LGBT

LGBT

For decades, libraries served as a safe haven for many queer and marginalized youths in eastern Texas, says former county library director Rhea Young. Unlike the school cafeteria, the library was a space where they could explore and find acceptance in who they wanted to be. There were books where they can find characters like them, and realize it's okay to be who they are, Young said. There needs to be more places like that, not fewer.

The state of Florida has become the epicenter of Republicans' rainbow crosswalk crackdown. The DeSantis administration has heeded warnings from federal Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who has falsely claimed Pride art is distracting to drivers. Duffy wrote in a July 1 letter to the nation's governors that all non-freeway intersections and crosswalks must be kept "free from distractions." In a subsequent X post, he said, "Taxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks."

Critics have long argued that apart from denying trans actresses work, casting cisgender men to play trans women reinforces the anti-trans perception that trans women are "really" men. That insidious belief is not only at the heart of efforts to deny trans women access to public bathrooms, changing rooms, and shelters, but can also lead to violence against them.

Last April, the supreme court issued a ruling confirming that the word sex in the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological sex, not a person's legal gender. This has a wide-reaching impact on how equality law is applied in practice, particularly in providing sex-based rights such as single-sex spaces. Six months later, a draft code on the ruling's implementation was sent by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to the equalities minister, Bridget Phillipson.

"It is unnecessary to hint at profanity in any commercial, especially the f-word in a Christmas ad," OMM wrote in its latest petition. "It is extremely irresponsible because everyone knows children repeat what they hear." "Supporters have submitted many complaints about the use of insinuated profanity," OMM added. "It is extremely disrespectful to families. Kohl's needs to be held accountable!"

"Really, gay men like me go into that locker room and the clothes come off, and then all of a sudden we have to butch it up to attract other men," he said. "I think that's so interesting to watch these really queer, very effeminate men like get into their towels and be like, 'Yo, bro, what's good?' And it's like, whoa, what is that thing where we're not allowed to be overtly queer or overtly femme in those settings?"

Most recently, in 2019, singer Ellie Goulding threatened to pull out of her performance at the NFL's Thanksgiving Day halftime show - intended to coincide with its annual holiday Red Kettle Campaign - over the company's homophobic track record. That same year, Chick-fil-A ended their donations with the charity, leading it to insist that it's working to atone its anti-LGTBQ+ past.

The Peggie ruling concluded that the supreme court judgment did not make it inherently unlawful for a trans female, who is biologically male under the Equalities Act, to be given permission to use a female changing room at work. And a week earlier, another employment tribunal reached a similar conclusion, ruling in favour of the trans-inclusive toilets policy at aerospace firm Leonardo UK's office in Edinburgh.

Essentially what it refers to is someone or something presenting as straight but in reality is not. It's the exact opposite of 'queer-baiting', where someone or something presents as being queer without actually identifying as such. In 2018, people said Brokeback Mountain was an example of 'straight-baiting' as its advertising used the film's mixed-gendered couples in its marketing. This appeared to have lured numerous people in who probably wouldn't have gone to a gay film had they known that was at the its core.

After Abby Stuckrath learned that the Washington Blade is the oldest LGBTQ newspaper in the country, she began digging into its archives for glimpses of gay life in decades past. The research eventually led her to DC's Rainbow History Project, where she kept seeing the names of certain bars and clubs: now-defunct spots such as the Brass Rail, the Showboat, and Phase One. Stuckrath, now a WTOP producer, and her sibling, Ellie Stuckrath, a nonprofit communications professional, had moved to DC from Colorado and were still searching for a sense of belonging in their new home. They decided to channel their casual research into an intriguing podcast, Queering the District, which recently completed its first season.

As 2025 draws to a close, Pornhub has revealed the most popular transgender porn stars of the year - and just in time for XXXmas, too. The adult site's annual Year in Review has shown exactly what types of racy content have been getting people off over the past 12 months, and it seems the world can't get enough of trans people between the sheets - which is sadly ironic, considering the growing anti-trans rhetoric being witnessed across the world right now.

As the local organising committee, SeattleFWC26's role is to prepare our city to host the matches and manage the city experience outside of Seattle Stadium, said Hana Tedesse, the vice-president of communications for Seattle Fifa World Cup 2026. SeattleFWC26 is moving forward as planned with our community programming outside the stadium during Pride weekend and throughout the tournament, partnering with LGBTQ+ leaders, artists and business owners to elevate existing Pride celebrations across Washington.

What's happening in 2025 is more than just an increase in views; it's a cultural shift. For the first time, trans-led content is the second most watched category in the industry. "People are finally seeking out stories and performers who break old ideas about gender and sexuality. It's amazing to see viewers become more open-minded and interested in authenticity. This growth shows trans creators are finally being seen and celebrated on our own terms. Audiences and the industry are evolving together.

We're not sure when someone can officially be called one of 'the internet's boyfriends,' but Heated Rivalry's Connor Storrie is certainly headed that way. And his 'twink era' is just the latest things that's being obsessed over by his legions of newfound fans. Storrie plays Ilya Rozanov in the Canadian LGBTQ+ sports drama focusing on two rival hockey players entering a steamy love affair. Opposite Storrie, Hudson Williams plays Shane Hollander, Rozanov's rival and lover.

"This is my community," he says, noting that he grew up and went to school within the boundaries of the new district and that the restaurant he opened nine years ago, Laziz Kitchen, is there too - on Harvey Milk Boulevard; he advocated for the renaming as a member of the City Council. (A Republican state lawmaker wants to rename it again - for Charlie Kirk.)

And her opening line subtly addresses the country's obsession with her trans identity, which she has refused to let get in the way of her legislative duties. "If there is one identity that everyone associates with me, it's that I'm a Delawarean," she jokes, smiling big for the camera. "A proud and true stateriot," a neologism of the words "state" and "patriot."

Csoke's brushstrokes are looser and airier than the refined, smooth texture academic oil painters would strive for. And his addition of slender rainbows-a symbol of the LGBTQ+ unity and pride-infuses an element that seems playfully at odds with the paintings' original intent to show the owner's status or virility. Instead, the scenes' secondary characters take the main stage, emotionally dealing with what it means to not only come to terms with one's own sexuality but the nature of queer community.

On November 17, my students at the University of Washington heard from someone at the center of today's most complicated conversations about sexuality, labor, and the digital world. That person was Ari Kytsya, an enormously successful OnlyFans creator whose online presence is very different from what many people imagine when they hear "OnlyFans model." Ari is warm, grounded, funny, and thoughtful.