12/21/24

Hi there,

💖 Our sibling publication Out recently had its star-studded Out100 event, where the publication celebrated the changemakers in queer film, television, politics, and activism. Check out the magic with the Out100 special here. 💖

🏀⚽🏈 The Biden administration seems to have abandoned an attempt to protect trans student-athletes. The U.S. Department of Education formally withdrew a proposed rule first drafted in April 2023 that would extend Title IX protections to protect transgender athletes’ right to play. The rule would have barred education institutions from denying student-athletes eligibility to participate on a male or female athletic team consistent with their gender identity.

❌ New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, vetoed legislation introduced after the drugging and killing of several gay men. In a veto statement, Hochul said the legislation would go against current finance regulations. The out New York state lawmaker who drafted the bill disputed Hochul's claims.

🚔 An L.A. police officer pleaded guilty this month to assaulting a trans man. Joseph Benza III, 36, admitted to an incident in February 2023 where he followed the young man in his car for nearly two miles before brutally attacking him. The officer then falsified his report to indicate the man was at fault, according to authorities. He faces 10 years in prison.

Onward and upward,

Alex Cooper

Editor-in-chief, Advocate.com

P.S. Support The Advocate's journalism. Find out how here.

🌈 Watch the Out100 30th anniversary special!

Biden administration abandons efforts to protect transgender student-athletes from discrimination

Maxim Elramsisy/Shutterstock

Kathy Hochul vetos financial protection bill introduced after murders of gay men

John Nacion/Shutterstock

120 anti-trans bills have already been filed across the United States before 2025 has even started

Nikki Aye for The Advocate

From Saturnalia to Santa, is Christmas just drag in disguise?

Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Tennessee pizzeria faces backlash for refusing to cater same-sex weddings

shutterstock creative

Meet Bobbie Simpson: California’s first out trans school board member

footage stills via KRCR News Channel 7

L.A. deputy sheriff pleads guilty to viciously assaulting transgender man

Courtesy Emmett Brock via NBC News; surveillance footage still via KTLA News

🌈 Look, the answer 🌈

Each week, The Advocate newsletter has a little bit of LGBTQ+ trivia. Tuesday, you'll get a question. Thursday, you'll get a hint. And today, you'll get the answer.

This week's question: When was homosexuality struck from the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)?

This week's answer: 1973 is the year the American Psychiatric Association declared that homosexuality is not a mental illness. It was also the year that saw the founding of three major LGBTQ+ organizations, all still active: Lambda Legal, the National Gay (now LGBTQ) Task Force, and PFLAG.