The American South has the highest HIV rates in the country, accounting for more than half of new HIV diagnoses nationwide in 2023. This is despite growing availability of a highly effective HIV prevention medication that has made it possible to live a long, healthy life with this once fatal disease. This medication – called […]
Tag: The Conversation
Posted inTop Stories
Thousands of games have been censored from major platforms, with LGBTQIA+ creators caught in the crossfire
Online game marketplaces itch.io and Valve’s Steam have recently delisted or completely removed more than 20,000 titles from their storefronts, after not-for-profit group Collective Shout pressured payment processors to change their rules. Although Collective Shout claims the move was about censoring games that depict rape and incest content, a number of LGBTQIA+ creators have been […]
Posted inTop Stories
Expansion of marriage rights to same-sex couples also expanded access to the psychological benefits that come with tying the knot
Marriage and the ability to start a family are human rights. Ten years ago, on June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Obergefell v. Hodges case extended the right to marry to same-sex couples. With 7.6% of Americans identifying as LGBTQ+, this decision continues to have an impact beyond legal benefits. Marriage […]
Posted inNews
The ‘sacramental shame’ many LGBTQ+ conservative Christians wrestle with – and how they find healing
Kai found Jesus as a teenager. A person of white and Hawaiian descent, Kai now goes by gender-neutral pronouns and identifies as “māhū,” the traditional Hawaiian term for someone in-between masculine and feminine. But when they first became Christian, the high-schooler identified as gay – and was committed to celibacy. Kai – a pseudonym to […]
Posted inHistory
Chinese only introduced a feminine pronoun in the 1920s. Now, it might adopt a gender-inclusive one
Including pronouns in introductions, your email signature or your social media bio may seem like a minor detail. Pronouns are just small words we use in place of names all the time. But, like names, pronouns have personal significance. They say something about who we are. Trans, nonbinary and gender-diverse people face many issues more […]
Posted inArts and Entertainment
How Thailand’s TV lesbian romances captured a global audience
While dramas about male same-sex romance (known as “boys’ love”, or BL) have been popular in Asia since 2010, “girls’ love” (GL) dramas are only now seeing a meteoric rise in popularity – and they are coming out of Thailand. On January 23 2025, Thailand became the first country in south-east Asia to legalise same-sex […]
Posted inArts and Entertainment
From tuxedos to tattoos, Eleanor Medhurst’s “Unsuitable” traces a hidden history of lesbian fashion
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Blues singer Gladys Bentley was a dazzling star of the Harlem Renaissance, a period in the 1920s and ’30s when African American culture flourished in New York City. Bentley’s risqué performances intrigued audiences. So did the entertainer’s relationships with […]
Posted inArts and Entertainment
Wicked’s “Defying Gravity” is a musical theatre anthem – and a battle cry for outsiders
As director Jon M Chu’s first instalment of the mega-musical adaptation Wicked arrives in cinemas, a new audience of fans is connecting with Stephen Schwartz’s memorable score. Featuring hits including “Popular” “The Wizard and I” and “For Good,” the musical is particularly loved for its celebration of female characters in song. Unlike many Broadway shows, […]
Posted inNews
LGBTQ+ rights: Where Trump and Vance stand
Following Donald Trump’s landslide victory in the 2024 presidential election, many people may be looking to his campaign speeches to understand his position on major issues such as LGBTQ rights. The Republican Party’s electoral promises in this area include cutting existing federal funding for gender-affirming care and restricting transgender students’ participation in sports. Yet as […]
Posted inTop Stories
LGBTQ+ voters in these four states could swing the 2024 presidential election
Polling data shows that Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are running in a near-dead heat in four states – Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. And as a scholar of LGBTQ+ politics, I suspect that LGBTQ+ voters could play an outsize role in these states and the race. So, how might LGBTQ+ voters swing these […]
Posted inCommunity
Half of Black gay men will be diagnosed with HIV, despite highly effective preventive treatments − why?
At a pharmacy in Iowa, a 42-year-old Black gay man couldn’t find a medication he needed. The pharmacist, a white woman, told him they didn’t stock that medication. But while he waited to pay for his other purchases, he saw another customer place the medication he just asked for on the counter. “I felt really […]
Posted inNews
LGBTQ+ people have a troubled relationship with police − new survey shows high rates of harassment, abuse and distrust
The LGBTQ+ community’s long history with law enforcement is so troubled and violent that organizers at some recent Pride parades decided to ban police from marching in the parade. Throughout the 20th century, the police would routinely raid gay bars, rounding up patrons and taking them to jail. Sometimes, the names and photos of those […]
Posted inArts and Entertainment
Can a woman be a drag queen? Chappell Roan shows anyone of any gender can perform in drag
Chappell Roan is on a steep rise to fame. You may have encountered her current hit Good Luck, Babe! on the radio, at cafés or out in bars and clubs. If not, the song is a must-add to your favourite playlist. Good Luck, Babe! is an upbeat, contemporary pop track with clear influences of 1980s […]
Posted inCommunity
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 […]
Posted inTop Stories
Hate crimes laws passed in D.C. have been remarkably ineffective in protecting LGBTQ+ people for decades
On Feb. 23, 2024, Daqua Lameek Ritter was found guilty of a hate crime for the murder of Dime Doe, a transgender woman from South Carolina believed to be in a relationship with Ritter. The ruling marks both the first trial and first conviction of a hate crime on the basis of gender identity under […]
Posted inArts and Entertainment
What’s behind the astonishing rise in LGBTQ+ romance literature?
A major transformation is underway in Romancelandia. Once upon a time, romance novels from major U.S. publishers featured only heterosexual couples. Today, the five biggest publishers regularly release same-sex love stories. From May 2022 to May 2023, sales of LGBTQ+ romance grew by 40%, with the next biggest jump in this period occurring for general […]