• Air Force announces new policy to deny transgender troops hearings before discharges

    Air Force announces new policy to deny transgender troops hearings before discharges

    Aug 16, 2025 12:06 AM EDT

    ... Association of America, said the change adds to a “growing loss of trust” because outcomes are determined by politics, not performance. The organization advocates for LGBTQ+ service members, military spouses, veterans, their families and allies. “It’s a signal that identity, not ability or achievement, determines who stays in uniform ...

  • State Department drops criticism of Israel and El Salvador in human rights report

    State Department drops criticism of Israel and El Salvador in human rights report

    Aug 12, 2025 10:45 PM EDT

    ... this report. What is different in this year's report from years past? Nick Schifrin: The report removes stand-alone sections on women's rights, LGBTQ rights, and discrimination on racial or ethnic lines. It strengthens criticisms of countries that Trump and his administration have clashed with diplomatically and weakens ...

  • U.S. Air Force to deny retirement pay for transgender troops being separated from service

    U.S. Air Force to deny retirement pay for transgender troops being separated from service

    Aug 07, 2025 09:35 PM EDT

    ... entire separation process, which has included reverting their service records back to their birth gender, “dehumanizing” or “open cruelty.” Shannon Leary, a lawyer who represents LGBTQ+ people in employment discrimination cases, says she expects lawsuits to challenge Thursday’s decision. “It seems quite arbitrary on its face and cruel,” she ...

  • Trump energizes conservative Christians with religious policies and assaults on cultural targets

    Trump energizes conservative Christians with religious policies and assaults on cultural targets

    Aug 07, 2025 06:38 PM EDT

    ... who cheered their appointments. The high court ruled in June that Maryland parents with religious objections can pull their children from public school lessons using LGBTQ+ storybooks; that Tennessee can ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors; and that states can block Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid money. All three ...

  • Using the internet in Russia can be frustrating, complicated and dangerous

    Using the internet in Russia can be frustrating, complicated and dangerous

    Aug 05, 2025 06:42 PM EDT

    ... manipulate the traffic,” said HRW's Kruope. Criminalizing ‘extremist’ searches A new Russian law criminalized online searches for broadly defined “extremist” materials. That could include LGBTQ+ content, opposition groups, some songs by performers critical of the Kremlin — and Navalny's memoir, which was designated as extremist last week. Right advocates ...

  • Americans’ views on racial discrimination have shifted substantially in 4 years, poll shows

    Americans’ views on racial discrimination have shifted substantially in 4 years, poll shows

    Jul 31, 2025 05:33 PM EDT

    ... it’s gone far left.” It’s his impression that DEI compels companies to hire people based on their race or if they identify as LGBTQ+. “The most qualified person ought to get a job based on their merit or based on their educational status,” Bartus said. Brider, the Black ...

  • Andrea Gibson, poetic explorer of life, death and identity, dies at 49

    Andrea Gibson, poetic explorer of life, death and identity, dies at 49

    Jul 15, 2025 05:25 PM EDT

    ... to St. George, Utah, to help take care of her. They were delighted when Gibson accepted their invitation to perform at an event celebrating the LGBTQ+ community in southern Utah. “It was truly life-changing for our community down there, and even for our allies," Stay said. “I hope that ...

  • States sue Trump over billions in frozen after-school and summer funding

    States sue Trump over billions in frozen after-school and summer funding

    Jul 14, 2025 06:56 PM EDT

    ... so I call on federal funds to be released so we can ensure the success of our students.” The Office of Management and Budget said some grants supported left-wing causes, pointing to services for immigrants in the country illegally or LGBTQ+ inclusion efforts. Summer clubs provide instruction for children

  • 100 years after a man was convicted for teaching evolution, debate over religion in schools continues

    100 years after a man was convicted for teaching evolution, debate over religion in schools continues

    Jul 10, 2025 06:38 PM EDT

    ... at religious schools. At the Supreme Court, the justices effectively stopped the first taxpayer-funded Catholic charter school and gave parents a religious exemption for LGBTQ+-related instruction. Tuttle's scholarship was used in the recent federal appeals court ruling that declared Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law unconstitutional, citing a ...

  • Digital archive aims to preserve Bayard Rustin's legacy as a queer Civil Rights activist

    Digital archive aims to preserve Bayard Rustin's legacy as a queer Civil Rights activist

    Jul 08, 2025 06:47 PM EDT

    Walter Naegle, Rustin's partner and a consultant on projects related to his life and work, said it's important for the queer community to have access to the history of social movements. “There wasn’t very much of an LGBTQ+ movement until the early 50s,” said Naegle. “The African ...