What did the American Psychological Association (APA) recently say about gender-affirming care for minors?
State laws should not restrict it
The APA announced a new policy resolution on Wednesday, opposing state laws restricting access to gender-affirming care for minors. The resolution said the laws are “a direct threat to the mental health and emotional well-being of transgender, gender-diverse, and nonbinary youth."
The resolution also said that equating gender-affirming care to child abuse has created a distorted perception of the "necessary psychological and medical care."
Republicans recently helped vote down anti-transgender laws in which state?
All of these
Republican legislators in Arizona, Iowa, and Utah recently voted down at least three different bills that would've discriminated against the trans community. Political observers say the defeated bills could signal a slight change in state Republican support for anti-LGBTQ+ laws.
Which governor recently blasted Republicans for elevating the rights of rapists over folks who desperately want to build families?
Gavin Newsom (D-CA)
In the wake of Alabama's anti-IVF ruling, Gov. Newsom accused the party of family values of granting more rights to rapists than to families, referring to the fact that GOP-led states continue to enact strict abortion laws that prevent people from obtaining an abortion even when they have become pregnant from rape while at the same time limiting access to IVF.
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Which GOP senator blocked Sen. Tammy Duckworth's (D-IL) IVF protection bill because it could lead to human-animal hybrids?
Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS)
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), who also voted against the same bill when Duckworth proposed it in 2022, blocked the Access to Family Building Act, claiming protecting IVF rights would allow the creation of human-animal hybrids – called chimeras (Duckworth emphasized, “It does nothing of the sort"). Hyde-Smith also claimed the bill would legalize cloning and allow minor girls to become surrogates without their parents' consent.
Which anti-LGBTQ+ Republican announced that they were stepping down from a major leadership role?
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Sen. McConnell announced that he will be stepping down as the leader of Senate Republicans at the end of the year. The announcement comes after questions have been raised about the 82-year-old's mental faculties and the far-right of his party became implacable.
“One of life’s most underappreciated talents is to know when it’s time to move on to life’s next chapter,” he said. “So I stand before you today… to say that this will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate.”
Which animal was recently photographed having gay sex, sending the Internet into a frenzy of jokes?
Humpback whales
Humpback whales have never been observed having sex, but two randy males were filmed having a gay old time off the coast of Hawaii. A just-released research paper documents the encounter between the two males and notes that the two circled a boat off the coast before diving down a few meters below the surface to get it on.
However, scientists don’t call animals “gay,” “lesbian,” “bisexual,” or “queer” because the word connotes a human sexual orientation with strong cultural and political implications that are irrelevant to non-human species.
Daqua Lameek Ritter was recently found guilty on all charges in the first federal hate crimes trial based on gender identity. What was he accused of doing?
Murdering a transgender woman
He was found guilty of killing a Black trans woman identified in court only as Dime Doe. Authorities believe that Ritter and Doe had a sexual relationship that his girlfriend and friends learned about a month before she was killed. Ritter’s girlfriend allegedly called him an anti-gay slur after learning of the relationship, which made Ritter “extremely upset” before he shot Doe to death.
Students held a walk out at Owasso High School in Oklahoma. What were they protesting?
Rampant bullying and anti-LGBTQ+ attitudes that may have led to Nex Benedict's death
Nex Benedict was a trans student at Owasso who died last week, just a day after getting beaten in a school bathroom.
“There’s been bullying issues. This time, the bullying has gone so far that a student passed,” one former student said.
A school in Fort Worth, Texas, recently canceled a student production of which famous modern gay play?
The Laramie Project
Timber Creek High School officials did not explain the play's cancellation but suggested students put on a production of Mary Poppins or White Christmas instead.
Officials said students would “still have an opportunity to read, discuss, and analyze the play” about the aftermath of the 1998 murder of gay Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard “during the school day.”
44-year-old Tristan Schukraft runs a telemedicine platform that provides free online PrEP for anyone with or without insurance, as well as STI testing in all 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico. What is the name of the platform?
Mistr
Schukraft thinks zero HIV infections are within our grasp and told LGBTQ Nation this week that we owe it “to those that lost their lives at the peak of the epidemic” to get there.
