Blythe del Kuzio

A high school in Fort Worth, Texas, canceled a student production of The Laramie Project recently, sparking outrage from many in the community. According to The Dallas Morning News , Timber Creek High School officials provided no explanation when they informed parents of the cancelation in an email last Friday. They said only that they were “working on developing an alternative production opportunity” for students” and that students would “still have an opportunity to read, discuss, and analyze the play” about the aftermath of the 1998 murder of gay Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard “during the school day.” Related: Armistead Maupin says we all think too much about Lauren Boebert The iconic “Tales of the City” author says though America is “deeply divided” we “need to have a loving connection with each other — period.” Less than a week since the cancelation, an online petition seeking to get the play reinstated at Timber Creek High has received over 3,000 sig...

A bill proposed in Kentucky would allow the state to remove trans kids from their homes for using bathrooms at school that align with their gender identities rather than their biological sex. Sponsored by state Rep. Jason Petrie (R), H.B. 747 does not explicitly mention trans kids or bathrooms, but instead uses broad language that subtly refers to a state anti-trans law that passed in 2023. The new bill seeks to add a definition of child abuse to state law, describing it as “a parent’s failure to properly supervise, instruct, train, or control his or her child” with that failure leading to “the child’s violation of the school board’s code of acceptable behavior and discipline adopted under KRS Chapter 158.” Related: Trans youth matter. Melanie Willingham-Jaggers needs us to fight harder for their future. GLSEN’s executive director says hateful education laws are decimating queer students’ mental health. But they still have hope. KRS Chapter 158 bans trans students fro...

Last September, actor-musician Billy Porter shared a few choice words with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) while speaking at the Stonewall National Education Project’s “Back to the Drive Celebration” in Florida.  Porter was speaking against DeSantis’s “Don’t Say Gay Law,” which prohibits classroom instruction on LGBTQ+ identities through 12th grade.  Related: The Black queer performers fighting to decolonize the art of pole dance Black people created pole dance, and now activists are fighting to end the whitewashing & queer erasure taking place in the industry. “Whatever this fight is — and I can talk about DeSantis because I am down here — GAY, GAY, GAY! Yes, we will always say gay,” Porter said. “I don’t know what he is trying to do, but it will never work. Because he has to meet me. Bring it!” Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our daily newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Porter has always ...

Move over, bears! Humpback whales have never been observed having sex, but two randy males were filmed having a gay old time off the coast of Hawaii. Unlike Grindr users, the gentle giants are rarely seen with their junk out, despite being every size queen’s dream. The beasts’ penises can reach 10 feet in length. Related: Armistead Maupin says we all think too much about Lauren Boebert The iconic “Tales of the City” author says though America is “deeply divided” we “need to have a loving connection with each other — period.” A just-released research paper documents the encounter between the two males and notes that the two circled a boat off the coast before diving down a few meters below the surface to get it on. Lyle Krannichfeld and Brandi Romano, who are scientists and not just voyeurs, took photos of the indiscreet pair. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our daily newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. ...

The vice mayor of an Oklahoma City suburb called out the state’s Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters, the entire state board of education, and Libs of TikTok creator Chaya Raichik for creating the environment of anti-LGBTQ+ hostility that he and other advocates say led to the death of 16-year-old Nex Benedict. A business owner and the vice mayor of The Village, Sean Cummings spoke directly to Walters and members of the Oklahoma State Board of Education at a public meeting last week, accusing them of “emboldening” the students who attacked Benedict in a bathroom at Owasso High School in Owasso, Oklahoma, earlier this month. Benedict, who friends say was trans and primarily used he/him pronouns , said he’d been bullied by the three students because of his gender identity prior to the violent altercation on February 7 in which he was reportedly beaten until he blacked out. Benedict died the next day. Authorities have not yet determined a cause of death. Relat...

Anti-LGBTQ+ extremist Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), like many other Republicans, is loudly accusing President Joe Biden of running the “Biden Crime Family” as a way to tie him to his son Hunter Biden’s misdeeds, despite the lack of evidence of any connection. But a recent social media post from Boebert about Biden that was posted just hours before her own son’s arrest for allegedly going on a crime spree in Colorado is drawing attention online. Both Boebert and her ex-husband, Jayson Boebert, have been arrested multiple times in the past. Related: Lauren Boebert rails against sex-ed then announces her teen son is having a baby Maybe if he’d had some basic sex-ed classes, he’d know how to use birth control. “The Biden Crime Family will go down as the most corrupt political family in American history,” she posted to X yesterday afternoon. Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our daily briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and mo...

A father has shared on TikTok how emotional it was to see a transgender woman living out and proud in a small Texas town. While his supportive video is touching, his son’s enthusiastic support steals the moment. James Eric Barlow posted the video from his car with his son in the backseat. In his commentary, he shares that he saw the woman as he walked into a local truck stop. Related: Tommy had the perfect clapback when someone’s mom told him only girls can wear nail polish Tommy scored a touchdown at football practice. The opponent was someone else’s mom. “We all know that [there are] people that are disgusted whenever they see a trans person,” he starts. “And we all know of the people who don’t care if they see a trans person. But apparently, we’re a third type of person, or at least, I am – I can’t speak for him” as he motions to his son. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our daily newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. ...

Students at Owasso High School in Owasso, Oklahoma, walked out of class Monday to protest the school’s response to anti-LGBTQ+ bullying, which they say led to the death of 16-year-old Nex Benedict earlier this month. “There’s been bullying issues. This time, the bullying has gone so far that a student passed,” Kane, a former Owasso High School student who now takes classes online, told NBC News . Related: Police consider murder charges as Nex Benedict’s family pursues independent investigation Police walked back an initial statement claiming the nonbinary teen hadn’t died due to injuries sustained in a school bathroom attack. Benedict’s death has sent shockwaves through the queer and trans community in recent weeks. On February 8, a day after a violent altercation with three other students in a bathroom at Owasso High School West, Benedict was rushed to the hospital, where he died. (While previous reporting suggested that Benedict identified as nonbinary, friends at Mo...

44-year-old Tristan Schukraft recently made gay news when he purchased legendary West Hollywood bar The Abbey, where a portrait of violet-eyed Elizabeth Taylor still hangs memorializing her Sunday tea dance visits as the AIDS epidemic raged across the U.S. Schukraft has been doing his own work raising awareness and addressing the scourge of HIV. He founded Mistr, a telemedicine platform that provides free online PrEP for anyone with or without insurance, as well as STI testing in all 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico. Related: One of world’s most iconic gay bars just got sold to HIV healthcare entrepreneur The venue’s founder said the new owner “gets what The Abbey means to people.” Schukraft thinks zero HIV infections are within our grasp, and says we owe it “to those that lost their lives at the peak of the epidemic” to get there. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our daily newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. ...