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Voices

Read the latest opinion pieces from political leaders, activists, and everyday queer people who want to express themselves in the leading publication for LGBTQ+ news and politics. Discover what people from our community have to say about issues and topics that touch the lives of the LGBTQ+ people and their allies. Find the voices of the people shaping our queer world right here.
ladder with rainbow glow and OPED author Ryan Powers
Voices

Why the ladder to success was never meant to hold our weight

Opinion: As prestigious institutions tout their commitments to diversity, LGBTQ+ professionals face a jarring truth: the promises of inclusion vanish under political pressures.

US President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office
Voices

If it means saving Ukraine and not caving to Putin, European leaders think the answer is kissing Trump’s a**

Opinion: Putting flattery at the feet of an habitual loser risks putting the world in an unenviable position, writes John Casey.
Mayor of Oakland California Barbara Lee
Voices

The Trump Administration has killed America’s lifeline to the world

Opinion: By dismantling USAID and slashing more than 80 percent of its programs, the Trump administration has jeopardized decades of bipartisan progress, endangered millions of lives, and sent a dangerous message: America no longer leads with humanity.

lush green landscape alongside a dry barren landscape
Voices

The World Court says climate change is an ‘existential threat.’ Here’s what to do about it.

Opinion: Countries must immediately cooperate, but as citizens we play an important role too, Michael Dru Kelley writes.

elon musk showing off DOGE tshirt before entering white house
Voices

How Elon Musk turned his pain into policy—and targeted the trans community

Opinion: Is there a connection between Elon Musk's personal vendetta and the surge of anti-trans legislation in America? A guest writer wonders how one man's private grievances can fuel public policy.

US President Donald Trump speaks behind an engraved glass disc presented to him by Apple CEO Tim Cook during an event in the Oval Office
Voices

Duckling Tim Cook basks in the stench of the odorous Donald Trump and lauds him with the gift of gold

Cook caves to Trump like Mike Johnson, Sam Altman, and Shari Redstone, yet he feeds our addiction, ducking out of any culpability, writes John Casey.

Diamond crown Award for Winner of Beauty Queen Pageant
Voices

Breaking barriers, how one contestant became the first trans delegate in Miss Georgia USA

In this personal essay, Jasmine Basanes reflects on her life and making history as the first openly transgender woman to compete in the Miss Georgia USA pageant, bringing visibility, pride, and purpose to the stage.
msnbc rainbow peacock logo next to the new blue and red ms-now logo
Voices

When renaming MSNBC to MS NOW, did the branding team use a MAGA focus group?

Opinion: How else to explain all the ridicule for what might be the last bastion of media resistance to Trump’s ensuing dictatorship, writes John Casey.

Terence Stamp as Bernadette in The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert 1994
Voices

Terence Stamp’s iconic role in 'Priscilla' was a beacon of hope for LGBTQ+ visibility in 1994

Opinion: Over 30 years later, Stamp’s Bernadette remains a legendary film character, especially in these current anti-LGBTQ+ times, writes John Casey.

Donald Trump at the 24th Annual Sports Emmys 2003 alongside Chuck Barris Gong Show promo
Voices

Trump hosting the Kennedy Center Honors will be like watching a crappy variety show from the 1970s

Opinion: Trump won’t only make us relive the 1970s for one night — he’s working on trapping us there for three more years, writes John Casey.
Mike Johnson Pete Hegseth
Voices

Like Mike Johnson, Pete Hegseth is another Republican obsessed with gay sex

Opinion: Between outlawing firearms or affection, they’re hellbent on making gay sex the real crime, writes John Casey.

Donald Trump as portrayed on South Park and SNL Saturday Night Live
Voices

Late-night monologues and 'SNL' skits can't match South Park's Noem’s face, ICE in heaven, and Satan’s anus

Opinion: Colbert burns bright, SNL plays safe, but only South Park is fighting Trump in the language of our unreal, absurd, and chaotic political moment, writes John Casey.

map of botswana africa alongside patient and nurse before giving blood in african clinic
Voices

Botswana’s queer lifelines are vanishing

Opinon: Global funding cuts are threatening the survival of LGBTQ+ health centers in Botswana—putting lives, safety, and progress at risk.

Lil Nas X 36th Annual GLAAD Media Awards 2025
Voices

Forget the 'stunts'—what happened to Lil Nas X is terrifying

Opinion: Mental illness in Black people is criminalized, and Lil Nas X being thrown to the ground and arrested is no laughing matter, Mey Rude writes.

Pulse nightclub orlando memorial rainbow crosswalk and AIDS memorial quilt Ceremony
Voices

After erasing a memorial to the Pulse shooting victims, will the GOP try to burn the AIDS Quilt next?

Opinion: For the evangelical right that dominates Republican politics, their dream is for LGBTQ+ people to disappear, writes John Casey.

Sepi Shyne
Voices

I faced hate from every side. Morocco showed me another way to lead

After years of breaking barriers — and enduring xenophobia, Islamophobia, lesbophobia, and more — author Sepi Shyne stepped away from politics to protect my peace. In Marrakesh, I found a softer, more personal form of leadership.

Two 70+ year-old men with unmoored morals meet in Anchorage, Alaska for...nothing
Voices

Two 70+ year-old men with unmoored morals meet in Anchorage, Alaska for...nothing

Opinion: Two old men obsessed with wealth, power, and flattery met in the frozen north — and the only thing that changed is Putin’s smile grew wider and heart grew colder, writes John Casey.

EMS ambulance crew working to revive person from drug overdose
Voices

Trump's war on harm reduction will cost LGBTQ+ lives

Opinion: By dismantling proven HIV prevention and overdose reduction programs, the Trump administration is replacing science with politics — and putting already vulnerable LGBTQ+ communities in greater danger.

Cory Mills and Newt Gingrich
Voices

A Republican's sex scandal exposes the media's evolving shrug toward congressional disgrace

Opinion: On Capitol Hill, the threshold for disgrace keeps getting lower, and as such the media decides it has bigger fish to fry, writes John Casey.

George Floyd protesters fight back against US Army near White House Washington DC June 2020
Voices

Trump’s militarization of D.C. is blatant dictatorship

Opinion: Fabricated crises, racist lies, armed troops in the streets, this is dictatorship in action, and it’s only the beginning, writes John Casey.