https://www.advocate.com/rss.xml en https://assets.rbl.ms/32874384/origin.png https://www.advocate.com https://www.advocate.com/politics/election/chris-pappas-new-hampshire-primary U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas won New Hampshire’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, advancing to a fiercely competitive general election that could determine control of the chamber. He is also one step closer to making LGBTQ+ history.]]> Tue, 08 Sep 2026 20:02:43 EDT Christopher Wiggins https://www.advocate.com/politics/election/chris-pappas-new-hampshire-primary https://www.advocate.com/newsletter/advocate-nl-9-8-26 Hello and Happy Tuesday, folks! Audience Editor Edgar Ramirez here, back in your inbox after a three-day weekend, though Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon took no days off with what advocates are calling a "witch hunt."]]> Tue, 08 Sep 2026 17:16:33 EDT Edgar Ramirez https://www.advocate.com/newsletter/advocate-nl-9-8-26 https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/trans-sergeant-challenges-pete-hegseth Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has spent more than a year broadcasting his contempt for transgender troops from behind microphones and across social media. On Tuesday, one of the soldiers he is trying to force out invited him to try it face to face.]]> Tue, 08 Sep 2026 16:50:09 EDT Christopher Wiggins https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/trans-sergeant-challenges-pete-hegseth https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/california-988-lgbtq-funding California is preparing a backup plan for an LGBTQ+ crisis service the Trump administration dismantled and now says it intends to rebuild.]]> Tue, 08 Sep 2026 15:53:20 EDT Christopher Wiggins https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/california-988-lgbtq-funding https://www.advocate.com/news/crime/sam-nordquist-murderers-sentenced Two women who helped kidnap, rape, and torture Sam Nordquist, a transgender man, to death will spend the rest of their lives in prison.]]> Tue, 08 Sep 2026 14:21:36 EDT Jacob Ogles https://www.advocate.com/news/crime/sam-nordquist-murderers-sentenced https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/pentagon-military-records-trans-troops The Defense Department has accessed private medical records belonging to U.S. troops as it tries to drive closeted transgender service members out of the military.]]> Tue, 08 Sep 2026 12:30:25 EDT Jacob Ogles https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/pentagon-military-records-trans-troops https://www.advocate.com/news/starship-troopers-space-force-uniforms This story originally appeared on Them.

One of my most deeply held cinematic pet peeves is the fact that there are still people who do not get that Starship Troopers was a satire. Paul Verhoeven’s 1997 sci-fi action flick certainly doesn’t hide the fact that the film’s “good guys” are, in fact, not so good after all. The fictional interstellar military at the heart of the film dresses up in Nazi uniforms, mainlines state propaganda, and tries to exterminate anything they don’t understand. In fact, the imitation of the SS aesthetic was so good that even many critics initially thought that Verhoeven was endorsing what he sought to criticize when, in fact, he just wanted to carry the conservative draw toward authoritarianism to its natural endpoint.]]> Tue, 08 Sep 2026 10:22:03 EDT Samantha Allen https://www.advocate.com/news/starship-troopers-space-force-uniforms https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/everton-blair-sworn-mike-johnson Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson stood beside Everton Blair Jr. on the House floor Tuesday and swore the Georgia Democrat into Congress, formally making Blair the first out gay Black person from the South to serve in the chamber. The oath was routine. The pairing was anything but.]]> Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:30:04 EDT Christopher Wiggins https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/everton-blair-sworn-mike-johnson https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/mount-sinai-abandons-transgender-patients Mount Sinai Health System has agreed to stop providing gender-affirming medical care to minors under a settlement with the Trump administration, making one of New York’s largest hospital systems the latest provider to retreat as federal officials use investigations, subpoenas, and funding pressure to reshape transgender people’s access to health care nationwide.]]> Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:02 EDT Christopher Wiggins https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/mount-sinai-abandons-transgender-patients https://www.advocate.com/newsletter/advocate-nl-9-4-26 Hello and Happy Friday, folks!]]> Fri, 04 Sep 2026 17:27:40 EDT Edgar Ramirez https://www.advocate.com/newsletter/advocate-nl-9-4-26 https://www.advocate.com/news/crime/arizona-vigil-tucson-hate-crime A vigil for two gay men killed in a hate crime outside an Arizona gay bar drew around 1,000 mourners.]]> Fri, 04 Sep 2026 16:01:51 EDT Jacob Ogles https://www.advocate.com/news/crime/arizona-vigil-tucson-hate-crime https://www.advocate.com/news/crime/utah-antigay-stalking-threats A Provo, Utah, man accused of stalking a former high school classmate and threatening to kill him and his family now faces charges carrying hate crime enhancements after allegedly saying he “couldn’t wait to kill a gay person.”]]> Fri, 04 Sep 2026 15:39:07 EDT Jacob Ogles https://www.advocate.com/news/crime/utah-antigay-stalking-threats https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/trump-trans-care-lawsuit Nearly two dozen Democratic-led states sued the Trump administration Wednesday over a new rule barring federal Medicaid funding for gender-affirming care for transgender youth.]]> Fri, 04 Sep 2026 14:59:03 EDT Jacob Ogles https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/trump-trans-care-lawsuit https://www.advocate.com/news/cathy-engelbert-wnba-commisioner-retires This story originally appeared on Them.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert is stepping down, the league announced on Friday.]]> Fri, 04 Sep 2026 14:41:42 EDT Samantha Allen https://www.advocate.com/news/cathy-engelbert-wnba-commisioner-retires https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/alabama-libraries-transgender-books The Alabama Public Library Service board recently adopted strict guidelines requiring public libraries to limit young people’s access to books containing material related to gender identity or transgender people.]]> Fri, 04 Sep 2026 13:20:27 EDT Desiree Guerrero https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/alabama-libraries-transgender-books https://www.advocate.com/news/education/15-worst-anti-lgbtq-universities The adult entertainment portal Erobella, responsible for the Sexually Liberal City Index, just released a new study ranking U.S. universities by how LGBTQ+-inclusive they are.]]> Fri, 04 Sep 2026 12:56:04 EDT Ariel Messman-Rucker https://www.advocate.com/news/education/15-worst-anti-lgbtq-universities https://www.advocate.com/newsletter/advocate-nl-9-3-26 Hello and Happy Thursday, folks!]]> Thu, 03 Sep 2026 17:46:13 EDT Edgar Ramirez https://www.advocate.com/newsletter/advocate-nl-9-3-26 https://www.advocate.com/politics/fox-news-hasan-piker-mentions This story originally appeared on Them.

It’s hard to imagine any topic getting more mentions than transgender people on Fox News. Why deviate from the script when stories about bathrooms, student athletes, and Elliot Page’s casting in The Odyssey can generate so much reliable outrage? Well, as it turns out, a new subject may be at risk of overtaking the trans community as the cable behemoth's object of ire: left-wing political streamer Hasan Piker.]]> Thu, 03 Sep 2026 16:45:24 EDT Samantha Allen https://www.advocate.com/politics/fox-news-hasan-piker-mentions https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/texas-am-diversity-course-censorship Texas A&M University could soon remove courses focused on LGBTQ+ people, women, and people of color from its core curriculum as part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s anti-diversity push.]]> Thu, 03 Sep 2026 14:23:47 EDT Jacob Ogles https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/texas-am-diversity-course-censorship https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/judge-transgender-athletes-california Earlier this week, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department challenging California’s trans-inclusive school sports policies, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times. While the ruling does not establish a statewide right for transgender athletes to compete on teams consistent with their gender identity, it rejects the DOJ’s claim that California’s policies violate Title IX.]]> Thu, 03 Sep 2026 14:04:37 EDT Desiree Guerrero https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/judge-transgender-athletes-california