Category: From Washington Blade

A vote in the U.S. Senate on legislation to codify same-sex marriage, following a surprise bipartisan approval in the U.S. House, now appears on track for consideration in September after lawmakers return from summer recess. Questions emerged on when the Senate would take up the Respect for Marriage Act, which was advanced amid fears the […]

LGBTQI+ individuals are more likely than their counterparts to exhibit suicidal behavior. According to data reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2019, nearly half of students identifying as gay, lesbian or bisexual reported seriously considered suicide. These students experienced a near fourfold increase in suicide attempts compared with heterosexual students. LGBTQI+ […]

BERLIN — Dmitry Shapoval is a 24-year-old gay man from Ukraine who lives with HIV. He was working at an IT company’s call center and studying web and UX design in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, in February when Russia launched its war against his country. Shapoval swam across a river and entered Poland less than […]

DC Health and the Washington Blade will host a town hall to discuss monkeypox on Monday, July 25 at 7 p.m. at Eaton DC. Local medical and health officials will answer the audience’s questions regarding the uptick in monkeypox cases in the area, implications for public health and what this means for D.C. residents.  Featured […]

(Editor’s note: This is the third in a multi-part summer series of stories taking a closer look at how a group of diverse LGBTQ entrepreneurs survived and thrived during the pandemic. The series is sponsored by the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce. All installments in the series are available on our website.) LGBTQ seniors visiting […]

In a ruling issued late Friday, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee temporarily blocked the Biden administration from enforcing guidance on two federal statutes aimed at preventing discrimination against LGBTQ people. In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Atchley blocked implementing the guidance which had been challenged by Tennessee Attorney General Herbert […]

Casa Ruby, the D.C. LGBTQ community services center that provided transitional housing services for homeless LGBTQ youth and adults and support for LGBTQ immigrants, has shut down all of its programs after it lost most of its city funding, one of its few remaining employees told the Washington Blade. Tania Cordova, a Casa Ruby official […]

The latest CDC numbers show that Washington, D.C. ranks 30th of all U.S. metropolitan areas in HIV transmissions and the same study showed 2.4 million sexually transmitted infections (STIs) across the U.S., with some STIs like syphilis increasing by 254 percent! And while COVID-19 has garnered the lion’s share of media attention, the new CDC report […]

In another circumstance of Florida’s newly minted ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law’s negative impact, a 12-min training video aimed at teaching middle and high school students how to prevent bullying and support their LGBTQ+ peers in Duval County Public Schools has been removed from student access. Jacksonville Today journalist Claire Heddles reported Sunday that besides the video, the […]

The State Department on Thursday said it is “very concerned” about the well-being of a transgender woman in Cuba who is serving a 14-year prison sentence after she participated in an anti-government protest last July. Tremenda Nota, the Washington Blade’s media partner in Cuba, notes Brenda Díaz was arrested in Güira de Melena in Artemisa […]

The National LGBT Chamber of Commerce and the global online food delivery company Grubhub will continue a $2.1 million grant program they began last year to provide financial support to struggling “LGBTQ+ owned and ally” restaurants and bars through 2022 and 2023, according to LGBT Chamber President Justin Nelson. In a June 28 statement, Nelson […]

The White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre released a statement Friday as Florida’s notorious ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law took effect, saying “[…] state officials who claim to champion liberty are limiting the freedom of their fellow Americans simply to be themselves.” President Joe Biden also tweeted about the law prior to leaving for Camp David […]

Smiling faces spilled into downtown Martinsburg, W.Va., on June 4, welcomed by booths swathed in rainbow colors lining the road. The historic sight marked the first time that Martinsburg welcomed an official Pride celebration to its streets — but not all residents viewed the new event favorably. As the celebration came into full swing, two […]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hinted at the possibility of legislation to codify the right of same-sex couples to marry, which many fear is in danger after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, as part of an effort to secure “freedoms which Americans currently enjoy.” Pelosi suggested such legislation could be in the […]

On Sunday, June 4, Pastor Dillon Awes stepped behind the pulpit at Steadfast Baptist Church in Watauga, Texas and declared, “What does God say is the answer, is the solution for the homosexual in 2022?…That they are worthy of death.” His statement was greeted by shouts of “Amen” from within his congregation. He continued preaching, […]

President Biden last year signed the “Juneteenth National Independence Day Act” into law, officially designating June 19 as a federal holiday. This legislation was passed after years of advocacy — spearheaded by 95-year-old Opal Lee — pushing for federal recognition of the day in 1865 when the news of the Emancipation Proclamation was delivered to Galveston, Texas, […]

The co-executive director of an organization that advocates on behalf of transgender and gender non-conforming immigrants has declined an invitation to attend the White House’s Pride Month celebration on Wednesday. Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement Co-Executive Director Jennicet Gutiérrez on Tuesday told the Washington Blade during a telephone interview that she “very consciously” decided “not […]

Heavily armed Coeur d’Alene police officers and Kootenai County Sheriff’s deputies in riot gear arrested half a dozen armed protestors, and a few self-labeled “street preachers” who were attempting to disrupt the “Pride in the Park” in Coeur d’Alene City Park which returned after a two-year hiatus caused by the pandemic. Creating concern for law […]

This Pride season, if you asked me what it’s like to be queer and disabled, I’d say, like Dickens in “A Tale of Two Cities,” that it’s “the best of times” and the “worst of times.” In the mid-1970s in Cambridge, Mass., white cane in hand, I first walked into a gay bar.  When I […]

WILTON MANORS, Fla. — This year’s Pride celebration in Wilton Manors will take place against the backdrop of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed earlier this year. The Stonewall Pride Parade and Street Festival will take place in Wilton Manors on June 18. “This Pride Month is different than previous […]