01/13/24

Happy Saturday,

💍 OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman is now a married man. The tech mogul was recently in the news after being sacked and then reinstated as OpenAI's leader. The company is behind ChatGPT, the generative AI product. Altman married his partner Oliver Mulherin at a seaside ceremony. Congrats to the couple! 👨🏻🤝👨🏼

🚨 Republicans in West Virginia and Indiana are going after transgender people. Isn't this very 2023? Lawmakers in West Virginia introduced legislation that would force mental health professionals to “cure” transgender people and another piece of legislation categorizes transgender people as “obscene." A Republican legislator in Indiana wants to define gender in state law as the “biological sex” assigned at birth, effectively erasing transgender and nonbinary people, and to deny recognition to same-sex marriages. Yes, that's going after trans people and queer marriages. 🚨

🦀 A Maryland man was sentenced to two years in prison for threatening the Human Rights Campaign and LGBTQ+ lawmakers. In a comment to The Advocate, HRC said, "We are grateful to law enforcement for acting so quickly to keep our community safe after HRC received these specific threats, and we are pleased that a sentencing has been issued. We will continue our work to call out those who spread violence, fear, and disinformation.”

🇬🇷 🏛️ Greece looks to be set to pass a law legalizing marriage equality. Stefanos Kasselakis, the gay leader of the opposition party Syriza, said his party would back the legislation. He commented, however, that the law would still limit parental rights for LGBTQ+ people due to denying queer couples the ability to use surrogacy. Adoption by queer couples will be part of the reforms. Civil unions for same-sex couples have been legal in Greece since 2015.

In other news:

• Diagnoses of gender dysphoria are on the up, indicating more people are looking for gender-affirming care. Virginia, Indiana, and Utah were the states with the greatest increase in diagnoses between 2018 and 2022. The only state to see a decrease was South Dakota, which banned gender-affirming care for minors in 2023.
• A Polish priest was arrested this week after a man allegedly overdosed at an orgy he'd organized. When emergency services arrived at the scene, they were barred entry until police arrived.
• ACT UP NY took to the streets last week to call for an end to the Israel-Gaza War and the protection of Palestinian civilians.
• Denying incarcerated people gender-affirming care is unconstitutional, according to the Department of Justice.

Alex

West Virginia Republicans want to ban transgender people from public spaces, call them ‘obscene’

Shutterstock

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman marries boyfriend Oliver Mulherin

Win McNamee/Getty Images; Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TIME

Maryland man sentenced for threats to America's largest LGBTQ+ rights group and several lawmakers

Justice Department

Priest arrested after man overdoses on erectile dysfunction pills at sex party

Shuttershock

Judge wonders if anti-transgender doctors sued 'because they wanted there to be discrimination'

Youtube @TonyPerkins; Shutterstock

Indiana Republican introduces bill that would erase transgender people and deny marriage equality

Rep. Chris Judy Site

20 LGBTQ+ movies coming out in 2024 that we can't wait to see

A24; Amazon MGM Studios; A24

7 images of ACT UP NY taking to the streets at a queer Palestine rally saying ‘SILENCE=DEATH’

Courtesy ACT UP NYC/Alexa Blair Wilkinson

Denial of gender-affirming care to inmate is unconstitutional, says Department of Justice

Shutterstock

Queer erotica author Chuck Tingle uninvited from Texas book event over face mask

Instagram/@chucktingle

Greece to legalize same-sex marriage after opposition agrees to support it

MENELAOS MYRILLAS/SOOC/AFP via Getty Images