https://www.advocate.com/rss.xml en https://assets.rbl.ms/32874384/origin.png https://www.advocate.com https://www.advocate.com/opinion/america-queer-violence-normalize When I was in high school, a kid named Matthew Shepard was murdered, beaten ,and left tied to a fence in Wyoming because he was gay. I grew up in a culture that did not feel very far away from that world at all, both culturally and geographically. Northwest New Mexico and Wyoming had a lot in common.]]> Fri, 15 May 2026 18:36:01 EDT Josh Ackley https://www.advocate.com/opinion/america-queer-violence-normalize https://www.advocate.com/newsletter/advocate-breaking-news-jared-polis-grants-clemency Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post via Getty Images and Marc Piscotty/Getty Images]]> Fri, 15 May 2026 17:37:49 EDT Kayla Gagnet https://www.advocate.com/newsletter/advocate-breaking-news-jared-polis-grants-clemency https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/jared-polis-tina-peters-clemency Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Friday reduced the prison sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, the election denier whose efforts to undermine confidence in the 2020 election transformed her into a MAGA folk hero and a convicted felon.]]> Fri, 15 May 2026 17:21:26 EDT Christopher Wiggins https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/jared-polis-tina-peters-clemency https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/wisconsin-conversion-therapy-lawsuit An anti-LGBTQ+ legal group has sued Wisconsin after state leaders refused to roll back restrictions on so-called “conversion therapy” for minors.]]> Fri, 15 May 2026 16:53:46 EDT Jacob Ogles https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/wisconsin-conversion-therapy-lawsuit https://www.advocate.com/health/transgender-health/nyu-langone-subpoena-released Federal attorneys are demanding that a transgender health program in New York City turn over sensitive records concerning youth patients, including medical assessments, intake forms, insurance claims, and “documents sufficient to identify each patient,” according to a subpoena made public this week.]]> Fri, 15 May 2026 14:14:39 EDT Jack Walker https://www.advocate.com/health/transgender-health/nyu-langone-subpoena-released https://www.advocate.com/opinion/transgender-kansas-legal-scapegoats Imagine driving home from work, opening your mail, and learning that your driver’s license is now invalid because it lists you as male, but the state believes you are female. Before you get behind the wheel again, even in an emergency, you must go to the motor vehicles office and get a new license with an “F” gender marker. If you don’t do this and are stopped by a police officer, you can be charged with a misdemeanor for driving without a valid license. If you do get a new license, the officer might accuse you of fraud because you look like a man, have a male name, and nothing about you suggests that you should have a driver’s license indicating you are a woman.]]> Fri, 15 May 2026 11:26:25 EDT Suzanne B. Goldberg https://www.advocate.com/opinion/transgender-kansas-legal-scapegoats https://www.advocate.com/news/community-grieves-juniper-blessing-trans-student-with-heart-of-gold-who-loved-meteorology-and-pokemon This story originally appeared on Them. ]]> Fri, 15 May 2026 11:22:17 EDT Mathew Rodriguez,Quispe López https://www.advocate.com/news/community-grieves-juniper-blessing-trans-student-with-heart-of-gold-who-loved-meteorology-and-pokemon https://www.advocate.com/news/seattle-trans-refugee-crisis Seattle may be facing what advocates describe as a refugee crisis, not from foreign migrants but from transgender Americans fleeing red states. The city and its residents are welcoming to the trans community.]]> Fri, 15 May 2026 10:49:36 EDT Jacob Ogles https://www.advocate.com/news/seattle-trans-refugee-crisis https://www.advocate.com/news/wisconsin-students-walk-out-after-song-cut-from-concert-over-marsha-p-johnson-dedication This story originally appeared on Them. ]]> Fri, 15 May 2026 10:32:51 EDT Mathew Rodriguez https://www.advocate.com/news/wisconsin-students-walk-out-after-song-cut-from-concert-over-marsha-p-johnson-dedication https://www.advocate.com/print-issue/queer-us-rep-becca-balint Each fall, congresswomen across the political spectrum find common ground on the softball diamond. But U.S. Rep. Becca Balint told The Advocate that camaraderie from the annual Congressional Women’s Softball Game — a breast cancer fundraiser — rarely reaches the Capitol.]]> Fri, 15 May 2026 09:05:02 EDT Jack Walker https://www.advocate.com/print-issue/queer-us-rep-becca-balint https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/new-jersey-trans-abortion-care As the Trump administration intensifies its legal campaign against healthcare providers, New Jersey Democrats are moving to fortify the state as a refuge for transgender patients and doctors caught in the widening political fight.]]> Thu, 14 May 2026 17:33:23 EDT Christopher Wiggins https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/new-jersey-trans-abortion-care https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/smith-college-investigation-rachel-levine The Trump administration’s investigation into Smith College, the prestigious women’s college in western Massachusetts, may have begun with something as symbolically potent and legally tenuous as an honorary degree awarded to Dr. Rachel Levine, one of the nation’s highest-ranking transgender public officials and a pediatrician who previously served as Pennsylvania’s physician general and health secretary.]]> Thu, 14 May 2026 17:27:06 EDT Christopher Wiggins https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/smith-college-investigation-rachel-levine https://www.advocate.com/news/ryan-walters-defamation-lawsuit An Oklahoma school teacher is suing former state Superintendent Ryan Walters for defamation. The lawsuit contends Walters worked in concert with Chaya Raichik, founder of the Libs of TikTok social media account, to terrorize the teacher for nearly 1,000 days.]]> Thu, 14 May 2026 14:54:11 EDT Jacob Ogles https://www.advocate.com/news/ryan-walters-defamation-lawsuit https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/rand-paul-mike-lawler-homophobic The 33-year-old son of Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul allegedly hurled antisemitic language at a non-Jewish member of Congress, then apologized for calling him Jewish. New York Rep. Mike Lawler, also a Republican and the lawmaker targeted in the exchange, later alleged that Paul also made homophobic remarks.]]> Thu, 14 May 2026 13:45:16 EDT Jacob Ogles https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/rand-paul-mike-lawler-homophobic https://www.advocate.com/news/suspect-in-fatal-stabbing-of-trans-university-of-washington-student-turns-himself-in This story originally appeared on Them and contains descriptions of violence against a transgender person.]]> Thu, 14 May 2026 11:58:19 EDT Quispe López,Samantha Allen https://www.advocate.com/news/suspect-in-fatal-stabbing-of-trans-university-of-washington-student-turns-himself-in https://www.advocate.com/exclusives/34-years-of-broadway-bares When Jerry Mitchell arrived in New York in 1980, the dance community was in crisis. Young dancers and choreographers, who like Mitchell had moved to the city with big Broadway dreams, were being mowed down by the AIDS epidemic.]]> Thu, 14 May 2026 11:00:02 EDT Matthew Huff https://www.advocate.com/exclusives/34-years-of-broadway-bares https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/rhode-island-judge-torches-doj A federal judge appointed by President Donald Trump issued a blistering opinion Wednesday night, accusing the Trump administration’s Justice Department of "appalling" behavior, including misleading courts, manipulating the judicial system, and targeting transgender youth through what she concluded was an unlawful effort to obtain deeply sensitive medical records.]]> Thu, 14 May 2026 10:58:28 EDT Christopher Wiggins https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/rhode-island-judge-torches-doj https://www.advocate.com/news/culture/charles-barkley-jason-collins-death Charles Barkley gets it. ]]> Thu, 14 May 2026 10:36:19 EDT Dawn Ennis https://www.advocate.com/news/culture/charles-barkley-jason-collins-death https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/kash-patel-fbi-numbers-unraveling FBI Director Kash Patel erupted during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, shouting over lawmakers, challenging a senator to an alcohol test, and escalating weeks of scrutiny over allegations of drinking, internal chaos, and retaliatory behavior inside the bureau, as new reporting raised fresh questions about whether the FBI has inflated arrest numbers and manipulated public-facing crime statistics under his leadership.]]> Wed, 13 May 2026 17:19:41 EDT Christopher Wiggins https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/kash-patel-fbi-numbers-unraveling https://www.advocate.com/news/people/mel-curth-oklahoma-instructor-interview A transgender teaching assistant at the University of Oklahoma says she was thrust into a national debate after a routine grading dispute spiraled into death threats, media frenzy, and an outpouring of community support she never expected. She also says that the university made her the face of a national culture war and left much of the public with the false impression that she had been fired. She has not.]]> Wed, 13 May 2026 16:42:15 EDT Christopher Wiggins https://www.advocate.com/news/people/mel-curth-oklahoma-instructor-interview