Journalist · 1 articles indexed on LGBTQ News
Valerie Blake is a bylined journalist whose reporting appears on LGBTQ News. We aggregate Valerie Blake'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
Interior design is often a balancing act between taste, personality, and restraint. Sometimes, however, restraint leaves the building entirely. Such is the case when the colorful exuberance of gay Pri
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After two decades, the U.S. will end a life-saving HIV-prevention and treatment program in South Africa, a country where over 8 million people live with the virus (about 12% of its population). The Trump administration said it is stopping the funding because South Africa hasn't done enough to meet t
Eswatini's Supreme Court has ordered the government to allow an LGBTQ rights group to legally register. The Registrar of Companies in 2019 denied Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities' request to register. The advocacy group in 2020 petitioned the Supreme Court to hear the case. The Supreme Court in
Graham Platner, the Democratic nominee for Maine's U.S. Senate seat, had twin events demonstrating his strong support among the LGBTQ+ community this week. The candidate is facing off against longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November, with control of the Senate at stake. Platner won the Dem
The actor might be playing another figure in Greek mythology. We'll be tuning in regardless.
WNBA legend and Hall of Famer Sue Wicks reflects on her New York Liberty career, coming out in 2002, and why she's just as obsessed with the league's new gay players as we are.
Interior design is often a balancing act between taste, personality, and restraint. Sometimes, however, restraint leaves the building entirely. Such is the case when the colorful exuberance of gay Pride-inspired decorating collides with the famously excessive decorating style associated with the cur
“Just shy of” 6,000 people purchased tickets for the Wednesday, June 24, 21st annual Pride Night Out at the Washington Nationals baseball stadium, which the Nationals said is the longest running LGBTQ Pride event in Major League Baseball, according to a Nationals spokesperson. The event was organize
A federal judge has granted a temporary restraining order against the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prevent the DOJ from pursuing the private medical records of transgender youth receiving gender-affirming healthcare in New York City. The judge also granted the request for provisional certification
Amidst Idaho's ban on rainbow flags flying on government property, residents of the capital city of Boise are doing everything they can to show their pride. A grassroots group called Pride North End has come together to distribute as many flags and yard signs as possible to folks who will show them
A trans woman in Kansas accused of operating a motor vehicle without a valid license learned on Tuesday that charges against her have been dropped, Transitic News reports. Kris Ripper had been threatened with jail time after a traffic stop last month, despite following rules mandated by a new law in
The U.K. Government has published a draft of a bill to ban anti-LGBTQ+ conversion therapy. The bill, introduced to Parliament this morning, defines conversion therapy as "abusive practices that aim to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity," and focuses on physical and mental health
Anti-trans activist and fifth-place swimmer Riley Gaines is getting attention on social media after she made a video complaining that her dream of going to dentistry school was ruined by pro-trans university officials. In a video produced by the anti-trans clothing brand XX-XY, Gaines complained tha
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The league veteran responded to Dana White’s baffling excuse for not doing any LGBTQ+ initiatives in the UFC.
President Donald Trump has refused to sign a bipartisan housing bill until Congress passes the SAVE America Act – legislation critics say would likely disenfranchise many transgender Americans. Earlier this week, the “21st Century Road to Housing Act” passed with bipartisan support in both chambers
The stars open up about crying and flirting all the way through filming Hayley Kiyoko’s sapphic summertime romance.
The Trump-Vance administration will end PEPFAR funding for South Africa. A State Department spokesperson on Wednesday told the Washington Blade the State Department “will begin a phased drawdown of PEPFAR programming in South Africa, with most programs ending by Sept. 30, 2026, and critical personne
As former President Barack Obama opened the new Obama Presidential Center in the South Side of Chicago on Juneteenth, I thought back to the eight years of hope and dignity, stability and pride his administration brought to the people under its jurisdiction. The Obama Administration modeled how a gov
The actor says the industry is doubling down on hockey, not queer representation.
Christian nationalist hate pastor Joel Webbon — a man who blames Jewish people for all social evils, blames teachers for causing men to be gay, blames marijuana for making men “spiritually gay,” and thinks Adolf Hitler wasn’t so bad after all — has encouraged anti-LGBTQ+ politicians to hide their vi
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) insinuated yesterday that the president has a terminal illness because he canceled a signing ceremony for a bipartisan bill to create more affordable housing. "Did he wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Is he unable to stay awake today? What's causing him to chicken out again?
Haddonfield, New Jersey Mayor Dave Siedell did not hide his ire for the person who stole and damaged nine Pride flags from the borough's business district on Monday. In a social media post on Tuesday, Siedell called the vandal a "black hearted, thin skinned, broflake" and asked anyone who may have t
The internet creator has over nine million followers on TikTok.
A proposed amendment to enshrine same-sex and interracial marriage protections into the Delaware Constitution failed in the state House on Tuesday. The amendment had passed the state Senate earlier this month, but lost by four votes in the House, where a 2/3 majority of 28 votes was needed. Two Demo
In an October 11th post on Truth Social, Donald Trump wrote, in all caps of course, that "THE BIDEN FBI PLACED 274 AGENTS INTO THE CROWD ON JANUARY 6." "If this is so, which it is, a lot of very good people will be owed big apologies. What a SCAM – DO SOMETHING!!!" Related "Disgusting": Donald Trump
The Washington Blade announced this week that its longtime publisher, Lynne Brown, who has worked at the publication for nearly 40 years, is retiring from her day-to-day duties. Blade co-owner and longtime advertising executive Brian Pitts will assume the role of publisher effective June 26. Pitts,
The Washington Writers’ Publishing House (WWPH), the nation’s longest continuously operating cooperative nonprofit literary press, will present the inaugural “Capital Love LitFest” on Sunday, June 28 at 10 a.m. at The Writer's Center in Bethesda, Md. Designed as a full-day literary salon and cultura
Pride month was first celebrated in June 1970, one year after the Stonewall Riots of 1969. Pride month commemorates the Stonewall Riots, which occurred on June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in New York City’s Greenwich Village. The first organized Pride marches were held on June 28, 1970, in New Yo
I’m a gay man, I’m a graduate student, here is why I’m afraid of what the Trump administration is doing with the Office of Civil Rights. I consider myself lucky to have grown up as a gay man in the time that I did. As a millennial, I came of age at the tail end of when it was still almost entirely s
Whether you’re mourning the end of Euphoria, The Boys, or Hacks, you’re dying for another hit of Heated Rivalry or just need something new to watch, The Vampire Lestat has you covered. Whether it’s the cutting witty dialogue, supernatural action, or the maudlin adventures of problematic queer relati
Search 567,859+ verified resources for food, healthcare, and housing — all 50 states, DC, and US territories. Free. A practical guide for you: pantries, SNAP, WIC, the 211 referral line, and how to use the free Feed America directory at feedam.org.
James Fishback, a racist and antisemitic Republican running to become Florida's next governor, will hold a rally on Saturday, June 27 with Christian nationalist hate pastor Joel Webbon — a man who blames Jewish people for all social evils, blames teachers for causing men to be gay, blames marijuana
President Donald Trump spent $16.4 million dollars on a no-bid contract to paint the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall, painting it "American flag blue" for the July 4 celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding. However, when algae blooms turned the pool bright green and chunk
The order protects patients of NYU Langone, Mount Sinai, and other New York City providers while their constitutional challenge proceeds.
A damning and exhaustive investigation by a trans civil rights attorney lays a big portion of blame for the current crusade against the transgender community squarely at the feet of The New York Times. "Measured across the entirety of the corpus of analyzed and classified articles, a clear direction
The Delaware General Assembly on Tuesday failed to pass Senate Bill 100 (SB-100), an amendment that would add protections for same-sex and interracial marriage to the Delaware Constitution. In order for the bill to pass, 28 out of 41 members needed to vote ‘yes,’ meaning all 27 Democrats and one Rep
Gay and bisexual male students in Australia who migrated from anti-LGBTQ+ countries are being targeted by men on gay dating apps who then assault and extort them with threats of outing them in their home countries, The Guardian reported today. Similar attacks are occurring in the U.S., Canada, and t
While speaking on CNBC on Wednesday about the need for AI regulations, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) stated that "AI doesn't get to engage in a bunch of funky, hinky bookkeeping so that investors can't tell what's going on and keep pumping up our economy." But the person in charge of the chyron misin
The Trump administration's zealous pursuit to remove transgender athletes from girls' sports teams has snared an embarrassing catch in Colorado: boy mascots. Last June, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) launched an investigation of Colorado public schools, wielding the
FBI director Kash Patel reportedly spent $75,000 in taxpayer money to fly to Milan, Italy, and drink beer with the U.S. men's hockey team (under the guise of providing security at the Winter Olympics). When asked about it, his girlfriend Alexis Wilkins tried to change the subject to … transgender mi
A judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has granted a request from multiple transgender people for a temporary restraining order, blocking the disclosure of plaintiffs' and class members' medical information to the Justice Department. Judge Katherine Polk Failla app
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