Blythe del Kuzio

In the early hours of August 10th, the police responded to a shooting incident in Malvern, Johannesburg, where they found the lifeless body of a 22-year-old trans woman with multiple gunshot wounds. She was shot nine times while walking home after a night out with friends. The victim, Clement Hadebe, had recently started transitioning and had just moved from her hometown of Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal to Malvern, where she was living with her boyfriend before her death.  Related A U.S. activist allegedly accepted $300K from Russia to push anti-gay laws in Africa Family Watch International of Arizona was complicit in the funding. After Hadebe’s murder, she became a target of bigotry and victim-blaming on social media. The local media had run false stories on the circumstances surrounding her death. Multiple articles reported that she was killed after trying to hook up with a man without disclosing her “true” gender to him. Dive deeper every day Join our newsletter for thought-

In Italy on Wednesday, the Italian Senate pushed forward the West’s most restrictive ban on international surrogacy, making it a crime punishable by prison time for Italians to use surrogates in another country. The move closes the door on same-sex couples’ last, best option to start a family in the country. The far-right government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had already banned both surrogacy and domestic or international adoption by same-sex couples in Italy. Related Italy orders cities to stop recognizing children of same-sex couples People were protesting in the streets. The legislation amending existing Italian law would classify surrogacy as a universal crime transcending borders and impose a two-year prison sentence and a million-euro fine for defying it. The law also criminalizes work by Italian doctors, nurses and technicians in foreign fertility clinics that provide surrogacy services. Global perspectives delivered right to your inbox Our newsletter bridges bo

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has become the second Democratic candidate this week to release an ad responding to the GOP’s transphobic attacks – an ominous turn for trans advocates who worry Democrats may be starting to throw trans rights under the bus. Brown’s ad is a response to a smear campaign from the Ohio Republican PAC Senate Leadership Fund, which has spent millions of dollars on ads attacking trans people. One ad says Brown “voted multiple times to allow transgender biological males in women’s sports” and “supported allowing minor children to receive sex change surgeries.” Related Black trans activists say voting for Harris is crucial even if she’s imperfect on trans issues “I would rather have a fighting chance with her than have no chance at all with Trump.” Brown’s response ad plays clips from the attacks and calls them “a complete lie.” But instead of proceeding to express support for trans rights, he reminds voters that Ohio’s state lawmakers had already banned tra

“Yawn.” That was the collective verdict online following news that Josh Seiter, the grifting former Bachelorette contestant, had duped the public and a far-right outrage machine hungry for anti-woke content into believing he had transitioned. Related A trans woman came out to her great-grandma & her response is melting hearts around the world “Whoever is in there, I love.” “He’s trolling hard ,” posted one keen observer on Reddit months before Seiter confessed to the hoax. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Seiter made the admission on the right-wing BlazeTV podcast Prime Time with Alex Stein , revealing his four-month journey into womanhood was a social experiment to “expose how gullible and delusional the left is.” Seiter “came out” as trans in May, announcing to his Insta followers, “I have struggled with my gender identity — and resulting feelings of gui

New allegations of sexual assault against Sean “Diddy” Combs were revealed in six lawsuits filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York on Monday afternoon. Four of the plaintiffs are men. The attacks are alleged to have taken place at industry events, “exclusive” after-parties and Combs’ famous White Parties in the Hamptons between 1995 and 2021. Related Sean “Diddy” Combs accused of sexual assault by male producer In his lawsuit, Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones Jr. also alleges that he was sexually assaulted by actor Cuba Gooding Jr. The six new suits bring the total number of sexual assault accusations leveled at Combs to 18. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Two of the men have accused Combs of assaulting them at his star-studded White Party, including a 16-year-old boy who says that in 1998, Combs told him to drop h

This article  first appeared on Mother Jones . It has been republished with the publication’s permission. When the US  Department  of Health and Human Services  finalized a rule  in May asserting that gender dysphoria   can   be considered a disability under federal anti-discrimination laws, it codified what the overwhelming majority of courts have found for nearly a decade. The new rule put states on notice: Discrimination against transgender people in employment, education, health care, child care, housing, and elsewhere may   violate federal disability protections, and the Biden administration was prepared to fight it. Now, in  a lawsuit  led by  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton , 17 states are asking a federal court to strike down the rule in its entirety, including numerous provisions that have nothing to do with trans people. This isn’t a random collection of states; 15 of them have passed  restrictions on gender-affirming care , and all have embraced myriad anti-trans polici