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Karen Ocamb is a bylined journalist whose reporting appears on LGBTQ News. We aggregate Karen Ocamb's work from trusted local sources with full attribution, linking back to the original publisher. To learn more about how we select and review stories, see our editorial standards.
Affiliated with: Washington Blade
As the United States of America acknowledges her 250th birthday, too many Americans are partying with fewer family and friends because their wallets and their patriotic hearts just aren’t in it. Meanw
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In a recent press briefing, Donald Trump was speaking about the war in Iran when he mentioned the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil shipping waterway that Iran has used as a bargaining chip in retaliation for the U.S. attacks, sparking a massive disruption in the global oil supply chain. Trump seemed
A 37-year-old man was arrested on Sunday after he allegedly beat a 12-year-old boy in a Manhattan playground while calling the kid a "gay fa***t." According to New York Police, the alleged crime occurred on April 29, when Kevin Maxwell of Brooklyn confronted the tween victim outside a restroom at th
A picture of Donald Trump's hands with makeup on both of them is getting attention online from people alarmed by his allegedly poor health. "Yikes! Both of Trump's hands are discolored today, and one of them appears bruised as well," wrote independent journalist Aaron Rupar, sharing the picture from
Patrons enjoyed a night out at the popular LGBTQ venue Crush Dance Bar on Friday, July 3. (Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford) The post PHOTOS: Crush Dance Bar appeared first on Washington Blade: LGBTQ News, Politics, LGBTQ Rights, Gay News.
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) signed a new law last week that will force trans inmates under state care to detransition. H.B. 2009 is a comprehensive appropriations bill for the Missouri Department of Corrections (MDOC). The 20-page legislation focuses mostly on standard programs, trainings, and the
The DOJ has subpoenaed the Maine Department of Corrections for information that would include a trans inmate’s private and confidential medical records. Maine’s Attorney General’s office has now filed a motion refusing to turn over the records without a court order. Since the start of Donald Trump’s
As the United States of America acknowledges her 250th birthday, too many Americans are partying with fewer family and friends because their wallets and their patriotic hearts just aren’t in it. Meanwhile, the president is using taxpayer dollars to finance ugly pet projects, and a war of choice with
Apparently, the damn phones really are paying attention to everything, including the innermost thoughts you have yet to unpack yourself. A new study found that the TikTok algorithm might know you’re queer before you even come to that realization yourself.Recently published in the Gender, Place, & Cu
Apparently, the damn phones really are paying attention to everything, including the innermost thoughts you have yet to unpack yourself. A new study found that the TikTok algorithm might know you’re queer before you even come to that realization yourself. Recently published in the Gender, Place, & C
Authorities in Turkey blocked a gay cruise from docking in the country this past Thursday, claiming that it would violate the region's "moral values." This sparked the ire of Tony-winning Broadway legend Patti LuPone, who is scheduled to perform on board. The cruise, operated by American LGBTQ+ tour
Pennsylvania state Rep. Eric Davanzo (R) is making national noise over Pennsylvania House of Representatives Speaker Joanna McClinton (D) asking him to change his American flag-themed outfit because it could be considered a costume, in violation of the dress code. Last Monday, Davanzo wore a red-and
If you live by the sword, you die by the sword — and that was certainly the case for (a past closeted version of) Millie Bobby Brown. While speaking to Capital Buzz for the release of her new film Enola Holmes 3, the Stranger Things alumna shared that she believed in past lives and added that, in on
A federal judge issued a scathing ruling against the Trump administration as it tried to get Stanford University's hospital to turn over the private medical records of transgender minors. "The disclosure of such information would also ‘out’ provisional class members as transgender to afederal govern
You might think we’d left the 2010s behind, but there’s still an unfortunate lingering tendency to grasp pearls when Lena Dunham opens her mouth. The Girls creator grabbed headlines this weekend for reportedly making a joke about gay porn while delivering a speech at the wedding of Taylor Swift and
Donald Trump misquoted the Declaration of Independence while speaking at a July 4 celebration of America's 250th anniversary, completely botching a line in a possible attempt to change its meaning. "And as our Declaration of Independence tells us, we are all made in the image of one almighty god," T
Because everything Trump touches turns to lead, it's no surprise that the celebration that he organized for the nation's 250th birthday was such a dud, with low turnout and third-rate displays. Compared to the celebration 50 years ago, the D.C. festivities were alternately embarrassing, cringey, or
CNN polling analyst Harry Enten recently boiled down Donald Trump's current favor with the American people to one word: "awful." At this point in his presidency, Trump has a plus-one net approval rating, and Enten explained that the only president in history who has had a worse number than that at t
There are moments when an incident stops being merely a local story and begins to reveal something much deeper. What happened on June 28 outside One Church, in Comerío, Puerto Rico, belongs in that category. I do not know who painted the rainbow colors on the asphalt and on a roadside guardrail. I d
Look, we love Rehoboth. We will always love Rehoboth. Queer folks have been flocking there since the 1940s, and with scores of LGBTQ-owned businesses and a Pride calendar packed tighter than the boardwalk in July, "Rehomo" earned its crown fair and square. But let's be honest with each other: trying
‘My Favorite Sociopath’Contemporary American Theater FestivalJuly 10-Aug. 2Shepherdstown, W.Va.Catf.org Discernment. It’s a thing some people have, explains playwright Aurin Squire, especially when you’re gay or Black in America (Squire is both). “You instinctively know when the mob is teaming up fo
A U.S. Appeals Court with three Donald Trump appointees decided on Wednesday to overturn a decision by a lower court throwing out a suit by two Alaska Airlines employees who sued the company over charges of religious discrimination, Reuters reports. The plaintiffs claim that they were fired for expr
Vehemently anti-trans Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) went on a bizarre and inaccurate rant about trans representation on Netflix during an antitrust hearing about the company's potential acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery's studio and streaming assets. Hawley peppered Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos with qu
The day Barney Frank came out, he didn't strategize with his staff or hold a press conference. When a Boston Globe reporter asked whether he was gay in 1987, he answered simply: "Yes. So what?" No carefully crafted statement. No crisis communications team. Just Barney being Barney. Related Iconic ga
Reports have suggested that Steam’s digital storefront is blocking LGBTQ+ content in accordance with Chinda’s “local laws and regulations.” Given the country’s policies around LGBTQ+ people and content, that might not be surprising, especially as Steam has agreed to censorship before. But what's act
Out Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is having a hard time defending President Donald Trump's chaotic economic policies. And now he just threatened a journalist for questioning Trump's management of the economy. Bessent appeared on NBC's Meet the Press this past Sunday, where host Kristen Welker ask
Supreme Court rules in favor of trans sports bans in 6-3 decision What the ruling says: Two trans athletes challenged their states' bans on trans sports participation on Title IX (equality in education) and 14th Amendment (Equal Protection) grounds. The six-judge conservative majority rejected both
In the small town of Monroeville, Pennsylvania, a city council member accused staff at the public library of grooming kids with a Pride Month display in the children's section, which librarians titled "Love is Love." The councilman may have broken the law in his crusade to have it removed. Related D
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Idaho v. Hecox, which allow states to exclude trans girls from girls’ team sports, we’ve been seeing renewed calls for Supreme Court reform. We absolutely need to reform the court and restore the balance of power in an institut
In front of a group of Christian conservatives who are part of the so-called Faith and Freedom Coalition, Donald Trump strawman condemned the landslide victories of two New York City Democratic Socialists and one from California in their recent primaries. “It’s ironic we’re celebrating a very import
In the wake of Donald Trump's first electoral win in 2016, a friend of mine – a gay progressive who doesn't follow politics too closely – told me, exasperatedly, "The Democrats should get rid of the Electoral College!" I get it: The Electoral College is the reason Trump won in 2016. While I was taug
Pride Month is a celebration. It is a remembrance. And this year, more than most, it is a call to action. Across the country, legislators are advancing bills designed to strip LGBTQ+ Americans of the rights we have spent decades fighting to secure. Federal funding for HIV treatment and prevention is
An official statement from the Swiss city of Bern has expressed apologies to a trans woman who was forcibly removed by law enforcement from a women-only nude beach. “All persons who identify and live as women have access,” the city declared, as reported by The Times, emphasizing that police should n
Anti-trans Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who regularly uses anti-trans slurs and calls herself a "proud transphobe," is getting called "totally befuddled" and accused of "having a sharp mental decline" by many on her side of the aisle. Mace was a fairly middle-of-the-road Republican until last year, when
Video of a couple getting engaged at a Pride-themed race in New York City is warming hearts across social media. Chris Siretz dropped to one knee at the finish line of the annual Front Runners New York LGBTQ+ Pride Run 4-Miler on June 27, proposing to longtime partner Omar Merced while the pair were
Donald Trump has threatened to veto important, and in the current Congress, extremely rare bipartisan legislation, unless Congress passes the “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act.” The bill would require in-person voting by providing documented proof of U.S. citizenship when regi
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) vetoed an anti-trans bathroom bill Friday, after Republicans passed it using a procedure that allowed them to bring the legislation up for a vote without a public hearing. As the Kansas Reflector notes, the version of Senate Bill 244 passed by the state Senate’s Republica
When asked if she was winding down her legendary political career, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said, “We’re not winding down. We’re drilling down. We are working hard to win in the midterms.” Pelosi recently sat down with LGBTQ Nation for an exclusive interview. Despite this being her final year in
‘Transcendent: A Memoir’By Laverne Coxc.2026, Gallery Books$30/238 pages OK, let’s just say it: You’re tired of lies. They come from above, behind, from either shoulder. They’re repeated, laid out in a line, told as if they’re true but they’re not. You wish people would stop lying to you. As in the
Donald Trump's Great American State Fair has been resoundingly mocked on social media for its low turnout, as well as the president's and his sycophants' continued claims that the event is packed with people. One reporter, Slate's Molly Olmstead, decided to visit the fair and see for herself whether
With less than two weeks until director Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated adaptation of The Odyssey hits theaters, one of the biggest questions around the film remains: Who is Elliot Page really playing? It’s unclear why Nolan and co. have chosen to keep the actor’s role such a closely guarded
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