Blythe del Kuzio

Adam Ellis, a gay cartoonist whose viral August 2017 “real life” ghost story was adapted into a feature length horror film named Dear David , recently revealed that he received no payment for the film. The film was based on a Buzzfeed article entitled “My Apartment Is Being Haunted By The Ghost Of A Dead Child And I’m Not Sure What To Do.” Related “Ghost” screenwriter comes out as gay at age 81 His wife has known for almost 50 years, and they’re still married. “The first time I saw him, I was experiencing sleep paralysis and saw a child sitting in the green rocking chair at the foot of my bed,” Ellis wrote. “He had a huge misshapen head that was dented on one side…. Right before he reached my bed, I woke up screaming.” Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The first time I saw him, I was experiencing sleep paralysis and saw a child sitting in the green rocking ch...

Serenity Birdsong, a transgender student at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), killed themselves on Monday inside the campus’ James E. Walker Library. Birdsong was vice president of MTSU’s student LGBTQ+ organization MT Lambda. The school canceled classes and closed the library on Tuesday but resumed normal operations on Wednesday. Additional details about Birdsong’s suicide have neither been made publicly available nor reported by the media. Related Anti-trans laws cause increase in suicide attempts according to massive new study Trans youth in states that enacted anti-trans laws had up to a 72% increase in suicide attempts. “Serenity was more than an officer to us; many of us considered Serenity our friend, and her ability to light up a room, paired with her wholesome demeanor, made her welcome anywhere, but especially in Lambda where we are burdened by the darkness of existing in a world so often cruel to us. And it is this darkness that snuffed out Serenity’s light,...

Hispanic and Latino people are less likely to support politicians who use or are associated with “Latinx,” the gender-inclusive term referring to Hispanic and/or Latino populations, according to a new study from Georgetown and Harvard Universities. The term — which challenges the Spanish language’s masculine-leaning gender binary and increases awareness of non-binary Latinos — has become used more publicly since 2015, increasingly appearing in internet searches, academic and media language, and speeches by Democratic Party politicians. After analyzing cross-referenced datasets from seven surveys of Hispanics and Latinos, the study’s co-authors wrote, “Our evidence shows when (Democratic) politicians — who are usually more pro-LGBTQ+ than their (Republican) political opponents — use gender-neutral group labels like ‘Latinx,’ they experience backlash from Latinos who would have otherwise supported Democratic party politicians but are negatively predisposed against LGBTQ+ people.” Rel...

The history of the Middle East – and especially between Palestinians and Jews – abounds with blame, recrimination, retaliation, and an ever-escalating cycle of mistrust and violence. There is indeed plenty of justifiable blame to go around on all sides, but as we blame and blame and blame, attack and attack and attack, react and react and severely overreact while all the time expecting different results, we are certainly left with the insanity perpetuating ever-increasing tensions, violence, death, and the reality of an ever-widening breakout of war and destruction. Related The stakes are just as high for Congress this election as they are for the presidency The results of these races will determine if the next four years is filled with lots of progress or lots of pain. The fact is that both Palestinians and Jews are indigenous to what we call “The Middle East,” and Jews (Israelites) have existed there continually from when the area was known as “the land of Canaan” from around...

A Georgia man convicted of murdering a transgender woman is on the run after jumping bail during his trial. Davonte Fore, 26, was convicted along with accomplice JaQuan Brooks, 25, on October 4 of Malice Murder, two counts of Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, and Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Felony for the June 2021 murder of 25-year-old Skyler Gilmore. Related Anti-trans murderer makes history as first convicted under federal hate crime law His girlfriend called him an anti-gay slur when she discovered his relationship with a trans woman. That upset him… According to a press release from the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office, DeKalb County Police officers found Gilmore unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the torso in her Stone Mountain, Georgia, apartment in the early morning hours of June 4, 2021, after receiving a 911 call from a female friend reporting that the 25-year-old had been shot. Stay co...

Michele Morrow, a QAnon candidate for North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction, fled this way, that way, and finally found the exit after being asked to sign a tweet calling for the execution of Barack Obama on pay-per-view. “I was wondering if I could grab your autograph,” comedian Jason Selvig of The Good Liars – a comedy duo – asked Morrow in the lunchroom of an unidentified school building. Related GOP candidate slammed for saying the “+” in “LGBTQ+” means pedophilia She has called for major Democrats to be executed in the past. “Oh, you’re so kind,” Morrow replied graciously. “Yeah, yeah. Sure.” Your LGBTQ+ guide to Election 2024 Stay ahead of the 2024 Election with our newsletter that covers candidates, issues, and perspectives that matter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today “This is one of your tweets,” Selvig explained. “It said, ‘Obama did it. Hillary did it. Schiff did it. Comey did it. Holder did it.’ And it says, ‘death to traitors’ on there.” A...

Earlier this week, LGBTQ Nation asked its readers how Democrats should respond to anti-trans ads. And about half of you said that they should go on the attack and explain how the GOP’s hatred of trans people is toxic. Republicans spent over $655 million on ads attacking transgender rights in this election cycle, saying that their Democratic opponents support trans equality and that that is a reason to vote against them. The ones getting the most attention are from the Trump-Vance campaign, accusing Vice President Kamala Harris of supporting gender-affirming care for federal inmates (something that the Constitution already protects) and saying, “Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you.” Related You, our readers, care a lot about reproductive freedom We asked what issue concerned you most in upcoming ballot initiatives. Republicans in other states, including Montana, Ohio, and Texas, have been using the issue to try to get votes. Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) campaign is r...

As legislatures across the country pass bills that restrict abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, colleges within those states are increasingly finding themselves trapped and losing students to elsewhere, according to reporting from The Hill . “I think we are in a place and a time where colleges are increasingly being seen as political places, and so it makes every sense that students would be aware of this as they’re making decisions about where to enroll, and that they would factor that into whether or not this is an institution they want to apply to,” said Katharine Meyer, fellow in the Brown Center on Education Policy with The Brookings Institution, to The Hill Related Alabama GOP passes extreme “gag order” to ban diversity discussions in universities The sweeping education bill also includes a trans bathroom ban. According to a poll from the Art & Science Group , 28% of prospective students ruled out attending colleges because of politics, with 75% of liberals ruling out schools...

A 38-year-old dad is in police custody after tying a noose around the neck of his son’s teenage friend because he said he was gay. According to the King County Prosecutor’s Office in Bremerton, Washington, Joseph Sweeney overheard a conversation his son and the friend were having and asked if the 14-year-old was gay. The boy replied, “Yes, is it a crime to be gay in this house?” Related This dad beat up his 2-year-old son for acting “gay.” He’s going away for a long time. He told the judge his son preferred playing with Barbie dolls and kitchen sets to robots, cars, and soccer balls, so he punched him in the face. That’s when Sweeney put a noose around his neck and tightened it, according to sheriff’s deputies with the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office. 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 After the friend managed to get out of Swee...

The Reagan Administration was determined to ignore the AIDS epidemic. As the death toll climbed across the country, Reagan refused to even say the word “AIDS,” waiting until 1985 to name the deadly illness . It wasn’t until 1987 that he formed a task force to address the disease, and his administration did not implement a single one of its 597 recommendations .  In response, a group of four gay men in Minneapolis came together to form the Philanthrofund Foundation, or PFund for short, in 1987. Aaron Zimmerman, the current Executive Director of the organization, told LGBTQ Nation the founders’ primary principle: “We need to save ourselves.” All four men donated $1,000 to their new organization – about $2,800 each after adjusting for inflation – and asked the community for support. Related Parents across the political spectrum are banding together to save their trans children It isn’t only progressives who love their trans kids exactly as they are. As soon as PFund started, ...

A Democratic, transmasculine nonbinary Congressional candidate from Louisiana just released a powerful video emphasizing their commitment to supporting transgender rights. Mel Manuel is running for Louisiana’s First Congressional District, which is currently represented by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R), who is seeking reelection. Their campaign website says that they’re running on a platform of universal, free healthcare, bodily autonomy, living wages, and opposition to all forms of bigotry. Related Many House Republicans are bitter with regret about expelling George Santos Santos’s seat was just filled by a Democrat. In the video, Manuel is depicted injecting testosterone while speaking to voters: “The toxic forces of fear and hatred are threatening to consume our nation. If we don’t take a stand, the November election could be the last gasp of Democratic freedom as we know it.” Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your ...

Actor Marlon Wayans reveals that, before he was accepting of his transgender son, Kai, he attempted hypnotic conversion therapy on them. Wayans spoke to Neal Brennan for his podcast, Blocks Podcast , and said that he was not always accepting of his son, and in fact tried multiple different methods to keep Kai from being trans. Related Marlon Wayans slams Elon Musk’s transphobia against his own daughter Wayans has been a vocal advocate for trans youth after his own son came out as trans. He said, “I tried to hypnotize that b**ch. And I protested against it and I don’t say that with pride. I look back on those actions and I’m ashamed. I was embarrassed the moment I was forced to look in the mirror. I was embarrassed.” 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 Hypnotic conversion therapy is one genre of the discredited practice that has ...

Police in Pakistan on Wednesday held a news conference to announce the arrest of three men in the brutal stabbing deaths of two transgender women in Mardan, in the country’s conservative northwest, the Associated Press reports. The handcuffed men, their heads covered in hoods, were present. The district police chief said the three alleged assailants had confessed to the killings during questioning after their apprehension on Tuesday. Related “Our heads should hang in shame”: Pakistani activists outraged after court repeals trans rights laws Activists have vowed to challenge the decision before the Supreme Court. Photos of the crime scene show a large, dried pool of blood on the balcony outside the front door of the victims’ home in an apartment complex. The attack took place on Sunday. Global perspectives delivered right to your inbox Our newsletter bridges borders to bring you LGBTQ+ news from around the world. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The arrests followed a da...

Eric Childs says he joined the army because “serving my country was a defense of freedom.”  “I live in a small town in South Carolina,” he declares in a video while at a shooting range with his son. “I absolutely believe in protecting my rights. And I absolutely love my trans child.” Related Trans kids are more than their genders. ‘American Teenager’ invites us into their dynamic lives. Nico Lang’s new book reminds readers of the real people and families who have been effected by anti-trans legislation. The video is the first in a series by GRACE – Gender Research Advisory Council and Education – a non-profit founded by trans veteran Alaina Kupec with the goal of reaching across the aisle on transgender rights. The group supports on-the-ground organizing in states facing anti-trans legislation. With a politically diverse membership, it serves as a resource to reach across the aisle. GRACE’s work helped lead to the monumental, though ultimately unsuccessful, veto of Ohio’...