Bad Bunny plans queer-focused Super Bowl Halftime Show amid right-wing backlash
Bad Bunny’s upcoming Super Bowl LX halftime show is expected to reflect the artist’s long-standing public support for the LGBTQ+ community, with reported plans to honor queer icons during the February 8 performance. A stylist involved in the production said the Puerto Rican artist, born Benito Martínez Ocasio, intends to spotlight drag performers, activists, and…
Former SC lawmaker known for anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric sentenced to prison
Former South Carolina state Rep. RJ May, a Republican who repeatedly asserted that transgender people and drag performers posed a danger to children while in office, was sentenced in January to more than 17 years in federal prison for distributing child sexual abuse material. May, 39, was sentenced on January 14 to federal prison after…
EEOC rescinds LGBTQ-inclusive Harassment Guidance
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission voted last week to rescind its 2024 harassment guidance, withdrawing LGBTQ-inclusive examples that had clarified how federal law applies to workplace harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The commission voted 2–1 on January 23 to repeal the guidance, which had been approved in 2024 during the Biden…
HB2: Ten years later
Nearly a decade after lawmakers rushed House Bill 2 (also known as HB2, the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act and the “Bathroom Bill”) through the General Assembly in a single day, the political logic behind it endured. What began in 2016 as a state-level fight over a Charlotte nondiscrimination ordinance has since evolved into…
Trump Administration Targets Minnesota Over Trans Student Athletes
The Trump administration escalated its challenge to Minnesota’s transgender student policies this week, referring the state to the Department of Justice over its decision to allow transgender girls to participate in school sports consistent with their gender identity. In a joint statement on Monday, the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Education…
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Trans Day of Remembrance (TDoR) recently released their “Remembering Our Dead” list for the period of Oct. 1, 2024 through Sept. 30, 2025. Since 1998, TDoR has tracked incidents of trans and gender-expanded deaths in remembrance of their lives and contributions. This list is a combination of material from TDOR, HRC and other resources throughout…
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When health insurance becomes unaffordable
I didn’t lose my health insurance because I stopped needing it. I lost it because I could no longer afford the price tag. The email arrived the way these things usually do. Quietly, buried among other notices I didn’t have time to deal with right away. My health insurance plan was renewing, and the monthly…
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Prominent Carolina LGBTQ+ community member dies unexpectedly
A prominent Charlotte Metro area LGBTQ+ community member, Quandrico Rutledge-Wade, 50, was found deceased at his home on January 29. After several attempts to reach him by phone went unanswered, family members visited his residence, reportedly two days after his death. Public records list an address for Rutledge-Wade in nearby Lancaster, South Carolina. According to…