In a letter sent to Jesuit Father James Martin, Pope Francis said he was “glad” that Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington, D.C., would celebrate Mass on the morning of Aug. 3 for attendees of the Outreach 2024 LGBTQ Catholic Ministry Conference that Georgetown University hosted in D.C. on Aug. 2-4, according to the National Catholic Reporter. It’s the first year a cardinal attended the annual gathering in the three years since Martin founded Outreach in 2022. Hoping to make the church a “more welcoming” place, Martin said the goal of Outreach is “to celebrate and elevate the LGBTQ Catholic experience,” eventually building a lasting community through the conference. Just a few of the panels at the conference included “LGBTQ Ministry in Higher Education,” “Transgender Catholics and the Church” and “The Bible and Homosexuality”; there were also brunches, keynote addresses, prayer sessions and more.
MISTR—a telemedicine provider offering free online STI testing, PrEP, DoxyPEP and long-term HIV care—is partnering with Wal-Mart to launch a pilot program offering free at-home HIV tests at select stores in Georgia, per Gay City News. The program will allow customers to obtain a kit, take their own tests at home and receive results within days. Seven stores across the state are participating in the program, including two in Decatur, two in Stockbridge, and one each in Atlanta, Ellenwood and Morrow. Rates of new HIV diagnoses in Georgia factored into the decision to launch the program in that state. “There is an undeniable HIV crisis in Georgia with not enough resources available,” said MISTR founder/CEO Tristan Schukraft.
In Ohio, Republican Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael Holbrook ruled that the state’s law banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth can go into effect, News 5 Cleveland reported. The controversial measure also bars trans athletes from participating in middle, high school or college athletics on teams that align with their identity. Last month, parents and doctors testified to prevent the state from enforcing the ban, citing the ban would “deny basic human rights.” The ACLU plans to appeal. “This loss is not just devastating for our brave clients, but for the many transgender youth and their families across the state who require this critical, life-saving health care. While this decision by the court is a genuine setback, it is not the end of the road in our fight to secure the constitutional rights of transgender youth, as well as all Ohioans’ right to bodily autonomy. We are appealing immediately,” ACLU Legal Director Freda Levenson said.
Among the new laws that went into effect in Louisiana on Aug. 1 are anti-LGBTQ+ measures, the AP noted. During his final months in office last year, former Gov. John Bel Edwards —the only Democratic governor in the Deep South during his two terms—successfully blocked multiple bills targeting transgender youths in Louisiana; however, Republican Gov. Jeff Landry being Bel Edwards’ successor has resulted in previously vetoed bills becoming law. One new law broadly bars teachers from discussing gender identity and sexual orientation in schools—Louisiana’s version of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” statute. In addition, the measure bans “covering the topics of sexual orientation or gender identity during any extracurricular” activity that is under the jurisdiction of the school. Also, a new Republican-drafted law went into effect that allows those 18 and older to carry a concealed weapon without a permit.
A day after The New York Times published an expose on the allegedly lavish spending by GLAAD president/CEO Sarah Kate Ellis, the nonprofit is continuing to back the executive over the “grossly misleading article,” TheWrap noted. “The Board and I stand firmly behind Sarah Kate Ellis, with respect and appreciation for how she and her team are leading the movement at a time when our community is under attack,” board chair Liz Jenkins said in a statement to the entertainment outlet. Ellis added in a separate statement, “I take my role as GLAAD’s financial steward incredibly seriously, and we’ll continue updating our procedures to keep pace with the organization’s rapid growth. Our work has never been more urgent, because the LGBTQ community is under increasing attack.”
And on a related note, the Philadelphia Gay News, in an op-ed, called for Sarah Kate Ellis’ removal. PGN founder Mark Segal’s article, entitled “GLAAD’s Sarah Kate Ellis bought chandelier with your donations,” says, in part, “Even right-wing organizations have been targets for similar practices—just think of the National Rifle Association. Can you imagine the executive directors of the NAACP or Amnesty International behaving similarly?” Segal concludes by saying, “There is value for our community with GLAAD, but for them to be reputable again, they have some house cleaning to do. That means sweeping out the disreputable Sarah Kate Ellis and searching for someone who will bring transparency and honor back to the organization.”
LGBTQ+ Victory Fund—the only national organization dedicated to electing LGBTQ+ leaders to public office—recently endorsed 35 more out candidates for state and local office around the country, per a news release. Just a few include Buellton, California mayoral candidate David Silva; Minnesota state rep candidate Jess Hanson; Wisconsin Assembly candidates Chuck Erickson, Amaad Rivera-Wagner and Ryan Spade; and New Hampshire state rep candidate Alissandra Murray. LGBTQ+ Victory Fund has endorsed 325 candidates for the 2024 election cycle.
Kansas server Noah Bierig received community support after a customer called him a homophobic slur instead of tipping him, per People, citing KAKE. “I looked at one of their receipts and I noticed that it had a certain three-letter derogatory term written on it,” Bierig told KAKE. Some local LGBTQ+ business owners and workers decided to try and help Bierig finally get the tip he deserved. Organized through Proud of Wichita, the midwestern city’s LGBTQ+ chamber of commerce, donors can “tip” Bierig anywhere from 20% to 100% of the now-infamous $18.94 bill.
The San Diego City Council voted unanimously to declare August Transgender History Month, per LGBTQ Nation. “With the rise in anti-trans hate and bigotry, I want our trans community to know that I see you, I respect you, and I love you, as does this entire Council,” Councilmember Jennifer Campbell said. San Diego joins San Francisco and Silicon Valley’s Santa Clara County in declaring August Transgender History Month; in 2023, the state of California made the same declaration.’
Queerty has incorporated the intergenerational movement, community and social platform Native Son as a new channel, per a public announcement. Named after James Baldwin’s book, Native Son highlights a range of voices celebrating Black gay and queer men. Native Son founder Emil Wilbekin said, “James Baldwin’s words truly resonate with me as a Black gay man in a world where I am continuously trying to find my place—and to fit in. As a child, I knew I wasn’t like the other kids in school, in my Cub Scout troop or on the Little League team in my neighborhood.” Baldwin would have turned 100 on Aug. 2, 2024.
U.S. District Judge Annemarie Carney Axon, a Donald Trump appointee, struck down an attempt by Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina to stop the enforcement of the Biden administration’s pro-LGBTQ+ final rule for Title IX shortly before the final rule took effect nationwide on Aug. 1, WABE reported. “In short, although Plaintiffs may dislike the Department’s rules, they have failed to show a substantial likelihood of success in proving the Department’s rulemaking was unreasonable or not reasonably explained,” Axon, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, wrote.
Elon Musk filed another lawsuit against OpenAI and two of its founders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, two months after withdrawing a similar suit, Axios noted. Musk’s new complaint, like the original lawsuit, claims that Altman and the other defendants “deceived” Musk into co-founding OpenAI in 2015 by promising the company would be a nonprofit with “a focus on safety and openness for the benefit of humanity, not shareholder value.” Earlier this year, OpenAI reinstated Altman, its out gay CEO, to its board, the AP noted; in doing so, the board said it has “full confidence” in his leadership after the conclusion of an outside investigation into the company’s turmoil.
During the extensive final meeting of the 2023-24 legislative session, the Massachusetts Senate passed the Parentage Act, WWLP reported. This act clarifies the definition of parentage to include those who use reproductive technologies and is especially important for LGBTQ+ families, as the measure will allow for all children—regardless of their parents’ race, gender, sexual orientation or marital status—to access the security of legal parentage. Gov. Maura Healey, the country’s first openly lesbian governor, voiced her strong support for LGBTQ+ issues there. “No matter your age, your identity, your gender expression, here in Massachusetts you are welcome,” said Healey. “Equal treatment under the law is something that is in our United States constitution.”
In Pennsylvania, new federal protections for LGBTQ+ students went into effect Aug. 1, although whether they are enforceable in some of the schools remains unclear, WESA noted. This is because a federal judge in Kansas issued an injunction last month temporarily blocking the U.S. Department of Education from enforcing the recent pro-LGBTQ+ Title IX changes in select public schools; said injunction applies to certain schools where students’ parents are members of the conservative grassroots group Moms for Liberty, one of the plaintiffs in the Kansas lawsuit. As part of the ruling, the judge asked Moms for Liberty to submit a list of impacted schools; the group’s count includes Pennsylvania elementary, middle and high schools in Fox Chapel; four Baldwin-Whitehall schools; three Seneca Valley schools; and Marzolf Primary in Shaler.
Fort Lauderdale’s Stonewall National Museum, Archives, & Library will hold its ”Back to the Drive Celebration 2” on Oct. 17 at the Venue in Wilton Manors, Florida, per a press release. Attendees are asked to come as the real or fictional person who inspires them the most; ideas include LGBTQIA+ icons or fictional characters such as Freddie Mercury, Harvey Milk, Gertrude Stein, Billie Eilish, RuPaul, Wanda Sykes or Elton John. Prizes will be awarded for the most creative, most authentic and more. Guests will be able to enjoy food, open bar, music and special guests. (Last year’s special guest was Billy Porter.) More information is here.
The Pennsylvania Superior Court reinstated third-degree murder charges against a bouncer who allegedly killed Eric Pope, 41, outside of an LGBTQ+ bar in Philadelphia’s Center City in 2022, per NBC Philadelphia. A statement from Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office noted that the ruling overturned a December 2022 Commonwealth Court decision that dismissed a third-degree murder charge against Kenneth Frye, who was working as a bouncer when he allegedly hit Pope in an incident that led to the man’s death. The district attorney’s office did not immediately provide information on when this case would continue.
In Illinois, Springfield-based AgeLinc launched a violence-prevention program for LGBTQ+ seniors at its offices on Aug. 2, per The Illinois Eagle. The OUTSafe LGBTQ+ Older Adult Violence Prevention Training Program was created by a state grant through State Sen. Doris Turner (D-Springfield) and the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, in Illinois, hate crimes based on sexual orientation have increased by almost seven times (from 2020 to 2022) and hate crimes based on gender identity have increased by more than four times over that same time period.
Police in Detroit arrested 34-year-old Desmond Burks as a suspect in the April 2023 murder of 53-year-old neurosurgeon Devon Hoover, LGBTQ Nation noted. Police said Burks and Hoover had previously had an “intimate relationship” and that Burks stole from Hoover’s financial accounts after the murder. Burks faces eight criminal charges, including first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder, larceny of more than $20,000, using a computer to commit a crime, prohibited possession of a firearm by a felon and three second-offense felony firearm violations; he is being held at the Wayne County Jail on $1 million bond.
NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists announced that reporter/editor Lauren McGaughy is the recipient of the 2024 Randy Shilts Award for LGBTQ+ Coverage, which honors journalists who consistently bring stories of the LGBTQ+ community to life in mainstream media outlets, per a press notice. The award is named in memory of Randy Shilts, a member of the LGBTQ+ Journalists Hall of Fame who is widely credited with being the first reporter to cover the “gay beat” for a major metropolitan newspaper: The San Francisco Chronicle. McGaughy is an investigative reporter and editor for The Texas Newsroom, a collaboration of NPR member stations in Texas.
Pittsburgh’s Stage AE will host the annual Women Who Rock™ Benefit Concert Presented by Gibson Gives on Aug. 28—with queer icon Melissa Etheridge headlining, per a press release. All proceeds from the Women Who Rock™ Benefit Concert support understudied and underfunded women’s health research at Magee-Womens Research Institute—the nation’s first and largest research institute dedicated solely to life-saving women’s health research and reproductive biology. Also, bids are open (starting at $1,500) for the auction of a Gibson 1968 Les Paul Custom guitar in Ebony, autographed by Etheridge, at CharityBuzz.com.
Next year’s Disney Destiny cruise ship will have a piano lounge inspired by Cruella de Vil of 101 Dalmatians and a pub recalling Pirates of the Caribbean as the ship’s “heroes and villains” time continues, according to SeatradeCruiseNews. Also, Disney Destiny will introduce a new storyline for AquaMouse, its 760-foot-long water ride towering over the upper decks of the ship. Plus, there will be a Haunted Mansion Parlor, debuting on Disney Treasure this December.
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