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When Ellen Morgan, the character Ellen DeGeneres played on her sitcom Ellen, came out as gay on the show's April 30, 1997, episode, it sent shockwaves through the...

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Classroom Address on Respect & Bullying

“Alright everyone, I need your attention for something important.

This isn’t about any one person or one situation—this is about the kind of classroom community we are building together.”

“Every single person in this room deserves to feel safe here.

Safe to learn.

Safe to speak.

Safe to exist.”

“And I want to be very clear: it is never okay to make comments about another student’s body, their clothing, their family, their identity, or who they care about. Not as a joke, not in whispers, not ‘just with your friends,’ and not behind someone’s back. That kind of talk is unkind, it is harmful, and it is considered bullying in our school.”

“Let’s talk about what bullying really is.

Bullying is when someone is excluded on purpose.

Bullying is when someone is made to feel ‘less than.’

Bullying is when someone is treated like they don’t belong.

And bullying is when people spread made-up or hurtful ideas about another person.”

“That behavior—any of it—will never be tolerated in this classroom or on our team. Not today. Not ever.”

“Part of growing up is learning to respect people who are different from us.

Different families, different personalities, different interests, different identities.

You do not have to be the same as someone to treat them with dignity.”

“And let me be extremely clear: You cannot ‘catch’ anything about a person by sitting near them, talking to them, or working with them. That’s not how people work.

What can spread is kindness.

What can spread is respect.

What can spread is courage to do the right thing.”

“When you choose to include someone, you make this classroom stronger.

When you choose kindness instead of cruelty, you make yourself stronger.

When you choose respect even when you don’t understand something, you show real maturity.”

“From this point forward:

• Everyone works with everyone.

• Everyone sits where they are assigned.

• Everyone treats each other with basic human respect.

• And if someone cannot do that, there will be immediate consequences, because safety and dignity come first.”

“If you ever feel uncomfortable or targeted, or if you ever see someone else being treated unfairly, you can come talk to me privately. Part of my job is to support you and make sure you feel protected at school.”

“I want this classroom to be a place where every single student feels they belong. That requires every one of us—every day—to make choices that show kindness, empathy, and respect.”

“Let’s be the kind of class that lifts each other up, not tears each other down. That is who we are going to be from here on out.”

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A Mighty Girl - On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected a...

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On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected a petition to overturn its landmark 2015 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide -- reaffirming the…

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LGBTQ Heritage/Memorial Project | Facebook

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Congratulations to Terri Lesley, the former executive director of the Campbell County Public Library System in Gillette, Wyoming, for winning a $700,000 settlement after being fired for refusing to remove LGBTQ+ books from library shelves. After 27 years of dedicated service -- 11 of them as executive director -- Lesley was terminated in July 2023 following a relentless two-year campaign by a small group of far-right activists demanding the removal of books with LGBTQ+ themes and content. In her federal lawsuit, Lesley alleged that "a small fraction of the community espoused openly homophobic, transphobic, and other hateful ideologies," and that county officials and library board members aligned themselves with this vocal minority's "book-ban campaign" rather than rejecting it.

Despite repeated pressure from this group and sympathetic county commissioners, Lesley maintained that removing books would violate the First Amendment and the library's obligation to provide open access to information. "I don't regret standing up for the First Amendment in any way," Lesley told The New York Times in a recent interview, "but it was kind of a brutal process to experience it, to have it be such a contentious issue, and for it to be across the country and be called things like a 'pedophile' or a 'child groomer.' Those things were all very hard to experience."

The controversy began in June 2021 when the library posted about Pride Month and Rainbow Book Month on Facebook to celebrate the library's LGBTQ collection in the teen section. What followed was unprecedented: "We just weren't prepared for the volume and ferocity of it," Lesley said. Lesley and her staff processed 57 challenges on 29 unique titles submitted by just 17 different people -- an extraordinary concentration of complaints from a tiny fraction of the community.

Lesley firmly defended her position on keeping the books, most of which had been on library shelves for years without complaint, accessible to teens: "If you segregate these books, say, in the adult section, and you're teenager, and you go to try to find something on a topic and that book isn't there, you won't discover it. That is a form of censorship." The campaign escalated alarmingly when two residents filed a complaint with the Campbell County Sheriff's Office demanding that library staff, including Lesley, be prosecuted for distributing obscene materials. A special prosecutor investigated and concluded that the books were not obscene.

Over the next two years, four of the five library board positions became vacant and were filled with new appointees sympathetic to the book ban activists; after attempting to pressure Lesley into resigning and failing, the reconstituted board fired her in July 2023. Despite being in one of the most conservative areas of one of the most conservative states, hundreds of people showed up at the special library board meeting when Lesley was fired -- most of them in support of her, with only a few dozen residents backing the board's decision.

Lesley's case reflects a troubling nationwide trend documented in a recent American Library Association report, which found that 72 percent of book challenges were initiated by organizations or government entities; only 16 percent came from parents and 5 percent from regular library patrons. This data starkly contradicts the narrative that school book challenges primarily represent parental concerns. Book challenges and removals soared around 2021, fanned by a network of conservative groups that spread lists of book titles they considered objectionable on social media. The ALA documented 4,240 unique book titles targeted for censorship in 2023 -- a 65% increase over 2022 and the highest level ever documented.

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom, explained: "We're not seeing an individual read a book and raise a concern about a book. We're seeing organized groups go to school boards, go to library boards, demanding the removal of dozens, if not hundreds, of books at a time, they are simply downloading lists from advocacy groups and demanding removal of those books... The movement to ban books is not a movement of parents, but a movement of partisans who seek to limit our freedom to read and make different choices about things that matter." PEN America has documented nearly 23,000 book bans in public schools nationwide since 2021, affecting the work of 2,308 authors, 243 illustrators, and 38 translators during the 2024-2025 school year alone.

While the settlement with Campbell County resolves Lesley's employment discrimination claims, her legal battle is far from over. A separate lawsuit filed by Lesley charges three members of the Bennett family with defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress and will continue, with a jury trial scheduled for March 2026. "Court documents reveal the extent of the campaign against her: according to the complaint, the Bennetts publicly alleged criminal conduct, reported her to law enforcement seeking her arrest, and even admitted "they would not have accused Ms. Lesley of having committed crimes had she complied with their demands" -- conduct that Lesley characterizes as extortion and blackmail under Wyoming law.

After the settlement was announced, Lesley's attorney Iris Halpern said, "We care fundamentally about our constitutional rights and we fundamentally care about our neighbors, even if they're different than us, and want them to have equal access to our public institutions." Despite living in one of the most conservative states, Lesley believes these campaigns represent only a vocal minority: "I think they are representing a minority. It's a live-and-let live kind of state, and I just don't see the people I know signing on to this." Now she's fighting to ensure her case sends a clear message to book ban activists nationwide: "My hope is that this will be a deterrent, that we can shut down all these censorship efforts in Wyoming and beyond."

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For two inspiring books about girls fighting against censorship in schools - both for ages 9 to 12 - we highly recommend "Ban This Book" (https://www.amightygirl.com/ban-this-book) and "Property of the Rebel Librarian" (https://www.amightygirl.com/property-of-the-rebel-librarian)

For a thought-provoking young adult novel exploring censorship, we recommend "Suggested Reading" for ages 14 and up at https://www.amightygirl.com/suggested-reading

For two excellent books about Mighty Girls who find hope by reading forbidden books - both for ages 12 and up - we recommend "Voices" (https://www.amightygirl.com/voices) and "The Book Thief" (https://www.amightygirl.com/the-book-thief)

For books for tweens and teens about girls living in real-life oppressive societies with little respect for freedom of expression, visit our blog post "The Fragility of Freedom: Mighty Girl Books About Life Under Authoritarianism" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=32426

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To stand up against book banning in your community, you can find many resources at Unite Against Book Bans (https://uniteagainstbookbans.org) and PEN America (https://pen.org/)

To read the new ALA report on book banning in the U.S. at https://www.ala.org/news/state-americas-libraries-report-2025

To read more about Terri Lesley's case, visit https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/us/wyoming-library-settlement-book-bans-terri-lesley.html?unlocked_article_code=1.uU8.e8Sm.2_yyeD0RcKIp&smid=url-share

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Tara Campbell, TaRhonda Thomas, Jason Knowles, Akilah Davis, Danylo Chebanenko

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7 stories of trailblazers who fought for inclusivity in ‘Our America: Pride in History V’

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From the nation’s oldest drag king to a radio station once bombed by the KKK, we’re celebrating the amazing contributions of the LGBTQ+ community.

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Iowa considers discrimination

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#WeWillNotBeErased

Today the Legacy Project commemorates the death of MATTHEW SHEPARD, a gay college student who was tortured and left for dead in Laramie, WY before succumbing to his injuries at age 21 on October 12, 1998 at a hospital in Fort Collins, CO. Matthew’s tragic death became a symbol of the horror of hate crimes, and a rallying point which led to the passage of the first positive LGBT-related law in the United States: The Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990. A bronze memorial about The Legacy of Matthew Shepard can be found on Chicago’s Legacy Walk at 3418 N. Halsted. To read more about #MatthewShepard check out… https://legacyprojectchicago.org/milestone/legacy-matthew-shepard

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#WeWillNotBeErased

Today the Legacy Project commemorates the death of key gay rights activist and pioneer FRANK KAMENY. Kameny – who coined “Gay is Good” to emulate the success of “Black is Beautiful” – dedicated his life to upending any institution or legal precept that required people to remain closeted. Among his many accomplishments, Kameny was co-founder of the Washington, DC chapter of the Mattachine Society; he championed the campaign to remove homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association’s list of mental disorders; he was the first openly gay person to run for Congress; and he instituted one of the most celebrated challenges to the U.S. Military’s ban on openly gay service members. Frank Kameny died on October 11, 2011 at age 86 in Washington DC. Thanks to the spearheading efforts of activist/historian #MichaelBedwell, Kameny was memorialized on Chicago’s Legacy Walk on the 2nd Anniversary of his death on October 11, 2013. His bronze marker can be found at 3441 N. Halsted. Read more about #FrankKameny, one of the most broadly influential LGBT activists of all time, at https://legacyprojectchicago.org/person/frank-kameny

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The Legacy Project illuminates and affirms the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people to honor their experiences and accomplishments; to collect and preserve their contributions to world history and culture.

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#WeWillNotBeErased

ON THIS DAY IN LGBT HISTORY: 1987

Today the Legacy Project commemorates the SECOND NATIONAL MARCH ON WASHINGTON FOR LESBIAN AND GAY RIGHTS. Known as “The Great March”, this groundbreaking gathering brought over 800,000 LGBT people to our nation’s capitol amidst the political firestorm that was unleashed by the AIDS crisis over governmental indifference to our suffering and death. The March introduced several “firsts” including a massive demonstration by the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (Act-UP) at the Supreme Court; and the inaugural display of the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt on the National Mall. The confluence of these history-making episodes inspired Chicago activist Victor Salvo – who served as Co-Chair for the Chicago/Illinois contingent to the March – to create “The Legacy Walk” twenty-five years later. Read more about the March on Washington at http://www.back2stonewall.com/2015/10/lgbt-history-month-october-11-1987-national-march-washington-lesbian-gay-rights-video.html

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38 years ago, the largest community arts project in history became a national icon.

The AIDS Memorial Quilt, displayed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., covered a space larger than a football field and included 1,920 panels. At sunrise, celebrities, politicians, families, lovers and friends read aloud the 1,920 names of the people represented in the Quilt. The reading of names is now a tradition followed at nearly every Quilt display. Half a million people visited the Quilt that weekend.

Learn more about the history of the #AIDSQuilt: https://www.aidsmemorial.org/quilt-history

#AIDSawareness #KnowYourStatus #EndAIDS #HIVPrevention #StopHIVAIDS

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Becky Pepper-Jackson is the only transgender girl in school sports in the entire state of West Virginia.

Soon, she'll be at the Supreme Court defending the freedom of all trans kids to be themselves on and off the playing field.

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Trump extorts 10 major universities to sign transphobic agreement - LGBTQ Nation

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It requires schools to deny all trans student rights and to coddle conservative viewpoints.

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Chicago 1989 The ugly fight to pass the LGBTQ-inclusive Chicago Human Rights Ordinance

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Chicago 1989 The ugly fight to pass the LGBTQ-inclusive Chicago Human Rights Ordinance

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Catholic schools sued to exclude LGBTQ+ families but still get state money. A judge shut them down. - LGBTQ Nation

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The judge told them that the government has a right to enforce the law equally, even against Christians.

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Federal judge says “government speech” allows libraries to censor LGBTQ+ books - LGBTQ Nation

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One free speech organization has said the judge’s ruling allows “blatant viewpoint discrimination in publicly-funded libraries.”

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The queen of wellness and LGBTQ+ allyship is turning 53 today! Happy birthday to the fabulous Gwyneth Paltrow.

Beyond her Oscar-winning performances and wellness empire, Gwyneth has been a consistent voice for LGBTQ+ acceptance.

Growing up surrounded by gay men in her household thanks to her mother Blythe Danner's Broadway career, she learned early on that love is love. "Our house was full of gay men singing around the piano, kissing," she once shared. "I didn't know that people thought there was something wrong with being gay."

When her daughter came home from school talking about a classmate with two moms, Gwyneth's immediate response was "Two mommies? How lucky is she?!" - exactly the kind of natural acceptance we love to see.

She's never been afraid to use her platform either, speaking out against religious intolerance and even dedicating an entire GOOP newsletter to celebrating Gay Pride Month. Her support extends to the entire LGBTQ+ community, including trans individuals and their right to live authentically.

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Here’s a printable, heartfelt letter version of the message — written in a way that your child can keep and return to whenever they need reassurance of your unconditional love, support, and pride in who they are.

Dear [Your Child’s Name],

I’m writing you this letter so that no matter where you are or how you’re feeling, you can always have my words with you — like a soft blanket you can wrap around yourself when you need warmth, safety, or strength.

First, and most importantly:

I love you — completely, deeply, and exactly as you are. Always.

There is nothing wrong with who you are. Nothing that needs to be hidden, fixed, or changed. You are not “too much.” You are not “confused.” You are not “a phase.” You are real, true, and uniquely you. And I am so proud of the person you are becoming.

I know that people don’t always treat you with the respect and kindness you deserve. I know how much it hurts when someone uses the wrong name or doesn’t see you for who you really are. And I want you to know — it is not your fault. You are not the problem. The way others behave is their responsibility, not yours.

But here’s what I want you to remember, always:

You are brave, even on the days you feel scared. You are strong, even when you feel tired or small. You are loved, even when the world doesn’t show it the way it should. You are never alone — because I am with you, in your corner, for life.

Being trans is something to be proud of. It means you know yourself in a way that’s powerful and wise. You have a strength in you that inspires me every day. And nothing — nothing — could ever make me stop loving you.

When you’re happy, I’ll celebrate with you.

When you’re hurting, I’ll sit beside you.

When you’re unsure, I’ll remind you of who you are.

And when you just want to be, I’ll hold space for you — no questions asked.

You will always have a home in my heart — no matter what.

You are seen. You are heard. You are enough.

And you are mine. Exactly as you are.

With all the love in my heart,

Your [Mom / Dad / Parent / Chosen Term]

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Supportive, Heartfelt Talk to Your Trans 11-Year-Old

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Supportive, Heartfelt Talk to Your Trans 11-Year-Old

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Here’s a supportive, heartfelt talk you can say to your trans 11-year-old. It’s written to be age-appropriate, emotionally grounding, and affirming — helping your child feel seen, safe, and deeply loved.

Hey, love. I want to talk to you for a minute — not because you’re in trouble, but because I need you to hear something really important.

First and most of all: I love you exactly as you are. There is nothing wrong with who you are. You are not too much. You are not confusing. You are not a burden. In fact — you are a gift. A one-of-a-kind, beautiful, brave, and brilliant person who brings so much light to this world.

I know that recently, people haven’t treated you the way you deserve. I saw how painful it was when someone used the wrong name or didn’t respect your identity. That should never have happened — and it’s okay to feel hurt, or angry, or scared. Those feelings are real. You don’t have to pretend everything’s fine just to make other people comfortable.

What matters most to me is that you feel safe, and you feel seen, especially here, with me. You should never have to shrink who you are to fit in. You should never have to hide the truth of yourself to make others more comfortable.

I want you to know this: being trans is not just okay — it’s something to be proud of. It means you know yourself in a way that some people take a whole lifetime to figure out. That’s powerful. That’s courageous.

You’re growing up in a world that still has a lot to learn — but I promise you this: you are not alone. There are people everywhere — kids, teens, adults — who are just like you and are living big, beautiful, bold lives. And you have me. Always.

When you’re scared, I’ll be here.

When you’re proud, I’ll cheer the loudest.

When you’re tired, I’ll help carry the weight.

And when you just want to be, I’ll sit beside you and let you be you.

You are not “too young” to know who you are.

You are not “going through a phase.”

You are not “confused.”

You are exactly the person you are meant to be. And that person is smart, kind, strong, and so deeply loved.

No matter what school says, no matter what the world says — you are not the problem. The problem is the way some people treat you. And I will always stand up with you and for you.

So if you ever feel unsure, or scared, or small — come to me. You don’t have to have the right words. You don’t have to explain yourself. Just say, “I need you,” and I’ll be there.

You are mine. You are you. And that is more than enough. It’s everything.

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This situation is serious and painful — for the child, the family, and even for a school that wants to be supportive but may not yet know how. An 11-year-old who has been deadnamed and outed without consent has experienced a deep violation of identity and safety, and it’s completely understandable that he no longer feels safe returning to school.

First, Recognize the Trauma

What happened was not just a mistake — it was a harmful event that can lead to:

Anxiety or panic about being around peers or adults

Shame or fear of rejection

Depression or suicidal ideation

Distrust in adults and institutions

The priority now is restoring this child’s sense of safety, dignity, and agency.

You mentioned that the school wants to be supportive — that’s essential. But wanting is not enough. They must now demonstrate that commitment with concrete actions. Here’s what they should be doing:

Designate a safe adult or staff member (e.g., counselor) the student can go to at any time.

Allow for a private, quiet space if he feels overwhelmed or triggered at school.

Provide options for alternative transition periods, recess, or bathroom use if needed to reduce exposure.

Name and Pronoun Respect

Update all school records (visible to staff and peers) with the student’s affirmed name and pronouns. Ensure every staff member (teachers, lunch staff, subs, aides) is trained to consistently use them. Remove the old name from class lists, attendance, reports, or anywhere students might see it. Identify how the outing and deadnaming occurred. Was it a student? A teacher? A tech glitch?

Address and correct the root cause — not just the outcome. Depending on the cause, there may need to be disciplinary action or clear steps to prevent repeat harm. Require all staff to undergo LGBTQ+ inclusivity training, preferably from a local or national LGBTQ+ organization (like GLSEN or PFLAG).

Create a re-entry plan that outlines:
His rights

Safety strategies

Staff responsibilities

What happens if harm occurs again

This boy needs to know: he is not the problem. Connect him to a LGBTQ+ affirming therapist or counselor who works with trans youth. Help him process the fear and betrayal he experienced. Normalize his desire to avoid school, but show him there are paths back to feeling safe.

Give him choice and agency where possible: Would he prefer to return part-time at first? Would he feel safer if certain students are in different classes?

Would he like to speak to the class (or have someone do it on his behalf) to assert his name/pronouns? Validate that his reaction is reasonable and real.

If students were part of the outing or mocking: The school should address the harm directly, not just discipline.

Offer classroom-level restorative practices (if the student is open to it), such as:
Workshops on gender identity, respect, and inclusion

Anonymous Q&A sessions to reduce ignorance

Peer support circles led by trained facilitators

If students are allies:

Consider creating a GSA (Gender & Sexuality Alliance), even in elementary or middle school

Give peers tools to support and affirm the student

If He Still Doesn’t Feel Safe Returning Full-Time

Since homeschooling isn’t an option, you can explore:

Short-Term Independent Study

Some districts offer temporary remote learning (like independent study) for medical or mental health reasons. You’ll often need a doctor’s or therapist’s letter.

Ask if there’s an alternative campus or program with a smaller, safer environment.

Some students thrive in online charter schools (check your state’s options).

504 Plan or IEP (If Needed)

If mental health is a barrier to attending school, you can request a 504 Plan for accommodations (e.g., flexible attendance, counseling).If it impacts learning long-term, a full IEP evaluation may be appropriate.

How to Advocate for Change

Work with the school to:

Establish a policy for name/pronoun use across all systems

Create a formal LGBTQ+ inclusion policy if one doesn’t exist

Invite external experts (e.g., GLSEN, The Trevor Project) to train staff

Push for student-led initiatives to improve the school climate long-term

Resources

GLSEN (glsen.org): LGBTQ+ education and school support resources

TransYouthEquality.org: Legal and school-based advocacy for trans youth

PFLAG: Family support and school tools

The Trevor Project: Crisis support for LGBTQ+ youth (24/7 support)

You’re not overreacting. This situation requires intentional repair — not just for this boy, but for the school’s broader culture.

Help the school turn their intention into real action — and stay clear that the child’s safety and mental health take priority. If the school fumbles, you are within your rights to escalate, contact your district, or consult an education advocate or attorney.

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"We Have Your Back": A Message to Trans Students From State Attorneys General

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The three main identifiers of sexual orientation are:

Attraction – Who you are emotionally, romantically, and/or sexually attracted to.

Example: Feeling drawn to people of the same gender, another gender, or multiple genders.

Behavior – Who you engage in sexual or romantic activities with.

Example: Someone might identify as heterosexual but engage in same-sex relationships.

Identity – How you label or define your orientation, often in social or personal terms.

Example: Gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, queer, straight, etc.

These three can align, but they don’t always. For instance, a person might identify as straight (identity), have occasional same-sex attraction (attraction), and never act on it (behavior). Understanding sexual orientation requires recognizing this complexity.

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I really enjoyed listening to the latest episode of #TeachingWhileQueer during my morning commute today. This episode features NJ educator and award-winning LGBTQ+ advocate Chris Cannella, who reflects on his 26-year journey in education. He discusses his commitment to advocating for LGBTQ+ rights for both students and teachers, his efforts in supporting the Amistad curriculum in New Jersey, and how he fosters an inclusive and safe space for all in his classroom.

You can listen to the latest episode here - http://teachingwhilequeer.org

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As of 2021, approximately 711,000 same-sex married couple households exist in the United States, constituting about 1.2% of the nation’s 61.3 million married-couple households.

Defending the Right to Marriage Equality

To safeguard and promote marriage equality, same-sex couples and their allies can:

1. Engage in Advocacy and Education: Share personal stories and experiences to humanize the impact of marriage equality. Participate in community forums, write opinion pieces, and utilize social media platforms to educate others about the importance of equal marriage rights.

2. Support LGBTQ+ Organizations: Contribute to and volunteer with organizations dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights, such as the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Lambda Legal, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). These groups work tirelessly to defend and advance marriage equality through legal challenges and public education.

3. Engage in the Political Process: Stay informed about legislative actions affecting marriage equality. Contact elected representatives to express support for laws that protect LGBTQ+ rights and oppose those that seek to undermine them. Voting in local, state, and national elections is crucial to electing officials who uphold equality.

Privileges Afforded to Married Couples

Marriage provides numerous legal benefits and protections, including:

•   Social Security Benefits: Spouses may receive Social Security benefits upon the death, disability, or retirement of their partner.

•   Tax Benefits: Married couples can file joint tax returns, potentially resulting in tax savings. They may also transfer assets between spouses without incurring gift or estate taxes.

•   Health Insurance and Medical Decisions: Many employers offer family health insurance coverage to employees’ spouses. Additionally, spouses have the right to make medical decisions on behalf of an incapacitated partner.

•   Family and Medical Leave: Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, spouses are entitled to take unpaid leave to care for a sick partner without fear of job loss.

•   Immigration Rights: Marriage to a U.S. citizen can provide a pathway to citizenship for a non-citizen spouse.

If marriage equality were voided, same-sex couples could lose these critical protections, leading to significant legal and financial challenges.

In recent developments, Michigan Representative Josh Schriver has urged the Supreme Court to overturn the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, which guarantees the right to same-sex marriage under the 14th Amendment. If successful, this could return the decision-making power over same-sex marriage to individual states, potentially creating a patchwork of laws and jeopardizing existing marriages.

To defend marriage equality, it is essential to remain vigilant, actively participate in advocacy efforts, and support organizations dedicated to protecting the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals.

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What Science Tells Us About Trans Athletes:

Recent research continues to shed light on the participation of transgender athletes in sports.

A comprehensive 2023 review by Assistant Professor D.J. Oberlin at Lehman College examined the impact of gender-affirming hormone therapy on athletic performance.

Oberlin concluded that “an individual’s sex does not determine their success or failure at any athletic event despite the high level of competition.”

The study also noted there are great variations among cisgender athletes, such as differences in height, weight, training, and more. That means in the general population there are bound to be people that are better at some sport than others, but no one seems to worry about those. "It is expected that about 2.3% of a normally distributed population is likely to fall above two standard deviations from a population mean,” Oberlin explained. “These exceptional individuals may be those who are gifted and excel at some sport or athletic performance.”

In 2024, the idea that trans women athletes have an inherent advantage over cis athletes was once again undercut by a study funded by the International Olympic Committee and conducted at the University of Brighton in England. It was published in April in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

That study found:

🏳️‍⚧️ Transgender women performed worse than cisgender women in tests measuring lower-body strength.

🏳️‍⚧️ Transgender women performed worse than cisgender women in tests measuring lung function.

🏳️‍⚧️ Transgender women had a higher percentage of fat mass, lower fat-free mass, and weaker handgrip strength compared to cisgender men.

🏳️‍⚧️ Transgender women’s bone density was found to be equivalent to that of cisgender women, which is linked to muscle strength.

Another common myth is the idea that boys or men might falsely claim a female identity just to compete in women’s sports. However, there is no evidence to support this claim. Transitioning is a deeply personal and often difficult process—not something athletes would do just to win a competition.

The reality is that trans athletes, like all athletes, just want a fair chance to compete in the sports they love.

Therefore, science tells us:

🏳️‍⚧️ After hormone therapy, trans women’s athletic performance aligns more closely with cisgender women.

🏳️‍⚧️ Competitive advantage is complex and influenced by many factors, including training, skill, and individual physiology—not just gender identity.

🏳️‍⚧️Transgender women are likely to be at a physical disadvantage compared to cisgender athletes.

Let’s stand for inclusion, celebrate diversity in sports, and ensure that all athletes are treated with fairness and respect. 🏳️‍⚧️

#TransAthletesBelong #LetThemPlay #ScienceMatters #RealMamaBears

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It's scientific fact that humans come in two varieties - XX for female and XY for male.

EXCEPT:

1. You can be born appearing female, but have a 5-alpha reductase deficiency and grow a penis at age 12.

Medically, this condition is known as “5-alpha reductase deficiency.

2. You can be born legally male with an X and a Y

chromosome, but your body is insensitive to androgens, and you appear female. Androgen insensitivity syndrome is a condition that affects sexual development before birth and during puberty.

3. You can be born legally male with an X and a Y

chromosome, and have a penis and testes, and a uterus and fallopian tubes. This another form of androgen insensitivity syndrome.

4. You can be born legally male with an X and a Y

chromosome, but your Y chromosome is missing the SRY gene, which gives you a female body. This is a condition known as Swyer syndrome.

5. You can be born legally female with two X chromosomes, but one of the Xs has an SRY gene, which gives you a male body. This another form of Swyer syndrome.

6. You can be born legally female with two X chromosomes - and also a Y chromosome, which gives you a male body. This child would be "intersex", another form of Swyer syndrome.

7. You can be born legally female with two X chromosomes, but your adrenal gland doesn't produce enough cortisol, and your body develops as a male. This is a condition known as X-linked adrenal hypoplasia congenita and affects the development of the adrenal glands.

8. You can be born with XX chromosomes -*and* XY

chromosomes (chimerism).

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The day after Donald Trump's inauguration, I opened my phone to a news update saying the president had signed an executive order mandating that the government acknowledge only two sexes: male and female.

It felt like someone had walked up behind me and walloped me over the head with a phone book. I was angered by the basic misinformation and willful ignorance that this declaration promotes about an individual's sex.

As I involuntarily learned at 32 years old, sex and gender are continuums with many variations. Saying otherwise jeopardizes not only intersex and transgender people, but all Americans, by increasing government overreach and a loss of privacy, reinforcing rigid gender roles, and complicating legal and medical processes.

In 2017, a few weeks after I mailed a tube of my saliva to a company that offers genetic testing to provide ancestry breakdowns and insight into health conditions, an email arrived in my inbox. The message read, " We would like to follow up with you via phone to verify additional information about your DNA analysis."

I replied within minutes, puzzled as to why in the world this ancestry company wanted to talk to me about my obvious northwestern European heritage. I'm

I answered my phone on the first ring.

"Hi, this is Avery with the customer care team," she said. "Would you mind confirming a few personal details for me, please?"

I stated my name, and then Avery continued the questioning without hesitation or taking a breath: "And your address? Your age? Gender? Did you share your collection tube with a roommate or partner?"

Why would I have shared a DNA sample tube with someone else? Definitely not.

"Have you ever had a bone marrow transplant?"

As she neared the end of her interrogation, I got the feeling that the test results were going to be different than I expected. I wanted to be weird, but not too weird. My mind drifted toward fun potential outcomes. A birthright trip anywhere outside of Western Europe was ideal, but mostly I'd just hoped for a good 30-second story to tell strangers when the topic comes up at happy hours.

Avery coughed, drawing me back into the phone.

"OK," she said, interrupting my thoughts. "Based on your answers, we've identified a mismatch in your DNA."

"Well," she said, searching for the best customer-friendly language , "you completed your profile as 'male.' But your DNA appears to be female."

Biology was my favorite class at my private Christian high school in Tennessee. It was there that I learned about Punnett squares and how traits get passed down genetically. But I never learned that sex exists on a spectrum. I was taught that boys had XY chromosomes, male genitalia and high testosterone, and that girls had XX chromosomes, female genitalia and relatively low testosterone. I didn't know that various combinations of chromosomes, hormones, external genitalia and internal reproductive structures existed. It wasn't until many years after high school that I heard the term "intersex" for the first time. And even then, I didn't realize that intersex traits could be found among as many as 2% of live births, seemingly making them as common as red hair globally.

Holding the phone to my ear, I laughed nervously, stalling for time while my brain searched its depths for any remaining knowledge on DNA.

"Our testing looks for genetic markers on your X and Y chromosomes to track your maternal and paternal lineages," she said, "We were able to find the X markers of maternal lineage, but unfortunately none of the Y markers to show paternal lineage."

The rest of our phone conversation sounded like a price negotiation in the final hour of a flea market as I bargained for my old identity back. Avery reiterated that I wouldn't be receiving any paternal results, but that she'd send me a list of genetic counselors in my area.

"Maybe they could help," she offered.

I spent the next 13 months trying to grasp how I could have female DNA. Google searches exposed me to varying implications ranging from common to extreme, like Klinefelter syndrome (in which people have XXY chromosomes) and higher risk of diabetes, autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular issues and poor cognitive functioning. I needed an educated professional to help me understand what it all meant for me personally.

Finally, I made an appointment with a geneticist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. She was warm and eager to talk as soon as I stepped into her sunlit office. After asking for my permission, a genetic counselor and medical student entered and stepped around my chair as my geneticist explained my condition to me. All three of us listened intently as she approached my diagnosis.

"You have something called 'disorder of sexual development.' Specifically, your variation is called XX testicular DSD."

She called on her student to explain.

"During male spermatogenesis, X and Y chromosomes perform their typical recombination in the pseudoautosomal regions," she said while drawing a diagram of the complicated process on a blank sheet of paper on the table in front of me.

"But during your own development" - the student circled a portion of my father's Y chromosome - "one gene, the SRY gene, translocated from the Y chromosome to your X chromosome. So, from your karyotype chromosomal testing you're considered female, but you likely grew up being classified as male, given your external expression."

It was a mouthful. I tried to repeat words back to the three of them, but it was like trying to recite a foreign language for the first time. The translocation of an SRY gene meant that some development of male sex organs had occurred. The primary implications for me were that I had external genitalia matching a stereotypical male, but my internal functioning was more blurred, including irregular hormone production and likely infertility. As I stumbled over my words, my geneticist broke down the big concepts further.

"How do you feel about the word 'intersex'?" she asked.

"Well, I guess I've never really thought about it before."

Prior to my DNA test, I never regarded sex as a gray area. Growing up, my Southern Baptist church didn't teach me about this level of diversity in God's creation. It was all Adam and Eve, and avoiding the age of dinosaurs. My references during puberty included the encyclopedias on our basement bookshelves and the Sears catalogs' underwear sections. It was always men or women - separate, with no overlap. I had no questions until I was given a reason to question my own identity.

My geneticist explained that "intersex" is an umbrella term used to describe a wide range of natural variations that can affect things like genitals, hormones and chromosomes. Sometimes these characteristics are visible at birth, sometimes they appear during puberty, but often they are never physically noticeable. Virtually endless combinations of expressions exist in human bodies. Being intersex is not the same as being transgender, and it affects many more people than is obvious.

My head spun as I tried to digest this news. It slid into my stomach like old milk as I began to think of worst-case scenarios. How would I explain this to other people? Could I keep this a secret? What did this mean for my future health? Should I follow prescriptions for males or females to live a long life?

"I guess a lot of things make sense hearing this - things I couldn't quite grasp about myself before," I said, having wondered why my body's testosterone was barely present for my age, among other, more personal signs that I'd never dreamed of speaking aloud.

I'd felt like an oddball growing up, but this group of three women made me feel like maybe I wasn't a mistake. Grappling with my health prior to these tests, I'd often felt like something was wrong with me - that parts of me were broken compared with other guys my age. I couldn't build muscle as quickly, I was usually tired, and my brain seemed to operate differently. Now I had a reason why I didn't fit the typical mold.

My geneticist explained hormone replacement therapy, osteopenia prevention and other health resources and risks that might help me to have more energy and live a longer, healthier life. These wouldn't have been available to me if I'd only been classified as male or female.

This one meeting with a doctor made me believe that the more we understand about our bodies, the better our health can be. Promoting sex as binary is an oversimplification of real-life scenarios, and such reductive and completely unscientific approaches - and the policies that are created because of them - are harmful to all American citizens.

If sex is strictly defined at birth with no room for changes, men like myself could face challenges in legal recognition, and it opens doors for the government and private companies to discriminate. Although an estimated 5.6 million people in the U.S. may have intersex traits, only about 1 in 5,000 are thought to be visibly intersex at birth. Many of us discover that we are intersex later in life - during puberty, medical exams or fertility treatments. Imagine your child, sibling or loved one hearing that they are intersex as an adult and being unable to receive the health care they need to live well. And for those who aren't intersex, imagine insurance policies prohibiting coverage for conditions that don't neatly align with sex-based classifications. Men can have breast cancer, too.

I've shared my diagnosis with my friends and family - many of them conservatives - slowly over the eight years following my DNA test. The common reaction has been disbelief. "That's wild," I've heard countless times. The idea of sex not being black and white was surprising - shocking, even - to many in my community. But they believe and support me. At the same time, some of these same people criticize transgender individuals who can't walk into a conversation with a diagnosis on a piece of paper like I can. DNA proof or not, intersex and trans people are real and we should believe them.

My own diagnosis allowed me to receive treatments that provide me with greater energy and quality of life. But more than that, my diagnosis has played a major role in my politics, as I empathize more with people who don't fit typical molds. I'm on the easy-to-ignore end of the sex and gender spectrums, but many others have more urgent needs that require them to fight daily for health care necessities and acknowledgment of their existence. And even those who aren't intersex or transgender should be bothered by the president's order because at a minimum it allows government interference in private matters - not to mention that it's just plain cruel.

An executive order effectively declaring the nonexistence of intersex and trans individuals will never make us cease to exist. It just puts our lives at risk. At a time in our country when leaders aim to censor human stories from the national narrative, it's essential that we share our truths.

J. Ben Morton is an intersex writer exploring the impact of religious indoctrination and oppressive systems he was raised to believe in. He is currently completing his memoir, "Good Grief," which examines the profound loss of a young Christian's expectation for his future in the Bible Belt - and the resilience required to forge a new identity. Stories that grapple with belonging are the basis for his essays.

Note: Some names or details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals mentioned in this essay.

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I Spent 32 Years Believing I Was Male. Then A Shocking Phone Call Exploded Everything I Knew.

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"Our phone conversation sounded like a price negotiation in the final hour of a flea market as I bargained for my old identity back."

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C. Vondran | LGBTQ+ Travel & Lifestyle | 📍Chicago on Instagram: "🐸👋"

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307 likes, 23 comments - explorewithchase on February 7, 2025: "🐸👋". 

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Two weeks into the Trump presidency and we are fearless and fighting back. 💪🏳️‍🌈 “Today Lambda Legal filed the first of three lawsuits we have announced against the Trump administration. As I talk…

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Trump issues orders on K-12 ‘indoctrination,’ school choice and campus protests

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One order also reinstates the 1776 Commission that Trump created during his first term in office to promote patriotic education.

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The 19th Explains: Can trans rights survive in a Republican-controlled Congress?

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Here’s what trans people should know about how a new Congress, and the first days of Trump’s presidency, could shape their lives.

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‘Patriotic education’: Trump orders federal push to monitor K-12 curriculum

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Former Education Department staff describe the move as unprecedented interference into the country’s education system.

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From Kevin Jennings

I chair the board of Making Gay History - The Podcast, the education program that brings LGBT history to life through the voices of those who led the struggle. We have just launched Season 14 which focuses on the experience of LGBT people under the Nazi regime. Chilling listening in the present moment.

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Bringing LGBTQ+ history to life through the voices of the people who lived it.

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Crowdsourcing request! I’m teaching a course on LGBTQ+ history at CCNY’s Colin Powell School this semester and will be offering a reading list for students to choose a book from on which to write a paper and do an oral report. What history books have you read that you think are awesome? Please answer in comments!

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The Timeless Love Story of Terry Donahue and Pat Herschel

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The Timeless Love Story of Terry Donahue and Pat Herschel

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In 1947, two women from different worlds met in Canada, beginning a love story that would span over seven decades. Terry Donahue, a star player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), and Pat Herschel crossed paths, and the connection between them was immediate. The love story began when Pat, in a bold and heartfelt move, handed Terry a note that read, “I’m a reader of books, but I’ve never read anywhere where a woman loves another woman. I hope you feel the same way, too.” This simple yet profound note marked the beginning of a journey that would see them through nearly 72 years of love, commitment, and resilience, despite the challenges of their time.

Throughout their years together, Terry and Pat faced significant societal pressures, especially during an era when LGBTQ+ relationships were not widely accepted. Their love remained a closely guarded secret from most of their family and friends for 70 years. They lived quietly in a Chicago suburb, building a life together, and enduring the trials of a world that often did not have room for their love. Terry’s courage eventually led her to reveal the relationship to her niece, marking the beginning of a new chapter of openness for the couple. Their love, which had been hidden for so long, became a testament to their strength and devotion to each other.

In 2020, the world learned about their incredible love story when the Netflix documentary A Secret Love was released, bringing their journey into the spotlight. The film captured their 70 years together, the emotional challenges they faced, and their eventual decision to marry after decades of commitment. It also highlighted the difficulties of end-of-life care as Terry faced health issues. The documentary not only touched hearts worldwide but also sparked important conversations about love, identity, and acceptance. Through their story, Terry and Pat inspired millions and left behind a lasting legacy of love that transcended time, showing that true love, regardless of circumstances, is always worth celebrating.

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I have always believed LGBTQ people were chosen. When you think of it, there is no other logical reason for us to exist. Unless you don't believe in such things. Then maybe we are just freaks of nature. Flukes... gifted, compassionate, wise, charitable, courageous, loving, and loyal flukes. We're also hilarious, and visionary. And problem-solvers. We think outside the box because we aren't allowed in the box. We are faithful... even when those who profess faith cannot extend their view of creation to include people like us. We cannot willfully reproduce ourselves. By any means. Yet we exist. Beyond choice. Beyond logic. Like a benevolent spirit that is neither male nor female, we exist beyond biological limitation. We are part of the future of humankind's self-awareness. A gift. Here for thousands of years. Born into this world, generation after generation. Always here. A source of controversy. A challenge for greater understanding of the universe's mysteries. There is no logical reason for us to exist... except by choice. God's choice. We are meant to be here.

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Meet two teenage trans activists who are countering harmful narratives

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The GenderCool Project – a youth trans and non-binary led-movement – centers storytelling.

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Being a kid isn't always easy. Then add the experience of being queer, trans, or nonbinary to one's adolescent years. For many it can be downright awful, especially considering the anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric from the far right that continues to add toxicity, hate, and division to our nation and world.

While this is a harsh reality that we must continue to fight, there are also many, many LGBTQ+ young people who are deeply loved and supported by their families, schools, and communities. They are thriving, and we need to hear their stories too.

Meet a few of these inspiring individuals in our cover story celebrating trans youth. The Advocate's Ryan Adamczeski recently got a chance to chat with some of the Champions of the GenderCool Project, an organization founded by the families of trans and gender-nonconforming children focused on bringing positive stories about them to the world.

In this issue we also highlight 10 other LGBTQ+ young people who are dominating their respective fields and unapologetically using their platforms to create change, understanding, and visibility. From actors to athletes to activists, these amazing individuals will surely have you feeling at least a tad bit more optimistic about the future of our world.

Sometimes to change the course of history, it's important to look back, too. Which is why we wanted to honor the memory of a young trans trailblazer from the past. Check out our story on about actress and Andy Warhol muse Candy Darling, who tragically passed away at 29. However, a recent book and upcoming biopic (starring trans Barbie breakout star Hari Nef in the lead role) are breathing new life into the icon's legacy.

Thank you for your continued readership - and remember, a brighter future lies ahead! I can feel it.

Desirée Guerrero

Editor in Chief, T he Advocate
@artsyfartsydes

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These inspiring LGBTQ+ young people are changing the world

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The Champions of the GenderCool Project top our list of inspiring young LGBTQ+ people who are making change happen now.

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Exceptional Kids. Real Change. The GenderCool Project is a youth-led movement bringing positive change to the world. The Champions are helping replace misinformed opinions with positive experiences meeting transgender and non-binary youth who are thriving. MEET OUR CHAMPIONS

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In many cases, the cards remain stacked against LGBTQ+ and non-binary youth in terms of acceptance and support from their families, their mental health…

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Youth - National Center for Lesbian Rights

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In 1993, NCLR became the first LGBTQ legal organization in the country to launch a project dedicated to advocating for LGBTQ youth. Through public education, training, policy advocacy and litigation, NCLR works to ensure that all LGBTQ youth are safe and able to live openly with the supports they need to thrive and reach their […]

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Guides built for and with LGBTQ+ teens to help you explore your identity and support your mental health

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By texting this number, you're agreeing to receive automated text messages from imi including messages promoting imi; up to three texts per day, every other day, for 28 days. Consenting to sign up for text messages is not a condition for participation in imi. Check our and Privacy Policy for more details. Reply STOP to end, or HELP for support. Message and data rates may apply.

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Free guides built for and with LGBTQ+ teens to help you explore your identity and support your mental health.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
762K views · 12K reactions | Mum told me I’m biologically male when I was 11... | ‘Mum told me I’m biologically male when I was 11...’ | By Tyla | Facebook

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‘Mum told me I’m biologically male when I was 11...’

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123K views · 7.1K reactions | This is the cutest children’s book ever! Should he publish it? 🏳️‍⚧️ | This is the cutest children’s book ever! Should he publish it? 🏳️‍⚧️ #books #transgender #RealMamaBears #beyou #equality #lgbtq #allyship #mamabears... | By Mama Bears | Facebook

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This is the cutest children’s book ever! Should he publish it? 🏳️‍⚧️ #books #transgender #RealMamaBears #beyou #equality #lgbtq #allyship #mamabears…

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PASSAGES Legendary performance artist, LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS activist Chilli Pepper - Windy City Times

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Iconic performance artist and LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS activist Chilli Pepper died surrounded by close friends at her Gold Coast neighborhood apartment on Sept. 11 after a years-long battle with colon cancer. When asked about her life outside of her performance and activist work, Chilli was elusive about details such as her date of birth and […]

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The Laramie Project is a 2002 drama filmwritten and directed by Moisés Kaufman and starring Nestor Carbonell, Christina Ricci, Dylan Baker, Terry Kinney, and Lou Ann Wright. Based on the play of the same name, the film tells the story of the aftermath of the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming. It premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festivaland was first broadcast on HBO in March 2002.

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The Laramie Project (2001) Trailer | Moises Kaufman

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(December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998) was a gay American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, and left to die near Laramie on the night of October 6, 1998.[1] He was taken by rescuers to Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he died six days later from severe head injuries received during the attack.Born

Matthew Wayne Shepard

Born: December 1, 1976

Casper, Wyoming, U.S.

Died October 12, 1998(aged 21)

Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S.

Cause of death Murder(blunt force trauma)

Resting place

Washington National Cathedral

Alma materUniversity of Wyoming

Parents

Dennis Shepard

Judy Shepard

Suspects Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson were arrested shortly after the attack and charged with first-degree murder following Shepard's death. Significant media coverage was given to the murder and what role Shepard's sexual orientation played as a motive for the crime.

The prosecutor argued that the murder of Shepard was premeditated and driven by greed. McKinney's defense counsel countered by arguing that he had intended only to rob Shepard but killed him in a rage when Shepard made a sexual advance toward him. McKinney's girlfriend told police that he had been motivated by anti-gay sentimentbut later recanted her statement, saying that she had lied because she thought it would help him. Henderson pleaded guilty to murder, and McKinney was tried and found guilty of murder; each of them received two consecutive life sentences.

Shepard's murder brought national and international attention to hate crime legislation at both the state and federal level.[2] In October 2009, the United States Congresspassed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act(commonly the "Matthew Shepard Act" or "Shepard/Byrd Act" for short), and on October 28, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the legislation into law.[3]Following their son's murder, Dennis and Judy Shepard became LGBT rights activists and established the Matthew Shepard Foundation. Shepard's murder inspired a number of films, novels, plays, songs, and other works, including The Laramie Project (a 2000 play and 2002 film) and Judy Shepard's 2009 memoir The Meaning of Matthew.

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This might be one of the greatest true crime documentaries

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This might be one of the greatest true crime documentaries

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Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine, the personal story of a young man's life and legacy, is available on DVD and Digital HD. This Emmy award-winning and critically-acclaimed film has earned 10 Best Documentary and Audience Choice Awards from film festivals worldwide, including the Audience Award from the Side by Side LGBT International Film Festival, Russia’s LGBT film series.

WHAT THE PRESS ARE SAYING:

“'Matt Shepard Is A Friend Of Mine' is a great documentary...This film doesn't just revisit an atrocity, it moves through it, and finds meaning in it." RogerEbert.com

“A tender reconstruction of personal loss." The New York Times

“'Matt Shepard Is A Friend Of Mine' is a moving eulogy to a life lost but not forgotten." Indiewire

"This heartbreaking documentary should be shown in every high school and college - and everywhere intolerance is suspected." New York Daily News

"'Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine' seeks to restore Shepard's humanity to his name, to tell the story of the person who was murdered for being who he was." Slate

"The film is enough to prompt soul-searching among parents, educators and the LGBT community on how to provide adequate guidance and support for LGBT youths." Los Angeles Times

"Long-in-coming doc offers an intensely personal look behind the headlines." Hollywood Reporter

"No film is more poignant or relevant to the history of LGBT folks in America than 'Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine.'" The Plain Dealer

"Josue’s film has the impact of an Earthquake. The tremors begin early, the impact hits hard, and the aftershocks continue long after the film ends." Dork Shelf

"This remarkable film is a tearjerker in a good way, with director Josue assembling a collage of key moments in Matt's all-too-brief life that carries the emotional punch of a great novel." Bay Area Reporter

"Josue's film is sensitive and personal...Her journey to and discovery of Wyoming - a place she had never been before Shepard's funeral in Casper - is as compelling a component in the film as details of the killing and trial." San Francisco Chronicle

"An almost unbearably heartbreaking documentary rehumanizes the LGBT icon... and makes him newly tragic all over again."Flick Filosopher

"Matthew Shepard isn't just a pop culture and political reference, martyred for his sexuality and iconised; he was also a young man with friends and family who loved him, with quirks and secrets, and with a story worth hearing. Do whatever you can to see this touching portrayal." Gay Times Magazine

"New film by classmate Michele Josue is an arresting portrait of her dear friend who hoped to one day change the world" LGBTQ Nation

"The moving tribute to Shepard, in the words and pictures that Josue chose to include, are perfect." Windy City Times

TO READ MORE ARTICLES AND REVIEWS, VISIT OUR PRESS PAGE

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MATT SHEPARD IS A FRIEND OF MINE: Official 2015 Trailer

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For this year’s #TransDayOfVisibility, Them and Teen Vogue asked some friends to share a message of love and solidarity with our young trans followers, and send a rallying cry to the culture at large that we will not stand for the right wing’s political attacks. Hate ends here. Read more here to see how you can help defend trans rights: https://trib.al/ZWGE7o9

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Nonbinary identities are nothing new. They've always been here, ingrained in our cultures across ancient civilizations to the present day. From the androgynous deity Hapi in Ancient Egypt to the revered Hijras in South Asia, gender diversity has always been integral to human culture. By exploring these historical contexts, we can better understand and appreciate the rich tapestry of gender identities that have shaped our world.

On this International Nonbinary People’s Day and beyond, we honor and recognize these identities that have enriched our world throughout history and in present times. We see you, and you are deserving of recognition every single day. 💛🤍💜🖤

#LGBTQHistory #InternationalNonbinaryPeoplesDay #NonBinary #GNC

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The Lesbian Herstory Archives exists to gather and preserve records of Lesbian lives and activities, providing access to materials relevant to their lives.

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‘I Kissed a Girl’ is better than ‘The Ultimatum: Queer Love’

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Lesbian Herstory investigates, recovers and knits together the threads of lesbian history. Yesterday is Herstory.

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Chicago’s Navy Pier Lorraine Hansberry sculpture unveiled at celebratory event - Windy City Times

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The permanent previously-announced Lorraine Hansberry sculpture To Sit A While by artist Alison Sarr was unveiled at an Aug. 23 dedication ceremony at Chicago’s Navy Pier Lake Stage at Polk Bros Park. Hansberry, who was a lesbian, was best known for her play A Raisin in the Sun. This free and open to the public event featured a pop up […]

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Explore The Legacy Walk | Legacy Project Chicago

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Explore The Legacy Walk | Legacy Project Chicago

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The Legacy Project illuminates and affirms the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people to honor their experiences and accomplishments; to collect and preserve their contributions to world history and culture.

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Center on Halsted - Chicago's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Community Center

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Center on Halsted - Chicago's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Community Center

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Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

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Videos and lessons about sexual orientation and gender identity (many ok for elementary.)

https://amaze.org/educators/

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See our feature page of 3Rs lesson plans which include AMAZE videos. The Rights, Respect, Responsibility (3Rs) comprehensive sexuality education curriculum is fully aligned with the National Sexuality Education Standards. The curriculum seeks to address both the functional knowledge related to sexuality and the specific skills necessary to adopt healthy behaviors.

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Poster and booklet with research-based actions families can take to improve the outcomes of LGBT kids. https://familyproject.sfsu.edu/poster

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Download the Family Acceptance Project's (FAP) evidence-based posters to educate family members, providers, religious leaders, LGBTQ youth and others about the critical role of family support to prevent suicide and other serious health risks and to build healthy futures for LGBTQ children and youth. We have developed a Poster Guidance and 3 posters in 4 sizes grounded in FAP's compelling research, that show how family rejecting and accepting behaviors contribute to risk and well-being for LGBTQ young people. We have also developed an evidence-based family support model that we're integrating into systems of care that uses the posters and FAP's other research-based education and intervention resources.
Please download and read the Poster Guidance first, which provides background information on the posters and ways to use them in homes, schools, primary care, behavioral health and out-of-home services, congregations and pastoral care, libraries and other community settings.
You can use the posters on your phone or other device and you can download files in any size and take the files to your commercial printer to make print copies of the posters.

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FAMILY ACCEPTANCE PROJECT POSTERS TO BUILD HEALTHY FUTURES FOR LGBTQ & GENDER DIVERSE CHILDREN & YOUTH

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Download the Family Acceptance Project's (FAP) evidence-based posters to educate family members, providers, religious leaders, LGBTQ youth and others about the critical role of family support to prevent suicide and other serious health risks and to build healthy futures for LGBTQ children and youth.

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NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- More than 600 students from across New York City and Long Island gathered at Citi Field Wednesday for a "We Say Gay" rally to denounce Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill.

The measure prevents discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through grade 3, or in a manner that is not what the state considers age-appropriate.

Critics say the clause is vague and opens the door for targeting students of all ages.
ALSO READ | Caught on video: Woman says thief drilled hole into car to steal gas

The protest took place at the LGBT Network's 26th Annual Youth Rally & Conference.

"The message that we had with the rally, which was the largest in the nation, was that we are not going to be silent," LGBT Network CEO David Kilmnic said. "We are not going to be put in the closet. We are not going to let our LGTB youth have to suffer from not being able to be out in their schools and out in their communities."

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is leaning toward signing the bill, and the potential ramifications are top of mind of many students who gathered for a day of networking and empowerment.

"It's crazy that they actually made a law that says that you can't say the word 'gay' in school, which in insane," Sayville High School Sophomore James Talbot said.

Those in attendance said they were rallying to LGBTQ youth and declare -- loudly and proudly -- that "We Say Gay."

Chelsea franklin/senior, landmark H.S.

ALSO READ | Caught on video: Woman says thief drilled hole into car to steal gas

"It makes me feel like there are still things to change about the government and just America in general and acceptance in general," Landmark High School senior Chelsea Franklin said. "It's really crazy that people can tell you what not to say, especially when it has such an effect on the whole community."

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Hundreds of students hold 'We Say Gay' rally in NYC to denounce Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' bill

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NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- More than 600 students from across New York City and Long Island gathered at Citi Field Wednesday for a "We Say Gay" rally to denounce Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill. The measure prevents discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through grade 3, or in a manner that is not what the state considers age-appropriate.

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Being a teacher who identifies as LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) has presented its challenges. I believe a fundamental link between identifying as LGBT and wellbeing is safety. At a basic, psychological level, safety plays an integral part in our wellbeing and ability to function as a human. To feel unsafe, means that feelings of uncertainty, anxiety and fear are on loop in our everyday lives. If we do not feel safe in our environment, then our wellbeing will suffer. When we have good mental health and wellbeing, we can work productively and creatively, feel a sense of purpose and achievement, build strong relationships with friends and colleagues, and thrive personally and professionally. As a gay man, I am not part of the majority. I am marginalised. The working world is predominately heteronormative, where 'straight' is the preferred and encouraged sexuality.

LGBT Maltreatment

By looking at our recent history, society has not been kind to us queer folk. LGBT people have been spat at, demonised by the press and public, punished and incarcerated by law makers, chemically castrated and driven to suicide (Jones, 2017). The LGBT community has a legitimate right to feel unsafe in today's world. Across the planet, seventy-three jurisdictions still criminalise private, consensual sexual activity between adults of the same sex. Roughly half of these are Commonwealth countries. Terrifyingly, there are twelve countries which impose the death penalty for being gay (Human Dignity Trust). In a huge number of countries, LGBT victims of sexual or gender-based violence cannot access justice mechanisms or get proper support.

A recent report shows that LGBT people are at a greater risk of being victim to hate crime compared to heterosexual people, where incidents are continuing to rise (Hudson-Sharp & Metcalf, 2016). Also, in the same report, if you identify as LGBT, you are more 'susceptible to mental health problems than heterosexual people due to a range of factors, including discrimination and inequalities'. I may have painted a bleak and depressing portrait of the world, but this is the reality for many LGBT people. Being a teacher, it is paramount to work in an environment that is supportive, inclusive and takes your mental health and wellbeing seriously and makes you feel safe being the person you are.

The concept of 'Coming Out' is a political act. It is a form of rebellion against the heteronormative agenda. We spend our entire lives continuously 'coming out' to each new person we meet. This can be exhausting and risky. Making the decision to share your sexuality can be liberating, but we just do not know how that person is going to react. Luckily, I work in a school where I feel accepted, safe, and privileged to share my identity as a gay man. However, being comfortable, accepted, and safe is not always the case for every LGBT person; some LGBT teachers may think it is too risky to 'come out', as this could lead to discrimination and hostility from colleagues, parents and students.

Over the years, I have had to navigate the difficulties of working in a heteronormative environment and tread carefully about how open I am about my sexuality. I work in an international school where difference, otherness and diversity are celebrated and encouraged. In my school, families and students come from all corners of the world, dozens of nationalities and languages are seen and heard in our corridors and playground. There is a real richness of diversity and cultures. Yet, there are still moments where I question my personal feeling of safety and fear whether I will be accepted or not when meeting new families, students, and colleagues. Being open about your sexuality in the workplace is a personal choice. I know some LGBT teachers are comfortable to share their sexuality with everyone. On the other hand, I also know teachers who choose to not disclose their sexuality for many reasons. When meeting parents and families, or even colleagues, we do not know their opinions or beliefs about the LGBT community, or how they will react knowing we identify as LGBT. This feeling of uncertainty perpetuates a feeling of unsafety, having consequences for our wellbeing and mental health. This level of uncertainty may prevent LGBT teachers from applying for promotions or moving on to a different school (Lee, 2019). The anxiety and stress of having to 'come out' again to new people or having the school community take more interest in your personal life due to promotion, may be a risk that LGBT teachers are not willing to take. To question whether you will be accepted due to your sexuality, is something heterosexual people do not experience.

Although the UK has made strong advancements in legislation for the protection of LGBT teachers, some teachers still feel fear in their schools today. Catherine Lee, in her research, talks about the consequences Section 28 had on the education profession. From 1988 to 2003, LGBT teachers were silenced, and their wellbeing damaged by law. This piece of legislation stopped maintained schools from promoting the acceptability of homosexuality. Lee's research shows that LGBT teachers who lived through Section 28 have a very different experience in their workplace, to those who joined the teaching profession after the repeal in 2003. Those teachers who lived through this persecution are less likely to see their personal and professional identities as compatible and less likely to bring their partner to a school social event (Lee, 2019). Not only should schools encourage and foster an inclusive culture for all but have whole-school practices that are uniquely in place to support LGBT teachers. I think when teachers feel valued and supported, they will feel safe having a positive impact on their individual wellbeing.

What can school leaders do to support LGBT staff's wellbeing?

Most LGBT school staff will have experienced some sort of battle with their mental health. For a school to be productive and successful, everyone who works there should have good mental health and be supported when help is needed. Here are some tips to support the wellbeing of LGBT staff:

Making small changes around inclusive language can have a huge impact on either making people feel accepted and/or feeling excluded. If we make staff feel excluded, their wellbeing will suffer.

Here are my suggestions:

When asking about a colleague's weekend or personal life in the staffroom, be mindful of the pronouns they use to describe their partner. If they do not specially describe their partner as 'he' or 'she', they make be indicating their partner is of the same sex. Never assume someone is heterosexual and is attracted to the opposite sex.

Instead of greeting your staff team with, 'Good morning ladies and gentlemen', say, 'Good morning everyone'. With this, you have included all genders and identities without assuming everyone identifies with the gender they were assigned to a birth.

Challenge colleagues and students who use phrases that diminish sensitivity or acting like a particular gender. For example: 'man-up', 'you throw like a girl', and 'boys don't cry'.

LGBT staff need to feel accepted and be shown that their workplace is inclusive. School leaders should proudly show they support LGBT staff. If we do not feel accepted, then this may have a detrimental effect of our wellbeing and mental health.

This could be by wearing LGBT lanyards, flying the Pride flag outside and inside their school, having displays around school that celebrate diversity and LGBT issues.

Have your staff complete a learning walk where LGBT is the focus, can you spot anything in your school that says this is a safe space for LGBT students, families, and staff?

Educate Yourself to understand LGBT perspective and experiences

Read books and use organisations that specifically discuss LGBT voices in education and whole school approaches. It can be difficult for people who are not part of a minority group and see life from their perspective:

References

Lee, C. (2019) Fifteen years on: the legacy of section 28 for LGBT+ teachers in English schools, Sex Education, 19:6, 675-690, DOI: 10.1080/14681811.2019.1585800

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My Wellbeing as a LGBT Teacher | Diverse Educators

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Being a teacher who identifies as LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) has presented its challenges. I believe a fundamental link between identifying as LGBT and wellbeing is safety. At a basic, psychological level, safety plays an integral part in our wellbeing and ability to function as a human.

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is one of a series of reports on LGBTQ students of color that examines the school experiences of Black LGBTQ youth. Other reports in this series examine the experiences of Erasure and Resilience: The Experiences of LGBTQ Students of Color, Black LGBTQ Youth in U.S. Schools AAPI, Latinx, and Native and Indigenous LGBTQ youth.

Experiences of racism, homophobia, and transphobia in U.S. schools are prevalent among LGBTQ youth of color. Prior research on LGBTQ youth of color in general has shown that schools nationwide are hostile environments for LGBTQ youth of color, where they experience victimization and discrimination based on race, sexual orientation, gender identity, or all of the above simultaneously. In addition, many LGBTQ youth do not have access to in-school resources that may improve school climate and students' experiences, such as student clubs and supportive educators. Because LGBTQ students of color are not a monolithic population, this report focuses solely on the school experiences of Black LGBTQ youth, examining indicators of negative school climate, as well as supports and resources.

This report was developed by the GLSEN Research Institute, in partnership with the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), and examines:

Feelings of safety at school due to personal characteristics

Experiences of racist and anti-LGBTQ harassment and assault from peers

Effects of a hostile school climate on educational well-being and psychological well-being

Reporting harassment and assault to school staff and family members, and these adults' responses

Experiences with school disciplinary action

School resources and supports, including student clubs, supportive educators, and inclusive curriculum

Scroll down for more information about supporting Black LGBTQ students.

About Study Partner

The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) is a civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and same gender loving (LGBTQ/SGL) people, including people living with HIV/AIDS. NBJC's mission is to end racism, homophobia, and LGBTQ/SGL bias and stigma. As America's leading national Black LGBTQ/SGL civil rights organization focused on federal public policy, NBJC has accepted the charge to lead Black families in strengthening the bonds and bridging the gaps between the movements for racial justice and LGBTQ/SGL equality.

BLACK LGBTQ STUDENT WEBINAR

Check out our webinar about the school experiences of Black LGBTQ secondary school students in the United States. In the webinar, GLSEN Research Institute staff highlight findings from our research report Erasure and Resilience, including feelings of safety and experiences with harassment and assault at school, school discipline, and school supports and resources.

Then, David Johns, Executive Director of NBJC discusses what the report means to them, and how it can be used for the work that NBJC does. The webinar ends with a Q&A session.

SHAREABLE INFOGRAPHICS

We have identified critical topics from our research that we are highlighting in the infographics below. Click on the images to download them and share online today, and continue the conversation.

Recent Blogs About Black LGBTQ Youth

Check out these resources to support Black LGBTQ students:

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is one of a series of reports on LGBTQ students of color that examines the school experiences of Black LGBTQ youth. Other reports in this series examine the experiences of Erasure and Resilience: The Experiences of LGBTQ Students of Color, Black LGBTQ Youth in U.S. Schools AAPI, Latinx, and Native and Indigenous LGBTQ youth.

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more us adults identify as lgbtq now than at any time in the past decade

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More US adults identify as LGBTQ now than at any time in the past decade, a new poll says

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According to a new Gallup poll, more than 7% of American adults identify as LGBTQ, a new high. The increase is being propelled by Gen Z adults, as 21% of them self-identified as LGBTQ, per the poll.

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Learn About Queer African American History in Chicago’s Southside Bronzeville Neighborhood

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International LGBTQ+ Literature for Children & Young Adults: Imports, Self-Publishing, & Good Intentions

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In the autumn of 2021, International LGBTQ+ Literature for Children and Young Adults, an academic collection of essays that we edited together, was published. This was a project we started in 2016, and seeing it finally enter the world was an exciting experience. In this short post, we’ll give a lit…

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Biden admin attacks Florida GOP for trying to ban teachers from talking about LGBTQ people

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President Joe Biden wants LGBTQ youth to know they’re “loved exactly for who they are...

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Courses

Media Literacy for LGBTQ+ Inclusion

How might focusing on media literacy intersect with the work we need to do in order to make schools and organizations more LGBTQ+ inclusive? This course will set you up with resources and activities to pursue this intersection.

Course Content

Meet the course producers

Tricia Friedman

tricia@shiftingschools.com

Tricia Friedman has worked as an IB MYP/DP educator in The United States, China, Thailand, Ukraine, Morocco, Indonesia, Switzerland, and Singapore. Tricia is also a proud former Peace Corps Volunteer. Currently, she consults and produces content for Shifting Schools. Tricia lives in beautiful British Columbia with her wife, and their puppy.

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Courses Media Literacy for LGBTQ+ Inclusion How might focusing on media literacy intersect with the work we need to do in order to make schools and organizations more LGBTQ+ inclusive? This course will set you up with resources and activities to pursue this intersection.

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When educators are visibly supportive of LGBTQ students, everyone benefits. Through our Chapter-based Professional Development program, GLSEN offers tools and resources to thousands of educators who seek to make their classrooms and schools a safe place for all students. Based on 25+ years of experience and research, GLSEN boasts a robust educator training program with a series of modules curated to cover an array of topics suitable for a diverse range of audiences.

GLSEN research shows that the presence of supportive educators can have a significant positive impact on LGBTQ students' academic achievement, as well as on their psychological well-being and long-term educational aspirations. GLSEN Professional Development aims to empower educators to act in allyship with LGBTQ students.

"Teachers can be that figure you look up to. And when they are accepting of you, it means the world to you. To know that you're ok and that they are there for you."
- Ximena, 9th grade

Our Professional Development Workshops will assist educators in building the following skills:

Knowledge of LGBTQ student experiences in school

Understanding what allyship can provide for LGBTQ students

Awareness of the prevalence of anti-LGBTQ language and behavior in schools

Willingness and ability to intervene when anti-LGBTQ name-calling and bullying occurs

Willingness and ability to utilize curriculum inclusive of LGBTQ people, history and themes

Willingness to advocate for the rights of LGBTQ students and ensure safe schools for all

Access to resources and referral

NOTE: For GLSEN Professional Development Workshops, the term "educator" includes, but is not limited to: Current or future K-12 Teachers, Administrators, Counselors, Paraprofessionals, Librarians, Nurses, Bus Drivers, District Staff, School Resource Officers, Cafeteria Workers, etc.
To bring GLSEN Professional Development to your school, please emaileducators@glsen.org.

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When educators are visibly supportive of LGBTQ students, everyone benefits. Through our Chapter-based Professional Development program, GLSEN offers tools and resources to thousands of educators who seek to make their classrooms and schools a safe place for all students.

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Here’s a game to enhance your GSA or LGBTQ+ Affinity groups.

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* An honestly 'LOL' gaming experience that tests your knowledge of LGBTQ+ history and culture.
* A great platform for sharing personal anecdotes, insights, and wisdom.
* Helpful in building interpersonal communications skills
* Engaging, bringing people closer together.
* The perfect activity for any support group, drop-in center, or GSTA (Gay Straight Transgender Alliance).
* Truly fun for anyone ages 11 and up.
* Designed for 2 - 8 players (or teams), the Rainbow Quest! game moves along with an infectious positive energy that lifts spirits, educates, and brings players closer together.

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An honestly 'LOL' gaming experience that tests your knowledge of LGBTQ+ history and culture.* A great platform for sharing personal anecdotes, insights, and wisdom.* Helpful in building interpersonal communications skills* Engaging, bringing people closer together.* The perfect activity for any support group, drop-in center, or GSTA (Gay Straight Transgender Alliance).* Truly fun for anyone ages 11 and up.* Designed for 2 - 8 players (or teams), the Rainbow Quest!

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In 1989, U.S. Army Colonel Margarethe (Grethe) Cammermeyer was undergoing a routine security clearance interview when she said four simple words.

"I am a lesbian."
Related: Historians are trying to preserve a pioneering lesbian couple's home in San Francisco

At the time, she was a highly decorated nurse and war hero on track to becoming a general.

The admission started an intense investigation and the colonel faced a highly publicized discharge proceedings. The series of events would later become a television movie, starring Glenn Close, based on Cammermeyer's 1995 memoir Serving in Silence.

At the center of those proceedings was Col. Patsy Thompson, who in 1992 was a decorated Army nurse only two years away from retirement. Thompson had served her country for over 30 years when she was called to preside over the military review board that would eventually dismiss Cammermeyer.

No one knew that she was hiding the same truth: she was also a lesbian.

What unfolded changed the course of Cammermeyer's case, which eventually led to her reinstatement and paved the way for the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policies. That story is told in the recent documentary film Surviving the Silence.
A Girl in Troy
Patsy Thomspon grew up in Troy, a small town of about 3,000 people in central North Carolina. She was born in the Great Depression and was the youngest of five. Her dad, like many others in the state, worked in the cotton mill. "We were very poor, but I didn't know that," Thompson said in the film.

Troy was generally a good place to grow up. Thompson describes its small-town charm with fondness, but remembers the segregation of its Black residents at the time. Like many children of the South, she recalls walking to school and going to the local movie theatre or bowling alley. Religion played an important role in their lives; her parents took her to church every Sunday.

During World War II, she and other kids gathered iron and bought victory bonds to support the troops. It is the first time that Thompson remembers feeling like everyone was partaking in patriotism for their country. Then, her older brother Fred was killed in a plane crash while in the Navy.

When her younger brother, Jimmy, received his orders to report, Thompson remembers her mother heading to the recruiting office with the letter in hand. "You killed one of my sons. You're not having this one," she stated.

In 1951, Thompson graduated from high school, then headed to Charlotte Memorial Hospital School of Nursing where she graduated in 1954. She knew she wanted to join the military, even after the experiences of her brothers. "I always wanted to know what was on the other side of the mountains," she said in the film.

She entered the Air Force Nurse Corps, and in 1956 she was assigned to Mather Air Force Base in California. She was respected by others on the base, and her Southern kindness was evident to colleagues. She knew she was different, however, and recalled a medic mentioning an invisible wall around her that others could not penetrate. "I thought, wow, he's very intuitive because I was a homosexual," said Thompson in the film.

She would soon meet her first partner playing basketball in the Air Force. They would be together for the next 24 years, and while she accompanied Thompson on many trips home to North Carolina, family assumed they were housemates. Thompson knew that coming out could mean losing her family.

After being assigned to a base in England, her long relationship would come to an end. She continued to keep her homosexuality a secret from her family and the Air Force. "I knew that whether I was in the military or wherever I was - whatever job I did, I was going to have to hide who I was," Thompson realized. She went through a difficult time and life in the shadows was beginning to take its toll.

Enlisted women were regularly watched and when suspected of being homosexuals were immediately thrown out. President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10450 in April 1953, supporting the investigation of federal employees and servicemembers to determine whether they posed security risks. Under the order, thousands of lesbians and gays were barred from federal employment and over 5,000 people were fired under suspicions of being homosexual as part of what would later become known as the "Lavender Scare."

As a nurse and officer, Thompson thought she had some level of protection, but remained guarded and even dated a number of male navigator students as a cover.
Speaking in Code
In 1983, 30-year-old Barbara Brass decided to take a cross-country trip and boarded a Greyhound bus in California. When she came back, she knew it was time to come out to herself. In those years, the gay and lesbian rights movement was still just inching forward. Homosexuality was still criminalized in many states, and AIDS was quickly becoming the highest priority of the movement.

Brass moved to Sacramento and started a business with her sister. Soon, she came out to her family.

The next year, while attending a party, she met Col. Thompson. The two started up a conversation that would lead to a loving relationship for years to come. At the time, Brass did not know the impact that Thompson's military career would have on their lives. Their story is one of "fierce love" said Cindy Abel, a producer of Surviving the Silence.

In the early years of their relationship, the two did a lot of work around their house. "I wanted to make it a place that we could feel at home, and safe and comfortable," Brass said. They replaced fences in the backyard as high as they could to make it more private. Brass built a secret passageway from their bedroom to the room that was supposed to be her separate bedroom. Brass recalled in the film: "It was not a good feeling living in a place that we considered our home, that we had to hide from people that came in here. But we had to do that quite often."

The fear of being outed was still very prevalent in both their personal lives and because of Thompson's career: "Those were our ways of hiding, covering, keeping safe." In the film, Brass remembered the constant threat they felt. "We both were resigned to the fact that we couldn't be out and that we had to really protect ourselves."

Brass was the child of Holocaust survivors, and that history made her aware of the hate-fueled dangers of the world. Her family survived by fleeing Germany for Shanghai, eventually coming to the United States.

She joined Thompson on trips home and supported her as she rose to the position of First Army National Guard Chief Nurse in 1986. This required Thompson to move to Washington, D.C. where she would be stationed at the Pentagon - away from Brass. The two knew that she had to go alone, and under the cloak of secrecy, they exchanged gold wedding bands on a rainy night, shielded in the safety of their car in a parking lot before she left.

"Say nothing, do nothing, be invisible," said Brass in the film. That was the necessary role as a lesbian partner of a military officer. Any chance of their relationship being revealed could threaten Thompson's career. Even talking on the phone was difficult. They feared the lines might be tapped.

Thompson and Brass developed a code using the number "five" to throw off anyone who could potentially be tapping their phone conversations. When Brass would visit D.C., an evening rain would provide them the rare opportunity to walk close together under an umbrella without drawing attention from others, and airport goodbyes provided them the few public moments to hug.

"We'd carve out our little spaces and make a life," Brass said. "It was second-class, but it got us through."

In 1989, Thompson returned to California and remained active in the Army National Guard, and in 1992 a pivotal decision would shape the rest of their lives.
This Could Be Me
Thompson was on special assignment with the State Headquarters when she received a call asking her to go to Washington State and preside over a Federal Recognition Board. They needed a colonel for the job, and Thompson wondered why Col. Cammermeyer, who was at the time the chief nurse for the State of Washington, was not asked.

A few days later, she received a large cardboard box full of classified information. The Federal Recognition Board was being convened because of Cammermeyer.

Col. Cammermeyer started active duty in 1963. She had volunteered to go to Vietnam where she became the head nurse of the neurosurgical intensive care unit, and later earned a master's degree in nursing at the University of Washington - all while working at VA hospitals in the state. She became chief nurse of the Washington State National Guard in 1988. After an already illustrious military career, she had applied to work for the War College.

During a standard top-secret clearance interview, Cammermeyer admitted she was a lesbian. "I thought it was a matter of speaking truth," says Cammermeyer in the film. She was grilled for five hours straight, and six months later she was told that discharge proceedings had been launched against her.

The first openly gay U.S. Secretary of the Army, Eric Fanning (appointed in 2016), recalled in the film the hurt that this must have caused Cammermeyer. "People join the military for a number of reasons, but one of the common elements is that commitment to service," Fanning said. "To leave with that blemish that says you didn't serve in an honorable way has a particularly profound impact on someone to whom service is important."

Cammermeyer had always believed that the Army took care of its own, but now it was not.

Thompson had a choice. Not accepting the appointment to preside would in essence out herself as a lesbian.

She knew that she had to move forward, and the only result would be to discharge Cammermeyer. But there might be another choice. For any court case to follow through appeal, evidence must be part of the official administrative record; it cannot be added later. This meant that Cammermeyer's team had to make their case in front of the Federal Recognition Board, now headed by Thompson.

Attorney Mary Newcombe and the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund were working with Cammermeyer to gather as much background and testimonial evidence that they could. They had no idea that a lesbian was working to give them more time.

Thompson held off as long as she could despite consistent calls from the general's office. The easiest thing to avoid exposure would have been to run it through as quickly as possible and deliver what the Army clearly wanted - the discharge of Grethe Cammermeyer.

"I certainly did think this could be me," Thompson said.
Duty, Honor, Country
On June 11, 1992, Cammermeyer was honorably discharged from the United States Army.

After the case was over, Thompson recalled crying all the way back to her quarters. "I was hoping that something that I did or something that I said would help her case in the future," she said. There was nothing she could have done to save Cammermeyer, but she made sure that the proceedings and the official record included everything about her career and character, noting that Cammermeyer was a "great American" she had admired for some time. She concluded that the regulation required her discharge.

"My first 40 years of my life, homosexuality was considered a mental illness until 1973," Thompson said. "The whole time that I was active duty military, that was the story."

In 1994, Serving in Silence, the book telling Cammermeyer's story, was published - and a judge ruled that her discharge, along with the ban on gays and lesbians serving in the military, were unconstitutional.

Filmmaker Cindy Abel met Thompson and Brass after screening her first film at Sierra College in 2013. The two, who were now married, were giving a speech the next day and had decided to go public about their relationship in front of a crowd of 500 at the Northern California college.

"I was just drawn in by the fact that [I could answer] 'how do you stay together for 30 years, let alone when you have to pretend for much of that time that you're not together - both for your partners career and your own personal safety'?" Abel shared. She knew of Cammermeyer's story, but soon realized that Thompson had done the hardest, yet best possible thing she could have done.

They started filming in April 2014. "In the end it turned out to be one of those happy surprises," said Abel.

There are so many other stories like that of Thompson's and Cammermeyer's that one will never know. Telling their story, they enabled others to see that they could also do it.
Related: Rediscovering the queer history of the American South
"Have Hope"
Today, Thompson's family knows that she is a lesbian but according to her wife, they don't realize the remarkable success that she had in her career or the impact she has had on the rights of LGBTQ people to serve openly in the military.

When asked what Thompson would say to that little girl in Troy, N.C. she said, "Have hope and look to the future."

There is a framed picture of "Rosie the Riveter" in Thompson and Brass' home that reads, "Barb and Pat can do it." Thompson hopes that people "can do the best they can and know that as long as our democracy is intact, they can be who they want to be and go where they want to go in life."

"This is just a quaint little tale of two women who suffered through this, but it's good for history," said Brass in the film. "Today, the story is not a quaint little tale that we can march off into the sunset together smiling and holding hands and have all of our rights.

"We're seeing them disappear daily."

The two continue to protest for the rights of others, fighting what Brass calls the "current regime" that threatens U.S. democracy. The pandemic has caused them to slow down a little, as they shelter in place and limit their participation in protests, but Brass stays involved online, helping to organize the RATT Pack - better known as the people attending "Resistance Action Tuesdays and Thursdays," a series of peaceful protests against institutional racism, political corruption and discrimination against the disabled, people of color, immigrants, ageism and LGBTQ people.

They have gone on for at least 3 years.

In 2012, Cammermeyer and her wife, Diane Divelbess - her partner at the time of her discharge - became the first same-sex couple to get a marriage license in Island County, Washington state. She had ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1998, and was appointed to the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services in 2010, an intra-Department of Defense bureau, under President Barack Obama and Secretary Robert Gates.

After six years of filming, Abel's Surviving the Silence is being screened at 18 virtual film festivals this year and recently won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at OUT at the Movies International Film Fest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the state Thompson grew up in.

The film "gives a window into someone's life that we may not have even heard of or known about," concluded Abel. Those are the stories she likes to tell, hoping that on some level they expand awareness about the need for equality in the current state of the world.

It tells the story of "a fierce love" - a love for each other, and a love for this country. The two no longer conflict with each other.

For more information about the film and to find screenings nearby, visit SurvivingTheSilence.com.
Chris Rudisill is a contributing writer for QNotes in Carolinas.

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The Army found out this colonel was a lesbian. The woman that oversaw her discharge was, too.

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In 1989, U.S. Army Colonel Margarethe (Grethe) Cammermeyer was undergoing a routine security clearance interview when she said four simple words. "I am a lesbian." Related: Historians are trying to preserve a pioneering lesbian couple's home in San Francisco At the time, she was a highly decorated nurse and war hero on track to becoming a general.

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At least 33 out LGBTQ athletes at the Beijing Winter Olympics

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The number of out Winter Olympians is more than double that from four years ago as visibility grows. Here’s the list.

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International LGBTQ+ Literature for Children & Young Adults Book Launch

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As they grew into their gender identity, they began using photography and portraits to capture not only their own life, but the lives of other queer people.

Tonight, Dugan shares their Brief But Spectacular take on representation and the power of portraiture.

And a note: This essay contains mature content.
Jess T. Dugan, Photographer: I experienced a lot of change as a young child. My parents got divorced. We moved homes.
And, for me, looking back, it's very clear that photography became my anchor. It became the way that I could hold onto the things that were important to me, even as other things in my life were changing.

I grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas. It was made very clear to me from an early age that I didn't look like what people thought a little girl was supposed to look like, or I didn't behave the way a little girl was supposed to behave.

And so, from a very early age, I had a heightened awareness around my own gender identity and expression. I moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, when I was 13, with my mom, and that shift was really significant for me.

I came out as gay when I was 13. I started thinking about my gender identity shortly thereafter. And it was really wonderful to be in a place that was more progressive and was more accepting.

My first experiences with images of queer people, with images that validated my identity as a queer person and as a nonbinary person, was in fine art photography books. Seeing someone represented who you can relate to or who validates your identity can be incredibly powerful. It can be a lifeline. It can affirm something about yourself that you're trying to figure out or try trying to understand.

And so, from a very young age, I felt compelled to make images of queer people, including myself, that were as nuanced and complex and beautiful as I knew these individuals to be.

I think portraiture is especially powerful for making people feel seen, both the subjects and the viewers. I'm really interested in people who are living authentically, and I'm especially interested in that when living authentically for them requires actively working against society or the status quo.

I have always used my photography as way to understand myself and my place in the world. I had chest reconstruction surgery when I was 18 to more closely align my body with my internal gender identity. And my mom was very supportive of that. She came with me to Texas, where I had my surgery.

And when we got back to Boston, I made a photograph of us standing next to one another shirtless. And that was really the beginning of us making pictures together.

Some of my work is more personal and more subjective, but even that work has a political element because of who I am, because of my identity. And that's something that I have always embraced. I think that a lot of what I do centers around the power of letting yourself be seen and seeing others.

My name is Jess T. Dugan, and this is my Brief But Spectacular take on representation and the power of portraiture.
Judy Woodruff: And you can watch more Brief But Spectacular videos online at PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief.

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Since childhood, Jess T. Dugan has recognized the power of photography in documenting the world around them. As they grew into their gender identity, they began using photography and portraits to capture not only their own life, but the lives of other queer people.

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Supportive exercises and advice for teens exploring gender identity

Discover more about who you are and who you might want to become. Whether you've been pondering big feelings and questions about your gender, or you're just a little curious about it, the Gender Identity Workbook for Teens is an interactive workbook that will walk you through what gender identity actually is. You'll learn that there are endless ways to express yourself and that there's no right or wrong way to identify.

Try out writing prompts, quizzes, and activities that will help you organize and understand your thoughts about your identity, along with practical advice for talking about your gender, determining new names and pronouns, and getting involved with supportive communities both in real life and online.

Find the right language―Get clear, detailed information on gender identities across all spectrums, including nonbinary, nonconforming, cisgender, transgender, genderqueer, agender, and more.

Real examples―Read reassuring stories from real teens about their experiences with gender identity, plus a practical Q&A section for handling everyday scenarios you might encounter.

What gender really means―Learn about the different components of gender identity, and then explore how you feel about your own brain and body, and learn why it's okay if you're still figuring out who you are.

Take the first step on the path to discovering your authentic self.

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Amazon.com: Gender Identity Workbook for Teens: 9781648765087: Triska LCSW, Andrew Maxwell: Books

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Pauli Murray

American writer, activist, lawyer and Episcopal priest (1910-1985)

Anna Pauline "Pauli" Murray was an American civil rights activist who became a lawyer, women's rights activist, Episcopal priest, and author. en.wikipedia.org

People also search for

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Pauli Murray American writer, activist, lawyer and Episcopal priest (1910-1985) Anna Pauline "Pauli" Murray was an American civil rights activist who became a lawyer, women's rights activist, Episcopal priest, and author. en.wikipedia.org People also search for

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November 20, 1910-July 1, 1985. Pauli Murray was breaking barriers from a young age. Held back by what Murray dubbed "Jane Crow," s/he* was a staunch advocate for the rights of women and people of color and fought tirelessly for civil rights. As a poet, writer, activist, organizer, legal theorist, and priest, Murray was directly involved in ...

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The 2017 music video for rapper Logic's song "1-800-273-8255" may have saved hundreds of lives, a new study found.

The song's title is the phone number of the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Its video showed a gay Black teen calling the number after being outed and receiving homophobic abuse by his track-and-field teammates.
Related: Here's the new number to text for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
The video gained attention for its unique story and also the celebrities who appeared in it. It featured Nickelodeon star Coy Stewart as the gay teen, Oscar-nominated actor Don Cheadle as his father, Modern Family 's Nolan Gould as his boyfriend, Emmy-nominated actor Matthew Modine as his boyfriend's father and the boys' dads and award-nominated character actor Luis Guzmán as a supportive coach.

The study, published in the December 2021 edition of the British Medical Association peer-reviewed trade journal BMJ, looked at suicide data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the number of calls into the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline from the start of January 2010 until the end of December 2018.

It also looked at Twitter posts to determine the amount of attention that Logic's song received. It found that the song received the strongest amount of public attention right after three events: the video's initial August 17, 2017 release; the August 27, 2017 MTV Video Music Awards; and the January 28, 2018 Grammy Awards. Logic performed the song at the two latter events.

In the 34-day period following all three events, the Lifeline received 9,915 more calls than it had on average during 34-day periods in the years before. These calls were a 6.9 percent increase over the number of calls usually expected.

Furthermore, in the 34-days after these three events, there were 245 fewer suicides nationwide than usually experienced during the same time-spans in previous years.

The study's lead researcher - Thomas Niederkrotenthaler, an associate professor at the Suicide Research Unit at the Medical University of Vienna - said his findings support the idea that media messages can have an impact on suicide prevention and crisis management, according to Psych Central.

However, Niederkrotenthaler also concedes that other factors may have contributed to the increase in Lifeline calls and reduction in suicides that his research team observed. But while Logic's video may have saved lives, research also suggests that media reporting of suicides and suicide myths can increase suicide rates.

Regardless, the study suggests the importance and positive impact of promoting suicide lifelines in popular media. This could especially help LGBTQ individuals, who experience suicidal ideation and attempts more than the general public.

A 2016 research review by the Williams Institute revealed that 17 percent of LGB adults have attempted suicide, compared to 2.4 percent of the general population. Additionally, 82 percent of respondents to the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey said they had seriously considered suicide at some point in their lives, with 40 percent reporting having attempted suicide at some point.

On the youth side, the Trevor Project's 2021 National Youth Mental Health Survey found that 42 percent of LGBTQ youth seriously considered suicide in the past year, including more than half of trans and non-binary youth.

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How a music video about a gay teen may have saved hundreds of lives

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The 2017 music video for rapper Logic's song "1-800-273-8255" may have saved hundreds of lives, a new study found. The song's title is the phone number of the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Its video showed a gay Black teen calling the number after being outed and receiving homophobic abuse by his track-and-field teammates.

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How a Groundbreaking Book Helped a Generation of Lesbians See Themselves for the First Time

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Photographer and activist JEB (Joan E. Biren) reflects on the republishing her book ‘Eye to Eye: Portraits of Lesbians’

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Amazon.com: In Our Mothers’ House: 9780399250767: Polacco, Patricia, Polacco, Patricia: Books

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"In their previous landmark volumes . . . Harris and Emberley established themselves as the purveyors of reader-friendly, straightforward information on human sexuality for readers as young as seven. Here they successfully tackle the big questions . . . for even younger kids." - The Horn Book (starred review)

Young children are curious about almost everything, especially their bodies. And young children are not afraid to ask questions. What makes me a girl? What makes me a boy? Why are some parts of girls' and boys' bodies the same and why are some parts different? How was I made? Where do babies come from? Is it true that a stork brings babies to mommies and daddies?

It's Not the Stork! helps answer these endless and perfectly normal questions that preschool, kindergarten, and early elementary school children ask about how they began. Through lively, comfortable language and sensitive, engaging artwork, Robie H. Harris and Michael Emberley address readers in a reassuring way, mindful of a child's healthy desire for straightforward information. Two irresistible cartoon characters, a curious bird and a squeamish bee, provide comic relief and give voice to the full range of emotions and reactions children may experience while learning about their amazing bodies. Vetted and approved by science, health, and child development experts, the information is up-to-date, age-appropriate, and scientifically accurate, and always aimed at helping kids feel proud, knowledgeable, and comfortable about their own bodies, about how they were born, and about the family they are part of.
Back matter includes an index.

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It's Not the Stork!: A Book About Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families and Friends (The Family Library)

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It's Not the Stork!: A Book About Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families and Friends (The Family Library) [Harris, Robie H., Emberley, Michael] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. It's Not the Stork!: A Book About Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families and Friends (The Family Library)

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Not Another Second: LGBT+ seniors share their stories

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Not Another Second tells the untold stories of 12 LGBT+ seniors and the years they lost not living their authentic selves.

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What People Get Wrong About They/Them Pronouns

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Pronouns describe one’s identity. They don’t define it.

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University of Pennsylvania senior Lia Thomas has been making headlines so far in this NCAA season, producing several record-breaking performances in what is her first year competing as a woman.

Thomas, a trans woman, sat down on the SwimSwam Podcast to discuss everything from when she realized she was trans, what the transition period was like, and how she's been able to adjust to life both in and out of the pool.

The 22-year-old said that she came to the realization that she was trans in the summer of 2018, but it took almost a full year before starting the transition process.

"I first realized I was trans the summer before, in 2018," Thomas said. "There was a lot of uncertainty, I didn't know what I would be able to do, if I would be able to keep swimming. And so, I decided to swim out the 2018-2019 year as a man, without coming out, and that caused a lot of distress to me.

"I was struggling, my mental health was not very good. It was a lot of unease, basically just feeling trapped in my body. It didn't align.

"I decided it was time to come out and start my transition."

Thomas then started to transition in May of 2019, beginning hormone replacement therapy, and came out to the Penn swimmers in the fall of 2019.

She describes the 2019-20 season, her junior campaign, as an incredibly uncomfortable phase, as she still competing on the men's team despite being in the process of becoming a woman.

After a standout sophomore year that include runner-up finishes in the 500 free, 1000 free and 1650 free at the 2019 Ivy League Championships, Thomas said she struggled the following year during the transition, continuing to train but only competing as much as she felt comfortable.

"Being in the early stages of transition, it was a very awkward experience of basically being a woman competing in a men's meet. It was uncomfortable, so I didn't compete that much."

Thomas only raced in a handful of dual meets that season, her times well off where she had been the season prior.

In the summer of 2020, one year after beginning testosterone suppression, she submitted all of her medical work to the NCAA, which was approved, allowing her to begin competing on the women's swim team at Penn.

Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the Ivy League cancelling its entire 2020-21 college swimming season.

Thomas took the year off of school as a result, saying her training was very "on and off" due to pool availability, and then began competing on the women's team this season.

The NCAA's transgender policy dictates: " A trans female treated with testosterone suppression medication may continue to compete on a men's team but may not compete on a women's team without changing it to a mixed team status until completing one year of testosterone suppression treatment."

Thomas, who is now two and a half years into hormone replacement therapy, is, therefore, eligible to compete on the women's team.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recently published guidelines for sports regarding transgender rules in sports in November-it doesn't have cut and dry measures currently in place like the NCAA. Instead, it calls on each sport to implement its own guidelines on what constitues an unfair advantage.

No athlete should be excluded from competing based on an "unverified, alleged or perceived unfair competitive advantage due to their sex variations, physical appearance and/or transgender status," the International Olympic Committee said.

"Athletes should be allowed to compete but unfair advantage needs to be regulated."

Regarding the IOC guidelines, Thomas said: "I think the guidelines they set forward are very good. They do a very good job of promoting inclusivity while keeping competitional integrity going."

Another trans woman that has competed in NCAA swimming is Natalie Fahey, who raced on the women's team at Southern Illinois University after transitioning, while Harvard's Schuyler Bailar, a trans man, was the first openly trans swimmer at the NCAA DI level.

Thomas mentioned that Bailar, a fellow Ivy Leaguer, was someone who helped her through the last few years, having shared his experience and giving her advice.

"It's been a lot of struggles in the 12 months prior to coming out to everybody, to the initial awkwardness, AND the uncertainty to first starting out transitioning," Thomas said.

"There just seems to be so much to do and things you have to take care of, and it just seems like this mountain. But you get by it day by day, and build confidence each day, and I'm feeling confident and good in my swimming and all my personal relationships.

"And transitioning has allowed me to be more confident in all of those aspects of my life, where I was struggling a lot before I came out."

Watch Lia's full conversation with Coleman on the podcast below:

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Penn's Lia Thomas Opens Up On Journey, Transition To Women's Swimming

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University of Pennsylvania senior Lia Thomas has been making headlines so far in this NCAA season, producing several record-breaking performances in what is her first year competing as a woman.