Almost a decade after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for marriage equality, Virginia now has a law that protects same-sex marriage, WVTF reported. The law ensures that same-sex marriage will remain legal in the state regardless of any future court decisions. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed the bill, which includes exemptions for clergy or religious organizations. Also, the part of Virginia’s Constitution that outlaws same-sex marriage is still there—even though the 2015 Supreme Court ruling legalizing marriage equality makes it unenforceable.
And in Ohio, Democrats have recently renewed an effort to update the statute in that state that still outlaws marriage equality, WCPO noted. “It’s something that’s long overdue in Ohio,” said state Rep. Jodi Whitted, D-Madeira, who submitted House Bill 636 to the Ohio House in late June. The new bill would revoke Ohio’s current law that maintains that “a marriage may only be entered into by one man and one woman” and change it to read that “a marriage may only be entered into by two persons.” The measure would also add protections for interracial marriages—another type of marriage that, despite historical resistance, was legalized by federal supreme court.
The pharmaceutical company Gilead announced that its new pre-exposure prophylactic (PrEP) injectable medication has passed a Phase III clinical trial demonstrating its safety and effectiveness against other current PrEP treatments. The release stated that “the company’s twice-yearly injectable HIV-1 capsid inhibitor, lenacapavir, demonstrated 100% efficacy for the investigational use of HIV prevention in cisgender women.” These are the first data from Gilead’s PURPOSE program—considered the most comprehensive and diverse HIV-prevention trial program ever conducted. Gilead Sciences Chief Medical Officer Merdad Parsey, MD, PhD said, “We look forward to additional results from the ongoing PURPOSE clinical program and continuing toward our goal of helping to end the HIV epidemic for everyone, everywhere.”
A group of transgender and nonbinary state legislators sent a letter to the Biden administration criticizing its decision to oppose gender-affirming surgery for minors, The Hill reported. The lawmakers said transgender youth have been under relentless legislative assault by right-wing politicians over the last several years; the biggest thing Republicans have done is placing bans on “evidence-based, mentally necessary healthcare” for transgender kids, they argued. Montana state Reps. Zooey Zephyr and SJ Howell, New Hampshire state Rep. Gerri Cannon, Minnesota state Reps. Brion Curran and Leigh Finke, and Michigan state Rep. Emily Dievendorf signed the letter.
Riverdale Avenue Books is publishing the Riki Wilchins work Bad Ink: How The New York Times Sold Out Transgender Teens, a press release announced. The release stated, in part, “Wilchins documents out how—beginning in 2015, just as A.G. Sulzberger was taking the reins of publisher, the Times shifted from its historic support for transgender rights to suddenly embark on what Popula’s Tom Scocca called ‘a plain old-fashioned newspaper crusade’ that consumed nearly 70,000 words in dozens of articles—many splashed across its front pages.” The document also stated that the attacks were based on “on pseudoscience and disinformation manufactured by Christian nationalist hate groups.”
And speaking of books, a Montclair, New Jersey, public library trustee confirmed that a recent bomb threat against the literary institution and a nearby church—which local law enforcement said was a false alarm—was intended to stop the library from hosting an LGBTQ+-themed event planned for that afternoon, NorthJersey.com noted. The threat was issued a half-hour before the library was set to begin its final event for Pride Month: Drag Story Hour for children ages 3 to 8. State and federal authorities are also involved in the investigation, according to a statement from New Jersey’s Attorney General Matthew Platkin.
Out Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minnesota) is among Democrats (and celebrities such as George Clooney) urging President Joe Biden to drop out of the election following his performance at the first debate with Donald Trump, LGBTQ Nation noted. “I have great respect for President Biden’s decades of service to our nation and his steadfast commitment to making our country a better place,” Craig said in a statement. “However, given what I saw and heard from the President during [the] debate in Atlanta, coupled with the lack of a forceful response from the President himself following that debate, I do not believe that the President can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump.” Biden has said that he is not going to resign, either as president or as a candidate.
Washington state prison officials transferred a transgender woman incarcerated at a women’s prison to a men’s prison—marking the first time a trans person was removed from gender-affirming housing by the department, according to LGBTQ Nation. Amber Kim was forcibly taken from the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW), where she had been for three and a half years, to a men’s prison facility called the Monroe Correctional Complex. At Monroe, Kim was put into solitary confinement, for allegedly “refusing transfer.”
Hundreds of gay men attending the Daddyland circuit party in Dallas were evicted from the Crowne Plaza Downtown Dallas, the host hotel at which they were staying, The Advocate reported. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority members, who were also in town for their biennial national convention, initiated the complaints, which centered around the partygoers’ attire. Security officers and hotel management delivered the eviction notices, and occupants of 88 rooms were asked to leave, Crowne Plaza owner Terry Tognazzini said. The LGBTQ+ community has reacted with a mix of outrage and confusion, with many believing the hotel’s actions were based on homophobia.
Prosecutors want justice for Pauly Likens, a 14-year-old transgender girl from Sharon, Pennsylvania, who was brutally killed and dismembered last month, The Washington Blade noted, in a story that Philadelphia Gay News originally reported. Mercer County District Attorney Peter C. Acker emailed, “Pauly Likens deserves justice, her family deserves justice, and we seek to deliver that justice.” On June 23, DaShawn Watkins allegedly met Likens in Sharon and killed her; he subsequently dismembered Likens’ corpse with a saw and scattered her remains in and around Shenango River Lake in Clark Borough. On July 2, Watkins was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence; he’s being held without bail in the Mercer County jail.
In Oregon, a federal appeals panel heard arguments in Jessica Bates’ lawsuit that challenges state adoption rules intended to protect LGBTQ+ children on the bases of religious and free-speech rights, per the Oregon Capital Insider. Bates, who lives in Vale, sued the state in U.S. District Court in Portland last year after the Oregon Department of Human Services blocked her from qualifying as an adoptive parent. The state requires adoptive parents to support LGBTQ+ children they adopt—which goes against Bates’ Christian beliefs.
In California, an iconic piece of LGBTQ+ history is now for sale in Sonoma County as one of the last remaining LGBTQ+ resorts in Guerneville—the Russian River Resort—is on the market, per ABC 7 News. The R3 Hotel has played host to the legendary “Lazy Bear Weekend” since 1996. It was the wish of the owner who died that a portion of the of the R3’s sale (with the property being on the market for $4.5 million) should benefit AIDS/HIV charities in Sonoma County and Palm Springs.
The office of New York State’s comptroller said it would vote against re-electing Best Buy’s chair and other key board members next year over questions regarding the retailer’s commitment to the LGBTQ+ community, The Wall Street Journal reported. The comptroller’s office is trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund—a small shareholder in Best Buy with less than 1% of its shares. But the statement by Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli joins efforts by outsiders to pressure companies over their positions on social issues. The Best Buy dispute began when, last year, the conservative activist group The National Center for Public Policy Research submitted a shareholder proposal asking the company to assess whether its work with certain LGBTQ+-advocacy groups was hurting its business. Best Buy convinced the group to withdraw its proposal after the chain’s legal counsel assured the group that it would screen future donations from its employee affinity groups. Best Buy has also said that it remains committed to LGBTQ+ rights.
Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts revealed that, while considering whether to publicly come out, she feared people wouldn’t be able to reconcile her Christianity with her sexuality, per LGBTQ Nation. On a podcast, Roberts admitted that her family and colleagues already knew that she was a lesbian before she came out publicly in 2013; however, she had reservations about disclosing her sexuality to the public. She was even hesitant to sit down with then-President Barack Obama in 2012 for an interview in which he came out in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage. Roberts, who is Presbyterian, eventually came out in a December 2013 Facebook post referring to Amber Laign as her girlfriend—and Roberts received a supportive letter from the National Office at the Presbyterian Church.
Kody H. Kinsley, North Carolina’s out gay Health and Human Services Secretary, took part in GLAAD and America’s Blood Centers’ “Summer of Giving” blood drive campaign, according to GLAAD. As part of the national “Summer of Giving,” Kinsley is encouraging members of his community to take part in the campaign and donate. In accordance with new FDA guidelines, the sexual orientation of a donor and that person’s sexual partners will no longer be considered regarding donor eligibility.
GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) announced that current Equality Texas CEO Ricardo Martinez (he/him) will be the organization’s incoming executive director starting Sept. 4, per a press release. Under Martinez’s leadership, Equality Texas led advocacy efforts to defeat 96% of 140+ anti-LGBTQ+ bills filed during the 2023 state legislative session and 99% of 76 anti-LGBTQ+ bills filed in 2021. Martinez said, “While it is difficult to leave the people and work I love in Texas, I am energized to be joining an organization that has been at the forefront of advancing and defending the civil rights of LGBTQ people and people with HIV for nearly half a century. GLAD’s strategic legal advocacy has made positive impacts for LGBTQ+ people across the country for decades, myself included, and I am proud to have the opportunity to lead and support the work of such an inspirational team in this moment when the defense of LGBTQ+ civil rights in the courts is more critical than ever.”
NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+Journalists and The Curve Foundation announced the recipients of the 2024 Curve Award for Emerging Journalists, a press release noted. The recipients are Maura Barrett, Ashley Dye, Catalina Gaitán, Zakiya Gibbons and Josie Norris. The award, sponsored by The Curve Foundation, provides financial support to emerging journalists whose work fosters fair and accurate coverage and elevates the voices of LGBTQ+ women, trans and nonbinary people.
Longtime anti-LGBTQ+ U.S. Sen. James Inhofe has died of a stroke at age 89, per LGBTQ Nation. The Republican retired from the Senate in 2023 after a six-decade career serving in the Oklahoma Legislature, as the mayor of Tulsa, in the U.S. House of Representatives and in the Senate since 1994. Inhofe earned a 0% rating from the Human Rights Campaign in every House and Senate term he served. He also called climate change a “hoax,” per ABC News.
Repossi has collaborated with the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation for its latest high-end jewelry collection, Wallpaper noted. The capsule collection is inspired by the jewelry that late gay photographer Mapplethorpe created at the beginning of his career from found objects, which Repossi has envisioned in precious metals. For example, the “Relic Claw” necklace rethinks the crab claw that was the focal point of a Mapplethorpe necklace, now composed of white gold and paired with pearls and gold beads. The first eight pieces of the collection are at Dover Street Market New York, where they will remain before traveling to the Los Angeles branch this month and to London in August before arriving at the flagship Repossi store at Place Vendôme, Paris.
Billionaire Ken Griffin, known for donating to Republican politicians, is backing the re-election of Miami-Dade County Democratic Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, according to Bloomberg. Griffin—who moved to Miami from Chicago two years ago—gave $500,000 to Cava’s campaign in June. Griffin (who’s worth $42 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index) has given more than $60 million to GOP candidates this election cycle; he has vowed to become more involved in Florida politics and has donated to politicians such as Gov. Ron DeSantis and Francis Suarez, the Republican mayor of the city of Miami.
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