Longtime Washington Blade employee Stephen Rutgers announced he is stepping down after 14 years to focus on other ventures, including his part ownership of the popular Crush Dance Bar. Rutgers was hired by the Blade in 2012 to help plan Pride festivities and over the years was promoted to director o
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One morning in the late nineties, Monica Helms woke up with the design idea for the Transgender Pride Flag. Since then, the blue, pink, and white emblem has exploded in popularity. Trans people have adopted it as a symbol around which to rally across the globe. While monumental, that’s not the sole
Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging the Trump-Vance administration to take urgent action to defend LGBTQ people across the globe; including in countries that are violating international human rights protections for LGBTQ individuals, put
The Supreme Court ruled against trans student athletes earlier today, declaring that schools can exclude trans girls from playing on teams for “biological females.” The ruling is in response to two cases that have been consolidated into one decision. “The question is whether Title IX permits schools
The CNN star reportedly told colleagues he’s not interested in working under the CBS News editor-in-chief.
The 38-year-old woman identified as the ringleader in the torture and murder of a 24-year-old trans man pleaded guilty to all charges on Friday and is expected to be sentenced to life in prison. According to ABC affiliate WHAM, the charges against Precious Arzuaga for the murder of Sam Nordquist inc
Christopher Michael Leahy has been ordered to undergo competency restoration treatment at a psychiatric hospital.
Longtime Washington Blade employee Stephen Rutgers announced he is stepping down after 14 years to focus on other ventures, including his part ownership of the popular Crush Dance Bar. Rutgers was hired by the Blade in 2012 to help plan Pride festivities and over the years was promoted to director o
The Supreme Court added six cases to its 2026-2027 docket this week, including a case that could affect minors' access to gender-affirming care. International Partners for Ethical Care, Inc. v. Ferguson asks the court to determine the constitutionality of the three Washington laws. One allows minors
Two women identified as a couple who have been wanted by Montgomery County, Md. police for allegedly killing the mother of one of them in her Silver Spring home on May 22 were arrested on June 10 in Ohio, according to a police statement The little-noticed statement released on June 11 says Vanessa W
The decision hands Republican-led states a major victory in their campaign to restrict transgender students’ participation in school sports.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld state laws that ban transgender athletes from school sports teams that correspond with their gender identity. The justices in January heard oral arguments in two cases — Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J. — that challenged laws in Idaho and West Virg
Vyacheslav Khasanov, the 37-year-old owner of the Pose club in Orenburg, Russia, was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay a 1 million ruble (about $13,000) fine on charges connected to organizing and participating in LGBTQ+ events. Manager Diana Kamilyanova, 30, was sentenced to six
The actress died June 16 in Los Angeles at age 35.
Two anti-LGBTQ+ Republican members of Congress are demanding that an Irish dance organization kick a trans teen out of an upcoming competition, arguing that trans women have a "biological" advantage over cis women. Reps. Randy Fine (R-FL) and Greg Steube (R-FL) – who both have a long history of anti
Political expert Robert Reich believes the tide may finally be turning against Donald Trump. "The slumbering giant of America is awakening," wrote Reich – who served as President Bill Clinton’s secretary of labor and is now a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley – in
In recent years, some of Asia's most significant legal developments involving LGBTQ rights have unfolded not in parliamentary chambers but in courtrooms. From marriage equality lawsuits in Japan to litigation over same-sex spousal benefits in South Korea and constitutional challenges in countries in
Tens of thousands of people on Saturday took part in the annual Budapest Pride march in the Hungarian capital. The march took place less than two months after new Prime Minister Péter Maygar took office. Hungarian lawmakers in 2025 passed a bill that banned Pride events and allowed authorities to us
A video posted on X by user Dimitry Yakoushkin of the incident went viral, showing gay California state Sen. Wiener (D-San Francisco) being chased out of Dolores Park, while the group screamed at him. Multiple people in the protest group were wearing black ski masks that concealed their identities.
Rather than risking an NC-17 rating, these boundary-pushing filmmakers decided to avoid the rating system altogether.
Kris Ripper said she changed her Kansas license because the state required it. Then a traffic stop over headlights turned into questions about whether her ID was valid.
While many eyes are on the U.S. Supreme Court awaiting the verdicts in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox, another court case involving transgender rights is unfolding less than a mile away at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia — one that could have lasting implications fo
The sixth annual Fredericksburg Pride March was held in downtown Fredericksburg, Va. on Saturday, June 27. Stafford County Board of Supervisors Chair Deuntay Diggs led the march alongside Fredericksburg City Council Member Jannan W. Holmes. The Fredericksburg Pride Festival took place at Riverfront
California state Sen. Scott Wiener (D) says he was “verbally and physically” harassed while trying to attend San Francisco’s annual Trans March by a group of people he claims misrepresented his stance on Israel and Gaza. In a statement posted to Instagram on Saturday, the gay Jewish lawmaker said he
A federal investigator told Flint Del Sol in an email obtained by The Advocate why the agency could no longer move forward with his workplace discrimination case.
Disgraced ex-gay MAGA provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos recently said that President Donald Trump faked the July 13, 2024 assassination attempt on his life. Queer congressional Democrats largely condemned the shooting, which was carried out by the now-dead 20-year-old shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks, a re
Fox News hosts have been brutally mocked for claiming that thousands of people attended the president's Great American State Fair in Washington, DC, over the weekend, despite footage showing mostly empty fairgrounds. The event, planned by the Donald Trump's Freedom 250 Task Force, opened on Thursday
“Transgender Americans are patriots, family members, volunteers, historians, and descendants of Revolutionary War ancestors just like anyone else.”
From Drag Race stars to international professional athletes, public figures are sharing their truth.
Dozens of protestors gathered outside New Hope Community Church in Palatine, IL, on Friday after the religious institution displayed a series of anti-Pride messages on an electronic sign outside the building. "Ditch Pride, embrace humility," one message reads. Another declares, "We love you enough t
In addition to opposing care for trans youth, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna has criticized Pete Buttigieg for using parental leave.
Pete Buttigieg’s chilling account of being briefly separated from his four-year-old twins due to an anonymous false report should leave every parent – gay or straight – angry, and every American alarmed. He rightly called the experience the “darkest hours” of his life. Related NYC's DSA victories pr
A federal investigator told a trans teacher that his complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is being dismissed because the agency is no longer allowed to investigate trans rights cases. The move confirms the real-world effect of a policy put out in a memo by the EEOC chair u
On Sunday, just hours before he marched in the Chicago Pride Parade, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) signed three trans rights bills into law. HB 5095 solidifies the process for trans people to correct the gender marker on their IDs to male, female, or X. HB 5492 mandates that insurance companies cove
During Pride Month, it's common to see a variety of LGBTQ+ Pride flags. But the variety of designs and meanings can be hard to decipher. Each one has its own unique history and symbolism, which celebrate the diversity of identities under the queer umbrella. Below is an explanation of some of the mos
Despite the rumor being debunked, some of his fans are now transvestigating a cisgender model he kissed in Paris.
Last week's primary results built on a theme that's been running through this year's elections. If you want to win as a Democrat, you better be willing to ditch the consultants and give the people what they want. And what they want are fighters who are thinking differently about politics. A lot of t
Anti-trans Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) issued a public apology on Thursday after reportedly mistaking a cisgender woman in a U.S. Capitol restroom for out transgender Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE). She allegedly told the woman, “You shouldn’t be here,” an anonymous Republican representative told The Dail
Iran and Egypt on Friday faced off during the World Cup’s “Pride Match” in Seattle. Iran is among the handful of countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain punishable by death. Discrimination and persecution based on sexual orientation and gender identity is commonplace in Egypt.
LGBTQ+ consumers spend about $1.4 trillion in the U.S. annually and $3.9 trillion globally, but about 70% are spending their money with businesses that they see supporting the community — and an almost equal amount are avoiding companies they see as reducing their inclusion commitments — according t
The government of Malaysia is urging the public to discontinue use of the term "LGBT" to avoid "normalizing" LGBTQ+ people and the broader community. In its place, the Deputy Minister for Religious Affairs, Marhamah Rosli, says the public should now use the term “budaya songsang,” or "perverted/devi
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