The Justice Department on Wednesday filed a complaint challenging Tennessee’s Senate Bill 1, a recently enacted law that denies necessary medical care to youth based solely on who they are. The complaint alleges that SB 1’s ban on providing certain medically necessary care to transgender minors violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. The department is also […]
Author Archives: Dana Piccoli
Dana Piccoli is an award winning writer, critic and the managing director of News is Out, a queer media collaborative.
Dana was named one of The Advocate Magazine’s 2019 Champions of Pride. She was also one of Curve Magazine’s 2017 Pridelist for her work in LGBTQ media. Dana is an inaugural recipient of the Curve Award for Excellence in Lesbian Coverage.
Posted inFrom Tagg Magazine
Workplace Discrimination Prevents Three-Quarters of LGBTQ+ Women from Coming Out at Work, Reveals Research
Three-quarters of LGBTQ+ women and non-binary people still fear coming out at work because of high rates of discrimination, according to new research carried out by myGwork, global talent platform and professional network for the LGBTQ+ community. The study, carried out to coincide with Lesbian Visibility Week, delves into some of the specific challenges that […]
Posted inArts and Entertainment
News is Good: “The L Word” at the White House, MN bans conversion therapy and more
Welcome to our weekly column, News is Good, where we feature positive news about the LGBTQ+ community. Too much of what we see in mainstream media coverage focuses on the challenges we face and not the celebrations. Here are a few things we’re excited about this week. “The L Word” cast celebrates Lesbian Visibility Week […]
Posted inTop Stories
10 lesbian bars where you can celebrate Lesbian Visibility Week
The week of April 24-30 is Lesbian Visibility Week. It’s a time when lesbians, who comprise about 14% of the LGBTQ+ community, are celebrated. What better way to celebrate than by heading out to support one of the remaining two dozen lesbian bars in the country? Not within driving distance of these bars? For more […]
Posted inFrom Washington Blade
Harry Belafonte, ‘King of Calypso’ and LGBTQ ally, dies at 96
A rainbow banner slung over his right shoulder proudly proclaimed the spry octogenarian a “Grand Marshal 2013” of the New York City LGBT Pride March, joining another vibrant octogenarian, Edith “Edie” Windsor, who was also a “Grand Marshal 2013” that bright sunny June day. Between the two of them, the honor was an acknowledgement of […]
Posted inFrom Philadelphia Gay News
Pa. legislators hope to expand statewide protections for LGBTQ community
While GOP-led state legislatures are advancing a record number of anti-LGBTQ bills in 2023, the Pennsylvania Assembly’s LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus seeks to make significant pro-LGBTQ changes to state law. With two new bills, state lawmakers hope to formally codify marriage equality as well as expand anti-discrimination protections for the LGBTQ community. The intent by several […]
Posted inFrom Washington Blade
Biden criticizes GOP-led efforts to ban books
President Joe Biden criticized elected Republican officials for the increasingly widespread practice of banning books from America’s schools and libraries in prepared remarks delivered from the White House on Monday. Addressing an audience gathered in the Rose Garden for the Council of Chief State School Officers’ Teachers of the Year event, the president said, “Empty […]
Posted inFrom Windy City Times
CDC: Almost 90% of mpox-associated deaths involved Black men
A new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that almost 90% of pox-related deaths in the United States were among Black men, CNN noted. Moreover, nearly all of the victims
Posted inFrom Washington Blade
House Republicans pass legislation to ban transgender students from competing in sports
The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act (HR 734), a bill that would prohibit transgender women and girls from competing on school sports teams consistent with their gender identity. Members voted 219-203 along party lines for passage of the bill, which was introduced by U.S. […]
Posted inFrom Bay Area Reporter
LGBTQ Agenda: HRC, Equality Florida hold online forum as DeSantis administration issues new anti-LGBTQ policies
The Human Rights Campaign joined Equality Florida Wednesday in a forum Wednesday about the unprecedented assault on LGBTQ rights in the Sunshine State
Posted inArts and Entertainment
News is Good: Queer dating shows, 40 years of gay softball and more
Welcome to our weekly column, News is Good, where we feature positive news about the LGBTQ+ community. Too much of what we see in mainstream media coverage focuses on the challenges we face and not the celebrations. Here are a few things we’re excited about this week. The City of Brotherly Love Softball League has […]
Posted inNews
What to expect from Disney’s first “Pride Nite”
If you’ve been following the DeSantis vs. Disney news, you may have seen that on the same day that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posed the idea of building a prison complex near Disney, the megacorporation announced its first-ever “Pride Nite” on social media. The DeSantis administration has been in a very public battle with Disney […]
Posted inNews
Reponses to the expansion of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill
The Florida Board of Education has voted to expand “The Parental Rights in Education Bill” (CS/CS/HB 1557), also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, to extend to all grades, kindergarten through twelfth grade. The bill “prohibits classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity.” Failing to comply with this law could cause teachers to […]
Posted inFrom Philadelphia Gay News
The Attic launches new arts program to foster young LGBTQ performers
The Attic Youth Center (The Attic), Philadelphia’s only organization exclusively serving LGBTQ youth, announced the formation of the Jake Snipes Performing Arts Program, an initiative that will prioritize arts-based programming to provide LGBTQ+ youth with tools to build self-confidence, self- esteem, and growth. The program will also foster opportunities for creative expression to help LGBTQ+ […]
Posted inFrom Bay Area Reporter
SF City Hall to be lit up for Lesbian Visibility Week
San Francisco City Hall will join a handful of cities around the world lighting up select buildings for Lesbian Visibility Week from April 24-30.
Posted inFrom Washington Blade
LGBTQ, intersex Gambians continue to suffer persecution
LGBTQ and intersex Gambians continue to face persecution, even though President Adama Barrow ousted Yahya Jammeh in 2016 after 22 years in power. Jammeh during his rule enacted several laws that specifically targeted LGBTQ and intersex Gambians. The former president who is currently in exile in Equatorial Guinea introduced the Criminal Code (Amendment) Act 2014 […]
Posted inFrom Washington Blade
Hungarian parliament passes ‘snitch on your gay neighbor’ law
The National Assembly of Hungary last week approved legislation that included a provision for citizens to anonymously report on same-sex couples who are raising children. The wording of the provision specifies that Hungarians may report those who contest the “constitutionally recognized role of marriage and the family” and those who contest children’s rights “to an identity […]
Posted inArts and Entertainment
News is Good: TRANSlations film festival, a book for allies and more
Welcome to our weekly column, News is Good, where we feature positive news about the LGBTQ+ community. Too much of what we see in mainstream media coverage focuses on the challenges we face and not the celebrations. Here are a few things we’re excited about this week. The Seattle Trans Film Festival kicks off May […]
Posted inFrom Tagg Magazine
Danielle Moné Truitt on Playing a Queer Character on Law & Order: Organized Crime
Actress Danielle Moné Truitt is the woman behind Law & Order: Organized Crime’s Sergeant Ayanna Bell—aka, the Law & Order franchise’s most groundbreaking co-lead character yet, for being both a Black woman and queer. And while Truitt herself is straight, within her journey to this role—a personal breakthrough, too—there is a peripherally queer theme: It […]
Posted inFrom Philadelphia Gay News
Ada Bello, LGBTQ pioneer who made Philadelphia home, dies at 89
Living a life spanning nearly nine decades means you see many welcome and unwelcome changes that shape the life you know. Philadelphia resident, academic, and LGBTQ-activist Ada Bello, who passed away March 31 at Chestnut Hill Hospital after battling COVID and pneumonia, saw those changes firsthand. Born on November 6, 1933 in Havana, Cuba, Bello […]