LGBT-Free Zones.”
The Atlas of Hate is an interactive map of Poland showing provinces, towns, and municipalities across the country where local authorities have adopted discriminatory “family charters” pledging to “protect children from moral corruption” or declared themselves free from “LGBT ideology.”
In December 2022, courts in Opoczno and Tarnów counties dismissed in the first instance two other cases brought by local authorities against Atlas of Hate. Another two municipalities withdrew lawsuits after the European Union threatened to pull funding over the so-called “LGBT-Free Zones.”
Seven of the nearly 100 localities with these anti-LGBT policies sued the Atlas of Hate founders for defamation, demanding public apologies and 280,000 zloty (US$64,000) for calling their regions “LGBT-Free Zones.” Lawyers for an ultra-conservative organization, Ordo Iuris, which championed the “LGBT-Free Zone” resolutions, supported the lawsuits.
“Local authorities who decided to sue us should finally understand that their claims are doomed to failure,” said Jakub Gawron, one of the Atlas of Hate founders. “Poland’s courts have emphasized that the right to criticize authorities is subject to special protection.”
Authorities in one-third of the country adopted anti-LGBT resolutions after the right-wing Law and Justice ruling party made “protecting” Poland from “LGBT ideology” a centerpiece of its successful electoral campaign in 2019. Fifty-six anti-LGBT resolutions across Poland, including in Przasnysz, Opoczno, and Tarnów counties, remain in place.
As Poland’s courts side with the Atlas of Hate activists, it’s clear local authorities only aim to have achilling effecton human rights defenders and suppress criticism of anti-LGBT resolutions. The Polish authorities should drop remaining lawsuits against LGBT activists and finally repeal all discriminatory resolutions.
Officials in Missouri’s largest city approved a resolution Thursday to declare it a sanctuary for people seeking or providing gender-affirming care, defying state lawmakers who voted a day earlier to ban such care for minors and restrict it for some adults.
Democratic Mayor Quinton Lucas praised the 12 to 1 vote, saying the city is committed to being a “welcoming, inclusive, and safe place for everyone, including our transgender and LGBTQ+ community.”
Kansas City’s new, sanctuary status sets it apart as a Democratic-leaning city in a state with a Republican governor and GOP-controlled Legislature. Similar actions have been taken in cities that oppose state actions to restrict rights for transgender people, as in Austin, Texas.
GOP Gov. Mike Parson is expected to sign into law the ban on gender-affirming care, joining at least 16 other states that have enacted similar laws restricting or banning such care for minors.
The resolution also comes as a judge considers a proposed emergency rule from Republican state Attorney General Andrew Bailey that would require adults and children to undergo more than a year of therapy — and fulfill other requirements before they could receive gender-affirming treatment.
A committee signed off Wednesday on the resolution, which says the city will not prosecute or fine any person or organization that seeks, provides, receives or helps someone to receive gender-affirming care such as as puberty blockers, hormones or surgery.
It also says that if the state passes a law or resolution that imposes criminal or civil punishments, fines, or professional sanctions in such cases, personnel in Missouri’s largest city will make enforcing those requirements “their lowest priority.”
Republican state lawmakers across the U.S. who’ve attacked gender-affirming care as part of a larger effort to roll back LGBTQ rights have argued that they’re protecting children from decisions they may later regret. But gender-affirming care for minors has been available in the U.S. for more than a decade and is endorsed by major medical associations.
“This is an important first step in Kansas City’s commitment to trans and nonbinary people,” Merrique Jenson, founder of Transformations KC, said in a written statement after the vote. “I look forward to trans leaders and Kansas City working together to address the health disparities in our communities and ways we can have sustainable funding & programming reaching all trans people.”
The court also instructed the government to urgently consider a 2015 court-ordered report that recommended broader recognition of same-sex relationships. Building on judgments from 2007 and 2017 that recognized rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, the court ruled that failure to recognize same-sex spouses violates Nepal’s constitution and its international human rights obligations.
“The Supreme Court has again drawn attention to the government’s lagging implementation of court orders to recognize same-sex relationships,” said Kyle Knight, senior LGBT rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Nepal has a global reputation as a leader on LGBT rights, and the government needs to live up to it with a tangible policy change.”
The case, Adheep Pokhrel and Tobias Volz.v. Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Immigration was brought by a gay couple – Pokhrel, a Nepali citizen, and Volz, a German citizen. The pair were legally married in Germany in 2018. They applied for a non-tourist visa for Volz in July 2022, which would entitle him to the same rights to live in Nepal as a married heterosexual spouse in the same circumstance. Nepali authorities denied the request on the grounds that the application form reads “husband” and “wife” and does not recognize two husbands.
Pokhrel and Volz attempted to register their German marriage with Nepali authorities, who denied their request. They applied again for a non-tourist visa for Volz in August 2022, submitting the Supreme Court’s judgment in Suman Panta v. Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Immigration, et al. (2017) to demonstrate the court’s previous orders to grant foreign same-sex spouses non-tourist visas, but the authorities again denied the application.
In 2017, a lesbian couple – Suman Panta, a Nepali, and Leslie Luin Melnik, an American – took their case to the Supreme Court when the American spouse was denied a non-tourist visa. The court ordered the government to issue the visa, ruling that: “[I]f a foreign national claiming to be married to a Nepali citizen submits a marriage registration certificate and the Nepali citizen confirms the marriage in their visa application, then the issuance of visa to the foreign national cannot be denied.”
That case, and Pokhrel and Volz’s case, drew significantly from other Supreme Court judgments, including the landmark case of Sunil Babu Pant et al. v. Nepal. In 2007, in response to a petition from four LGBT activists, including Sunil Babu Pant, Nepal’s Supreme Court ordered the government to form a committee to study same-sex relationship recognition laws around the world.
The justices wrote: “[W]e hold that it is an inherent right of an adult to have marital relations with another adult with her/his free consent and according to her/his will. Same sex marriage should be viewed from the viewpoint of interest and rights of the concerned people as well as that of the society, family and all others.”
The court-ordered committee report, published in 2015, recommended that “the Government of Nepal remove the legal provision that marriage can only occur between a man and a woman and that it embrace the norm that a marriage can occur between two persons, and to grant legal recognition to same-sex marriage on the basis of the principle of equality.”
Now, in Pokhrel and Volz’s case, the justices ordered the Immigration Department to once again grant the foreign spouse a non-tourist visa, and wrote: “Given this background, it appears that same-sex marriage should be considered a subject that is envisioned by the constitution and in accordance with the Constitution of Nepal, the decisions made by this Court, the report by the committee formed in accordance with the order by this Court, and the human rights treaties ratified by Nepal.”
The government of Nepal should live up to its reputation as a leader on LGBT rights and propose legislation to protect the rights of LGBT people, Human Rights Watch said. The Supreme Court is currently considering other LGBT rights cases, including a case brought by Rukshana Kapali, a transgender woman who is petitioning to be legally recognized as a woman.
“It has been 16 years since the Supreme Court ordered a government committee to study the issue of recognizing same-sex relationships and eight years since that committee told the government to take concrete and comprehensive action to recognize same sex relationships,” Knight said. “The government should urgently examine the committee report and the court’s comprehensive analysis of legal changes that would afford same-sex couples in Nepal their equal rights.”
The owner of Houston’s only lesbian bar says her business is in jeopardy after it was denied insurance coverage, and she’s putting the blame, in part, on an anti-drag bill moving through the Texas Legislature.
“They outright denied us, the underwriters, because we host drag shows,” Julie Mabry, the owner of Pearl Bar, said in an interview with NBC affiliate KPRC of Houston.
Mabry has insurance through December, but she decided to switch agents a few months ago and shop around for a new policy, she told KPRC. It was during that process that her agent received the denial email, which the agent then sent to Mabry.
“This is the first time I’ve ever gotten an email like that. I cried about this for about a week,” said Mabry, who told KPRC that drag shows were the first thing mentioned in the email, which outlined why the underwriter did not want to take on the risk of insuring her bar.
Mabry did not share additional details about the underwriter or the email, and she did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
Mabry, who opened Pearl Bar in 2013, said the current political climate fueled the situation she’s in, and she encouraged followers of the Pearl Bar Instagram account to contact their legislators about anti-LGBTQ bills in the state, including one that would restrict drag shows on public property, on the premises of a commercial enterprise or in the presence of a child.
The bill, Senate Bill 12, passed in the Texas Senate last month by a vote of 20-11, and it was set to be considered by a House committee Thursday. If the measure is signed into law, violators could be subjected to civil penalties of up to $10,000.
“Pearl needs everyone to speak up for us so that we can stay open and HOST DRAG SHOWS! It’s THAT serious,” a post on the Pearl Bar Instagram account said. “We are in the final stretch of session and every voice counts in pushing back on this and the other anti-LGBTQ legislation. We need you to step up, be loud, and tell your legislators NO to any anti-LGBTQ+ bills. Our state should be open to all, period.”
State Sen. Bryan Hughes, the bill’s author, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Brad Pritchett, a Houston resident and the field director for LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Texas, noted that drag shows are still legal in Texas and said Pearl Bar’s situation is a result of the “fear and panic that lawmakers have stirred up” around the centuries-old art form.
“This situation highlights one of the most insidious consequences of all the anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the legislature this session—most people don’t know what’s going on,” he said in an email. “It’s ludicrous to think that lawmakers can shut down an entire industry without even changing the law. Texans, we need you to show up to the capitol, to email your legislators, and to make a lot of noise about what is happening in Texas.”
Texas is one of at least 16 states where legislators have proposed bills this year seeking to restrict the audiences for drag performances and where they can take place. Tennessee is the only state to have enacted such a law, which a federal judge temporarily blocked from taking effect.
Bills seeking to restrict drag shows are part of a larger trend of Republican-led bills targeting LGBTQ people in the U.S. So far this year, more than 470 such bills have been proposed in legislatures across the U.S., according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
Pearl Bar is one of about two dozen lesbian bars left in the U.S. and one of only two in Texas, the other being Sue Ellen’s in Dallas. Mabry hopes Texas will not be left with just a lone lesbian bar.
“This situation is real,” she wrote on Instagram. “I’ve tried to be as careful as I can to keep my patrons, performers, and staff safe, but if we stay quiet, we aren’t helping.”
Most top dating apps are entirely inclusive of trans people, which will come as terrible news to transphobes who are still raging over lesbian dating app HER’s ongoing support of its transgender users.
In recent weeks, HER has faced the vitriol of anti-trans bigots expressing outrage that the platform, which has been trans-inclusive “since day one”, welcomes trans and non-binary people.
And it’s not just HER. Leading dating apps such as Tinder, OkCupid, Hinge and Grindr are all trans inclusive and have zero-tolerance policies when it comes to transphobia on their platforms.
The pile-on faced by HER resulted in its Twitter account being temporarily suspended on Lesbian Visibility Day (26 April), after bigots reported it en masse. It has now been reinstated.
So-called gender critical male activists even took to creating accounts on HER in a bid to “catch out” trans women using it to find love – only to end up exposing one another instead.
The team behind the app did not take the hostility lying down and came out swinging for trans rights and in defence of HER’s trans and non-binary users.
In response to the attacks, the team sent a push notification to the app’s 10 million users,telling transphobes to delete it from their phones.
Robyn Exton, HER’s founder and chief executive, told PinkNews that the anti-trans hate was not slowing the team down and, instead, they are using it as an opportunity to double down and “to make our position exceptionally clear”.
Exton explained: “It’s kind of absurd that we’re now getting this vitriol, saying that we’re a lesbian app that is ‘now promoting’ inclusion of trans women. It always has, since day one.”
Transphobes enraged at HER’s policies will be hard-pressed to find a mainstream dating app that specifically excludes trans people.
Arguably the best-known dating app in the world, Tinder is often the first platform people new to the online dating world venture on to – and is open to the entire LGBTQ+ community.
The app has found LGBTQ+ people tend to use Tinder as the first place they are comfortably “out” after coming to terms with their identity, a spokesperson for the company told PinkNews.
The number of LGBTQ+ Tinder members under the age of 30 has doubled in the past three years, data from the platform showed.
A spokesperson said: “Tinder is an inclusive community where our members can freely express themselves, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
“Vulnerable communities face outside bias, prejudice and stigma, and Tinder recognises the role it has to support the safety of all members on our platform.
“We’ve collaborated with leading organisations, including HRC [the Human Rights Council], RAINN [The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network] and GLAAD to help us create an equitable and respectful platform where everyone can make meaningful connections.”
Additionally, in 2019 Tinder introduced its “traveller alert” an in-app function that enables LGBTQ+ users to “hide” their profile, should they be alerted by the platform that they have entered a country that discriminates against the queer community.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for OkCupid – which has 50 million registered users worldwide – told PinkNews that the platform supports the entire LGBTQ+ community.
“We were the first dating app to offer expanded gender and orientation options and we now offer users 22 genders and 20 orientation options that include agender, transgender, trans man and trans woman,” the spokesperson said.
“Last year, after hearing from non-binary and transgender daters, we realised there was an opportunity to educate and inform people about the different identities we offer on our app and added definitions to each of our gender and orientation options to help people better understand what these terms mean, and better serve all our users.”
The team is always working to create a “safer, more welcoming experience for everyone”, they added.
‘Transphobia is a violation of our terms’
On its website, Hinge – with its 23 million users – describes trans and gender non-conforming people as an “essential part of the [its] community”.
A Hinge spokesperson said: “At Hinge, we’re passionate about building a welcoming and effective dating app where everyone can find love.
“To support LGBTQIA+ daters in fully expressing themselves and foster an inclusive community, we’ve introduced a variety of app updates.”
These updates include NFAQ (Not-so Frequently Asked Questions), a resource for queer daters, prompts for LGBTQIA+ daters, the addition of pronoun options and more than 50 gender options for users.
“The safety and well-being of our trans daters are always a top priority,” the spokesperson added, “We have a zero-tolerance policy for hate and anyone exhibiting transphobic behaviour on Hinge will be banned from our community.
“If a user experiences transphobia, we encourage them to report it through our hate speech reporting option – which they can do directly within the app and our team will take immediate action.”
They added: “Anyone who reports a user for being trans or non-binary will be banned from our community. Furthermore, we have an ongoing relationship with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to identify and remove any hate speech within our app.”
A statement from the company’s website also says: “We have never, and will never, ban someone based on their gender or gender expression. Being trans is no more a violation of our terms of service than being cis (cisgender refers to anyone who is not trans).
“Transphobia, on the other hand, including reporting someone simply for being trans, is definitely a violation of our terms of service. We have banned members in the past for reporting profiles for this reason and will continue to do so.
“It’s our responsibility to ensure that trans members feel safe and welcome on Hinge and we will continuously work to do just that.”
Perhaps best-known as a hook-up app for gay men, Grindr is proud of its inclusivity and describes itself as a “social networking app for gay, bi, trans and queer people”.
In 2017, the app introduced more gender options to enable users to be able to express themselves authentically.
This has expanded over the years and the app now hosts a range of community resourcesfor the trans, as well as the wider queer, community, covering everything from FAQs on gender identity to sexual health.
‘Real love is for everyone’
Although launched as a dating platform for solely cisgender, heterosexual people, eHarmony has grown over the years and now specifically labels itself as “LGBT friendly”.
The company website states: “We believe that real love is for everyone and we’re deeply committed to providing a platform that’s safe, inclusive and welcoming for every single one of our members.
“We don’t have a type – eHarmony members represent individuals of all ages, demographics and backgrounds.”
“We’ve learned and grown quite a bit in our 20+ years of helping millions find real love and we have continuously evolved to meet the needs of our members. The work to build a diverse and inclusive environment is never complete.
“We recognise that we have work left to do and we are committed to finding ways to be more inclusive to people of all gender identities and sexual orientations, across all facets of what we do.”
The Sindh Human Rights Commission has advised police to stop harassing and arresting transgender people, an important step toward changing discriminatory laws, policies, and public attitudes in Pakistan’s Sindh province.
The commission, an independent statutory body, issued the guidance on April 3, relying on constitutional protections and international legal principles. It said that offenses based on poverty and homelessness should be removed so transgender women along with street children do not face criminal charges for behavior they take merely to survive.
In January, the Sindh Cabinet approved reserved seats for transgender people on local councils, so that each local council has at least one transgender representative. In December, the Sindh government extended the benefits of the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), the country’s largest social safety net, to transgender people. Previously, the BISP provided targeted subsidies to women from low-income households.
While Sindh’s recent measures provide some hope for ending discrimination and persecution of transgender people in the province, Pakistan’s federal and other provincial governments need to do much more.
Between September 2021 and October 2022, 18 transgender people were reported murdered in Pakistan, according to Amnesty International. Discrimination and violence against transgender people is common despite provisions in Pakistani law protecting them.
In 2009, Pakistan’s Supreme Court called on all provincial governments to recognize the rights of transgender people. The judgment specifically called for improved police response to cases involving transgender people, and to ensure the right of transgender people to basic education, employment, and protection. In 2018, the parliament passed a law that broadly protects trans people’s rights. However, in recent years a number of politicians have attacked the law and proposed regressive amendments.
The recognition and support for transgender people’s basic rights to security and dignity in Sindh reflects the hard work of activists who have long advocated for these reforms. But unless Pakistan’s federal and provincial governments take concrete action against violence – including ensuring that those responsible for attacks on transgender people are brought to justice – these communities will continue to be at risk.
Two transgender children, their parents and two health care providers filed a lawsuit Tuesday arguing that a Montana law that would ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth is unconstitutional.
The ban on puberty blockers, hormone treatment and surgical procedures applies only to transgender youth being treated for gender dysphoria, but that same care can be provided to cisgender adolescents for any other purpose, according to the complaint filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Montana and Lambda Legal.
The ban serves no purpose other than to “intentionally burden a transgender person’s ability to seek necessary care to align their body with their gender identity,” the complaint states. It asks a state judge to block enforcement of the law, which is to take effect on Oct. 1.
“The new law provides commonsense protections for Montana children — who can’t even enter into contracts or buy cigarettes or alcohol — from harmful, life-altering medications and surgeries,” said Emily Flower, spokesperson for Attorney General Austin Knudsen.
Opposition to the bill by Democratic Rep. Zooey Zephyr — the first openly transgender female lawmaker to serve in the Montana Legislature — triggered a series of events that eventually led to her being banned from the House floor for the final days of the 2023 session.
The Republican-controlled Montana Legislature passed the bill and Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed it late last month. Montana is one of at least 16 states with laws to ban such care, despite protests from the families of transgender youth that the care is essential.
“It is mentally and physically painful to feel like you are trapped in the wrong body,” Jessica van Garderen, the mother of a 16-year-old transgender daughter, said in a statement. “Going through puberty for the wrong sex is like having your body betray you on a daily basis. The only treatment we have found to be effective and give our daughter hope again is hormone therapy.
“Taking away this crucial medical care is inhumane and a violation of our rights,” van Garderen said.
The complaint argues that the new law interferes with parental rights and is unconstitutional because it violates the plaintiffs’ right to privacy, their right to seek health care and the right to human dignity.
Supporters of the ban, including bill sponsor Republican Sen. John Fuller, said minors should not be allowed to undergo irreversible, life-changing procedures before they are adults and are old enough to understand the consequences and give legal permission.
“Just living as a trans teenager is difficult enough, the last thing me and my peers need is to have our rights taken away,” plaintiff Phoebe Cross, a 15-year-old transgender boy, said in a statement. “The blatant disrespect for my humanity and existence is deeply unsettling.”
Under the new law, health care providers who provide such care could lose their medical licenses for at least a year and be subject to lawsuits for up to 25 years after any treatment was provided.
The bill also prohibits public money, such as Medicaid, from being used to pay for such care.
Federal judges in Alabama and Arkansas have blocked laws that sought to ban gender-affirming care. The Department of Justice joined a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of transgender parents and their children against a similar ban in Tennessee.
A recent uptick in mpox diagnoses in Chicago, some of them in people vaccinated against the virus, has raised concerns about a possible increase in cases among gay and bisexual men during the summer.
On Monday, Howard Brown Health, an LGBTQ-focused clinic in Chicago, reported eight new cases of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, since April 17. By comparison, only one case, also diagnosed at Howard Brown, was reported to the Chicago Public Health Department in the previous three months.
Public health experts expressed measured concern that, similar to other cases of infections that are transmitted through sexual contact, mpox cases could rise during the summer, especially as gay and bi men travel to Pride festivals and other major LGBTQ events.
“Without renewed vaccination and prevention efforts, we are at risk for a resurgence of mpox,” said Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, the deputy coordinator of the White House national mpox response. “Vaccine is a really important tool, even if it’s not perfect.”
Diagnosed cases have been “increasing slightly” in eight countries in the past three weeks, including France and several countries in east Asia, said Dr. Rosamund Lewis, the technical lead for mpox at the World Health Organization. About half of the recent French cases were in vaccinated people.
Otherwise, global case counts have continued to decline since the early-August peak. Since mid-April, Lewis said, only 21 of the 111 nations to report cases during the outbreak have reported any new diagnoses. However, many cases may go undetected, she said.
Chicago’s weekly mpox case rate is the highest since early November. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, which is updated biweekly, the U.S. has had a rolling seven-day average of no more than 17 diagnoses since mid-February.
The Howard Brown clinic is analyzing the new cases to determine whether any are part of a linked cluster of infections.
Mpox vaccination rates are insufficient
Seven of the eight newly diagnosed patients were in gay or bisexual men, said Dr. Leanna Gordon, the medical director of preventive medicine at Howard Brown. One person was unvaccinated, one had received one dose of the two-dose Jynneos vaccine, and six were fully vaccinated.
All eight cases were mild, none of them requiring treatment for pain. Even with a breakthrough infection, the vaccine is still likely to reduce the severity of an infection, Gordon said.
Gordon emphasized the importance that people at substantial risk of mpox get both doses of the Jynneos vaccine to protect themselves and their sexual partners.
“One of our major concerns is that our population at risk are under-vaccinated,” Gordon said. “We haven’t had as much interest in the vaccine as we would like.”
According to the CDC, more than 1.2 million doses of the Jynneos vaccine have been administered across the country to 725,000 people, 90% of them male. The agency estimates that only 1 in 4 of those most at risk, including gay and bi men and transgender people, have been fully vaccinated.
Two doses of the Jynneos vaccine reduced the risk of mpox disease by 69%, and that one dose was 37% effective, the CDC reported in December. Updated figures are expected next week.
Public health experts expressed concern that mpox could spread more widely across the country after Chicago hosts the International Mr. Leather festival, a popular destination for gay men, at the end of the month.
Daskalakis said the CDC is working with Howard Brown and other local partners to leverage the event to promote mpox prevention and awareness.
Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, an infectious disease physician at the University of Southern California, said, “We need to maintain vigilance and promote and provide free vaccination.”
Symptoms of mpox
Mpox, which has an incubation period of about three to 17 days, typically manifests as a rash and lesions. Other potential symptoms include:
Fever.
Chills.
Swollen lymph nodes.
Exhaustion.
Muscle aches.
Headache.
Sore throat.
In France, national health authorities recently reported that of the 19 diagnoses this year through April 3 in the Centre-Val de Loire region, 16 were made after March 1 and all but one were in men who have sex with men. Ten of the cases were in people who were fully vaccinated: six who had two doses of the Jynneos vaccine and four who had received the smallpox vaccine in childhood and a recent Jynneos dose.
Could mpox return this summer?
Last summer’s mpox outbreak declined following a combination of vaccination, immunity after infection and behavior change among gay and bi men.
Infectious disease experts believe existing immunity from previous infection and vaccination would be likely to prevent mpox from spreading at the same level as last year.
But questions remain about the duration of immunity and whether gay men, many of whom reported reducing their number of sexual partners or even practicing abstinence last summer, have returned to their baseline behavior patterns after mpox cases dramatically waned.
“Everybody’s efforts have contributed to controlling the outbreak, but it’s not gone,” Lewis said. She noted that there is evidence that mpox can spread both before symptoms begin and from people who never develop symptoms.
Dr. Marc C. Shamier, a resident in clinical microbiology at University Medical Center Rotterdam in the Netherlands, reported that in September, about 45% of gay and bi men visiting sexual health centers in Rotterdam and Amsterdam had detectable antibodies against orthopoxviruses, the family to which mpox belongs.
“However,” Shamier said in an email, “this level of immunity is not sufficient to fully stop viral circulation, so sporadic clusters of monkeypox are to be expected.”
Shamier continued: “Large-scale events such as annual Pride parties could increase the number of sexual contacts among the risk group, which may lead to a rise in viral circulation and infections.”
With testing, isolation of cases and higher levels of mpox immunity among risk groups, Shamier expects the number of cases to be relatively low compared to last year.
Daskalakis said the recent cases in Chicago amount to “a call to action as opposed to a call to panic.”
“We have the tools to take care of this,” he said. “We just have to get it done.”
Out Rep. George Santos (R-NY) is being held in federal custody, and the Department of Justice has unsealed a 13-count criminal complaint against him. The charges include seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives, and one count of theft of public funds.
Santos was taken into custody in Melville on Long Island, CNN reports, before being taken to a courthouse in Central Islip. He is expected to appear in federal court later today. He skipped House votes yesterday as he went back to New York.
You’ll be surprised to learn that he denies the whole thing – and that no one believes him.
“This indictment seeks to hold Santos accountable for various alleged fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace in a statement. “Taken together, the allegations in the indictment charge Santos with relying on repeated dishonesty and deception to ascend to the halls of Congress and enrich himself.”
Santos’s attorney is not commenting.
Santos, the first out gay Republican elected to Congress, came under fire almost immediately after he was elected as multiple news reports found that he had fabricated large swaths of his life story, including his education, his work history, and his family history.
Many people also came forward with accusations related to theft and fraud, saying that Santos stole money from roommates, from people with sick pets, and even through an ATM scam. He faces several investigations for campaign finance misdeeds in the House.
Some of the charges come from an LLC that Santos controlled and that he encouraged donors to give money to. He allegedly used the money for personal expenses, including “luxury designer clothing,” according to the indictment. He allegedly told a consultant to tell donors that the money would be used for independent expenditures to support his candidacy and that the LLC was either a social welfare organization or an independent expenditure committee.
Some of the charges are related to Santos’s application for unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic, even though he was employed at a Florida-based investment firm and earning a $120,000 salary. He allegedly received $24,744 in unemployment benefits during that time.
Last, there are charges related to his overstatement of one source of income while not disclosing his investment firm income on his 2020 campaign finance forms, as well as several other lies on his 2022 campaign finance disclosure forms.
Santos, who is usually active on social media, has not posted about his arrest. His last tweet was published yesterday, and he accused Nassau County, New York leaders of corruption.
“Nassau county’s corruption runs deep & it’s a big bipartisan uniparty!” he wrote. “I hold their joint hatred like a badge of honor!”
In the last five to 10 years, attachment theory has been all over the internet. If you’re an LGBTQ+ individual with an interest in psychology or who has gone to therapy even a few times, chances are you’re familiar with it.
There’s more nuance to it, but for the sake of keeping things succinct: Attachment theory posits that individuals with avoidant attachment evade difficult conversations and vulnerable feelings, while those with anxious attachment tend to turn towards them to a degree that the avoidant partner can find overwhelming, responding with “fight” rather than “flight” as the avoidant does. At least outwardly, they seem to want more contact and connection than their partners do and feel less comfortable being alone.
Avoidants, on the other hand, seem to need less of this and have a greater need for independence and autonomy. They’re more uncomfortable about being too enmeshed.
Outside of conflict, two anxious and avoidant-leaning people may have a loving relationship. When in conflict though, the shields and weapons come out and the dysfunction appears. According to Julia Hogan, LPCP, “Our attachment styles are often most noticeable when we are facing some kind of conflict with another person, because that’s when our sense of safety and security feel most threatened.”
To the anxious, the avoidant appears cold and withholding. To the avoidant, the anxious appears intrusive and needy.
It’s estimated that 25 percent of the general population are anxious and 25 percent are avoidant, though according to Seattle Pacific University, “LGBTQ+ couples are slightly more likely to be insecurely attached,” meaning either anxious or avoidant.
Forging connection through healing & understanding
Though I once thought the styles were categorical, more recently I’ve come to acknowledge that few people are 100% clear-cut avoidant or anxious. People can feel more or less secure at different times, depending on the stressors they’re facing, their physical health, and how they’ve been sleeping, among other factors. Anxiously attached folks can occasionally respond in an avoidant way, and avoidants can occasionally respond in an anxious way.
Still, often relationships find one partner taking the anxious role, while the other takes the more avoidant role during conflict (or the dynamics switch throughout the course of the relationship). According to counselor Jeff Guenther, “Anxious and avoidant people often find themselves attracted to one another because they reinforce each others’ beliefs.”
It takes effort to get couples in anxious-avoidant relationships to function seamlessly. As counselor Jessica Baum put it, “Someone who loves connection and having their needs met is [generally] not a great match with someone who wants to be distanced.”
But it’s also not impossible, especially when two partners share chemistry, values, and interests when not triggered. Each can find ways to resolve their past painand forge a healing connection.
Clinical psychologist Carla Marie Manly acknowledges that “if a fearful-avoidant individual who is engaged in solid self-work connects with an anxiously attached person who is also mindful of personal wounds and needs, the relationship can develop slowly but surely in a safe, lovingly attached way that benefits both partners.”
Counselor Casey Tanner, who goes by the handle @queersextherapy on Instagram, acknowledges that her and her partner’s attachment styles ebb and flow, but that she is “solidly the more anxious one” while her partner leans somewhat more avoidant. Still, the two practice empathy and continually strive to work within an awareness of the other’s respective style.They’ve learned the language of the other’s attachment so that they’re less likely to misinterpret one another.
Tanner wrote in an Instagram post:
“I’ve learned that when Mal gets quiet during conflict, it’s not because she’s not invested or has had ‘too much’ of me. Rather, she’s working very hard in those moments to find words that are going to accurately represent her feelings. Sometimes, she’s spending time in silence rehearsing what happened between us to figure out what went wrong. I’ve learned I can be supportive by letting her take her time.”
“I’ve started to understand that when it’s hard for her to tell me what she needs, it’s not because she doesn’t trust me or thinks I’m not capable of meeting them. Instead, she’s trying to talk herself out of her needs all together, doubting whether or not they’re ‘worth bringing up.’ I’ve come to understand that the needs she chooses not to express are not about me, and not mine to solve.”
I think it’s common in the face of conflict to launch into binary thinking, quickly applying our pre-existing lens to any and all situations. Threat or friend — into the box the other person goes, instantly. Anxiouses and avoidants tend to polarize each other in this way, often. In doing this, they stay stuck in an unsatisfying dynamic where neither’s needs are being met. When each is convinced the problem lies fully in the other person, they’re less likely to work on their own contribution.
Tanner’s advice breaks with the polarizing tendency often found in attachment literature,presenting a newer and more hopeful path.
Check back next week for specifics backed by relationship experts and psychologists on what can be done on both ends.