You really do not need me to tell you how bleak things are right now for the trans community. Whether it is yet another round of anti-trans bathroom bills, laws to make it a felony to provide us care, or even more sports bans, lawmakers are doing their best to make our lives miserable. The media — when it isn’t busy airing anti-trans comedy specials — is busy sharing elevating transphobes in the pages of the country’s biggest news outlets. Our country has become a patchwork of locations we can — and more often, cannot — set foot within. Meanwhile, our nation is sleepwalking towards a November ..read more

The national political and legal landscape for transgender youth in Idaho is… not great! While it should be absolutely appalling that elected leaders in Idaho (where they have a Republican majority) are focused on hurting a very small and very vulnerable population of kids, it unfortunately doesn’t seem to bother enough people to stop it. After an emergency appeal by the state’s attorney general, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that it was A-OK for Idaho to ban transgender care for minors and make it a felony to provide such care. According to The New York Times, “Although orders on the ..read more

As a veteran of numerous demonstrations and as someone who has been arrested several times over the years, it’s something I have always been interested in. As you probably know, there is an opinion coming from me. We all know the facts about the reason behind these recent demonstrations. The simple facts are that Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing and kidnapping people. Then Israel retaliated in Gaza. From this point, it all breaks down into rhetoric, political discourse, free speech and hate speech. Supporters of the Palestinians and some supporting Hamas have created encampments on col ..read more

Claybourne Elder has been called by some critics “the sexiest gay ex-Mormon daddy onstage.” While it’s objectively true that he is in fact gay, that he was raised a Mormon, and that he and his husband have a young son, Philadelphians can soon judge the sexy part for themselves when Elder brings his latest cabaret show to New Hope on May 4. A familiar face on Broadway for several years, Elder’s career has been on the rise lately with his recent roles as Andy in the Broadway revival of “Company” and John Adams on HBO’s “The Gilded Age.” But there is much more to Elder’s resumé than his recent st ..read more

Storm season is set to hit the stage early when the Obie Award-winning play, “Hurricane Diane,” blows through the area May 1-19.  Written by Pulitzer Prize finalist and “Only Murders in the Building” writer Madeleine George, the comedy centers on Diane, who is really the Greek God Dionysus taking the form of a supernatural lesbian gardener, recruiting mortals in modern day New Jersey for an environmental revolution. Diane sets her sights on a clique of four housewives for this purpose, and keeping in tradition with most Greek myths, wacky hijinks ensue. Out actress and producer Molly Rosa ..read more

Aries: Your ruling planet in your first house brings you a subconscious sense of alignment. You are feeling confident and assertive. Be cautious of an impatient streak or being competitive in areas of life that are not appropriate. Venus squares Pluto on the 1st and makes relationships a place for growth, challenges and transformation. Taurus: Mars in Aries begins on the 30th, where it highlights your privacy sector. This is a time of reflection. You are thinking about your goals, your approach, your confidence and your ability to assert your boundaries. You may consider directing your energy ..read more

Following wins in the April 23 primary election, Malcolm Kenyatta and Andre D. Carroll — two young, Black, gay men from Philadelphia — will represent Democrats in the upcoming election. Kenyatta, who currently serves as a state representative, will get a chance to become auditor general, and Carroll will likely become the next state representative for a district in North Philadelphia. Both candidates are advancing for a shot at leadership that could impact their own communities and the whole state. They’ve promoted themselves as people who understand the struggles of average Americans and aren ..read more

I was not quite 16 when the mother of a high school girlfriend outed me to the principal of our all-girls high school, telling them I had seduced her daughter. Within days, I was sitting in the principal’s office with my father as she explained to him that I was a “bad moral influence” on the nearly 3,000 girls at the Philadelphia High School for Girls and had been passing out inflammatory literature and otherwise radicalizing the school’s student body to become lesbians. While I would have loved to actually have had that kind of power, I did not. What I had was a bunch of purloined lesbian pa ..read more

By Michael K. Lavers, Washington Blade Courtesy of the NLGBTQ Media Association Gay hookup apps like Grindr, and dating apps like Tinder and Bumble have managed to proliferate queer communities in countries like Nigeria.  Those who seek one night stands find what they want while those looking for love equally find what they seek. These platforms have managed to position themselves as safe spaces for queer people in anti-gay Nigeria. In recent times, however, it is proving to be unsafe, as homophobic people are quickly learning about the apps, and opening accounts that either see ..read more

For the first time since 2019, a local free conference centered on health and wellness for transgender and gender-nonconforming people will return for in-person events in a scaled-down format Sept. 5-7, with registration opening May 6. In previous years, the Philadelphia Trans Wellness Conference (PTWC) was held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center but this year’s three-day event will be held at Temple University for the first time. “After exploring multiple venues across the city, we decided that Temple University was a great fit for PTWC due to its capacity to hold many attendees, affordabi ..read more