GLAAD rang the Nasdaq Stock Market Opening Bell live in Times Square to kick off #SpiritDay and announced participants of the anti-LGBTQ+ bullying campaign and united show of support for LGBTQ+ youth, according to a press release. At the Nasdaq Market Site, GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis (she/her) was joined by the GLAAD staff based in New York, members of GLAAD’s board, The Trevor Project’s CEO Jaymes Black (they/she/he) and Kevin Wong (he/him), The Ali Forney Center’s Steve Cruz (he/him) and Paul Cruz (he/him), and The Stonewall National Monument Visitor’s Center’s Tom Bagley (he/him) and Annie Willis (she/her), alongside LGBTQ+ creators and creatives part of GLAAD’s storytelling pipeline programs, among others. Additional attendees and special guests included former NFL defensive end R.K. Russell, activist, performer and drag artist Marti Gould Cummings, author Corey O’Brien and Chef Denevin Miranda, among others.
The U.S. Supreme Court granted a request for split argument time between the United States and attorneys representing transgender youth and their families challenging a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming medical care for trans youth, according to an ACLU press release. Chase Strangio, co-director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, will present the argument on behalf of the private plaintiffs at oral arguments in U.S. v. Skrmetti on Dec. 4. In June 2023, Strangio—who will be the first trans advocate to argue in front of the U.S. Supreme Court—was part of the team that won the first trial on the merits against such a ban in Brandt v. Rutledge, a lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of four families with transgender youth; and served as counsel in the landmark 2015 case affirming the right of same-sex couples to marriage (Obergefell v. Hodges).
In the first such case in the nation, anti-LGBTQ+ Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, has sued a doctor in the state for providing gender-affirming care to young people, The Advocate reported. Paxton filed the suit in Collin County District Court against May C. Lau, MD, a professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and a practitioner at that city’s Children’s Health Center. Among other things, he alleges that Lau violated Texas’s law against gender-affirming care for transgender minors by providing cross-sex hormones to at least 21 young people for the purpose of gender transition.
GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics unveiled its picks for the 10 best on-air television news journalists working today, according to a press release. In alphabetical order, they are Christiane Amanpour, Jonathan Capehart, Kaitlan Collins, Anderson Cooper, Mehdi Hasan, Lester Holt, Rachel Maddow, David Muir, Robin Roberts and Jacob Soboroff. GALECA honors the best in TV, film, and Broadway/Off-Broadway at different times of the year.
Longtime LGBTQ+rights ally/activist Robert Bernstein passed away at 98. According to Legacy.com, “In the 1980s, when one of Bob’s daughters came out to him as a lesbian, Bob had an uncharacteristic-for-the-time reaction; he immediately told her that he admired her for living her life honestly and thanked her for trusting him with her news. In the years that followed, he reignited his passion for journalism, writing countless columns and opinion pieces crusading for equality for LGBTQ+ people.” Over the following years, Bob became a national leader in the LGBTQ+-rights movement, serving as national vice president of the lobbying and support group PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), for whom he published a monthly newsletter, the PFlagpole.” Bernstein wrote two books about LGBTQ+ rights and later wrote another about his lifetime of struggles with depression and other mental health issues.
In Tacoma, Washington, a week after The News Tribune reported that the Rainbow Center’s board president resigned alleging a toxic work environment, four more members of the board of the city’s LGBTQ+ resource center have also submitted their letters of resignation. Talking with The News Tribune, three ex-board members said although they initially joined to make a difference in the community, personal vendettas and board-related disagreements made it difficult to continue working in their volunteer positions. On Oct. 14 four Rainbow Center Board of Directors members—Taj English, Lauren Angelo, Tovah Denaro and Paige Moorhead—submitted their resignations; they came three weeks after the board voted to re-establish its seven members following the recommendation of a community panel.
Judge Christian Jenkins, of the Hamilton county common pleas court, ruled that the state’s ban on most abortions was unconstitutional and could not be enforced, The Guardian noted. Jenkins said that Ohio’s abortion prohibition flouted language in a voter-approved amendment to the state constitution that protected reproductive healthcare, per the Columbus Dispatch. The decision stems from a law that prohibited doctors from performing abortions after the detection of fetal cardiac or embryonic activity. While Republican lawmakers in Ohio passed this law in 2019, the legislation did not go into effect until June 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade.
Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii) said she is joining the Republican Party, cementing her separation from the party she aimed to represent just four years earlier, according to The Hill. Gabbard—who was the sole Democrat to vote “present” when Donald Trump was impeached for the first time in 2019—made the announcement at a rally for Trump, whose 2024 presidential bid she formally endorsed in August. According to GLAAD, Gabbard apologized for past anti-LGBTQ+ views before running for president—but then about two years later introduced a bill into Congress that would dictate Title IX protections for female student athletes be based on gender assigned to a person at birth.
In California, a jury convicted a man of murdering 24-year-old transgender woman and drag queen Natalia Smut in Milpitas, per KRON. Elijah Cruz Segura, 25, of Union City, was found guilty of stabbing his girlfriend to death in April 2021. “Natalia was a celebrated drag queen, and her killing caused pain and shockwaves throughout the Bay Area community,” according to the Santa Clara County district attorney’s office. Prosecutors stated that the jury’s verdict likely marks the first-ever conviction in the county for a domestic-violence case involving a transgender murder victim. Segura is facing 16 years to life in prison when he is sentenced in January 2025.
In San Francisco, city officials have picked a massive two-story shopping center in the Castro district as the permanent home for an LGBTQ+ history museum and archival center, per The Bay Area Reporter. The board of supervisors is expected to approve the $11.6 million purchase of the property in the coming weeks. The GLBT Historical Society will then move into the vacant second floor of the Market & Noe Center at 2280 Market St., probably in 2025. Ever since she allocated $12.5 million in city funds toward the project in her 2021 budget proposal, Mayor London Breed has tried finding a lasting home for the GLBT Historical Society’s museum.
Also in San Francisco, LPAC—a political action committee focused on electing out women and gender-nonconforming candidates—rescinded its endorsement of a queer East Bay House candidate due to her stance against gender-affirming care for youth and spreading rumors about a gay Oakland mayoral staff member, The Bay Area Reporter noted. LPAC announced its decision a day after Jennifer Kim-Anh Tran, Ph.D., had posted the comments online on X; she wrote that she believes only transgender adults should have access to surgeries or hormones as part of their gender-affirming healthcare. Tran is running for the open 12th Congressional District seat being vacated by Congressmember Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), who fell short in the March primary for one of the state’s U.S. Senate seats.
In Virginia, Arlington County’s newly formed LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee held its first meeting on Oct. 21, per The Washington Blade. The committee will guide county leadership on LGBTQ+ issues and ensure representation of the community in local government. Officially formed by Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz, the committee was developed in collaboration with Equality Arlington, a nonprofit LGBTQ+-rights organization. The county manager will appoint 15 members who are active in the LBGTQ+ community to two-year terms.
Attorneys representing some Iowa teachers and students filed a new request asking a federal district court to again block an Iowa law that has resulted in the removal of hundreds of books from Iowa public schools—including literary classics and works by Nobel Prize winners, The Gazette reported. Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and the law firm Jenner & Block LLP filed the request on behalf of the nonprofit LGBTQ+-rights organization Iowa Safe Schools, two teachers and six Iowa students and their families who they argue are affected by the law. Iowa Safe Schools says the provision puts students in harm’s way by forcing them to “out” themselves before they are ready or to parents who are not supportive. The Iowa law—signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds and passed by statehouse Republicans—bars books with depictions of sex acts from K-12 schools and prohibits the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through sixth grade, although religious texts are exempted.
KXNET wrote a profile of the 7th Annual North Dakota LGBTQIA2S+ Summit that recently took place in Bismarck. The summit is an opportunity for people to foster friendships with like-minded people—but it’s also a way to educate people on queer issues like suicidal ideation among LGBTQIA2S+ youth, access to quality healthcare for queer people and more. However, for summit leaders, this event is a way to continue the fight for freedom—especially with the flood of anti-gay legislation and rhetoric circulating in North Dakota. A few of the event’s speakers included North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Executive Director Dalton Erickson (he/they); Trevor Project Senior Manager of State Advocacy Gabby Doyle (she/her); trans journalist Erin Reed (she/her); The Transformation Project Executive Director Susan Williams; Sanford Health clinical psychologist Dr. Danial Sturgill (he/him); and ND Thrives Program Director Norman McCloud (he/him), a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) awarded $27.5 million to the Center for Global Health Practice and Impact (CGHPI) at Georgetown University Medical Center to expand its ongoing work in Haiti to address HIV/AIDS, according to News-Medical.net. Approximately 150,000 Haitians live with the disease. Beginning in 2020, with funding from the PEPFAR/CDC, CGHPI team members engaged and facilitated the return to care of 6,000 people living with HIV, and established 57 client-centered drug-dispensing points throughout the country, giving patients greater access to effective antiretroviral treatment.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin was honored with the Harvey Milk Award during a ceremony at the Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex in Trenton, per the Shore News Network. Officials said the award recognizes Platkin’s efforts in promoting the equitable treatment of all citizens, particularly the LGBTQ+ community. Local law enforcement liaisons and state officials acknowledged Platkin’s contributions during the ceremony.
In New Haven, Connecticut, an ongoing controversy centering around a gender non-conforming substitute teacher who used a student girls bathroom has continued, with an LGBTQ+ support group calling for “urgent action,” per the New Haven Register. North Haven Pride Co-Chair Jamie Krzmarzick called some of the rhetoric during the public comment session of a recent school board meeting “hateful and a direct assault on the dignity and humanity of the LGBTQ+” community. Board of Education Chairman Ronald Bathrick said the substitute, who used the gender-neutral “Mx” before their name, has since been terminated for allegedly violating a school rule banning substitute teachers from using student restrooms, adding, “Teachers are teachers. … They have a guideline to follow.” However, Krzmarzick said that the substitute teacher “had a microscope on them” from the moment they arrived at school.
In Alabama, Invisible Histories—a Birmingham-based nonprofit that locates, collects, researches and creates community-based, educational programming around LGBTQ+ history in the Deep South—held an educational lecture during LGBT History Month, Alabama Public Radio noted. On Oct. 17, Invisible Histories hosted “Extra! Extra!” Queer All About It: Southern LGBTQ Newpapers and Magazines.” Also, the nonprofit is looking to raise $7,000 to digitize DVDs, VHS tapes, audio cassettes and reel-to-reel recordings of two Southern Black Lesbian leaders: Ruby Sales and Angela Denise Davis.
The New Yorker Documentary shared that Kimberly Reed’s short documentary Seat 31: Zooey Zephyr has received a spot on DOC NYC 2024’s Short List, per a press release. The tagline reads as follows: “After Zephyr’s expulsion from the Montana House of Representatives for defending transgender medical care, she claims a nearby bench as her ‘office’—transforming a shocking political moment into an opportunity to defend her constituents, embrace her identity and community, and celebrate joy.” Award-winning filmmaker Kimberly Reed directed the short, and she will be present at the Nov. 15 screening.
On National Coming Out Day, people gathered in Portland, Oregon, to celebrate the opening of the city’s first center dedicated to supporting low-income and homeless LGBTQ+ people, OPB noted. The Marie Equi Center—named for the famous doctor and women’s rights activist—will offer wound care, connection to health services and, eventually, showers. Executive Director Katie Cox originally co-founded the organization, formerly known as the Equi Institute, to improve access to healthcare resources for the region’s queer residents.
The cancer research/treatment organization City of Hope honored AEG Presents Chair/CEO Jay Marciano at the Music, Film and Entertainment Industry Spirit of Life® Gala, per a press release. The star-studded evening featured performances by Sir Elton John and David Blaine—as well as a surprise appearance from Celine Dion. Additionally, experiences and rare luxury goods were up for auction, including a music festival “Golden Pass”—the ultimate access and VIP amenities for Coachella, Stagecoach and New Orleans JazzFest in 2025; and John’s engraved ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ Rolex, which was introduced on-stage by Elton’s songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin. The gala is part of the industry’s annual philanthropic campaign, which has raised $7.5 million to-date to advance City of Hope’s mission of helping those touched by cancer and diabetes.
In Nevada, Lake Tahoe mother Lesley Overfield is looking for answers after she claimed that her son, Nicholas, died after not being given HIV medication while in jail, KOLO noted. Lesley said she didn’t even know her son had left the jail when she got a call from Barton Memorial Hospital. Nicholas was arrested in February 2022 and booked into the El Dorado County Jail; less than four months later, he passed away. His family said he died because he wasn’t given access to his prescribed antiretroviral medication to treat his HIV. Wellpath medical staff at the jail had given Nicholas his prescribed antiretroviral medication when he was previously in custody less than two years prior.
Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries, 80, and two other men were arrested on sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges, per the AP. Criminal charges come after years of sexual misconduct allegations—made in civil lawsuits and the media—from young people who said Jeffries lured them with promises of modeling work and then pressed them into sex acts. One civil lawsuit filed in New York last year accused Abercrombie of allowing Jeffries to run a sex-trafficking organization during his 22-year tenure; it said that Jeffries had modeling scouts scouring the internet for victims, and that some prospective models became sex-trafficking victims.
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