Category: From Washington Blade

(Editor’s Note: One in four people in America has a disability, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Queer and disabled people have long been a vital part of the LGBTQ community. Take two of the many queer history icons who were disabled:  Michelangelo is believed to have been autistic. Marsha P. Johnson, Read More

In a rally ceremony that resembled a political convention on Sept. 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrated his signing a degree that Russia had annexed four regions of Eastern Ukraine that were overrun by Russian military forces and Russian-backed separatists. “The people made their choice,” said Putin in the formal signing ceremony at the Kremlin’s St. Read More

The results of a poll run by the Hinckley Institute of Politics and the Desert News found 72% of Utah’s residents agree that marriages between same-sex couples should be recognized by law as valid, with the same rights as cis-gender marriages. “For a state that less than 20 years ago passed laws and a constitutional Read More

Jacob Nathaniel Pring, a D.C.-area LGBTQ rights advocate whose career included working as a mortgage loan officer and Lyft driver by day while organizing social events and parties at night and on weekends at D.C. gay bars and other venues, including “Gay Day” at the National Zoo, died Sept. 26, at his home in Springfield, Read More

President Joe Biden on Wednesday reiterated his administration’s commitment to LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad. “The future will be won by those countries that unleash the full potential of their populations, where women and girls can exercise equal rights, including basic reproductive rights and contribute fully to building stronger economies and more resilient societies, where Read More

The Biden administration on Tuesday will hold a meeting with a group of more than a dozen bisexual activists. The meeting, which coincides with Bisexual Awareness Week, will take place at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services headquarters in D.C. The Washington Blade has learned National LGBTQ Task Force Executive Director Kierra Johnson, Read More

The Disney-themed drag brunch scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 11 was abruptly cancelled last week after an onslaught of threats of violence to the venue, the Cool Beans Bar and Grill, an LGBTQ+ friendly establishment. The threats of violence came after social media posts by the anti-LGBTQ+ Libs Of TikTok and far-right media outlet Blaze TV’s Read More

After months of political organizing on behalf of candidates running to replace two anti-LGBTQ members of the school board in deep red Flagler County, Fla., rising high school senior Cameron Driggers was ready to celebrate their improbable electoral wins this week.   The upset shows that even voters in very conservative districts can see the dangers Read More

During a routine Saturday press conference Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced that the international EuroPride event scheduled to be held in the Serbian capital city of Belgrade from Sept. 12-18 was cancelled. In his remarks the Serbian leader told reporters that his government had come under intense pressure from far right-wing groups and the leadership of the Serbian Read More

The D.C. Department of Health announced on Aug. 12 that it has expanded one of its main eligibility criteria for the monkeypox vaccine from men who have sex with men who have had multiple sex partners during the previous two weeks to all people of any sexual orientation or gender who have had multiple sex Read More

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday announced his country will decriminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations. Lee made the announcement during his speech at a rally that marked National Day, which commemorates Singapore’s independence from Malaysia. “Private sexual behavior between consenting adults does not raise any law and order issue. There is no justification Read More

Anthony Fauci, who’s as leading epidemiologist advised seven presidents and had a major role in the HIV/AIDS and COVID epidemics, has confirmed his plan to step down for his role in the U.S. government. Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases and now chief medical adviser to President Biden, Read More

A southwest Florida district put parental “advisory notice” on over 100 books, many of which are race or LGBTQ-themed.  A great number of books in Collier County Public Schools, either digital or physical, now have warning labels writing “Advisory notice to parents,” according to an NBC report, The label, tweeted by nonprofit free-speech-promoting group PEN Read More

The Washington Blade and the Baltimore Banner will join forces to host “State of the Community: LGBTQ+ Edition” on Wednesday, Aug. 10 at 6 p.m. at Center Stage, The Head Theater, in Baltimore. The event is a platform for the LGBTQ community to express concerns about recent developments with the Supreme Court, the current political Read More

D.C. police say they are actively investigating an Aug. 3 incident in which lesbian activist and Ward 8 community leader Aiyi’nah Ford says she was hit three times in the head with the metal legs of a barstool swung by a man yelling anti-gay names at her. A police report says the incident took place Read More

President Biden made brief comments on Friday expressing optimism about securing the release of Brittney Griner the day a Russian judge sentenced the lesbian basketball player to nine years in a penal colony. “I’m hopeful. We’re working very hard,” Biden said in response to a shouted question from a reporter following a bill signing at Read More

The lead plaintiff in the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court case that extended marriage rights to same-sex couples across the country has won his Democratic primary for the Ohio House of Representatives. Following Tuesday’s primary elections in several states across the country, Jim Obergefell has secured the Democratic nomination in his bid to become the next Read More

More than 600 students from across Virginia signed a letter from the Pride Liberation Project that calls for the Virginia Department of Education to clarify that teaching students about LGBTQ people and events is not “sexually explicit.” Senate Bill 656, which Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed earlier this year, requires parents be notified when instructional Read More