Category: From Washington Blade

For the first time since 2021, Brittney Griner will be back on the hardwood for the Phoenix Mercury when the WNBA season kicks off in May. But it won’t be at home. Her first game is on the road, facing the Los Angeles Sparks.  Griner, who regained her freedom in December 2022 in a prisoner […]

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and U.S. Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) introduced a proposal on Thursday to ban Americans who have a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria from serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. The lawmakers’ “Ensuring Military Readiness Act” would go further than the transgender military ban enacted in 2017 under former President […]

The body of 16-year-old Brianna Ghey was discovered this past Saturday afternoon in the Linear Park in Culcheth, a small community located between the port city of Liverpool and metropolitan Manchester. She had been repeatedly stabbed and was pronounced dead at the scene by police and paramedics who responded. Ghey, who lived in Birchwood, Cheshire, […]

Howard Bragman died Saturday, 13 days before his 67th birthday. With the media focused on the Super Bowl, the horrific earthquake in Turkey, and UFOs in American airspace, Howard’s death has been mostly noted in the entertainment trades with little attention paid to the significant decades-long behind-the-scenes impact he had on his beloved LGBTQ movement. […]

The government of Sri Lanka on Thursday said it supports a bill that would decriminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations in the country. “There is a private member bill initiated by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Government MP and attorney Premnath C. Dolawatte,” Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Sabry told the Daily Morning, a Sri Lankan newspaper. “The government […]

U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) spoke with the Washington Blade by phone on Thursday about his run for the U.S. Senate, the Republican party’s crusade against transgender Americans and a new bill he plans to introduce that would protect vulnerable youth in schools. Necessitated by Republican legislators’ invasion of students’ privacy to enforce anti-trans and […]

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivered the Republican response to the State of the Union address late Tuesday night, beginning by asking her audience to “forgive me for not believing much of anything I heard tonight from President Biden.” “I’m the first woman to lead my state,” Sanders said, while Biden is “the first man to […]

President Joe Biden’s second State of the Union address on Tuesday focused on building upon recent accomplishments, especially legislative milestones that were reached with bipartisan cooperation. Nevertheless, the speech was met with vocal objections from Republican lawmakers over Biden’s comments about the debt ceiling, the Southern border and his mention of some GOP members’ plans […]

All 13 members of the D.C. City Council have signed on as co-introducers of a ceremonial resolution honoring the life of the late D.C. drag performer Dustin Michael Schaad, who performed at many of the city’s gay bars and LGBTQ events under the name Ba’Naka. The resolution, introduced by D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large), […]

Activists around the world say Pope Francis’ comments against criminalization laws are a milestone for the global LGBTQ and intersex rights movement. Toni Reis, president of Aliança Nacional LGBTI+, a Brazilian LGBTQ and intersex advocacy group, told the Washington Blade that Francis’ comments are “a message that needs to be assimilated by at least 70 countries that […]

Republican Rep. George Santos (N.Y.) told House GOP colleagues on Tuesday that he will step down from his two committee assignments pending the resolution of investigations and possible law enforcement activity over his alleged financial crimes and violations of campaign finance laws. Santos, who was appointed to the House Small Business and Science, Space and […]

Two anti-transgender bills advanced in the Virginia House of Delegates on Monday. A House Education Subcommittee by a 5-3 margin voted to advance state Del. Dave LaRock (R-Loudoun County)’s House Bill 2432, which Equality Virginia notes “would require public school personnel to contact a student’s parent if they believe that the student’s self-identified gender does not […]

New York LGBTQ+ Rangers fans were disappointed after the National Hockey League team forwent wearing the team’s special warm-up jerseys and using Pride stick tape during the team’s 7th annual Pride Night Friday. The Rangers had promoted Friday night’s Madison Square Garden home game against Vegas Golden Knights, saying players “will be showing their support […]

Pope Francis on Tuesday said homosexuality is not a crime and laws that criminalize it are “unjust.” “Being homosexual isn’t a crime,” Francis told the Associated Press during an exclusive interview. Consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized in nearly 70 countries around the world, and Francis acknowledged some Catholic bishops support criminalization laws and other statutes that […]

A Virginia Senate committee has approved a bill that would affirm marriage equality in state law. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 18 approved state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria)’s Senate Bill 1096 by a 10-4 vote margin. State Sens. Mark Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg), Ryan McDougle (R-Hanover County), Bill Stanley (R-Franklin County) and Mark Peake (R-Lynchburg) are […]

Democratic U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona announced plans to run for the Senate in 2024, setting up a possible three-way race if newly declared independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema decides to seek reelection for her seat representing the Grand Canyon State next year. Gallego disclosed his forthcoming bid on Monday, sharing a video on Twitter […]

When the Washington Blade connected with activist and legislative researcher Erin Reed on Tuesday to discuss the new anti-LGBTQ bills that have been introduced in statehouses across the country, it was just as the news of an especially hateful proposal came across her desk. Senators in West Virginia had teed up an anti-trans law that […]

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s 2018 inauguration was seen as a new dawn not only for the country’s political and economic elite, but for LGBTQ and intersex Zimbabweans and other groups. The LGBTQ and intersex community nevertheless continues to reel from intimidation, harassment and ostracization five years after the late-President Robert Mugabe, who ruled the country with […]

In a tersely public statements to the media and on Twitter, Scottish First Minster Nicola Sturgeon castigated the conservative government of U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for announcing Monday that Westminster would block Scotland’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill from being signed into law by King Charles III. The Gender Recognition Reform Bill introduced by the Scottish […]

We have all at some point questioned our identity. For some, particularly those at the intersection of multiple marganalized identities, the exploration of who you are or want to be can send you into a tailspin of exploration. Local playwright, choreographer, and producer, Sisi Reid is choosing to use dance to tell a story of […]