Blythe del Kuzio

A federal judge has put a hold on an Arkansas law that would criminally charge booksellers and librarians who provide “harmful materials” to children. The law targets books that include LGBTQ+ characters or themes. The law, signed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R), was due to take effect on August 1. The former White House press secretary during the Trump administration and daughter of former far-right politician Mike Huckabee, Sanders has a history of making inflammatory anti-LGBTQ+ claims that aren’t true. Related Stories Walmart heirs stand up to Arkansas’s anti-trans legislators with $1M donation to LGBTQ groups The Waltons felt they “must send a message of acceptance to the LGBTQ community that says ‘You belong here'” after their home state passed an egregious anti-trans bill. The law also required a new process for people to challenge books and request they be moved to areas children cannot access. The judge’s preliminary injunction puts a halt on the ent...

An attorney in Michigan has filed a complaint about the tax status of the anti-LGBTQ+ extremist group Moms for Liberty. The complaint says that the group is not meeting the obligations of its 501(c)(4) non-profit status, which means that it should be acting as a social welfare organization. Moms for Liberty is a national conservative organization that sprang up in the previous few years in order to protest against COVID-19 measures, “critical race theory” in schools – a term that the right uses to describe any instruction about the history of racism in the U.S. – and the acceptance of LGBTQ+ students. The group, which organizes largely through private Facebook groups, has been instrumental in building support on the right for measures to take rights away from trans kids. Related Stories Jen Psaki exposes Moms for Liberty’s extremist anti-LGBTQ+ agenda “They are an unapologetically extreme organization that has built a long record of harassment.” The complaint says th...

A gay man died after being stabbed during an altercation with a group of young men Saturday night at a Brooklyn gas station. The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the crime. According to New York’s PIX11 , the victim, O’Shae Sibley, arrived at a Mobil gas station in Brooklyn’s Midwood neighborhood around 11:15 p.m. on Saturday night. He and four friends, all shirtless and wearing swim trunks, were dancing outside their car while waiting for it to fill up when another group of young men exiting the station’s convenience store began harassing them. Related Stories Attacker sentenced to 10 years in prison for brutal anti-gay assault at Brooklyn bodega “We’re not with that gay sh**t!” the attackers reportedly screamed. “They were saying, ‘Oh, we’re Muslim, so don’t do this in front of me,’” Summy Ullah, who witnessed the encounter, told the New York Daily News . “From that I think it looks like a hate crime.” Get the Daily Brief The news you care about, ...

A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order on a Montana law banning drag shows and drag queen story hours from taking place on public property. Montana Pride sued for an immediate injunction after being denied a permit for its July events in Helena because they included drag performers, CNN reported. Related Stories 13-year-old trans teen dies by suicide after relentless school bullying “Their light started to dim [as] the bullies… started to chip away at their soul,” his sister wrote. In his opinion, Judge Brian Morris wrote that “nothing in the record currently before the Court indicates that speech and expression associated with Montana Pride has harmed minors or any other community members.” Get the Daily Brief The news you care about, reported on by the people who care about you. Morris also wrote that the law at least partially violates the First Amendment’s right to free speech and that it “likely will disproportionately harm not onl...

Just weeks after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) promised a reset on his campaign, it definitely has entered a new phase: the death watch. DeSantis apparently learned nothing from the humiliation of having to lay off staff this early in the campaign season. A large part of the $8 million he burned through in just six weeks was on travel , thanks to DeSantis and his wife, Casey, believing that they only deserve to fly on private jets. (Most candidates – other than Trump, who has his own plane – fly commercial to save money.) Related Stories Christian web designer told Supreme Court she couldn’t make wedding websites. That’s not true. A key fact that bolstered Lorie Smith’s victimhood narrative has been shown to be untrue after a crucial discovery was made. So are Ron and Casey traveling with the masses to save money? As if you have to ask. Get the Daily Brief The news you care about, reported on by the people who care about you. After debuting his “leaner”...

Recent polling shows that Americans increasingly support transphobic bathroom bills, but social science research suggests that this trend could be reversed if more Americans simply came to personally know transgender people. In a poll released last October , approximately 52% of Americans said they support “bathroom bills” requiring trans people to use facilities matching the sex they were assigned at birth. This was 17% higher than the 35% who supported bathroom bills when the same question was asked in 2016, the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) reported. Related Stories The top 70 famous transgender people you should know Despite great personal hardship, many transgender people have done great things with their professional careers. Here are the ones you need to know right now. This increase is most likely due to the recent wave of transphobic legislation and rhetoric by conservatives nationwide. As of July 28, 80 anti-trans bills have been passed in state...

For the first time in history, a drag queen’s album has attained the number one spot on the Christian and Gospel iTunes music charts, and it’s all due to an anti-LGBTQ+ Christian whose attempt to shame her spectacularly backfired. Last month, Christian musician Derek Webb collaborated with Christian drag musician Flamy Grant for the music video to “Boys Will Be Girls,” Webb’s song about loving queer people who have been abandoned by the church. Related Stories A teacher got fired for attending a drag show. The queens rallied in her defense. One teacher said she felt like she and her coworker “were treated like criminals.” In the video, Grant helps Webb transform into a blue-haired drag queen, and the two sing the song’s final verse inside of a church. Get the Daily Brief The news you care about, reported on by the people who care about you. The final verse states: “I heard Jesus loved and spent his life with those who / Were abandoned by proud and fearful...

A North Carolina school board censured one of its Christian members for posting an anti-LGBTQ+ image on social media that showed an American figure assaulting an LGBTQ+ figure. The Christian man defended posting the image, saying he had free speech rights to oppose “woke” cultural issues. The Mount Airy Board of Education held a special meeting on July 10 to censure board member Randy Moore, a U.S. Army veteran who was appointed to the board in January 2021. Moore had posted a Facebook image of a figure in red, white, and blue colors kicking the midsection of another rainbow-colored figure symbolizing the LGBTQ+ community, The Mount Airy News reported . Related Stories Ron DeSantis’ pastor says gay people should be “put to death” The pastor tweeted in support of Uganda’s new “Kill the Gays” law. Moore told the publication that he “loves” the LGBTQ+ community but “not their doings,” meaning homosexual behavior — a variation of the classic Christian cliche to “love th...

A 13-year-old transgender boy named Onyx John died by suicide after allegedly being bullied by classmates for using he/him pronouns . John attended Beaudesert State High School in the Australian state of Queensland and was attacked by a group of girls in the school bathroom last August, his sister Ivy Lambert said. Classmates also made fake social media accounts in his name, which were then used to harass other students, she added. Related Stories Cis powerlifter epically defends trans women while eviscerating haters who accuse her of being a man “Just another day of getting stronger out of spite.” “The kids at school wouldn’t accept it,” Lambert told Daily Mail Australia . “The students would taunt him in front of everyone. It got so bad he would be shaking if he was forced to go to school. We were lucky if he went to school twice a week.” John reported posted TikTok videos before his suicide that showed drawings of a body with self-harm injuries and a note saying ...

With her new documentary Kokomo City , director D. Smith presents a rollicking, unexpected, and deeply affecting portrait of Black transgender sex workers. The film spotlights not only the women’s complicated experiences of sex work — from harrowing encounters with clients to the impact their work has had on their sense of selves — but also their experience of Black trans womanhood, their relationships with men, and their relationships with the broader Black community. But Smith, like her subjects – which include Daniella Carter, Liyah Mitchell, Dominique Silver, and the late Koko Da Doll, among others – resists the victim narrative. The film is clear-eyed about the circumstances (the lack of opportunities, transphobia, racism) that lead Black trans women to sex work. But it also showcases their unvarnished perspective, their humor, and their refusal to be reduced to tragic stereotypes. Related Stories Post-Pride watchlist: the essential queer content you may have missed wh...

Anti-abortion advocates in the U.S. are threatening to kill one of the most successful public health programs in history over unsubstantiated facts, unwavering opposition to a woman’s right to choose, and blatant anti-LGBTQ+ bias. Conservative rganizations, including the Heritage Foundation and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, are threatening U.S. lawmakers with the withdrawal of their support if they grant a routine reauthorization to the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the hugely successful HIV prevention initiative in Africa. Related Stories Has a sixth person been cured of HIV? The Geneva Patient’s HIV has been in remission for 20 months after a stem cell transplant to treat blood cancer. The far-right Family Research Council describes the 20-year-old program as “a massive slush fund for abortion and LGBT advocacy.” Get the Daily Brief The news you care about, reported on by the people who care about you. PEPFAR, initiated ...