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Politics

In Politics, The Advocate presents the latest news about the political world. From Supreme Court rulings to state and federal laws, The Advocate reports on how politics shapes the day-to-day realities faced by members of the gay community. Read about LGBT leaders like Barney Frank and Tammy Baldwin and their work to advance the causes of the LGBT rights movement in the United States and around the world. Find out about legislation related to same-sex marriage, adoption, and other issues in gay politics that will impact the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Americans.

Darrin Gayles the first out gay Black federal judge
Politics

Who is Darrin Gayles? The first out gay Black federal judge will hear Trump's WSJ lawsuit

Darrin Gayles became the first out gay Black federal judge in 2014 after he was nominated by Barack Obama.

Sarah McBride Nic Talbott Clayton McCallister
News

Sarah McBride defends transgender troops on House floor as Pentagon expels ‘committed patriots’

“These are Americans who have served with honor, with distinction, and with unshakable patriotism,” the Delaware Democrat said

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Barack Obama moderating 2024 Democracy Forum Chicago Illinois
Politics

Barack Obama explains why he thinks all men need queer people in their lives

The former president appeared on Michelle Obama's podcast and shared his thoughts on why men should embrace the queer community rather than push them away.

Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jeffrey Epstein
Politics

As Trump faces escalating Epstein scandal, Marjorie Taylor Green targets drag queens

After a report linked Donald Trump to a lewd Jeffrey Epstein note, the Georgia Republican tried to shift focus to drag queens, Pride, and trans people.

rainbow LGBTQIA pride flags fly at Rockefeller Center NYC June 2024
News

Trump admin forced to restore $6.2 million to LGBTQ+ and HIV groups

This comes after a court victory for nine organizations represented by Lambda Legal.

Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon
News

Breaking: Puerto Rico's governor just signed one of the harshest gender-affirming care laws yet

Here's what the law does.

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Edwin Feulner
News

Heritage Foundation co-founder, Edwin Feulner, dead at 83

The Heritage Foundation announced co-founder Edwin Feulner's passing Friday, though it did not reveal the time or cause of death.

sarah mcbride
Politics

Sarah McBride's first bill just passed Congress & not one Republican voted against it

While some Republicans stage political stunts to erase her, the first out trans member of Congress is quietly reshaping economic opportunity, with bipartisan backing.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton attends the executive order signing ceremony women swimmers before race
Politics

Texas AG Ken Paxton sues swimming group over inclusion of transgender women

The lawsuit does not accuse USMS of violating trans athletic participation laws, but of violating consumer protection laws.

california governor gavin newsom in ball cap and state logo fleece
News

Gavin Newsom agrees with anti-trans talking points on yet another MAGA podcast

The California governor spent more than four hours on the Shawn Ryan Show talking about, among other things, trans athletes, gender-affirming care, and "the whole 'pronoun' thing."

Donald Trump makeup on bruised hand 2025 alongside picture with Jeffrey Epstein at Maralago Florida 1997
Voices

From wives to the IRS, Trump has always been hiding. Will a bruised hand and Epstein finally give him away?

Opinion: MAGA’s turning on him. The makeup’s cracking. Is a WSJ story about an Epstein letter true? What happens when Trump runs out of places to hide? writes John Casey.

Mark Pocan Derrick Van Orden
Politics

Two Wisconsin congressmen clash in front of cameras during U.S. Capitol confrontation

"That's your a**hole buddy," gay Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan said about Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden.

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Senator Josh Hawley walks past reporters at the US Capitol Building June 2025 Washington DC
Voices

Waffler and coward Josh Hawley runs away — again — from a problem he helped create

Opinion: Hawley is running from his big beautiful bill vote the same way he sprinted away from insurrectionists on January 6, writes John Casey.

Muir Woods National Monument entrance sign
Politics

Women’s contributions and men’s racism erased from history of national monument

NPS removed historical information about women and race from signs at the Muir Woods National Monument.

Planned parenthood clinic entrance
Politics

Trump's new strategy to restrict abortion nationwide — don't say ‘ban’

Trump's team has developed a way to make abortion difficult to obtain without the same costs as an unpopular ban.

Ernie Apreza and Kyle Labarry gay wedding July 2025
News

Kamala Harris’s former spokesman celebrates his bold gay love story on his wedding day (in photos)

When Ernie Apreza and Kyle Labarry got married in Seattle on July 5, they didn’t just celebrate a nearly 10-year relationship; they honored every person who had walked beside them to get there.

Robert Garcia RFK JR
Politics

House Oversight Democrats demand records over RFK Jr.’s HIV program cuts

Robert Garcia and Raja Krishnamoorthi accuse HHS of dismantling life-saving HIV programs based on conspiracy theories and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.

ken jennings UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation event May 2025 gavin newsom speaking at a press conference January 2025
Politics

'Jeopardy!'s Ken Jennings won't support Gavin Newsom for president due to trans kids stance

"Any candidate cynically 'triangulating' on trans kids is a non-starter, and now is the time to say so," Jennings says.

queer person hiding in cubicle federal government worker
News

Federal HR office sets deadline for government-wide purge of transgender and nonbinary inclusion

The Office of Personnel Management has become the enforcement arm of Trump’s anti-LGBTQ+ agenda.

Jaymes Black of Trevor Project speaks at a podium surrounded by a coalition of bipartisan lawmakers calling for the LGBTQ 988 lifeline to be reinstated
News

Why a bipartisan group of lawmakers is demanding Trump save the LGBTQ+ 988 crisis lifeline

One lawmaker called the administration's explanation for cutting the service “insufficient and dangerous.”