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These victims, like all of us, are loving partners, parents, family members, friends and community members. They worked, went to school and attended houses of worship. They were real people -- people who did not deserve to have their lives taken from them.

As HRC continues to work toward justice and equality for transgender and gender non-conforming people, we mourn those we have lost in 2020:

Dustin Parker, 25, was fatally shot in McAlester, Oklahoma, early on New Year's Day. His employers released a statement shortly after his death, remembering Parker as "a steadfast friend, an amazing husband and father and generous to a fault. He loved fiercely, worked tirelessly and took on life with so much hope and enthusiasm that his presence brightened all of our lives."

Neulisa Luciano Ruiz, was fatally shot in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico on February 24. According to Metro Puerto Rico, members of her community knew her as "humble" and "noble."

Yampi Méndez Arocho, 19, was killed in Moca, Puerto Rico, on March 5. Arocho, a transgender man, shared his love for basketball and the NBA -- donning Miami Heat apparel on social media. The biography line on his Facebook reads simply, "Humility Prevails."

Scott/ Scottlynn Devore, a 51-year old gender non-conforming person, was killed in Augusta, Georgia. Friends remembered Devore as "sweet" and "beautiful" on Facebook.

Monika Diamond, 34, a Black transgender woman, was killed in Charlotte, North Carolina on March 18. Diamond was active in the Charlotte LGBTQ+ and nightlife community and was the co-owner of an event promotion company. She also was the co-CEO of the International Mother of the Year Pageantry System -- a pageant that honors LGBTQ+ mothers.

Lexi, 33, a transgender woman, was killed in Harlem, New York on March 28. According to reports, Lexi was fatally stabbed in Harlem River Park. "I really looked up to her because of her tolerance and respect," said Lavonia Brooks, a friend of Lexi. "Lexi had a beautiful heart, she was very gifted." Brooks also noted that Lexi loved poetry, makeup and fashion.

Johanna Metzger, a transgender woman, was killed in Baltimore, Maryland on April 11. According to reports, she was visiting a Baltimore recovery center from Pennsylvania at the time. Johanna was known for her love of music and taught herself to play multiple instruments.

Serena Angelique Velázquez Ramos, 32, was killed in Puerto Rico on April 21. Ramos was killed alongside Layla Pelaez Sánchez, 21. According to reports, Ramos was visiting the island on vacation, and was set to return to her home in Queens, New York, at the end of the month. Loved ones are mourning her death, calling her "full of life," a "happy person," and a "sincere friend." On May 1, two men were charged under federal hate crimes law for Ramos's death.

Layla Pelaez Sánchez, 21, was killed in Puerto Rico on April 21. Sánchez was killed alongside Serena Angelique Velázquez Ramos. According to reports, Sánchez had recently moved to the island, and was living in the Tejas neighborhood in Las Piedras. On May 1, two Puerto Rican men were charged under federal hate crimes law for Sánchez's death.

Penélope Díaz Ramírez, a transgender woman, was killed in Puerto Rico on April 13. "Penélope did not deserve to die. Transgender people do not deserve to die. Every single advocate, ally, elected official and community member must stand up in light of this horrific news and say 'No more.' What we are doing is not enough," said Tori Cooper, HRC Director of Community Engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative.

Nina Pop, a Black transgender woman, was killed in Sikeston, Missouri, on May 3. She was deeply loved by her family, friends and community, according to her Facebook page.

Helle Jae O'Regan, 20, a transgender woman, was killed in San Antonio, Texas, on May 6. O'Regan was proud of her trans identity and on Twitter, she often spoke out against injustice, including the LGBTQ+ inequality, the prison industrial complex and the need to decriminalize sex work. Damion Terrell Campbell, 42, has been charged with O'Regan's murder.

Tony McDade, a Black transgender man, was killed in Tallhassee, Florida, on May 27. His friends and family shared how he was an energetic, giving person with a big heart.

Dominique "Rem'mie" Fells, a Black transgender woman was killed in Philadelphia, Pennsyania, on June 9. One personal friend posted online, "Dom was a unique and beautiful soul who I am lucky to have known personally. I am beside myself right now. We need to fight!! We need to do more!!!! We will get justice."

Riah Milton, a 25-year-old Black transgender woman, was killed in Liberty Township, Ohio on June 9. In March, she posted the status "Never been scared to struggle. Imma get it eventually" -- a comment highlighting her resilience and optimism as a person facing a transphobic, misogynist and racist society.

Jayne Thompson, a 33-year old white transgender woman, was killed in Mesa County, Colorado, on May 9. She was killed by a Colorado State Patrol trooper and misgendered in initial news reports.

Selena Reyes-Hernandez, a 37-year old transgender woman, was killed in Chicago on May 31. "We have lost a beloved member of our trans family because of hate -- hate that has corrupted our country's soul and that shatters lives and futures every day," said Tori Cooper, HRC director of community engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative.

Brian "Egypt' Powers, a 43-year old Black transgender person, was killed in Akron, Ohio, on June 13. Powers worked at a local catering company and is remembered for wearing long, colorful braids -- "unicorn braids," as Powers called them.

Brayla Stone, a 17-year old Black transgender girl, was found killed in Little Rock, Arkansas, on June 25. "Brayla Stone was a child. A child, just beginning to live her life. A child of trans experience. A Black girl. A person who had hopes and dreams, plans and community," said Tori Cooper, HRC director of community engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative. On September 4, a man was arrested on a murder charge in connection to her death.

Merci Mack, a 22-year old Black transgender woman, was killed in Dallas, Texas, on June 30. Her loved ones shared how beautiful of a friend she was. On her social media, she had recently posted that she enjoyed baking and that she was looking forward to returning to work. On July 8, a man was arrested on a murder charge in connection to her death.

Shaki Peters, a 32-year old Black transgender woman, was killed in Amite CIty, Louisiana, on July 1. "In just four days, we have seen the deaths of at least three transgender and gender non-conforming people, including Shaki Peters. This horrific spike in violence against our community must be an urgent call to action for every single person in this nation," said Tori Cooper, Director of Community Engagement for HRC's Trans Justice Initiative.

Bree Black, a 27-year-old Black transgender woman, was killed in Pompano Beach, Florida, on July 3. "These killings are being fueled by the deadly combination of racism and transphobia, and they must cease. We must come together as a community and demand justice for those who were taken from us," said Tori Cooper, Director of Community Engagement for HRC's Trans Justice Initiative.

Summer Taylor, a white non-binary person, was in Seattle, Washington, on July 4. Taylor was participating in the Black Femme March in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and against police brutality. Taylor worked full time at Urban Animal veterinary hospital.

Marilyn Cazares was a transgender Latina killed in Brawley, California. Mindy Garcia, an aunt of Cazares, said she "loved to sing and dance" and "never bothered anyone."

Dior H Ova, who some reports identify as Tiffany Harris, a Black transgender woman, was killed in the Bronx, New York. According to her Facebook, Ova loved fashion -- listing her career as a personal shopper and posting photos with luxury fashion brands that she loved. On August 13, a man was arrested on a murder charge in connection to her death.

Queasha D Hardy, a 22-year old Black transgender woman, was killed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on July 27. Hardy, a hairstylist, was extremely loved by her community. Friends and loved ones describe her as loyal, loving, "always smiling," "the life of all parties" and "truly one of a kind."

Aja Raquell Rhone-Spears, who sometimes used the name Rocky Rhone, a Black transgender woman, was killed in Portland, Oregon, on July 28. According to Facebook, she studied at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and was the owner and founder of International Barbie, a Portland-based clothing brand.

Lea Rayshon Daye, a 28-year old Black transgender woman, died in Cuyahoga County Jail in Cleveland, Ohio on August 30. "Lea's death is unacceptable. Increased risk factors such as homelessness, combined with racism, sexism and transphobia, conspired to lead to a death that never should have happened," said Tori Cooper, HRC Director of Community Engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative.

Kee Sam, a Black transgender woman, was killed in Lafeyette, Louisiana, on August 12. "We must all speak up in support of trans and gender non-conforming people and affirm that Black Trans Lives Matter," said HRC's Tori Cooper, Director of Community Engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative.

Aerrion Bur, a Black transgender woman, was killed in Indepedence, Missouri, on September 19. Her friends and family shared "if you wanted to have a good day, you need to smile, Aerrion was the person you wanted by your side."

Mia Green, a 29-year old Black transgender woman, was killed in Philadelphia on September 28. Her friends and family shared how "her smile was so perfect and so contagious. She made me laugh."

Michelle Michellyn Ramos Vargas, a transgender woman from Puerto Rico in her mid-30s, was killed in San Germán, Puerto Rico on September 30. "This level of violence- any level of violence - is unacceptable. We are not doing enough to protect transgender and gender non-conforming people, especially trans women," said HRC's Tori Cooper, Director of Community Engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative.

Felycya Harris, a 33-year old transgender woman, was killed in Augusta, Georgia in October. Felycya was an interior decorator who ran her own company where she enjoyed lending her eye to improve the surroundings of others, and made others feel comfortable in their own space.

Brooklyn Deshuna, 20, a Black transgender woman, was killed in Shreveport, Louisiana, on October 7. Brooklyn attended Bossier Parish Community College and studied cosmetology.

Sara Blackwood, a transgender woman, was killed in Indianapolis, Indiana on October 11, recognized as National Coming Out Day. She enjoyed playing video games and was a fan of the show "My Little Pony."

Angel Unique, a 25-year old Black transgender woman, was killed in Memphis, Tennessee, on October 25. A licensed cosmetologist, friends and family of Angel remembered her for being "very funny, very nice to everybody she met" and "such a bright person [with] a positive spirit."

Skylar Heath, a 20-year-old Black trans woman killed on Nov. 4 in Miami, Fl., was described as a "kind and gentle soul" who "had such a love for family and close friends." Skylar had a "warm personality" and a "friendly spirit," and brought people who knew her "so much joy."

Yunieski Carey Herrera, also known as Yuni Carey, a 39-year old Latina transgender woman was killed in Miami, Fl. on Nov. 17. Herrera was a well-known model, performer, dancer and activist loved by the LGBTQ+ community in Miami. A friend of Herrera described her as "besides being strikingly beautiful, she was kind and she was good."

Asia Jynae Foster, a 22-year-old Black transgender woman, was killed on Nov. 20 in Houston, Texas. Her death occurred on Trans Day of Remembrance, a day created to honor those in our community taken by violence. Asia was remembered during a candlelight vigil where family and friends described her as "a beacon of light in their community."

Chae'Meshia Simms, a Black transgender woman in her 30s, was killed on Nov. 23 in Richmond, Virginia. Simms, who sometimes used the nickname "ChaeChae," was close with her family and friends. They remembered her on social media as "good," "kind" and "caring."

Kimberly Fial, a 55-year-old white transgender woman, was killed on Nov. 22 in San Jose, California, at a homeless shelter where she volunteered. She is remembered by friends and loved ones as "a kind & loving person" and someone with "a twinkle in her eye."

Jaheim Pugh Jaheim Barbie, who might have also used the name Bella, was killed on December 13 in Prichard, Ala. On December 18, Jaheim's family held a celebration of life, including a motorcade and gathering. On social media, friends and family remembered Jaheim as "the life of the party," "such a bright light" and "so loving."

Courtney "Eshay" Key, a 25-year-old Black transgender woman, was killed in Chicago, Ill., on December 25. Loved ones described her as "a vibrant and beautiful woman who had a big heart and big dreams."

Alexandria Winchester, a 24-year-old Latina trans woman, was killed on Dec. 26 in the Bronx, New York. Sadly, not many details are known about Alexandria's life. She was a client at the Ali Forney Center, who is working with community leaders to host a vigil in memory of Winchester. "Alexandria mattered to her community and to the world. The loss of another transgender person in 2020 is devastating," said HRC Associate Director of the Transgender Justice Initiative Lindsey Clark.

These victims were killed by acquaintances, partners or strangers, some of whom have been arrested and charged, while others have yet to be identified. Some of these cases involve clear anti-transgender bias. In others, the victim's transgender status may have put them at risk in other ways, such as forcing them into unemployment, poverty, homelessness and/or survival sex work.

While the details of these cases differ, it is clear that fatal violence disproportionately affects transgender women of color -- particularly Black transgender women -- and that the intersections of racism, sexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia and unchecked access to guns conspire to deprive them of employment, housing, healthcare and other necessities.

HRC Foundation's "Dismantling a Culture of Violence" report demonstrates how anti-transgender stigma, denial of opportunity and increased risk factors compound to create a culture of violence -- and provides clear ways that each of us can directly make an impact to make our society a safer place for transgender and gender non-conforming people.

As is too often the case in the reporting of anti-transgender violence, many of these victims are misgendered in local police statements and media reports, which can delay our awareness of deadly incidents. In the pursuit of greater accuracy and respect for transgender and gender non-conforming people in both life and death, HRC offers guidelines for journalists and others who report on these communities.

HRC has been tracking reports of fatal anti-transgender violence for the past several years. Previous reports can be found: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015.

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Violence Against the Transgender Community in 2020

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As HRC continues to work toward justice and equality for transgender and gender non-conforming people, we mourn those we have lost.

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Elliot Page doesn't remember exactly how long he had been asking.

But he does remember the acute feeling of triumph when, around age 9, he was finally allowed to cut his hair short. "I felt like a boy," Page says. "I wanted to be a boy. I would ask my mom if I could be someday." Growing up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Page visualized himself as a boy in imaginary games, freed from the discomfort of how other people saw him: as a girl. After the haircut, strangers finally started perceiving him the way he saw himself, and it felt both right and exciting.

The joy was short-lived. Months later, Page got his first break, landing a part as a daughter in a Canadian mining family in the TV movie Pit Pony. He wore a wig for the film, and when Pit Pony became a TV show, he grew his hair out again. "I became a professional actor at the age of 10," Page says. And pursuing that passion came with a difficult compromise. "Of course I had to look a certain way."

We are speaking in late February. It is the first interview Page, 34, has given since disclosing in December that he is transgender, in a heartfelt letter posted to Instagram, and he is crying before I have even uttered a question. "Sorry, I'm going to be emotional, but that's cool, right?" he says, smiling through his tears.

It's hard for him to talk about the days that led up to that disclosure. When I ask how he was feeling, he looks away, his neck exposed by a new short haircut. After a pause, he presses his hand to his heart and closes his eyes. "This feeling of true excitement and deep gratitude to have made it to this point in my life," he says, "mixed with a lot of fear and anxiety."

It's not hard to understand why a trans person would be dealing with conflicting feelings in this moment. Increased social acceptance has led to more young people describing themselves as trans-1.8% of Gen Z compared with 0.2% of boomers, according to a recent Gallup poll-yet this has fueled conservatives who are stoking fears about a "transgender craze." President Joe Biden has restored the right of transgender military members to serve openly, and in Hollywood, trans people have never had more meaningful time onscreen. Meanwhile, J.K. Rowling is leveraging her cultural capital to oppose transgender equality in the name of feminism, and lawmakers are arguing in the halls of Congress over the validity of gender identities. "Sex has become a political football in the culture wars," says Chase Strangio, deputy director for transgender justice at the ACLU.

And so Page-who charmed America as a precocious pregnant teenager in Juno, constructed dreamscapes in Inception and now stars in Netflix's hit superhero show The Umbrella Academy, the third season of which he's filming in Toronto-expected that his news would be met with both applause and vitriol. "What I was anticipating was a lot of support and love and a massive amount of hatred and transphobia," says Page. "That's essentially what happened." What he did not anticipate was just how big this story would be. Page's announcement, which made him one of the most famous out trans people in the world, started trending on Twitter in more than 20 countries. He gained more than 400,000 new followers on Instagram on that day alone. Thousands of articles were published. Likes and shares reached the millions. Right-wing podcasters readied their rhetoric about "women in men's locker rooms." Casting directors reached out to Page's manager saying it would be an honor to cast Page in their next big movie.

So, it was a lot. Over the course of two conversations, Page will say that understanding himself in all the specifics remains a work in progress. Fathoming one's gender, an identity innate and performed, personal and social, fixed and evolving, is complicated enough without being under a spotlight that never seems to turn off. But having arrived at a critical juncture, Page feels a deep sense of responsibility to share his truth. "Extremely influential people are spreading these myths and damaging rhetoric-every day you're seeing our existence debated," Page says. "Transgender people are so very real."

***

That role in Pit Pony led to other productions and eventually, when Page was 16, to a film called Mouth to Mouth. Playing a young anarchist, Page had a chance to cut his hair again. This time, he shaved it off completely. The kids at his high school teased him, but in photos he has posted from that time on social media he looks at ease. Page's head was still shaved when he mailed in an audition tape for the 2005 thriller Hard Candy. The people in charge of casting asked him to audition again in a wig. Soon, the hair was back.

Page's tour de force performance in Hard Candy led, two years later, to Juno, a low-budget indie film that brought Page Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations and sudden megafame. The actor, then 21, struggled with the stresses of that ascension. The endless primping, red carpets and magazine spreads were all agonizing reminders of the disconnect between how the world saw Page and who he knew himself to be. "I just never recognized myself," Page says. "For a long time I could not even look at a photo of myself." It was difficult to watch the movies too, especially ones in which he played more feminine roles.

Page loved making movies, but he also felt alienated by Hollywood and its standards. Alia Shawkat, a close friend and co-star in 2009's Whip It, describes all the attention from Juno as scarring. "He had a really hard time with the press and expectations," Shawkat says. "'Put this on! And look this way! And this is sexy!'"

By the time he appeared in blockbusters like X-Men: The Last Stand and Inception, Page was suffering from depression, anxiety and panic attacks. He didn't know, he says, "how to explain to people that even though [I was] an actor, just putting on a T-shirt cut for a woman would make me so unwell." Shawkat recalls Page's struggles with clothes. "I'd be like, 'Hey, look at all these nice outfits you're getting,' and he would say, 'It's not me. It feels like a costume,'" she says. Page tried to convince himself that he was fine, that someone who was fortunate enough to have made it shouldn't have complaints. But he felt exhausted by the work required to "just exist," and thought more than once about quitting acting.

In 2014, Page came out as gay, despite feeling for years that "being out was impossible" given his career. (Gender identity and sexual orientation are, of course, distinct, but one queer identity can coexist with another.) In an emotional speech at a Human Rights Campaign conference, Page talked about being part of an industry "that places crushing standards" on actors and viewers alike. "There are pervasive stereotypes about masculinity and femininity that define how we're all supposed to act, dress and speak," Page went on. "And they serve no one."

The actor started wearing suits on the red carpet. He found love, marrying choreographer Emma Portner in 2018. He asserted more agency in his career, producing his own films with LGBTQ leads like Freeheld and My Days of Mercy. And he made a masculine wardrobe a condition of taking roles. Yet the daily discord was becoming unbearable. "The difference in how I felt before coming out as gay to after was massive," says Page. "But did the discomfort in my body ever go away? No, no, no, no."

***

In part, it was the isolation forced by the pandemic that brought to a head Page's wrestling with gender. (Page and Portner separated last summer, and the two divorced in early 2021. "We've remained close friends," Page says.) "I had a lot of time on my own to really focus on things that I think, in so many ways, unconsciously, I was avoiding," he says. He was inspired by trailblazing trans icons like Janet Mock and Laverne Cox, who found success in Hollywood while living authentically. Trans writers helped him understand his feelings; Page saw himself reflected in P. Carl's memoir Becoming a Man. Eventually "shame and discomfort" gave way to revelation. "I was finally able to embrace being transgender," Page says, "and letting myself fully become who I am."

This led to a series of decisions. One was asking the world to call him by a different name, Elliot, which he says he's always liked. Page has a tattoo that says E.P. PHONE HOME, a reference to a movie about a young boy with that name. "I loved E.T. when I was a kid and always wanted to look like the boys in the movies, right?" he says. The other decision was to use different pronouns-for the record, both he/him and they/them are fine. (When I ask if he has a preference on pronouns for the purposes of this story, Page says, " He/him is great.")

A day before we first speak, Page will talk to his mom about this interview and she will tell him, "I'm just so proud of my son." He grows emotional relating this and tries to explain that his mom, the daughter of a minister, who was born in the 1950s, was always trying to do what she thought was best for her child, even if that meant encouraging young Page to act like a girl. "She wants me to be who I am and supports me fully," Page says. "It is a testament to how people really change."

Another decision was to get top surgery. Page volunteers this information early in our conversation; at the time he posted his disclosure on Instagram, he was recovering in Toronto. Like many trans people, Page emphasizes being trans isn't all about surgery. For some people, it's unnecessary. For others, it's unaffordable. For the wider world, the media's focus on it has sensationalized transgender bodies, inviting invasive and inappropriate questions. But Page describes surgery as something that, for him, has made it possible to finally recognize himself when he looks in the mirror, providing catharsis he's been waiting for since the "total hell" of puberty. "It has completely transformed my life," he says. So much of his energy was spent on being uncomfortable in his body, he says. Now he has that energy back.

***

For the transgender community at large, visibility does not automatically lead to acceptance. Around the globe, transgender people deal disproportionately with violence and discrimination. Anti-trans hate crimes are on the rise in the U.K. along with increasingly transphobic rhetoric in newspapers and tabloids. In the U.S., in addition to the perennial challenges trans people face with issues like poverty and homelessness, a flurry of bills in state legislatures would make it a crime to provide transition-related medical care to trans youth. And crass old jokes are still in circulation. When Biden lifted the ban on open service for transgender troops, Saturday Night Live 's Michael Che did a bit on Weekend Update about the policy being called "don't ask, don't tuck."

Page says coming out as trans was "selfish" on one level: "It's for me. I want to live and be who I am." But he also felt a moral imperative to do so, given the times. Human identity is complicated and mysterious, but politics insists on fitting everything into boxes. In today's culture wars, simplistic beliefs about gender-e.g., chromosomes = destiny-are so widespread and so deep-seated that many people who hold those beliefs don't feel compelled to consider whether they might be incomplete or prejudiced. On Feb. 24, after a passionate debate on legislation that would ban discrimination against LGBTQ people, Representative Marie Newman, an Illinois Democrat, proudly displayed the pride flag in support of her daughter, who is trans. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, responded by hanging a poster outside her office that read: There are TWO genders: MALE & FEMALE.

The next day Dr. Rachel Levine, who stands to become the first openly transgender federal official confirmed by the Senate, endured a tirade from Senator Rand Paul about "genital mutilation" during her confirmation hearing. My second conversation with Page happens shortly after this. He brings it up almost immediately, and seems both heartbroken and determined. He wants to emphasize that top surgery, for him, was "not only life-changing but lifesaving." He implores people to educate themselves about trans lives, to learn how crucial medical care can be, to understand that lack of access to it is one of the many reasons that an estimated 41% of transgender people have attempted suicide, according to one survey.

Page has been in the political trenches for a while, having leaned into progressive activism after coming out as queer in 2014. For two seasons, he and best friend Ian Daniel filmed Gaycation, a Viceland series that explored LGBTQ culture around the world and, at one point, showed Page grilling Senator Ted Cruz at the Iowa State Fair about discrimination against queer people. In 2019, Page made a documentary called There's Something in the Water, which explores environmental hardships experienced by communities of color in Nova Scotia, with $350,000 of his own money. That activism extends to his own industry: in 2017, he published a Facebook post that, among other things, accused director Brett Ratner of forcibly outing him as gay on the set of an X-Men movie. (A representative for Ratner did not respond to a request for comment.)

As a trans person who is white, wealthy and famous, Page has a unique kind of privilege, and with it an opportunity to advocate for those with less. According to the U.S. Trans Survey, a large-scale report from 2015, transgender people of color are more likely to experience unemployment, harassment by police and refusals of medical care. Nearly half of all Black respondents reported being denied equal treatment, verbally harassed and/or physically attacked in the past year. Trans people as a group fare much worse on such stats than the general population. "My privilege has allowed me to have resources to get through and to be where I am today," Page says, "and of course I want to use that privilege and platform to help in the ways I can."

Since his disclosure, Page has been mostly quiet on social media. One exception has been to tweet on behalf of the ACLU, which is in the midst of fighting anti-trans bills and laws around the country, including those that ban transgender girls and women from participating in sports. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves says he will sign such a bill in the name of "protect[ing] young girls." Page played competitive soccer and vividly recalls the agony of being told he would have to play on the girls' team once he aged out of mixed-gender squads. After an appeal, Page was allowed to play with the boys for an additional year. Today, several bills list genitalia as a requirement for deciding who plays on which team. "I would have been in that position as a kid," Page says. "It's horrific."

All this advocacy is unlikely to make life easier. "You can't enter into certain spaces as a public trans person," says the ACLU's Strangio, "without being prepared to spend some percentage of your life being threatened and harassed." Yet, while he seems overwhelmed at times, Page is also eager. Many of the political attacks on trans people-whether it is a mandate that bathroom use be determined by birth sex, a blanket ban on medical interventions for trans kids or the suggestion that trans men are simply wayward women beguiled by male privilege-carry the same subtext: that trans people are mistaken about who they are. "We know who we are," Page says. "People cling to these firm ideas [about gender] because it makes people feel safe. But if we could just celebrate all the wonderful complexities of people, the world would be such a better place."

***

Even if Page weren't vocal, his public presence would communicate something powerful. That is in part because of what Paisley Currah, a professor of political science at Brooklyn College, calls "visibility gaps." Historically, trans women have been more visible, in culture and in Hollywood, than trans men. There are many explanations: Our culture is obsessed with femininity. Men's bodies are less policed and scrutinized. Patriarchal people tend to get more emotional about who is considered to be in the same category as their daughters. "And a lot of trans men don't stand out as trans," says Currah, who is a trans man himself. "I think we've taken up less of the public's attention because masculinity is sort of the norm."

During our interviews, Page will repeatedly refer to himself as a "transgender guy." He also calls himself nonbinary and queer, but for him, transmasculinity is at the center of the conversation right now. "It's a complicated journey," he says, "and an ongoing process."

While the visibility gap means that trans men have been spared some of the hate endured by trans women, it has also meant that people like Page have had fewer models. "There were no examples," Page says of growing up in Halifax in the 1990s. There are many queer people who have felt "that how they feel deep inside isn't a real thing because they never saw it reflected back to them," says Tiq Milan, an activist, author and transgender man. Page offers a reflection: "They can see that and say, 'You know what, that's who I am too,'" Milan says. When there aren't examples, he says, "people make monsters of us."

For decades, that was something Hollywood did. As detailed in the 2020 Netflix documentary Disclosure, transgender people have been portrayed onscreen as villainous and deceitful, tragic subplots or the butt of jokes. In a sign of just how far the industry has come-spurred on by productions like Pose and trailblazers like Mock-Netflix offered to change the credits on The Umbrella Academy the same day that its star posted his statement on social media. Now when an episode ends, the first words viewers see are "Elliot Page."

Today, there are many out trans and nonbinary actors, directors and producers. Storylines involving trans people are more common, more respectful. Sometimes that aspect of identity is even incidental, rather than the crux of a morality tale. And yet Hollywood can still seem a frightening place for LGBTQ people to come out. "It's an industry that says, 'Don't do that,'" says director Silas Howard, who got his break on Amazon's show Transparent, which made efforts to hire transgender crew members. "I wouldn't have been hired if they didn't have a trans initiative," Howard says. "I'm always aware of that."

So what will it mean for Page's career? While Page has appeared in many projects, he also faced challenges landing female leads because he didn't fit Hollywood's narrow mold. Since Page's Instagram post, his team is seeing more activity than they have in years. Many of the offers coming in-to direct, to produce, to act-are trans-related, but there are also some "dude roles."

Page was attracted to the role of Vanya in The Umbrella Academy because-in the first season, released in 2019-Vanya is crushed by self-loathing, believing herself to be the only ordinary sibling in an extraordinary family. The character can barely summon the courage to move through the world. "I related to how much Vanya was closed off," Page says. Now on set filming the third season, co-workers have seen a change in the actor. "It seems like there's a tremendous weight off his shoulders, a feeling of comfort," says showrunner Steve Blackman. "There's a lightness, a lot more smiling." For Page, returning to set has been validating, if awkward at times. Yes, people accidentally use the wrong pronouns-"It's going to be an adjustment," Page says-but co-workers also see and acknowledge him.

The debate over whether cisgender people, who have repeatedly collected awards for playing trans characters, should continue to do so has largely been settled. However, trans actors have rarely been considered for cisgender parts. Whatever challenges might lie ahead, Page seems exuberant about playing a new spectrum of roles. "I'm really excited to act, now that I'm fully who I am, in this body," Page says. "No matter the challenges and difficult moments of this, nothing amounts to getting to feel how I feel now."

This includes having short hair again. During our interview, Page keeps rearranging strands on his forehead. It took a long time for him to return to the barber's chair and ask to cut it short, but he got there. And how did that haircut feel?

Page tears up again, then smiles. "I just could not have enjoyed it more," he says.

-With reporting by Leslie Dickstein and Simmone Shah
Grooming by Jodi Urichuk for L'Oréal Paris/Plutino Group and Joseph Santiago at Sassoon Academy Toronto

Contact us at letters@time.com.

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Elliot Page doesn't remember exactly how long he had been asking. But he does remember the acute feeling of triumph when, around age 9, he was finally allowed to cut his hair short. "I felt like a boy," Page says. "I wanted to be a boy.

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There are over 63,000 bars throughout the 50 states. Only 21 one of them are lesbian. This stark reality is learned watching a video made by The Lesbian Bar Project, a group that "aim to celebrate, support, and preserve the remaining Lesbian bars that exist in the United States. We hope to ensure the bars not only survive but thrive in a post-pandemic landscape." Already dwindling in number before the Covid-19 pandemic, some of the few Lesbian bars might not be able to reopen. According to CNBC, 60% of businesses closed during the lockdown will not reopen.

Excited to support the #LesbianBarProject. Only 15 lesbian bars left in the U.S.-down from ~200 in the late '80s. I wasn't out yet in college, but I passed @CubbyHoleBar often. I never went in, but felt affirmed walking by. Grateful. 🙏🏳️‍🌈 Donate: https://t.co/ySMcNmRThJ pic.twitter.com/YyliRMOGWf

- Erica Swallow (@ericaswallow) November 22, 2020

Queer bars have always been more than a place to get a drink. Ask any gay man or lesbian the name of their first "gay" bar and chances are they will not only tell you the name (mine was Pieces in the West Village!), but the exact date, and how it felt to finally be in a place they felt welcomed and not alone anymore. Sharni Tapuke-O'Neal, the general manager of Henrietta Hudson, one of the two lesbian bars open in Manhattan spoke to the Commercial Observer, about the importance of the famed bar,

"It was about the place. It was about having a space where you could come in and nobody was going to judge you. Nobody was going to misgender you. Nobody was going to turn around and say, 'Oh, why are you wearing that? What are you? Are you bi, are you les?'"

Queer bars are vital to the LGBTQ community. They are more than just buildings. They house our history and can help our future. They are havens for the young providing them social interactions with those just like them, maybe for the first time in their lives. In the 1980s, queer bars became the meeting point for activism as the AIDS epidemic decimated the community. As the world changed in the 90s and 2000s, so did queer nightlife. A record number of queer bars and clubs provided endless nights of dancing, karaoke and drag bingo. DJ Miller, 62, from Maplewood, NJ fondly remembers going to lesbian bars,

"Years ago, when I traveled for work a lot, I could find a lesbian bar in almost every city in this country. Now, almost all of the grrrl bars are gone. I surely do miss lesbian bars and bookstores."

As nightlife evolved through the decades, it has been harder and harder for queer bars to keep the doors open. In the past few years queer NYC nightlife has shifted towards roaming weekly or monthly parties, a move designed to keep overhead costs at a minimum. "Pop-Up" nights have also become popular. Even with the advent of these new parties, the LGBTQ community still needs the "traditional" queer bars. Lisa Cannistraci, owner of Henrietta Hudson, plans on doing whatever it takes to keep the historic institution open,

It would be devastating to the community, to our culture, and to those connections we're making that could be lost. Losing the ability to congregate and be around like minded people that accept you would be terrible. I'm not going down. I'm not going to let Henrietta Hudson close. We're going to work this out.

The Lesbian Bar Project echoes her sentiments. They raised over $114,000 in 2020 for the 21 bars they are fundraising for. They plan to continue to work to save the bars for as long as the need is there,

On June 3, 2021 we are launching a 20 min. documentary film. The film will be through the lens of the bar owners, community activists, archivists, and patrons - their struggles during the pandemic, their hopes for the future, and why we must work to save these sacred spaces. This will launch another 4 week fundraising effort. Our goal is to raise $200k during Pride month 2021. - lesbianbarproject.com

For more information on the Lesbian Bar Project, you can watch the video below and go to lesbianbarproject.com. As read on their website, "When our history isn't protected, we must protect it ourselves."
{Due to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown and re-opening, the exact number of Lesbian bars open when this article was researched and remains unknown}
Sources: Commercial Observer, Them, CNBC, The Lesbian Bar Project

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Only 21 Lesbian Bars Are Left... In The Entire USA

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There are over 63,000 bars throughout the 50 states. Only 21 one of them are lesbian. This stark reality is learned watching a video made by The Lesbian Bar Project, a group that "aim to celebrate, support, and preserve the remaining Lesbian bars that exist in the United States.

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Actor/Singer Dove Cameron Comes Out as Bisexual

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Actor/Singer Dove Cameron Comes Out as Bisexual

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Following the trend of her fellow Disney cohorts, Dove Cameron is opening up about being bisexual in the Gay Times.

"I've hinted about my sexuality for years while being afraid to spell it out for everybody."⁠

In her first LGBTQ+ magazine cover, @DoveCameron gets candid about her bisexuality with GAY TIMES ✨⁠

Out now: https://t.co/kPrSRl3ZUs pic.twitter.com/BxMfBQKmo5

- GAY TIMES (@gaytimes) May 28, 2021

Dove Cameron started her journey as a Disney darling in 2013 playing both titular twins in the sitcom Liv & Maddie (who she has since said were both queer), all the way through 2021 in her most recent role as Mal (daughter of Maleficent) in the Descendants live action AND animated franchise.

For those who don't dabble in Disney, you might recognize her as Amber Von Tussle from Hairspray Live!, Ruby from Agents of SHIELD, or as the voice of Ghost Spider/Gwen Stacy in various Marvel Rising cartoons.

(Also this is neither here nor there but now that we know Dove Cameron is bisexual, it just adds wind to my Mal/Evie ship's sails.)

Being born in 1996, Dove Cameron is right on the cusp of Millennial and Gen Z and I think that shows in her road to coming out as bisexual. While Millennials were prone to Big Announcements at award shows and in interviews, and Gen Z will just casually mention it in a TikTok about all their favorite things, Dove did a bit of a combination. For years she's been hinting at it on Twitter, eventually flat-out saying it in replies.

She started mentioning her bisexuality more on social media around the time her lyric video for her song " We Belong " came out, as it depicted a variety of different couples, including wlw. And now, in an interview with The Gay Times, where she "gets candid" about being bisexual.

So even though this isn't exactly brand new news for those of us who have been following Dove on social media because they are obsessed with the Descendants movies despite being a grown-ass adult, it's nice to see she's comfortable enough to discuss it so publicly.

While a lot of the Disney kids I grew up loving did end up coming out later as we got older (Raven, Miley, and Demi for example), it always felt like they had to wait to come out until they were free from (or as a way to separate themselves from) their Disney persona. So it's pretty refreshing to see Dove Cameron be so open about being bisexual while she's presumably still under contract with Disney, or at the very least, still very top of mind for many, many tiny humans, who will now have another much-needed queer role model to look up to. I also believe she's only at the beginning of her career, because she's incredibly talented, and I think she could be a household name in the next few years, especially if this Powerpuff Girls live-action remake off the ground.

Viva la bisexual revolution!

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Dove Cameron Opens up about Being Bisexual, All Disney Stars Are Gay Now We Don't Make the Rules

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Following the trend of her fellow Disney cohorts, Dove Cameron is opening up about being bisexual in the Gay Times.

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0 have signed. Let's get to 25,000!

Too many youth in school are getting ridiculed and hurt at school for their gender identity or their sexuality. Maybe even both. Many teenagers that are a part of the LGBTQ+ community commit suicide because of bullying or being harmed at school. School is a place where kids are supposed to feel safe and want to go there to learn and for most youth in the community, it's the opposite.

59.5% of kids feel unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation. 42.1% or transgender and gender nonconforming students have been prevented from using their preferred name or pronoun. 70.1% of LGBTQ+ students have experienced verbal harassment (e.g. calling names, threatening) at school based on their sexual orientation. ( https://elizabethwarren.com/plans/lgbtq-equality

No one should have to go through being hurt and bullied for being who they are on a daily basis. I know this from experience. Being told that I'm nothing because of the people I love. Being told that no one will ever accept me or want me because of who I am. That sticks around. We need to inform school districts and teachers of what's happening that they can't see. We need to rise up and be the voices for people who are too scared to speak up for themselves. We need to stop LGBTQ+ youth discrimination, bullying, and harassment in schools, before it's too late.

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Too many youth in school are getting ridiculed and hurt at school for their gender identity or their sexuality. Maybe even both. Many teenagers that are a part of the LGBTQ+ community commit suicide because of bullying or being harmed at school.

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Last year, the House has passed the Equality Act, which would protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in their places of work, homes, schools, and other public accommodations. The next step is that the bill will go before the Senate.

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Conversion therapy in America is a problem that has been ignored for far too long and if left to fester, will continue to harm millions of LGBTQ+ children nationwide.
What is Conversion Therapy?
While conversion therapy varies in practice, ranging from physical adverse conditioning to blatant shaming, the lack of scientific proof backing up the usefulness of these practices as well as the long-lasting negative effects are still the same.

Conversion therapy is usually forced onto LGBTQ+ minors by their legal guardians. Studies have shown that children being mistreated for identifying as LGBTQ+ are:

8 times more likely to have attempted suicide

6 times more likely to have reported high levels of depression

3 times more likely to use illegal drugs

and 3 times as likely to be at a high risk for HIV and STDS compared to most other children or teenagers their age.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration also calls for the elimination of LGBTQ+ conversion therapy, having once stated

"Specifically, conversion therapy-efforts to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression -is a practice that is not supported by credible evidence and has been disavowed by behavioral health experts and associations. Conversion therapy perpetuates outdated views of gender roles and identities as well as the negative stereotype that being a sexual or gender minority or identifying as LGBTQ is an abnormal aspect of human development. Most importantly, it may put young people at risk of serious harm."

While in states such as California, Hawaii, and Rhode Island, the practice of conversion therapy upon children is outlawed, we call for a nationwide ban in America to protect LGBTQ+ youth from the harms conversion therapy inflicts.

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Conversion therapy in America is a problem that has been ignored for far too long and if left to fester, will continue to harm millions of LGBTQ+ children nationwide. What is Conversion Therapy?

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0 have signed. Let's get to 75,000!

With Section 377 decriminalized in India, things are looking up for the LGBTQIA community. They now find themselves as an integral part of a more accepting and socially aware society.

The world has always taken baby steps toward queer inclusion. And that's why today, over 100 countries have subscribed to the love-for-all philosophy - a milestone to be immensely proud of.

While love has slowly and steadily come to be accepted as an emotion with different shades, its symbol has not reflected that yet.

But after such massive progress, the world needs a Heart that represents universal love - the world needs a Pride Heart emoji.

One that celebrates all, and all kinds of love.

At Uber, we believe in celebrating diversity every day, not just during the Pride month, and we want to open this celebration to the world.

So, let's come together to give love an inclusive expression - one that is part of all our vocabularies, and one we can all express more frequently.

Let's come together to make the Pride Heart emoji - a universal symbol of love, a reality on all our keyboards.

With every signature #LoveMovesForward

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With Section 377 decriminalized in India, things are looking up for the LGBTQIA community. They now find themselves as an integral part of a more accepting and socially aware society. The world has always taken baby steps toward queer inclusion.

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Find a CenterLink Member in our LGBT Community Center Directory

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Find a CenterLink Member in our LGBT Community Center Directory

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BAGLY is a youth-led, adult-supported social support organization committed to social justice, and creating, sustaining and advocating for programs, policies and services for the LGBTQ youth community.

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Ending LGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness

Host Homes is an innovative, holistic program to address LGBTQ+ youth homelessness in Massachusetts.

A short-term intervention with long-term impact, Host Homes provides youth experiencing homelessness or housing insecurities an opportunity for a fresh start.

Youth participants' material, mental, emotional, and skills-building needs are addressed through curricula, casework, and clinical care.

LGBTQ+ youth are 120% more likely than their heterosexual and cisgender peers to experience homelessness.

1.6 million youth are currently homeless. 40% of those youth identify as LGBTQ+.

1 in 3 transgender youth have been turned away by shelters.

Give today to ensure LGBTQ+ youth have hope for a fresh start.

We are now hiring for a Host Homes Program Manager! Some qualifications include, but are not limited to:

Strong understanding of, and commitment to, BAGLY's mission.

Minimum of 3 years of prior supervisory experience and 2 years of direct services experience working with LGBTQ+ and homeless youth populations.

Experience in program development and implementation, and strong organizational, planning, communication, facilitation and time

For more information, apply here.

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Ending LGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness Give today to ensure LGBTQ+ youth have hope for a fresh start. Strong understanding of, and commitment to, BAGLY's mission. Minimum of 3 years of prior supervisory experience and 2 years of direct services experience working with LGBTQ+ and homeless youth populations.

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All BAGLY youth events are free of drugs, alcohol, violence, weapons, pressure, sex and harassment. DO NOT drink or take drugs before coming to a BAGLY event. If we think that you are under the influence, if you are found to have snuck in drugs, alcohol, and/or weapons, or if you are found engaging in sex, violence or harassment you will be escorted out of the event - no debate!

BAGLY reserves the right to refuse admission to any person believed to be a threat to the overall safety or enjoyment of our event.

Safety Policies

The safety, health and well-being of youth have always been BAGLY's highest priority, and therefore all of our organizational and programmatic policies and protocols have been established and implemented in order to best achieve these goals. We continue to revise and expand these systems as they are informed through feedback, experience and new developments, in order to ensure that they will continue to best address the current and emerging needs of GLBTQ youth as we move forward.

In addition to BAGLY's trained youth leaders, adult volunteers, paid staff and board members, each of our events also includes on-site law enforcement, primary health, and mental health professionals, as well as trained adult chaperones consisting of youth workers, parents, teachers and other community colleagues. Many of us are also mandated reporters and work within that framework in order to best ensure the safety of our youth participants.

Although no approach is perfect, and there will always be those who will try to get around even the most carefully implemented systems in churches, schools, service agencies, and community organizations such as BAGLY, all of us here at BAGLY are committed to ensuring that our programs and activities are as safe as possible for our youth participants

Coat Check Policy

All youth are required to check all coats and small bags at BAGLY's free coat check. Water is provided free at dances, so any bottles need to either be checked or thrown out before entering the dance. Once items are checked, youth may only retrieve their belongings when leaving for the night, and are not allowed to get items and return items to the coat check.

Important: A medication lock box is provided at the staffed medical station for any youth who must keep medication such as inhalers or epipens accessible.

Important: No suitcases/large bags! We will not accept suitcases or large bags at our coat check. Do not bring them!

Attending with a community based group or GSA?

Any adult chaperones attending with the group need to contact us at least 1 week prior to the event. Adults are ONLY allowed into dances as chaperones once they have been approved before the dance.

Interested in chaperoning?

Find out more about how to get involved as an event chaperone.

Questions?

If you have questions about any BAGLY event contact us or check out our FAQ page.

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All BAGLY youth events are free of drugs, alcohol, violence, weapons, pressure, sex and harassment. DO NOT drink or take drugs before coming to a BAGLY event. If we think that you are under the influence, if you are found to have snuck in drugs, alcohol, and/or weapons, or if you are found engaging in sex, violence or harassment you will be escorted out of the event - no debate!

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The Trevor Project | For Young LGBTQ Lives

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The Trevor Project provides 24/7 crisis support services to LGBTQ young people. Text, chat, or call anytime to reach a trained counselor. Free and confidential.

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LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) individuals face a particular set of challenges, both in becoming homeless as well as when they are trying to avoid homelessness. LGBT persons face social stigma, discrimination, and often rejection by their families, which adds to the physical and mental strains/challenges that all homelessness persons must struggle with.

Frequently, homeless LGBT persons have great difficulty finding shelters that accept and respect them. LGBT individuals experiencing homelessness are often at a heightened risk of violence, abuse, and exploitation compared with their heterosexual peers. Transgender people are particularly at physical risk due to a lack of acceptance and are often turned away from shelters; in some cases signs have been posted barring their entrance.

According to the Williams Institute, 40% of the homeless youth served by agencies identify as LGBT

43% of clients served by drop-in centers identified as LGBT

30% of street outreach clients identified as LGBT

30% of clients utilizing housing programs identified as LGBT

The most frequently cited factor contributing to LGBT homelessness was family rejection based on sexual orientation and gender identity, with the second most common reason of being forced out by their parents after coming out, according to the Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law, et al.

At school LGBT students often face harassment, both physical and verbal, which leads to many additional challenges. According to a 2015 report by GLSEN:

LGBTQ students who encountered high levels of discrimination were more than three times as likely to miss school than students who had not.

66.2% of LGBTQ students felt discriminated against at school due to their sexual orientation.

Only 10.2% of students said that their schools' anti-bullying policies included protections for LGBTQ students against harassment on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender.

Fortunately, rates of physical assault of LGBTQ students as well as homophobic statements are at their lowest levels since 2007.

LGBT youth are also disproportionately likely to become or remain homeless due to overt discrimination when seeking alternative housing - widespread discrimination in federally funded institutions frequently contributes to the growing rates of homelessness among LGBT youth. Once homeless, these youth experience greater physical and sexual exploitation than their heterosexual counterparts.
There are currently no federal programs specifically designed to meet the needs of gay and transgender homeless youth, and there are no protections in place to keep gay and transgender youth from being discriminated against while accessing federally funded homeless services.

Taking Action
Regardless of a person's gender or sexual preference, all people deserve the right to safe shelter, and homeless services need to develop a better system of support and understanding for LGBT individuals. The federal government can take several steps to reduce the incidence of gay and transgender youth homelessness and improve the services and treatment these youth receive if they do become homeless. According to the Center for American Progress, specific steps include:

School safety - Schools should be a safe haven for all youth, including LGBT youth. We need to address the role of unsafe schools have in promoting youth homelessness, and aggressively address school bullying. We also should better ensure that homeless youth are able to continue their education.

Recognition of homeless youth challenges - LGBT homeless youth, and homeless youth in general, should be recognized as special-needs populations, protecting them from discrimination by federal grantees.

Expanding housing options - LGBT homeless persons need safer access to housing options that will respect their sexuality and personal identity, as well as provide a safe environment. This includes training for shelter staff on how to be an ally to LGBT individuals and written policies to keep discrimination from occurring (See Transitioning our Shelters Guide).

Resources

Other Organizations

The National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) celebrates the Supreme Court decision earlier this week that the 1964 Civil Rights Act Young people who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or gender nonconforming, are protects gay, lesbian, and transgender employees from discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. 120% times more likely to experience homelessness than their cisgender and straight peers. This disparity is caused by mistreatment by family as well as institutions, and discrimination not just in employment, but also in access to housing, health care and education.

"[This] ruling by the Supreme Court is a monumental victory for LGBTQ people across the United States. Discrimination in employment is a critical barrier to safe and secure housing for LGBTQ youth and adults," says Gregory Lewis, CEO and Executive Director of True Colors United. "Discrimination against someone based on sexual orientation or gender identity is sex discrimination. This ruling makes clear that efforts underway at the Department of Housing and Urban Development to undercut protections for transgender people experiencing homelessness should not be allowed to continue under the law."

NCH has long supported inclusive access for LGBTQ people to shelter and other emergency services. In 2003, along with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, we authored a guide for how shelters can make their agencies safe for people who identify as transgender. A ground-breaking survey of transgender Americans in 2015 found strong economic disparities for transgender people. Nearly one in three, (29%) of respondents were living in poverty versus 14% of the general population, and 30% reported having experienced homelessness at some point in their lifetime. As recently as 2016, HUD itself published guidance for shelters requiring that transgender residents are accepted to single-sex shelters based on their gender identity, without regard for what may appear on someone's state identification.

But after insensitive and discriminatory comments about transgender people made by Secretary Ben Carson, HUD has shown intention to roll back the 2016 guidance for shelters. A proposed rule will likely be published in the coming weeks that would allow single-sex shelters to judge gender by biology, and not by someone's self identity.

According to the Transgender Law Center, "This situation is particularly dangerous for transgender women who are inappropriately placed in men's shelters where they often subjected to inhumane and degrading treatment and abuse, including sexual assault. While some transgender people will run the high risk of facing harassment and violence in a shelter that doesn't match their gender identity just so that they can be housed for the night, others in this situation will simply forgo shelter and sleep on street."

NCH firmly rejects any attempt to deny safe access to shelter or other resources for transgender and gender nonconforming people, especially transgender people of color, who disproportionately experience housing instability, discrimination and violence.

For more visit:
Info on Black Trans Advocacy Organizations
Lambda Legal
True Colors Fund

Continue Reading

The National Coalition for the Homeless held a NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION FOR HOUSING in Washington, DC, and in communities across the country, on Saturday, April 1, 2017.

Nearly 1,000 advocates in 25 cities nationwide took part to protest cuts to affordable housing, racial inequality in our cities, and the criminalization of poverty. These remain our demands:

1. Preserve funding and create further local, state and national housing resources solely for extremely low to moderate income, elderly and disabled households.

2. Stop ordinances, policies and practices that 1) criminalize and harrass people who are unhoused, 2) promote racial discrimination, or 3) prevent equal treatment of immigrants, people with disabilities, or those who identify as LGBTQ, especially in access to housing, employment and healthcare.

3. Ensure that safety net programs like food assistance, health care and emergency housing are available to any Americans residents in need of support.

Locations of Sister City Actions:
16 states and the District of Columbia
25 cities and the District of Columbia

Other resources and follow-up:

Continue Reading No Comments

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You searched for lgbt - National Coalition for the Homeless

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LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) individuals face a particular set of challenges, both in becoming homeless as well as when they are trying to avoid homelessness. LGBT persons face social stigma, discrimination, and often rejection by their families, which adds to the physical and mental strains/challenges that all homelessness persons must struggle with.

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This series is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I read it first in college, reread it as I was graduating, and now I get to read the full first two years as a collected, physical book. Bitty owns my heart and I plan to cry about him for the rest of time. He's my perfect soft, loving, pastry happy, gay, hockey playing southern gentleman.

READ THIS. Then get up to date with the webcomic so we can all yell together.

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This series is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I read it first in college, reread it as I was graduating, and now I get to read the full first two years as a collected, physical book. Bitty owns my heart and I plan to cry about him for the rest of time.

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Do All Asexuals Think the Same? | Spectrum

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Do All Asexuals Think the Same? | Spectrum

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Do All Asexuals Think the Same? | Spectrum

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Validating and vilifying, triumphant and traumatic. Groundbreaking artists reflect on trans representation in film and TV. Watch trailers & learn more.

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Bisexuality, Pansexuality, Omnisexuality and Polysexuality  What's the difference?

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The Lesbian Bar Project | Now Streaming on RTL+ & Roku

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In the 1980s, there were roughly 200 Lesbian Bars in the United States. Today, there are fewer than 25. As these bars disappear, filmmakers Erica Rose and Elina Street established The Lesbian Bar Project to celebrate, support, and amplify the remaining Lesbian bars.

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What's New and Gay on Streaming Services

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What's New and Gay on Streaming Services

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By Riese

It's Pride Month and we're expecting all of the networks to look us straight in the face and say "you exist!" What precisely have Netfilx, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Peacock and HBO Max rustled up for the LGBTQ+ folks this June? It's time for your monthly streaming guide! Let's discuss.

Netflix's June 2021 Lesbian, Gay and Bi Content
Summertime: Season 2 (Netflix Original) - June 3
Season One of this Italian teen series centered on the romance between Ale, a famous motorcyclist and Summer, an introvert working at the Grand Hotel for the summer to support her mother. Summer's best friend Sofia is queer and has the hots for Summer. In Season 2, we're returning to the Riviera, where I spy a lesbian with a bleached-blonde alternative lifestyle haircut kissing someone (maybe Sofia?).
Dancing Queens (2021) (Netflix Original) - June 3
Dylan Peterson's got a job cleaning the drag club Queens where their star choreographer, Victor, spots her dancing and realizes WOW SHE'S A TALENT! She could save the Queens! Except she's a girl. So she pretends to be a boy so she can be a drag queen?
Feel Good: Season 2 (Netflix Original) - June 4
One of our most beloved shows of 2020 is back with Season 2, in which Mae will attempt to salvage her relationship with George, recover from a relapse, figure out some gender stuff and some career stuff and just generally be really relate-able and weird and I can't wait!
Workin' Moms: Season 5 - June 15
In the show's fifth season, it seems Frankie is on a better path than she's has been before, with her realty business booming; a far cry from the gay disaster we met in season 1. And yet there are still plenty of shenanigans to be had with her house full of co-parenting queers.
Elite: Season 4 (Netflix Original) - June 18
The first three seasons of runaway hit Elite centered quite a few gay and bisexual male characters, but queer women remained in the background - Polo's corrupt lesbian Moms and the subtle reveal of Rebeca's bisexuality. In Season 4, her orientation will be thrust to the forefront at last because she for sure has a girlfriend in this trailer. Netflix has been teasing its first Sapphic storyline on Elite and in the words of so many other gay websites, "we are here for it."

America: The Motion Picture (Netflix Original) - June 30

This R-rated animated revisionist history of the founding of America features Olivia Munn as Thomas Edison. She has an undercut and just looks really truly incredibly gay, but I have no confirmation of this, just hope.

Hulu's LGBTQ+ Streaming Content For Girls, Gays and Theys in June 2021
Changing the Game (2021) - June 1
This documentary delves into the ever-present issue of transgender inclusion in sports, following athletes at all stages of their athletic seasons and personal lives - like Sarah, a skier and teen policymaker in New Hampshire and Andraya, a track star in Connecticut openly competing on the girls track team. At the center of the narrative is Mack Beggs, who made headlines when he won the Texas State Championship in girls wrestling.
Jennifer's Body (2009) - June 1
As Erin wrote of this controversial Megan Fox / Amanda Seyfried vehicle: "This film explores some of my favorite themes all in one glossy, campy, self-aware package: misandry, women being extremely gay together, principled revenge, and the triumph of aught culture."
Love, Victor: Season 2 - June 11
Victor Salzar came out as gay to his family in the Season One finale of Love, Victor - the Hulu teen romcom spin-off series of the original Love, Simon - and now that he's out, the whole series gets gayer as Victor builds a larger network of queer friends and tries to figure out what being gay really means to him. If you're patient and eagled eyed, sources tell me that there's also some light gay girl vibes to be on the lookout for in Season Two.
Motherland Fort Salem: Season 2 Premiere (Freeform) - June 23
In Season 2, Raelle, Tally and Abigail will be confronting the following: dangerous magic, higher stakes, a new threat from an ancient group of witch hunters called the Camarilla. Their training gets more serious as the girls move up to War College, where everything will be pushed to the limits! We're also getting a new non-binary character, M, a second-year soldier in War College who is very protective of her comrades.

What Is Amazon Prime Video Offering The Homosexuals In June 2021?

Rent (2005) - June 1

How do you measure your life in love? The only way to find out is to watch this film about a bunch of interesting artists some of whom are queer and/or HIV positive and are all friends with the same annoying white straight cis man. There are songs! One of them is called "Take Me Or Leave Me." If you ever wanna hear me sing it in my car just let me know.
Black Swan (2010) - June 1
A very intense film in which there is A SEXUAL SCENE involving rapidly unraveling ballerina Natalie Portman and freewheeling dancer Mila Kunis. I feel like they're gonna put this in the LGBTQ Stories section and I am going to side-eye that.
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) - June 1
Join us as a gay book (Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe) by a gay author (Fannie Flagg) gets turned into an allegedly not-gay movie about tomboy Idgie and her gal pal Ruth who run a diner together and deal with some pretty rough situations!
Grandma (2015) - June 1
Lily Tomlin stars as the titular Grandma, Elle, a lesbian poet and widow who gets a visit from her teenage granddaughter who needs money for an abortion. Thus the two head on an all-day journey into Elle's past trying to score the cash to make it happen.
Orlando (1993) - June 1
Based on bisexual depressive Virginia Woolf's Orlando, this film set in the 17th-18th century is the touching tale of a nobleman (Tilda Swinton) who inherits his parents house from Queen Exliabeth I (Quentin Crisp), has a disastrous affair with a Russian Princess and then wakes up ia woman and returns home to see if she can still keep the property.
Saving Face (2005) - June 1
One of the best lesbian movies of all time, Alice Wu's Saving Face is a tender and very funny love story between two Chinese-American women - one an out doctor and the other a closeted lesbian living with her Mom who also has plenty of her own drama.
Flack: Season 2 - June 11
Anna Paquin is a messy bisexual PR agent in Flack, and Season 2 promises you know, more catastrophes that she will fix. Also I believe her sister shows up and calls her a sex-and-drugs addict and a narcissist, and then Robyn tries to get sober but also maybe gets pregnant? Martha Plimpton joins as Robyn's Mom.
Bosch: Season 7 - June 25
Apparently in an earlier season of this procedural, the closeted LAPD Homicide commanding officer dated a character played by Rose Rollins!?!?! Anyhow that's ancient history and Rose has moved but I think that the commanding officer is still in it and so; this show trucks on.
"Manhãs de Setembro" ("September Mornings"): Limited Series - June 25
This project follows "the journey of a trans woman who leaves her hometown" in search of being a free and independent women. Five 30-minute episodes tell Cassandra's story as she gets a place of her own, a boyfriend she loves, a job as a courier in downtown São Paulo and a shot at fulfilling her dream at being a cover artist of Vanusa. But things take an unexpected turn when her ex, Leide (Karine Teles), shows up with a person she claims is Cassandra's son.
Also this month on Amazon Prime Video, some premium subscription-channel series are available for free: Stonewall Uprising (2010), Season One of Queer as Folk, Season One of The L Word: Generation Q and Season One of Work in Progress.
Here's What HBO Max Is Cooking Up For The Gays This Pride Month
Iris (2001) - June 1
A biographical drama about bisexual novelist Iris Murdoch's relationship with her husband John Bayley, starring Judi Dench as old Iris and Kate Winslet as young Iris.
Kajillionaire (2020) - June 1
Bisexual writer/director/weirdo Miranda July's third film is "a careful, long-game-playing meditation on how we can learn to parent ourselves when our own families refuse to do the job." Starring Evan Rachel Wood, the film is both a "dreamy, golden-hour queer love story set amidst the friendly outlandishness of contemporary Los Angeles" and an "unsettling, fluorescent portrait of familial betrayal."
Feast of Love (2007) - June 1
Based on the Charles Baxter novel I personally loved quite some time ago, this film looks at "love and its many permutations," set in Portland and centered on local community college professor Harry Stevenson. One of the stories is about Bradley, a cafe owner whose wife of six years (Selma Blair) meets a girl named Jenny (Stana Katic) playing softball and well, you can imagine where that goes. (LESBIANS)
Betty: Season 2 (HBO Original) - June 11
Betty's long-awaited return sees all our faves returning to their skateboards and New York and being gay and dancing and doing drugs and making mistakes and wearing masks around their chins!
Revolution Rent (HBO Documentary) - June 15
Neil Patrick Harris, Andy Señor Jr., and Victor Patrick Alvarez bring this documentary about Señor Jr's experience traveling to Cuba and directing a production of Rent, the country's first Broadway musical by an American company in over 50 years, which involved reimagining the show in a Cuban context.
Genera+ion Season 1: Part 2 (HBO Original) - June 17
The remaining episodes of Genera+ion, the edgy queer teen drama that captured our hearts earlier this year (?!) will drop into your lives on June 17th. With a few very brief exceptions, the trailer is mostly indifferent to the lives of heterosexuals. I truly cannot wait to watch our favorite angsty teens sort through all their messy gay feelings!
LFG (HBO Documentary) - June 24
A "no-holds-barred" inside account of the U.S. women's national team's ongoing fight for equal pay, as told by Megan Rapinoe, Jessica McDonald, Kelley O'Hara and others. LFG stands for "Let's Fucking Go" by the way. Fun fact!

Peacock's New Queer Content for June 2021
Milk (2008) - June 1
Allison Pill plays lesbian activist Anne Kronenberg in this excellent Harvey Milk biopic.
Rebellion!: Stonewall (2019) - June 1
This film is, I believe, about Stonewall, although somehow its existence managed to eclipse our knowledge at the time and even until this day. IMDB has characters like Sylvia Rivera and "butch lesbian" so um, YMMV. Let's see what this is!
Transcendent: Seasons 1-2 - June 1
This Fuse reality TV show from 2015-2016 follows a group of trans women who perform at the San Francisco nightclub AsiaSF.
We Are Lady Parts: Season 1 (Peacock Original) - June 3
Amina Hussain is a geeky microbiology PhD student looking for a husband who instead finds herself in a punk band as their unlikely lead guitarist. Lady Parts' drummer, Ayesha, is queer, as is a culture writer/influencer who wants to help the band grow in popularity. "The brilliance of We Are Lady Parts lies in the sharing of multiple truths of Muslim identity," writes The Stylist. "From what it's like to be queer to what it's like to be a Black Muslim woman and even having parents that encourage Amina's thirst for punk rock."

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June 2021: Here's What's New and Gay and Streaming on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and HBO Max | Autostraddle

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By Riese It's Pride Month and we're expecting all of the networks to look us straight in the face and say "you exist!" What precisely have Netfilx, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Peacock and HBO Max rustled up for the LGBTQ+ folks this June? It's time for your monthly streaming guide! Let's discuss.

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My sweet friends, perhaps you'd like to take a deep breath and notice if there's any stress in your shoulders before you sit down to read this. Not in a bracing-yourself-for-the-worst kind of way, just in a "I'm someone who takes in a lot of information all the time and maybe I can take a moment to relax right now" kind of way. There's going to be a lot of information in this post about all kinds of wacky astrology happening right now, and before we get into it I want to remind you that 1) there's almost always something wacky happening astrologically and 2) we are all still carrying pain and uncertainty into this present moment which means we need to be slower, gentler, and more attentive as we navigate paying attention to the future. From a traumatized space, every future looks like the worst parts of the past coming back to get you. So my short pro tip is don't read these horoscopes from that traumatized perspective. The astrology of this month has just as much potential to spur you towards deep insights and healing as it does to overwhelm you or bum you out. So use your agency and your self-compassion as you read on.

I invite you to take this breather because we are in the midst of eclipse season and moving into some of the harder energy of the year. In this month alone we have a solar eclipse on the 10th, Mercury will be retrograde until the 22nd, Jupiter will turn retrograde on the 20th, and we're getting the second exact square between Saturn and Uranus on the 14th. This is, in short, a lot. So let's take them bit by bit:

Eclipses usher in big openings and closings, dramatic revelations, sudden reversals, emergent information that unsettles and remaps our lives. Eclipse seasons last about six weeks (from the lunation before the first eclipse to the lunation after the second eclipse) and for most of us they create a kind of background sense of unsettledness. This solar eclipse on the 10th will affect you more personally, though, if you have any planets close to 19 degrees of Gemini, Sagittarius, Virgo, or Pisces. If that's true for you, expect the next six months to be a time of rebirth of sorts, in which you may find yourself living into a different version of your life than what you expected.

The Saturn square to Uranus happened once already on February 17th, and will happen once more this year on December 24th. This is the big theme of this year, astrologically, and it's all about the tension between structure and chaos, responsibility and freedom, commitment and flexibility, government and revolution, heteronormativity and queerness. Culturally, we're seeing this playing out in fights about how to control the pandemic, as well what collective responsibility looks like for huge social problems that have been with us for a long time, like racism and capitalism. Personally, you might feel this influence in the ways you're torn between doing what you have to in order to survive (Saturn) and living into the most audacious and liberated version of your life (Uranus). It's not going to feel easy right now to just wave one of those flags and say to hell with the other side - we're all feeling the crunch between how we would like to be more free and the compromises we have to make with reality and survival. In our relationships, this is accentuated by all the ways we've been less free throughout the pandemic. Whatever you've been doing, you're probably ready for a change. Whatever change you're longing for, there's probably something you still need to be cautious about. None of it's going to be easy right now, so be patient with all that is unsettled in your heart, as Rilke says.

And then, on the 20th, Jupiter stations retrograde. Jupiter is our cosmic gay cheerleader, and when she goes retrograde it turns down the volume on our faith in joy and adventure. Specifically, it's a time of questioning our faith. What have we been trusting that we maybe should have investigated a little more? What did we used to believe dogmatically that we now need to see with more nuance? What happens when our faith slips and our identities need to shift? For people with Sagittarius planets, this transit is going to feel a little extra tender. For all of us, it can help us do some reality testing and get curious about stories outside the ones we usually tell ourselves, but watch out for a sense of deflation or disappointment. Jupiter will station direct on October 18th, so the next few months all carry this theme. If you want a sense of what this retrograde might kick up for you, think back to the last Jupiter retrograde, from April 10th till August 11th of 2019.

Finally, all this is going down while Mercury is retrograde. Sometimes, when times are chaotic and our hearts are feeling tender and we are poised on the brink of transformation in uncertain and transformational times, we just need that extra reminder that sending emails efficiently is not going to save us, you know? Any frustrations, glitches, or mistakes that come up for you during this Mercury retrograde, I invite you to take them as reminders from the universe that you've got bigger things to be concerned with right now. Don't just cry if you lose your keys, y'know? By which I mean: do cry if you lose your keys because that moment of small frustration can actually open up much bigger feelings that have been waiting for you to claim them, and in letting yourself slump to the floor and cry might be the kindest thing you can do for yourself in that moment. And being kind to yourself, you can be kind to your friend or lover or coworker who is also finding it hard to keep their shit together right now. Which should really be the motto of this month: June, 2021: We have no time to be mean to each other because none of us have our shit together.

My books are closed to new clients till later this summer, but you can always find a deeper dive into the astrology of the month at my Patreon and follow me @corinadross for updates on astrology, artwork, and all sorts of things.

Good luck out there this month. Cry when you need to. Let the world transform you. Participate in your own healing. I'll see you all in July!

Aries

Stay with the trouble: Acknowledge that part of you likes to throw yourself into big dreams and projects, while another part of you wishes you would root down a little more and make sure you have the resources you need. Name the different desires for wildness, experimentation, and revolution on the one hand and security, stability, and abundance on the other hand. Know that both these sets of desires are valid, even if you can't yet find a way to integrate them. Recognize that some deep-held beliefs might shift this month before you're even aware of them. Learn to love the chaos of loving without knowing what happens next.

Taurus

Stay with the trouble: This year's tension and transformation is hitting you where you live, and who you are becoming is at stake. Remember that your process of reinvention can be slow and thorough, that change can move at the pace of your own energy. Expect discomfort but don't welcome exhaustion as a sign that you're doing enough. Acknowledge the world might be asking you for more than you have energy to give, and that you don't have to comply. Consider how much less you could be doing right now, and still manage have your shit as together as it can be in times like these. As Jupiter moves retrograde, you may have some doubts about big aspirations, especially if they involve a collective or community you belong to. Trust your gut on specific situations that aren't the right fit, but don't give up on the bigger dreams.

Gemini

Stay with the trouble: Name your restlessness, and trust that all the big ambitious desires for adventure and love and learning are still in your future. Name your confusion, your frustration. Trust that the fogginess of this present time won't last forever. Recognize that as you step into a new year of life, your flexibility is your best asset. Entertain all options and keep your options entertaining. Keep your imagination strong, your heart open, and your curiosity ever at hand. Remember that you are more than how you are seen. If the eclipse on the 10th is affecting your Gemini planets (any between 17 and 21 degrees of Gemini), expect this month to surface things you haven't been able to look at until now. Don't feel you have to make rushed decisions about the new information, just watch and learn.

Cancer

Stay with the trouble: Remember that falling apart is an essential part of being human. You get to dissolve, you get to be fragmented, you get to put yourself back together again in new configurations. And it's not just you-you're in good company, there is a vast constellation of other humans falling to pieces and reassembling themselves right now. Who knows what shapes y'all are going to end up taking? Who knows what new combinations will be possible? As you're in that free-fall just remember that some people jump out of airplanes for fun. This, too, can be an adventure.

Leo

Stay with the trouble: It's easy to dream of reinvention, of showing a different face to the world, of coming up with a stage name and a new social media handle and playing into some highly curated version of your ideal life. And then there is the reality of your actual relationships-the people who know the best and worst about you, the people who sometimes get irritated with you and have feedback about when you miss the mark. Loving yourself more means having less to prove to the world, and more to say to those people who are in it for the long haul with you. Accept the challenge to be more honest and more vulnerable with the ones you trust. Let love be the foundation of all your ambitious plans. And remember that healing is always possible, no matter how old or big the wound.

Virgo

Stay with the trouble: Which daily rituals are keeping you soothed and grounded, and which ones are just keeping you from being present with your feelings? As your sense of possibility is shifting, as you're learning more about how your future might look, what does it take to stop planning and drop into the reality of the here and now? In relationships, this often means making room for fear of all the things you cannot predict or control. Let this fear pass through you instead of pushing you toward more activity. It can be hard to trust that the people you love most are going to make all the wisest choices you want them to make, and this month will expose what's at stake in choosing to trust or not trust your important people. How do you make those decisions? How do you know when someone has earned your trust?

Libra

Stay with the trouble: Intensity isn't always a bad thing. As much as you strive for equilibrium, sometimes that just means bouncing back and forth between different desires and priorities. Welcome your restless urges, those sparks and flares that mean you're getting un-numb. And notice what lies underneath them might have you reaching again for anything that can numb you. Find a rhythm that you can sustain as you shuttle between these states. Find a pace that feels gentle and curious. And don't be too disappointed if your efforts at self-care don't always feel caring to your full self-release the responsibility to always be at your best.

Scorpio

Stay with the trouble: You can't go home again, but you do get to redefine what home means. If you're feeling trapped or confined, trust that this won't last forever. Relationships are a source of wild inspiration and possibly wild stress right now, as you're navigating a new way of understanding partnership and commitment. The balance you're looking for is that space where you can stay grounded while being open to change. What helps you find that balance? And if you're feeling disappointed by love right now, remember that every failed romance has taught you something and you're not doomed to replay that one story over and over.

Sagittarius

Stay with the trouble: To be honest, you're not going to love this month. This is not the month you emerge from your quarantine cocoon, ready to fall in love and get picked up by a record label and generate all kinds of buzz for your upcoming bestseller about how your health and your creativity and your relationships all got so much better during a global pandemic. Nope. This month will find you in process, damp-winged, fluttering a little on a nearby leaf, wondering when you'll feel strong enough to fly. Which is a totally normal and necessary state of being after big changes (or in the midst of big changes). Mostly you just need to remember that there is still joy, ease, and love to be found in these times, and that it's not going to feel this exhausting forever. If you're having deep feelings about home and family right now, make some space to grieve or to plan visits or to process what's coming up. And let your day-to-day routines be informed by exactly what you feel ready for, not what you think you should be doing.

Capricorn

Stay with the trouble: When you're under stress, you're good at being a mountain climber. Which is to say: you can endure harsh conditions for a long time with the minimum of resources. Feeling that cold wind whip around you, feeling that ache in your muscles-that can feel like a kind of safety, or at the very least like what's familiar. This month asks you to take a different kind of risk that has everything to do with not being in control. What kind of mica wonderland is starting to glitter under the snowmelt? What if this gets to be more magical? Are you afraid of falling into a crevasse or causing an avalanche if your heart opens? How can you stay grounded and resourced while lifting up your eyes and taking in what you see with love and awe?

Aquarius

Stay with the trouble: Stay open to the possibility that your identity isn't fixed, despite the reality of your history. Refuse the burden of being predictable. Notice, instead, how much you change in different environments and also what remains constant. Above all, don't believe that the past is the sum of your story. Even as Jupiter retrograde may spin you into a tiny whirlwind of cringe about your past beliefs and behavior, keep your full self in view: a multidimensional being of many shapes and sizes patterning across this present moment and into unknown futures.

Pisces

Stay with the trouble: So much can happen behind the scenes. In the edges. Between sleep and waking. Between knowing and naming. If you feel buffeted between those currents-back inward to remember your dreams, reaching out to name what happened-let yourself float. If you feel the riptide pulling you farther and farther from shore, remember that you are made of water and can become the waves themselves. Let yourself break and reform and break again, just as you do in dreams.

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Queer Horoscopes for June 2021: Buckle Up | Autostraddle

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My sweet friends, perhaps you'd like to take a deep breath and notice if there's any stress in your shoulders before you sit down to read this. Not in a bracing-yourself-for-the-worst kind of way, just in a "I'm someone who takes in a lot of information all the time and maybe I can take a moment to relax right now" kind of way.

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To Snapchat: Allow Username Changes from Dead Names

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To Snapchat: Allow Username Changes from Dead Names

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0 have signed. Let's get to 15,000!

Snapchat let's you change your name but not your username. The hassle it takes to create a new Snapchat username and add all new friends and create a new bitmoji and everything is too much of a hassle.

People who have changed their names, have come out as transgender or non-binary, and those who no longer go by their dead/given birth name. So what if they made their dead name a part of their username? Or someone who put their maiden name, or married name but no longer go by that name.

Snapchat should allow people to change their username. At least once in an account lifetime. The expectation to keep the same username or create a brand new account and have to set up a new email and not be able to add your phone number to your new account is absolutely absurd.

Every other social media application allows you to change your name or username. Snapchat should allow the same. Do better Snapchat. Get with the times. Show your support to the LGBTQIA+ community.

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Snapchat let's you change your name but not your username. The hassle it takes to create a new Snapchat username and add all new friends and create a new bitmoji and everything is too much of a hassle. People who have changed their names, have come out as transgender or non-binary, and those who no longer go by their dead/given birth name.

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what to do when you don't feel queer enough? | Dutchy

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what to do when you don't feel queer enough? | Dutchy

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what to do when you don't feel queer enough?

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I Want To Be With You - chloe moriondo (official music video)

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"lesbian youtubers" deaf "disabled youtuber" lesbian "deaf youtubers" "lesbian couple youtubers" "vintage hair tutorials" "vintage make up tutorial" "family ...

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Adding vintage fabulousness to a life with disabilities and chronic illnesses, aided by my beautiful wife Claudia and our adorable pups. Frequently Asked Que...

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Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

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Troye Sivan, Kacey Musgraves - Easy ft. Mark Ronson

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halsey "now or never" "hopeless fountain kingdom" badlands sorry "bad at love" alone "him and i" closer astralwerks

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Official Halsey YouTube channel. New single "Without Me" out now https://www.iamhalsey.com hopeless fountain kingdom out now featuring "Alone", "Now or Never...

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The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

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The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

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The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue (Montague Sibl…

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Read 19.8k reviews from the world’s largest community for readers. Henry “Monty” Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be t…

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Fancy Hagood - Southern Curiosity (Official Video)

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"Ohio" out now: https://KingPrincess.lnk.to...
Amazon Music: https://KingPrincess.lnk.to......
Apple Music: https://KingPrincess.lnk.to......
iTunes: https://KingPrincess.lnk.to......
Soundcloud: https://KingPrincess.lnk.to......
Spotify: https://KingPrincess.lnk.to......
YouTube Music: https://KingPrincess.lnk.to......

On Tour:
Info + Tickets: https://KingPrincess.lnk.to...

Follow King Princess:
http://www.kingprincessmusi...
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Director: Cody Critcheloe / SSION
Producer: Willie McDowell @ MOOJ Productions
Director of Photography: Alex Gvojic
Additional Cinematographer: Jeff Tomcho
1st Assistant Camera: Jimmy Grob
1st Assistant Director: Ben Thorn
Production Coordinator: Robert Aquino
Production Assistant: Mac Goodspeed
Director's Assistant: Ryan Jordan
Key Grip: Raul Morales
Styling: Sean Knight
Make Up: Sara Tagaloa
Hair: Jerome Terry
Sound: Sam May
Props: Mood Killer
Sound Mixer: Nick Schoonover
Editor: Natalie Wozniak
Colour: RKM Studios
Columbia Video Commissioner: Jill Kaplan
Columbia Video Coordinator: Alexa Zeliger

Cast:
MC: Henry Metcalf
Body Builders: Jazzy, Sandy
Bathhouse patrons: Lucas Serventi, Alex Serventi, Chandler James Burton, Erick Nett, Kevin Samson, Roy Halim, Luis Mota

Special Thanks to:
Megan Mantia
Jeffrey Wylie & Akbar
The band
Adam & Andrew of Fated Future
Trevor Albair
Harley Wertheimer
Rachel
Alexa Shouneyia

Concert footage Recorded at The Wiltern by permission of Live Nation Worldwide, Inc.

Lyrics:

How's it been in Ohio, babe?
Do you think about me when you're going home?
Cause I been getting rich
But everything I love is broke
So what's good?
Is it me or is it you?

Are you getting what you need?
Is it hard to roll a J without me laying by your knees?
Cause I've been getting paid
But my best girl ain't next to me
So what's good?
Is it me or is it you?
So what's good?
Is it me or is it you?

Cause when I think about it
Oh you're all I want to do
So what's good?
Is it me or is it you?

Call here and I'll
Show you what I like about it
I don't know what's best for me babe
But come here and I'll
Show what you like about it
I don't know where you'll be baby
Come here and I'll
Show you what I like about it

So is it me or is it you?
So is it me or is it you baby?
So is it me or is it you?

Call here
And I'll show you what I like about it

Well is it me or is it you?
So is it me or is it you, baby?
Is it me or is it you, babe?

#KingPrincess #Ohio #CheapQueen Show less

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"ben platt" "platt ben" "bad habit" "ease my mind" "sing to me instead" "dear evan hansen" "tony awards" "grammy awards" "daytime emmy awards" "atlantic reco...

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The official YouTube channel of Atlantic Records artist Ben Platt. Fans worldwide fell head over heels for Ben originating the title role in 'Dear Evan Hansen' and on-screen in films such as the 'Pitch Perfect' franchise. By singing his own truth, he shares another side of himself as a solo artist.

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Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

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The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (Netflix Domun

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The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (Netflix Domun

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The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson | Netflix Official Site

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She was a fearless face of the LGBT movement for decades. The police ruled her death a suicide, but her friends demand the truth. Watch trailers & learn more.

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A group of down-on-their-luck Broadway stars shake up a small Indiana town as they rally behind a teen who just wants to attend prom with her girlfriend. Watch trailers & learn more.

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Start your free trial to watch Happiest Season and other popular TV shows and movies including new releases, classics, Hulu Originals, and more. It's all on Hulu.

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Watch She-Ra and the Princesses of Power | Netflix Official Site

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Soldier Adora finds a magic sword -- and her identity as legendary hero She-Ra. She joins the Rebellion, but her best friend stays with the evil Horde. Watch trailers & learn more.

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The Umbrella Academy | Netflix Official Site

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Reunited by their father's death, estranged siblings with extraordinary powers uncover shocking family secrets -- and a looming threat to humanity. Watch trailers & learn more.

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Worth reading because it's a short, easy read that very clearly explains why the gender binary is detrimental. I found many of the examples relatable but also learned new things from other examples cited. The book has some great quotes too that could be pulled out and shared.

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Worth reading because it's a short, easy read that very clearly explains why the gender binary is detrimental. I found many of the examples relatable but also learned new things from other examples cited. The book has some great quotes too that could be pulled out and shared.

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CW: death of a loved one, talk of loss of a parent, misgendering, mention of parental abuse, mention of transphobic parents and deportation.

Genuine question: How do you review a book that feels like it nudge a piece of yourself forward, shifted it slowly to make you click in place and make that slight feeling of wrongness go away? If you think I'm being hyperbolic, I am not. Cemetery Boys brought me more than I can put into words and I have been struggling to write this review for over a month,...more

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CW: death of a loved one, talk of loss of a parent, misgendering, mention of parental abuse, mention of transphobic parents and deportation. Genuine question: How do you review a book that feels like it nudge a piece of yourself forward, shifted it slowly to make you click in place and make that slight feeling of wrongness go away?

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You probably meant this question for the author to respond to, but as someone looking forward to reading this book I want to put in my 2 cents. You probably meant this question for the author to respond to, but as someone looking forward to reading this book I want to put in my 2 cents.
S.E. H
S.E. Hinton has long been harshly critical of people who write fanfiction and who "dare" to interpret her characters as LGBTQ+, despite having many LGBTQ+ fans who see elements of themselves in these characters. She belittles them by calling them "little girls" and generally shows that, despite claiming to have LGBTQ+ friends, she is not a friend of the community.
The above referenced tweet is clearly S.E. exercising the power and privilege she has to beat down an author who dares to find some little inspiration in her works. If there was truly any "rip-off" happening here that would be a matter for her lawyers, so this smacks of an author being told that there is no grounds to sue and pouting about it on twitter.
The blurbs indicate that the story in no way resembles the plot of The Outsiders, so S.E. posting this tweet that offers none of that context just to whip her more rabid fans into a frenzy is reckless.
Tobly McSmith is a trans author who wrote a book about a trans boy that, I suspect, names himself after a character he admires. Trans authors and trans stories are already at such a disadvantage to get published that Hinton does not need to pile on. Especially before the book is even published. I would be surprised if Mr. McSmith remains as big a fan after the backlash that he has received. (less) ...more

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You probably meant this question for the author to respond to, but as someone looking forward to reading this book I want to put in my 2 cents. You probably meant this question for the author to respond to, but as someone looking forward to reading this book I want to put in my 2 cents.

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For anyone still wondering, both girls are Latinx, but they're not both queer. One of them reads as straight (although I don't believe she ever explicFor anyone still wondering, both girls are Latinx, but they're not both queer. One of them reads as straight (although I don't believe she ever explicitly states she is), and the other is canonically queer, although I won't mention what flavor. :) The book isn't a love story between the two girls, they're former best friends. There is, however, romance in the book, and there is also trans representation in the book, too. ...more (less)

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For anyone still wondering, both girls are Latinx, but they're not both queer. One of them reads as straight (although I don't believe she ever explicFor anyone still wondering, both girls are Latinx, but they're not both queer.

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Trigger warnings: Abusive parents, abusive relationship, gaslighting, alcohol abuse, slut shaming.

I was excited about this book from basically the moment it was announced, mostly because of how much I adored Queens of Geek. And then when this hit my Kindle, I put off reading it for inexplicable reasons. I have to say, I didn't love it as much as I loved Queens of Geek, and for at least 50% of the book, it was looking like being a 3 star book for me.

What I loved most about this is the diversity....more

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. (not active on this account stop adding me)

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Kristi Housman Confessions of a YA Reader

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Trigger warnings: Abusive parents, abusive relationship, gaslighting, alcohol abuse, slut shaming. I was excited about this book from basically the moment it was announced, mostly because of how much I adored Queens of Geek. And then when this hit my Kindle, I put off reading it for inexplicable reasons.

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Where the Heart Is book. Read 147 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. If home is where the heart is, what would happen if you lost it...

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Ashley Herring Blake writes beautiful books. Having read a few and really liking them, I was not at all disappointed by this middle teen novel about Ivy, her family, her feelings of isolation, her art and finding how to belong when she likes girls.

The powerful beginning, where she and her family have to run to their underground shelter as tornado sirens are going in a big storm. When they emerge, the home their father grew up in is completely gone, leveled during the storm. The feelings of every...more

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Ashley Herring Blake writes beautiful books. Having read a few and really liking them, I was not at all disappointed by this middle teen novel about Ivy, her family, her feelings of isolation, her art and finding how to belong when she likes girls.

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♦ Video Review ♦

Drum Roll, Please was a truly delightful read with a lot of powerful messages packed into it.

I usually don't really read Middle Grade but because of the themes of this book I felt drawn to it and was excited to give it a chance. And while the themes of this book were clearly Middle Grade, this really read like a lower YA. It did not feel juvenile at all and I can definitely recommend it to YA readers who are interested in the themes.

The summer camp aspect was wonderfully port...more

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♦ Video Review ♦ Drum Roll, Please was a truly delightful read with a lot of powerful messages packed into it. I usually don't really read Middle Grade but because of the themes of this book I felt drawn to it and was excited to give it a chance.

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i went into this expecting a heart-skipping-a-beat level of adorable.

and much as it hurts my hateful heart to admit it...i'd call this a success.

i hate writing graphic novel reviews, so here's a sentence:

this was cute and nice and i liked the art even if it felt like the shortest thing ever. and if the emotional aspect didn't always hit.

(bonus half sentence so i can be a grump.)

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reading all books with LGBTQ+ rep for pride this month!

book 1: the gravity of us
book 2: the great americ...more

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i went into this expecting a heart-skipping-a-beat level of adorable. and much as it hurts my hateful heart to admit it...i'd call this a success. i hate writing graphic novel reviews, so here's a sentence: this was cute and nice and i liked the art even if it felt like the shortest thing ever.

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A story of love and demons, family and witchcraft. Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her gran...

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I couldn't agree more with you on the age range in terms of YA, I kind of struggle with the same thing. This is definitely a 13-15 year old range, witI couldn't agree more with you on the age range in terms of YA, I kind of struggle with the same thing. This is definitely a 13-15 year old range, with language and mention of sex being the only sticklers. Hope this helped! If you ever need more appropriate LGBTQ+ books, just let me know and I'd be happy to recommend some! Ruby (#1Bookworm)...more (less)

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I couldn't agree more with you on the age range in terms of YA, I kind of struggle with the same thing. This is definitely a 13-15 year old range, witI couldn't agree more with you on the age range in terms of YA, I kind of struggle with the same thing.

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Not gonna lie, I'm having a hard time writing down some thoughts on this book because I am so overwhelmed with the ending as it featured one of my biggest triggers.
Overall this was really enjoyable read but I expected this to be really fun and it just really wasn't. That is not to say that the book was bad. Not at all. I actually that it is subjectively a pretty great book. It was really action-packed, I loved the magic system and the different kinds of witches.

But here's the thing.....more

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These Witches Don't Burn (These Witches Don't Burn, #1)

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Not gonna lie, I'm having a hard time writing down some thoughts on this book because I am so overwhelmed with the ending as it featured one of my biggest triggers.Overall this was really enjoyable read but I expected this to be really fun and it just really wasn't.

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Thank you so much, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! At this stage no sequels are planned, although I wouldn't rule out a spinoff book if the right idea camThank you so much, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! At this stage no sequels are planned, although I wouldn't rule out a spinoff book if the right idea came to me. There will, however, be some bonus content (think along the lines of a chapter told from Will's or Lara's point of view) available to those who pre-order my next book, so stay tuned on my twitter page for more details to come! Sophie Gonzales...more (less)

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☆Pelumi☆ (Go stream SUN GOES DOWN by LIL NAS X)

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Kathryn Speckels (Metaphors and Miscellanea)

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Thank you so much, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! At this stage no sequels are planned, although I wouldn't rule out a spinoff book if the right idea camThank you so much, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! At this stage no sequels are planned, although I wouldn't rule out a spinoff book if the right idea came to me.

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"When the leader of this kingdom treats women as property, it sets an awful precedent. People think it's okay to do the same."

4.25 stars
Oh my! An amazing debut! I can't believe how wrapped up in this story I got.
I loved Sophia from the start and I totally hated the ruler and the king. I cannot go into further detail without spoilers but this book is an awesome fairytale retelling. I can only recommend it.
(Also: the mc is poc and lesbian, just in case anyone was looking for a book like that....more

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Nenia ✨️ Socially Awkward Trash Panda ✨️ Campbell

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"When the leader of this kingdom treats women as property, it sets an awful precedent. People think it's okay to do the same." 4.25 starsOh my! An amazing debut! I can't believe how wrapped up in this story I got. I loved Sophia from the start and I totally hated the ruler and the king.

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Carry On has 88,730 ratings and 14,748 reviews. Clau said: OKAY. OKAY OKAY...I don't even know where to start. Obviosuly I loved this book, but I'm not...

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How do you rate a book that you know you were definitely too old for? As in, I like me some YA, but some just definitely are 100% written for people who aren't older than 16. Nothing wrong with that, but how do you approach rating & reviewing something like that? Sigh. ...more

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How do you rate a book that you know you were definitely too old for? As in, I like me some YA, but some just definitely are 100% written for people who aren't older than 16. Nothing wrong with that, but how do you approach rating & reviewing something like that?

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A desperate orphan turned pirate and a rebellious imperial daughter find a connection on the high seas in a world divided by colonialism ...

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Oh myyyy... Why did I wait too long and let other books occupy me and procrastinate to have my special meeting with those amazing characters!

I'm telling you my friends defining this book as the sweetest, loveliest, coziest read is not enough!

I fell hard for this book because of many reasons which are:

One of the most inspirational, powerful MC:

There are lots of things to tell about Liz. She truly knows how challenging and hard to be a young black and queer girl in small town Indiana and how it...more

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Nenia ✨️ Socially Awkward Trash Panda ✨️ Campbell

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Oh myyyy... Why did I wait too long and let other books occupy me and procrastinate to have my special meeting with those amazing characters! I'm telling you my friends defining this book as the sweetest, loveliest, coziest read is not enough!

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3.5 stars. Exuberant colour and emotions abound in this sweet, coming into one's self and friendship story.
Beetle is a goblin who'd rather not focus on her lessons and instead watch her favourite show or hang out at the mall with her friend Blob Ghost, who's stuck within for some unknown reason. When her old best friend, popular Kat returns to town, Beetle feels awkward and misses when the two would hang out and write fan fiction together. Kat is back, learning magic from her clearly evil aunt,...more

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3.5 stars. Exuberant colour and emotions abound in this sweet, coming into one's self and friendship story.Beetle is a goblin who'd rather not focus on her lessons and instead watch her favourite show or hang out at the mall with her friend Blob Ghost, who's stuck within for some unknown reason.

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July 11th 2020: yep this is by far robin talley's best book in my opinion!! the audiobook was a great choice, i enjoyed both narrators, and the main characters go through actual character development!

have i been let down by every robin talley book except for as i descended? yes. will i still read all her books? also yes...more

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Sarah 🌺 Books in Their Natural Habitat

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July 11th 2020: yep this is by far robin talley's best book in my opinion!! the audiobook was a great choice, i enjoyed both narrators, and the main characters go through actual character development! have i been let down by every robin talley book except for as i descended? yes.