After months of protests and investigation, the three Amherst Regional Middle School guidance counselors accused of numerous complaints concerning their conduct with LGBTQ+ students have been cleared by an administrator in the school’s district. But the spokesperson for the “group or parents, educators and staff and community members formed in August to advocate for accountability, transparency and equity” in the Amherst, Massachusetts school district strongly disagrees with the decision, according to a report by Mass.Live.com. Reports MassLive.com: An Amherst administrator has cleared three A ..read more

The Maine House of Representatives last Wednesday passed a bill that would protect out-of-state patients seeking gender-affirming care or abortions from states where such health care is illegal, even if received in another state. The bill “faces further action in both chambers, but the House vote gives it a clear path to passage because Democrats have a wider 22-13 majority in the Senate. [Maine Governor Janet] Mills championed last year’s abortion-rights expansion, which only advanced by one vote in the House at first due to opposition from a small group of anti-abortion Democrats,” according ..read more

Unity House, the first group home dedicated to LGBTQ+ youth in the state, opened earlier this month in Keene, New Hampshire. It was created by Boston-based nonprofit The Home for Little Wanders, which designed the first-of-its-kind-in-the-nation Waltham House in Waltham, Massachusetts back in 2002. Unity House was contracted by the New Hampshire Division of Children, Youth and Families. Reports the Keene Sentinel: The Unity House will provide a safe and supportive living environment for up to eight youths, ages 12 to 19, who identify as LGBTQ+ and are in the custody of the N.H. Division for Ch ..read more

A coalition of local organizations, advocates, and community members have sent an open letter to Rhode Island legislators urging them to reject a series of proposed bills that would undermine the well-being of LGBTQ+ people in the state. The letter was signed by over 60 organizations, including the National Education Association Rhode Island, Rhode Island Medical Society, Rhode Island Academy of Family Physicians, Rhode Island Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Rhode Island Council of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Rhode Island Psychological Association, Rhode Island Se ..read more

The Fenway Institute at Fenway Health—one of the country’s leading care and research centers for LGBTQIA+ people—has a new executive director. Says Fenway: Amy Ben-Arieh We are excited to announce that Amy Ben-Arieh has been selected as The Fenway Institute’s new Executive Director. This position attracted a large and talented applicant pool, but Amy’s experience, skillset, and energy made her the best candidate to lead TFI in its next chapter. Amy is very excited to take on this role and has a passion for The Fenway Institute and amplifying its work that we are confident will truly benefit ..read more

The New Hampshire Senate approved two anti-LGBTQ+ bills last Friday, one to ban transgender girls from playing on girls sports teams, the other requiring teachers to out LGBTQ+ students to their parents. Both bill move next to the House. Reports the Boston Globe: Both bills cleared the Republican-controlled Senate on party line votes. Senate Bill 341 passed in a 13 to 10 vote. It would require educators to answer parents’ questions about their child within 10 days. It includes an exception if an educator believes revealing the information would put the child at “imminent risk of physical harm ..read more

Springfield, Massachusetts will see an even bigger Pride event this year with its third annual Pride Parade that now includes festivities across the entire weekend. Reports MassLive.com: Springfield Pride on Thursday joined with city officials, sponsors and other supporters to announce the parade and block festival will be back this year and will be bigger, better and louder. “The first year we had 6,500 people and this year we’re hoping for 10,000 or more,” Bethea said in his kickoff announcement at City Hall. The event will also spread to three days. It will start with the raising of th ..read more

[This article appears in the March/April 2024 print issue of Boston Spirit magazine. Subscribe for free today.] Life may begin at 40, but Wicked Queer Boston’s LGBTQ+ Film Festival, has been living large for a long time. Adventurous, eclectic, edgy programming that looks back and ahead has been a hallmark of Wicked Queer since its founding as Boston’s gay and lesbian film festival in 1984 by legendary film programmer George Mansour.  Now the fourth longest running LGBTQ+ Film Festival in North America, Wicked Queer celebrates its 40th season April 5–14 at cinemas and screening r ..read more

With far fewer options for gay bar-goers than the Boston area once boasted, a mainstay like the regular Queeraoke night at the Midway Cafe in Jamaica Plain can seem like one joyful oasis of community. And, reports the Boston Globe, it’s been going on for nearly 20 years and has never been more popular. “Whatever the capacity is, we’re usually pretty close to it,” Queeraoke promoter and host Peter Hallisey told the Globe. “Karaoke is kind of exclusionary [for anyone not singing], so that’s why it cannot work in a bigger space, but it’s just big enough where you get the right energy.” Reports th ..read more

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell announced yesterday that she is joining 17 other state attorneys general across the US in an effort to reverse a Trump-era elimination of nondiscrimination protections for transgender people from the Affordable Care Act. “In light of the unprecedented attacks on health care access from state legislatures across this country — including attacks on gender affirming care, birthing people, and immigrants — it is critically important that we expand access to health care, not eliminate the anti-discrimination protections relied on by so many,” Campbe ..read more