Skip to content
Search AI Powered
Human content, AI powered search.

Latest Stories

WATCH: At Rally, Missourians Show Trans Students Love

Days after more than 150 people protested against trans student Lila Perry at her Missouri school, others rallied in support of her.

Liftinguplila-x400
More than 100 people joined in support of Missouri transgender high-schooler Lila Perry Friday at the #LiftingUpLila rally at the park in her hometown of Hillsboro.
A week ago, almost over 150 of Perry's peers protested outside Hillsboro High School, objecting to her expressed wish to use the girls' restroom at school.The #LiftingUpLila rally was organized by the Missouri Gay-Straight Alliance Network with the assistance of the Transgender Law Center and the national GSA Network.
While some news reports, such as that of St. Louis TV station KTVI, emphasized transphobic bystanders' responses on Twitter, in actuality, counterprotests at the #LiftingUpLila rally were minimal. The rally was peaceful and the police who were present did not report any actionable disturbances.
The #LiftingUpLila rally focused on more than transgender students' right to use the bathroom that comports with their gender identity. The speeches of the adolescent leaders put Perry's struggle into the context of the national disenfranchisement of transgender people, including the harassment and violence that gender-variant people routinely face.
"I am here today because I am tired of seeing my trans sisters murdered. This year alone in the United States over 20 deaths of trans women have been reported, and 17 of those have been trans women of color. I want to read the list of names, and for you to repeat, 'say her name,'" said Ka'Milla McMiller, an 18-year-old organizer with the Missouri GSA Network, who led participants in prayerfully calling out the names of transgender murder victims from across the United States like Tamara Dominguez of Kansas City, Mo.
Perry expressed gratitude to her supporters. "This gathering means so much to me, to have everyone here in Hillsboro and to welcome you to my small hometown," she told the crowd, according to a transcript provided by the Transgender Law Center." So this one time a girl goes to the bathroom and the next thing you know national press show up. And that girl is me."
In her speech, Perry pointed out that she and peers like Skyla Thompson of the GSA at Hillsboro High School were involved in LGBT advocacy long before the national media descended on her hometown.

Perry closed her speech with a call to stand up against discrimination."We can do things to change the systems that hold up institutionalized transphobia rooted in misogyny," she said. "I am calling on you to do more than just show up right now. I am calling on you to act. If you have someone in your life like the people who walked out on Monday, who you know are unfamiliar with trans issues and experiences, then today is the day to give them a call, get in conversations with them and grapple with the issues that have been brought up through this experience. If you identify as trans or gender non-conforming and you haven't told anyone, haven't felt safe enough to tell anyone, I hope for you to have the courage to be able to do so someday in your time. Create spaces to be brave, take risks, and be bold. Make visibility happen. Thank you for lifting me up. Thank for lifting up each other."

Watch the KTVI report below.

FROM OUR SPONSORS

The Latest

Luke and Brent Ganger
National

Renee Good was 'beautiful American,' 'unapologetically hopeful,' brothers tell Congress

They and others who've suffered at the hands of immigration authorities testified at a forum Tuesday.

doctor holding abortion pills
Politics

California doctor first to face lawsuit under Texas' bounty hunter abortion pill ban

A Texas man is suing a California doctor for allegedly prescribing abortion pills to his supposed sexual partner.

HIV ribbon Black hands
Health

13 Black community organizations fighting HIV in the U.S. you should know

These are the organizations dedicated to fighting HIV in the Black community, and the resources they provide.

Vivian Jenna Wilson Elon Musk
News

Vivian Wilson seems to corroborate Epstein-Musk emails

"I believe they are authentic," stated the Tesla co-founder's estranged daughter, who shared a key detail related to the timeline.

More For You

Trump DOJ lied to D.C. federal appeals court about trans military ban, lawyers say in stunning filing

u.s. federal courthouse in washington, d.c.

The E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse, for the U.S. District Court and U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in Washington, D.C.

SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
Lawyers representing transgender service members challenging the Trump administration’s renewed ban on trans military service accused the government on Wednesday of misleading the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit about both the factual record and how the policy is being enforced, arguing that Justice Department attorneys made false and improper representations last week. Keep Reading →

Trump admin targets Minnesota for allowing trans girls to participate in sports

"Trans atheletes belong in sports" protest sign

The Trump administration on Monday targeted Minnesota schools, saying they have violated federal law by allowing transgender girls to play sports with their peers.

DCStockPhotography/Shuttershock.com
This story was originally reported by Kate Sosin of The 19th. Meet Kate and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy. Keep Reading →

Sarah McBride demands Trump administration release severely disabled Delaware resident from ICE custody

sarah mcbride congressional hearing

U.S. Congresswoman Sarah McBride is calling on ICE to release a disabled man who lives in Delaware.

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride, Delaware’s at-large Democrat, on Monday demanded that federal immigration authorities immediately release Victor Acurio Suárez, a Sussex County resident with a disability who was ordered deported last week. Keep Reading →

Federal immigration agents are a modern-day ‘slave patrol,’ says former Minneapolis City Council president

a black man taken by masked federal immigration agents

A Black man is taken away by masked federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Aaron Lavinsky/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images
Former Minneapolis City Council president Andrea Jenkins was moving slowly through the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C., navigating toward a bank of elevators on her mobility scooter, when she reached for a small whistle hanging around her neck and lifted it for The Advocate to see. Keep Reading →

Skeptical judges grill Trump government lawyers on logic of ‘meaningless process’ in trans military ban

talbott v. usa plaintiffs and attorneys

Plaintiffs and attorneys stand outside the D.C. federal courthouse after oral arguments in a case challenging the Trump trans military ban.

Christopher Wiggins for The Advocate
What was scheduled to be a tightly timed appellate hearing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, instead turned into a nearly three-hour grilling of the Trump administration’s transgender military ban, as judges across ideological lines pressed government lawyers with pointed questions, voiced skepticism about the policy’s mechanics, and repeatedly zeroed in on whether the ban is designed to predetermine the removal of transgender troops already serving honorably. Keep Reading →
@ 2026 Equal Entertainment LLC. All Rights reserved