Blythe del Kuzio

An alarming 81% of transgender adults have considered suicide, according to a new study from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law. Comparatively, it found 35% of cisgender adults have considered suicide. The first-of-its-kind study, which appeared in this month’s edition of the journal Psychiatry Research , examined the prevalence of serious drug use, psychological distress, and suicidality among a nationally representative sample of trans and cisgender adults. The study took its data from the U.S. Transgender Population Health Survey (TransPop). Related Stories 70% of queer teens feel hopeless & 22% attempted suicide, CDC says “These data show our kids need far more support to cope, hope, and thrive,” a CDC chief medical officer said. The study found that 42% of trans adults have attempted suicide, compared to just 11% of cis adults. It also found that 56% of trans adults have engaged in non-suicidal self-injury, compared to 12% of cis adults. Get t...

Reports of infighting have surfaced as Ron DeSantis ‘s presidential campaign continues to flail. Tensions are rising between DeSantis’s official campaign and Never Back Down (NBD), the most prominent super PAC supporting the Florida governor. According to sources from both groups who spoke with Politico, each is blaming the other for the challenges the campaign has experienced since its launch. Related Stories Rightwing propaganda outlet PragerU’s materials approved for schools in Ron DeSantis’ Florida PragerU purports to liberate children from the “dominant left-wing ideology.” One of the biggest sources of tension is that both the DeSantis campaign and NBD are trying to run the show, with NBD having thought they would also play the role of the de facto campaign, considering how much more money the PAC has raised than the campaign itself. NBD raised $130 million in the second quarter, compared to $20 million by the campaign. Get the Daily Brief The news you ca...

In an episode of Netflix’s Tales of the City , Elliot Page’s character, Shawna — who for years has hooked up with girls and then never calls them — shares an intimate night with Claire, during which the two open up about their complicated relationships with their mothers. In the following weeks, Claire treats Shawna in a way that almost directly mirrors the way Shawna usually treats girls. For Shawna to be on the receiving end for the first time is both painful and eye-opening. Related Stories I am pansexual & in a straight-presenting relationship. I refuse to be invisible My sexuality is an essential part of who I am, yet I often feel like an outsider in queer spaces. “I don’t open up to people like that,” Shawna laments in response to the whole experience — feeling almost swindled by Claire. Get the Daily Brief The news you care about, reported on by the people who care about you. This scene rings true to real life; dating can be emotionally brutal....

Democrats in Arizona are becoming impatient as the head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), has said his committee is “neutral” on the Senate race brewing between bisexual Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and her opponent Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ). While Sinema hasn’t officially declared that she’ll run for re-election in 2024 — and isn’t doing the expected petitioning, campaigning, and fundraising to run — she nonetheless filed paperwork to run in April 2023. Related Stories Kyrsten Sinema is raising money from both Democrats & Republicans She began her career as a member of the Green Party. Now the party doesn’t matter. It’s just all about the green. Sinema left the Democratic Party to become an Independent last December. If she runs as an Independent in the 2024 Arizona Senate race, she could split Democratic voters, helping an anti-LGBTQ+ Republican win the seat. Get the Daily Brief The news you care about, reported...

On July 4, queer parenting trailblazer Cheri Pies passed away from cancer at the age of 73. Pies is revered for her 1985 book Considering Parenthood: A Workbook for Lesbians , which she created while leading workshops at Planned Parenthood for heterosexual mothers-to-be. After her female partner adopted a child, Pies realized how few resources existed to guide lesbian parents. So she set out to change that. “Because of Cheri’s work there was a critical mass of people saying ‘Yes, we can have the family we want,”‘ Lori Dorfman, adjunct professor of health and social behavior at UC Berkeley School of Public Health, told Berkeleyside . Related Stories ‘We do feel like family. We are also kind of strangers.’ When children of queer parents discover their DNA Children of LGBTQ+ parents are discovering biological relatives and then facing how to incorporate that knowledge into their own identities. G. Dorsey Green, who co-authored The Lesbian Parenting Book in 2003, called...

Welcome to the first weekly  LGBTQ Nation Weekly News Quiz. We’ve kept you up-to-date on politics, current events, and news from the LGBTQ+ community all week. Now, this is your chance to look back on what happened. We’ll be testing your knowledge with a series of questions taken from our headlines this past week. Try the quiz without looking up the answers or open another tab and use our search function to find the answers. (We won’t tell.) Have you been keeping up? Take this quiz on LGBTQNationy. source https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/07/how-well-have-you-been-following-the-news-try-the-lgbtq-nation-weekly-news-quiz/

Two transgender patients of Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) in Nashville, Tennessee are suing the hospital for giving their personal medical records to the state’s Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti without first redacting their personally identifying information. This action, the lawsuit states, violated patient privacy and consumer protection laws and caused emotional distress since Tennessee’s government officials have pursued transphobic policies. This year, state officials have banned gender-affirming care for minors and sought out-of-state medical records to enforce that ban. Related Stories Teachers sue Tennessee over its ban on teaching about racism & sexism The law is part of the right-wing movement to protect white kids from feeling guilt about the country’s racist past. The hospital handed over 100 patients’ records to Skrmetti’s office, including patients who weren’t receiving gender-affirming care. VUMC spokesperson John Howser said tha...