Five Democratic lawmakers of the Maryland House of Delegates—representing most of the state’s nine-member legislative LGBTQ+ caucus—were slated to issue a statement criticizing Republican former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s record on LGBTQ+ rights, The Washington Blade reported. The authors—out state Dels. Kris Fair, Anne Kaiser, Joe Vogel, Ashanti Martinez and Bonnie Cullison—said that over his two-term, eight-year tenure as governor, “Hogan has made it clear that he is not an ally for the LGBTQ+ community” by refusing to sign several pro-LGBTQ+ measures after they passed. Hogan is currently running against Angela Alsobrooks, the Democratic county executive of Prince George’s County, to represent Maryland in the U.S. Senate.
California Assemblymember Alex Lee’s bill to address the inequities and barriers faced by LGBTQ+ community members has passed through the state legislature, per the Sierra Sun Times. AB 3031, which is headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, will create a state-level LGBTQ+ commission to advise the legislature and governor on policies affecting the LGBTQ+ community. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, the state has the largest share of adults who identify as LGBT compared to any other highly populated state; about 2.7 million, or roughly 9% of Californian adults, identify as part of the demographic.
In Kentucky, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and other red states, state-funded universities and colleges are publicly dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives as state lawmakers threaten the state schools with legislation that hasn’t even passed, according to LGBTQ Nation. With the University of Kentucky at Lexington, the school disbanded its office promoting DEI efforts in response to lawmakers questioning if the school’s focus on identity has hampered political discussions, UK President Eli Capilouto emailed the campus. Rodney Bennett—the first Black chancellor to run the University of Nebraska—announced plans to disband that school’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
Legendary LGBTQ+-rights activist and Harvey Milk protege Cleve Jones is launching a community fund named after himself, hosted by the Horizons Foundation, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. The new resource will allow Jones to continue supporting the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, which he co-founded in 1982 with Marcus Conant; and the National AIDS Memorial, now the steward of the AIDS Memorial Quilt that Jones helped create in 1987. (Beneficiaries of the fund will rotate annually.) To mark the launch, Jones plans to host a 70th birthday celebration at the San Francisco event space The Hibernia on Oct. 11, with all proceeds from the evening going toward the fund. Biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences Inc is underwriting the event.
Civil-rights groups and Kentucky parents of transgender children have weighed in as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear U.S. v. Skrmetti, the challenge to Tennessee’s ban on healthcare for transgender adolescents, according to a joint press release from ACLU of Kentucky, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD). (The families are plaintiffs in Doe v Thornbury, a challenge to a similar law in Kentucky.) The brief argues that the bans in Tennessee and Kentucky, like those passed in other states, intentionally discriminate against transgender youth by denying them medications that are prescribed for other youth. GLAD Senior Director of Transgender and Queer Rights Jennifer Levi said, “You don’t have to know about transgender health care to know that these bans are not about medicine—they are about discrimination. They ban safe, effective and widely available medications only when they are prescribed for transgender adolescents. The discrimination baked into these laws is intentional, clear, and devastating. The Supreme Court in Bostock powerfully affirmed that discriminating against transgender people is sex discrimination. Under that standard, no state can justify denying transgender adolescents essential medical care.”
After a group filed a federal lawsuit accusing an Indiana city council of trying to block an LGBTQ+ Pride event, the celebration will now take place in September, per the Evansville Courier & Press.The Loogootee City Council voted to approve the city’s PrideFest 2024 for Sept. 7; it had previously approved the event in late 2023, but a controversial ordinance passed in February essentially revoked that, casting the event’s future in doubt. The Patoka Valley AIDS Community Action Group—working with the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana—sued in U.S. District Court, calling the ordinance “unconstitutional.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina announced that it is filing a lawsuit against heavy restrictions on gender-affirming care in the state owing to a recently passed bill, LGBTQ Nation reported. ACLU of South Carolina Executive Director Jace Woodrum said, “A law that takes away healthcare from people, that strips away the ability of parents to make medical decisions for their children, that criminalizes doctors who follow the established standards of care isn’t just mean-spirited and harmful—it’s also unconstitutional.” The lawsuit revolves around H.B. 4624, a total ban on gender-affirming care for minors that also restricts care for adults by removing gender-affirming care from the state Medicaid plan and by barring the use of public funds for this care.
The African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church rejected a proposal to strike down its ban on same-sex marriage, per The Christian Post. At the AME Church’s 52nd Quadrennial Session of the General Conference, held Aug. 21-28 in Columbus, Ohio, the historically Black denomination voted down an amendment to its rules. General Conference delegates voted 896-722 in favor of deleting the amendment to allow marriage equality, while another vote allowed for the continuing work of the Ad Hoc AME Sexual Ethics Discernment Committee to continue its work.
Peter Khaim—a man who has already been convicted of carrying out other medical fraud schemes—stands accused of selling fake HIV medication to clients at two pharmacies in Queens, Gay City News reported. Khaim, who was found guilty in other cases involving fraud and money laundering, allegedly put false medication into real bottles of Gilead-branded medication at the spots. Gilead attorneys, private investigators and reps from the New York City sheriff’s office reportedly seized more than $750,000 worth of counterfeit medication at Khaim’s home and at the two pharmacy locations.
In Virginia, employees of Norfolk’s LGBT Life Center found hate speech scrawled across several signs it had installed just months ago, 13 News Now reported. CEO Stacie Walls said there were no issues in the space before the signs were installed—but added the organization won’t be deterred by the hateful messages. An additional center will open in Hampton this month. The vandalism followed a recent report from Virginia State Police that indicated violent crimes are up across the commonwealth; this includes hate crimes, which increased nearly 49% in 2023 since the year before.
In North Carolina, following a lengthy political battle stemming from a Pride month display at its public library, the Yancey County Board of Commissioners voted to separate from the regional library system it has been a part of for more than 60 years, per Carolina Public Press (CPP). The decision came as a shock to library staff and caused outcry among some residents. In the past year, Yancey’s representatives on the regional library board have repeatedly accused library branches of having inappropriate materials in their collections and promoting biased viewpoints through their book displays, AMY (Avery-Mitchell-Yancey) Regional Library Director Amber Briggs told CPP. She worries the commissioners plan to censor library materials, including books with LGBTQ+ content.
Prominent Puerto Rican activist Pedro Julio Serrano, founder of Puerto Rico Para Todes, said he is once again unable to access his verified Facebook page, The Los Angeles Blade noted. Serrano sent to the Washington Blade a screenshot of an email he sent to Meta, Facebook’s parent company, on July 24 that said he has “been trying to recover my page since July 19, when it was hacked.” “I thank the Meta support group for always responding, even if it takes a few days; but the issue hasn’t been resolved,” Serrano told the Blade. “They have all my info, copies of my IDs, a signed statement, everything. They know it’s me. They just need to help me recover my page.” In 2020, he was unable to access his page for more than two months.
In celebration of its 40th anniversary, Tom of Finland Foundation is presenting the Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival 2024: Art Speaks Through Us, sponsored by Diesel, a press release noted. This year, the festival will take part in Berlin, London and Los Angeles, with the British event having the foundation partner with Nick Knight’s SHOWstudio for the first time. In addition to the artwork on display for purchase, Tom of Finland Foundation will also honor artist, musician and writer Holly Johnson (of the band Frankie Goes to Hollywood) with the Artist Hall of Fame award; previous recipients include photographer Tom Bianchi, artist H.R. Giger, filmmaker Bruce LaBruce and photographer Herb Ritts.
During an appearance at Duke University, former Republican U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney—the sister of LGBTQ+-rights activist Mary Cheney—said that she will vote for Vice President Kamala Harris for president because of the “danger” she believes former President Donald Trump poses, according to Politico. Her remarks came after she briefly thought about her own third-party bid for president. “As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this, and because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris,” she said to applause and a standing ovation.
Oprah Winfrey will host AI and the Future of Us: An Oprah Winfrey Special on Sept. 12 on ABC (available the next day on Hulu), per a press release. Winfrey will interview, among others, Microsoft Co-Founder and Gates Foundation Chair Bill Gates, who will lay out the AI revolution coming in science, health and education; and openly gay Open AI CEO Sam Altman, who will explain how AI works in layman’s terms and discuss the immense personal responsibility that AI executives bear. Also, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Marilynne Robinson will reflect on AI’s threat to human values and the ways in which humans might resist the convenience of AI.
Realtor.com determined that Worcester, Massachusetts, is the best (and cheapest) city for LGBTQ+ homebuyers, according to WCYY. Completing the top five were Rochester, New York; Portland, Oregon; Sacramento, California; and Baltimore. Also, regarding where not to move, Metro Weekly crowned Memphis, Tennessee, as the least gay-friendly city in the country. On a broader scale, USA Today named New York as the best state for LGBTQ folks, while South Carolina was the worst.
Inspired by LGBTQ+ icon and civil-rights champion Barbara Jordan’s legacy, the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) offered the Barbara Jordan Fellowship to 10 leaders who are looking to break ground in policy offices and broaden representation within political roles, Philadelphia Gay News noted. This fellowship offers hands-on experience, mentorship and career development for working professionals and college students who have a passion for policy and a devotion to diversity. This program is sponsored by Center 1968—an initiative designed to bring more Black and POC women into non-partisan political spaces.
In Waterloo, Iowa, the gay bar The Rail station has opened, per LGBTQ Nation. Bar owner Darin Beck had previously retired from the hospitality industry; however, as the industry ground to a halt in Waterloo in the midst of the COVID pandemic, Beck came out as gay and married his husband two years later. “This [business], for me, is very different and it really kind of comes from more of the heart than the head, so to speak,” Beck told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. “It’s just something that I feel fortunate I got to do.” The Rail Station opened just in time for the recent Waterloo Pride Fest.
Boyan Golden recently launched Purr—a social networking and dating app for lesbian, bisexual, queer, non-binary and trans people, according to Illinois State University. “While all my friends were having a good time, I was in front of a screen spending hours away,” said Golden, who is queer himself. “I was incredibly naive to app development―the processes, nuances, compliance, design, brand, tone, language―all of these things that had to kind of circulate the app and make it what it is now.” Golden said that while on campus at ISU, he became friends with a group of queer women who enlightened him about a disparity in online dating options for women like them. Golden said Purr is meant to be different from other platforms like Tinder and Bumble because of its messaging, symbolism, app interface and geolocation.
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