Americans are tired of empty, bloated promises from a president focused on lining his own pockets, protecting the Epstein class, and putting American livelihoods last. What we heard tonight from this rudderless, lame-duck president was the same old routine-delusion, division, and distraction.
New Yorkers defied the federal government recently by re-raising the rainbow colors of the Pride flag above the Stonewall National Monument where it belongs, days after the Trump administration had it taken down. This act of civil disobedience, at the Greenwich Village site where the modern gay rights movement began nearly 60 years ago, was important not just for the city's LGBTQ+ community but for the country at large.
On Thursday, the Tennessee House of Representatives passed House Bill 1473, a measure that asserts private citizens and organizations in the state are not bound by the Fourteenth Amendment or by the Supreme Court's 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges when it comes to recognizing the marriages of same-sex couples. The bill also shields people from professional discipline if they refuse to officiate or celebrate weddings or commitment ceremonies that fall outside Tennessee's statutory definition of marriage.
In a ruling that reasserts broad judicial deference to the U.S. military and delivers a major setback to HIV and LGBTQ+ advocates, a federal appeals court on Wednesday reinstated the Pentagon's long-standing ban on people living with HIV enlisting in the armed forces, undoing a lower-court decision that had briefly opened the door to qualified recruits with undetectable viral loads.
San Antonio recently unveiled new rainbow sidewalks in its Pride heritage district to replace the rainbow crosswalks that city workers removed in January, following anti-LGBTQ+ orders from the Trump administration and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R). Local residents had expressed disappointment towards the city's first out lesbian Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones
The first out transgender member of the U.S. Congress took the world stage in Germany last week, warning that attacks on people like her and on LGBTQ+ rights more broadly are being weaponized in the current political climate, as she joined former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on a high-profile panel at the Munich Security Conference.
In an Instagram post, Equal Rights Oregon announced that "after thoughtful consideration," it was moving forward with the "difficult decision" not to pursue Initiative Petition 33, known as the Equal Rights for All measure. The measure would have let Oregon vote on adding a constitutional amendment stating that equal rights "shall not be denied or abridged" based on "a) pregnancy/pregnancy outcomes and related health decisions; b) gender identity and related decisions; c) sexual orientation, including the right to marry."
As if being a multi-Grammy award winner and Spotify's top-streamed artist since 2022 wasn't enough, Bad Bunny has broken yet another record after his Super Bowl Halftime Show became the most watched in history. The 31-year-old 'King of Latin Trap' put his money where his mouth is over the weekend after celebrating LGBTQ+ rights, Latin American culture, and global unity during his stunning musical performance at the Apple Music Super Bowl Half Time Show on Sunday (8 February). His promise to make the show as queer as possible didn't fall on deaf ears, with CBS News reporting that a whopping 135.4 million people tuned in to see the artist strut his stuff alongside Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, and many more.
➡️ Virginia's new Governor Abigail Spanberger is on a roll, signing legislation that will allow voters to weigh in on the state's ban on same-sex marriage, as well as a proposed reproductive rights amendment. We also have an encouraging update on Florida's funding cuts for HIV medication, and Republicans in Utah are ignoring research they commissioned themselves to pass a ban on gender-affirming care for youth.
Under relentless pressure from US President Donald Trump, and persistently undermined by China and Russia, the rules-based international order is being crushed, threatening to take with it the architecture human rights defenders have come to rely on to advance norms and protect freedoms. To defy this trend, governments that still value human rights, alongside social movements, civil society, and international institutions, need to form a strategic alliance to push back.
There are some things that defy explanation. When the loathsome House Speaker Mike Johnson recently took it upon himself to explain the Bible to Pope Leo XIV, the Bishop of Rome, the spiritual leader of over a billion Catholics, and a person who has truly earned his Jesus stripes, it just confirmed what a sanctimonious idiot Johnson is. This bizarre Bible babble from one of the most unholy people on Earth went beyond being absurd because the very idea that the narcissistic Johnson really thought he knew more about the Bible than the humble Leo is ... well, inexplicable.
Former Sen. and current Alabama gubernatorial candidate Doug Jones (D) has vowed to replace members of the state's library board who banned trans books from children's and young adult sections in the state's public libraries. The board's former chairman, John Wahl, who is currently running for Alabama lieutenant governor, has fired back, accusing Jones of wanting to expose young people to "sexually explicit" material and "perversion."
But the most startling event was the couples competition, which featured a pair of male skaters, dressed in camouflage, with tape over their mouths in an "X"-a direct protest against the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The couple who followed them-two shirtless men, around the same height, alternately lifting each other up and rolling over each other with playful, affectionate aggression-struck me as equally political, suggesting not just what was banned but what was possible.
So, some of you may or may not know that I was in the hospital very ill this fall with Urosepsis. It was not easy. It's been a very, very challenging four months. And I want everybody to know that I am on the road to a full recovery. I'm not there yet, but I'm on the road to that.
"I think we need a law in Tennessee that would allow for capital punishment for those who commit an assault on the sanctity of life," he said in a recent conversation with Connor B., the host of the Christian Nationalist podcast Forge and Anvil. Fritts then said he thought four things would "require" capital punishment that also "aligns with scripture." "I think that anyone who would try to disfigure a child through hormones or surgery, you might be eligible to capital punishment," he said, adding, "I know that's gonna make people's ears ring, but that's a gross, great sin."
This misinformation reinforces the assumption that LGBT people's sexual orientation and gender identity can be corrected, changed or are not real or as valid as cisgender heterosexual identities. The fact is diversity in sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics is completely natural and normal. This has been proven by medical and other bodies. The minister must retract and correct the misinformation.
On Wednesday (28 January), almost a year after the march took place, prosecutors confirmed they planned to pursue criminal charges against the Hungarian capital's mayor. A spokesperson accused Karácsony of having "organised and led a public gathering despite the police ban", adding in a statement reported by The Guardian that they planned to impose fines on the defendant "without a trial". Responding to the accusations, Karácsony said on social media that he had "gone from being a proud suspect to a proud defendant".
