At 47, Laura Young found it challenging to meet women her age, especially in the suburbs west of Chicago, where she lives. Taking matters into her own hands, she founded Sapphic Before Sunset—a social group focused on creating events for the 35+ queer community-last winter. With the slogan “mix, mingle & still get to bed […]
Category: Community
Posted inArts and Entertainment
What is the future of America’s gayborhoods?
For years, the LGBTQ+ community has carved out a collection of safe havens in the form of gayborhoods, or gay villages. These areas, usually populated and frequented by members of the LGBTQ+ community, serve as places where we can be ourselves, watch out for one another and live freely among friends and lovers. These neighborhoods […]
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Best colleges for LGBTQ+ students in 2024
As of 2020, nearly 17% of U.S. college students identified as LGBTQ+ Housing, healthcare, student groups and campus safety are important to LGBTQ+ students View the BestColleges list of the top-ranked LGBTQ+-friendly colleges in the United States College diversity initiatives have expanded their definition to include LGBTQ+ students. This is due to changes and improvements […]
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Scott Evans, Erin Reed and Lauren McGaughy to be honored by LGBTQ+ journalists association
The National Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists, also known as NLGJA, honors the work of journalists and media professionals every year with awards in categories such as Excellence in Blogging, Excellence in Political Writing and more. Special yearly awards are also presented to journalists who go above and beyond in their careers and coverage. Scott Evans, an entertainment […]
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The beautiful expanse of gender identities
What it means to be transgender has been discussed a lot in American society, yet so often actual trans voices have been and are being left out of the conversation. Many — including within the LGBTQ+ community — hold internal biases against gender nonconformity. Yet everyone has a gender identity, and being able to comfortably explore it adds […]
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Dragging voters to the polls: Drag PAC’s creation represents a larger culture shift
The 2024 election is gearing up to be a tense and difficult battle, drawing out activist groups who want to inspire folks to go to the polls. One of those groups is drag queens. As states around the country ban drag-related events and mount increasing attacks on transgender Americans, the creation of the Drag PAC—starring […]
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Trans entrepreneurs empower queer community through apparel
Length, width, fabric type, looseness or tightness — there are a number of reasons why a clothing item doesn’t work for a person. For trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming individuals, ill-fitting clothes present another issue: causing, or exacerbating, gender dysphoria. With LGBTQ well-being in mind, two transgender entrepreneurs of apparel companies — Kylo Freeman, founder and […]
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Queer Cannabis: A guide to LGBTQ+-owned dispensaries and brands nationwide
Currently, recreational marijuana is legal in 26 states and U.S. territories. Voters in Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota will also have their chance to vote for the legalization of recreational marijuana this November. The legal cannabis industry is on track to generate around 40 billion dollars in revenue in 2024. There are LGBTQ+ cannabis brands […]
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How Matthew Schueller and Michael Lindsay are creating a community-driven queer travel experience
Before he became one-half of a popular influencer and content-creating couple with close to a million followers on social media, Matthew Schueller was bitten by the travel bug in a unique way. He fell in love with an exchange student while in high school. “I never left the country until I graduated high school,” said […]
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Far from making their last calls, LGBTQ+ bars evolve to imagine a new world
Greggor Mattson put about 10,000 miles on his car during his long, winding pilgrimage to 300 LGBTQ+ bars across 39 states. Mattson, the chair of sociology at Oberlin College and Conservatory, embarked on this journey to research why LGBTQ+ bars all over the U.S. were closing, but the story ended up being more complicated—and hopeful—than […]
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Philly’s Paynter’s Platters gives back to the LGBTQ+ community
Paynter’s Platters is a Black and LGBTQ+-owned catering company largely servicing the Philadelphia area, with New Jersey roots. For owner Ryen Paynter, it’s all about family, sharing how his early experiences with food and love for those who surrounded him while growing up motivated his cooking journey. He discusses new opportunities he is seeking with […]
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LGBTQ+ social media platforms center on queer spaces, community connection
A gay man living in a rural area has recently come out of the closet and is looking for LGBTQ+ friends; a lesbian has moved to a new city where she hopes to find a local queer femme social group; a nonbinary person has started hormone replacement therapy and wants to share the changes they’re […]
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The rise of sober LGBTQ+ spaces
Bars have long been a key part of LGBTQ+ culture. They provide us with safe havens where we can be ourselves, fall in love and meet friends that often become family. They give us a place to rally and organize, to grieve and celebrate. Patrons of the Stonewall Inn, a queer bar in New York […]
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20,000 show up to support HRC’s “Out for Kamala Harris” virtual event
Since President Joe Biden announced he was no longer running for re-election on Sunday, July 21, there have been significant gatherings dedicated to supporting Vice President Kamala Harris. The first was a Zoom call for Black women voters, with an estimated 40,000 participants who raised over $1 million on Sunday. The following day, “Win with Black […]
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Biphobia — from within and outside of the LGBTQ+ community
Studies across the world have shown that bisexual humans, and especially bisexual women, face unique challenges within the LGBTQ+ community, and personal experiences described by bi people back those studies up. In 2022, Jayna Tavarez studied nine bisexual students engaged in LGBTQ+ spaces on a college campus. The participants all experienced bisexual-specific stress within LGBTQ+ spaces, the […]
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Community urgently seeks help in finding beloved Black trans advocate missing since June 20
This article originally appeared in Windy City Times. Family and friends of Taylor Casey, a fixture of Chicago’s transgender community and a beloved youth advocate, are begging for community support in bringing her home after she vanished from a yoga retreat in the Bahamas. Taylor Casey was last seen the evening of June 19 at the Sivananda Ashram […]
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Colorado is home to the longest-running gay rodeo in the world
The Colorado Gay Rodeo Association has held a gay rodeo every year since 1983, making it the longest-running event of its kind in history. Their flagship event, the Rocky Mountain Regional Rodeo in Denver, is part of a circuit of rodeos that, at times, has stretched across the United States and into Canada. Despite the […]
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Kareem Mims speaks on services provided by Prevention Point Philadelphia
This story is part of the Digital Equity Local Voices Fellowship lab through News is Out. The lab initiative is made possible with support from Comcast NBCUniversal. Philadelphia Gay News sat down with Kareem Mims, who works as the Prevention Health Care Coordinator for Prevention Point Philadelphia. Mims, an openly gay man, talks about his […]
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8 LGBTQ+ walking tours you can take year-round
Just because Pride month is nearly over doesn’t mean we have to stop celebrating and learning about our community. These walking tours all around the country offer a look into the lives and fascinating history of LGBTQ+ people from Boston to San Francisco. Learn about artists and activists who changed the world, events that rocked […]
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BIPOC entrepreneurs and creatives take center stage at South Florida Pride events
This story is part of the Digital Equity Local Voices Fellowship lab through News is Out. The lab initiative is made possible with support from Comcast NBCUniversal. In recent years, South Florida has seen a remarkable surge in Pride events, with celebrations becoming more vibrant and inclusive than ever before. What sets these events apart is the […]