Advocate newsletter 5/8/26

🚫 New this morning: A federal judge has blocked efforts by the Federal Trade Commission to investigate two of the nation's most influential medical organizations involved in transgender health care. Here's what the judge had to say about the efforts by Trump's FTC.

And we've got much more news today, including the latest on Instagram censorship of LGBTQ+ creators, a first-person account from a gay travel influencer aboard the hantavirus-plagued cruise ship, and the Justice Department's expensive efforts to recruit transphobes with law degrees.

Until next time,

The Advocate team

Federal judge blocks FTC probes into trans medicine groups, citing ‘extensive evidence of animus’

DREW ANGERER/AFP via Getty Images

Instagram censorship crackdown sparks alarm among LGBTQ+ creators

Shutterstock

Lawsuit accuses Trump DOJ of stripping anti-rape protections from trans prisoners

Shutterstock

Travel blogger pleads ‘We’re not just headlines, we’re people’ aboard hantavirus-plagued cruise ship

Elton Monteiro/Xinhua via Getty Images

White House puts trans rights groups in counterterrorism crosshairs

Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images

Kash Patel sued a reporter over drinking allegations. So she dropped another FBI alcohol bombshell

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Ohio Republicans are trying to strip transgender adults of health insurance coverage

The Buckeye Flame

Josh Duhamel knows how 'important' his 'Love, Simon' dad is to gay kids and families

Trump Justice Department recruits transphobes with law degrees using $25,000 bonuses

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Two NYC Democrats running for a U.S. House seat battle to prove who’s more pro-LGBTQ+

Jack Walker/The Advocate (left) and Al Drago/Getty Images (right)

Lawsuit accuses Trump DOJ of stripping anti-rape protections from trans prisoners

The National Center for LGBTQ Rights says the Trump administration unlawfully ordered prisons to ignore federal standards protecting transgender incarcerated people from sexual violence.

Travel blogger pleads ‘We’re not just headlines, we’re people’ aboard hantavirus-plagued cruise ship

A Boston-based travel creator says passengers aboard the outbreak-hit vessel are “people with families” as the ship continues toward the Canary Islands. But what is the virus?

Kash Patel sued a reporter over drinking allegations. So she dropped another FBI alcohol bombshell

The escalating controversy now includes allegations of heavy drinking, criminal leak investigations, personalized bourbon bottles, and fears of retaliation inside the FBI.

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Federal judge blocks FTC probes into trans medicine groups, citing ‘extensive evidence of animus’

Instagram censorship crackdown sparks alarm among LGBTQ+ creators

Lawsuit accuses Trump DOJ of stripping anti-rape protections from trans prisoners

Travel blogger pleads ‘We’re not just headlines, we’re people’ aboard hantavirus-plagued cruise ship

White House puts trans rights groups in counterterrorism crosshairs

Kash Patel sued a reporter over drinking allegations. So she dropped another FBI alcohol bombshell

Ohio Republicans are trying to strip transgender adults of health insurance coverage

Josh Duhamel knows how 'important' his 'Love, Simon' dad is to gay kids and families

Trump Justice Department recruits transphobes with law degrees using $25,000 bonuses

Two NYC Democrats running for a U.S. House seat battle to prove who’s more pro-LGBTQ+

The Latest

Kash Patel reportedly gripped by panic and leak paranoia at FBI

Reports of polygraphs, leak hunts, and bourbon bottle controversies are intensifying scrutiny of the FBI director’s leadership.

Lawsuit accuses Trump DOJ of stripping anti-rape protections from trans prisoners

The National Center for LGBTQ Rights says the Trump administration unlawfully ordered prisons to ignore federal standards protecting transgender incarcerated people from sexual violence.

Travel blogger pleads ‘We’re not just headlines, we’re people’ aboard hantavirus-plagued cruise ship

A Boston-based travel creator says passengers aboard the outbreak-hit vessel are “people with families” as the ship continues toward the Canary Islands. But what is the virus?

LGBTQ+ stories deserve to be told.

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Kash Patel sued a reporter over drinking allegations. So she dropped another FBI alcohol bombshell

The escalating controversy now includes allegations of heavy drinking, criminal leak investigations, personalized bourbon bottles, and fears of retaliation inside the FBI.

Ohio Republicans are trying to strip transgender adults of health insurance coverage

The bill would bar many forms of gender-affirming care from Medicaid coverage and pressure Ohio cities to drop trans-inclusive employee health plans.

The fast rise and fall of ‘looksmaxxing’ influencer Clavicular

Braden Peters, AKA Clavicular, has gone from overnight fame to being banned by YouTube and facing multiple criminal charges.

Federal judge baffled by Supreme Court order targeting trans Americans’ passports

The Justice Department says the court ended the lawsuit. A federal appeals judge seems unconvinced.

Indya Moore says Okra Project’s former director’s illegal actions were “likely trauma-rooted”

Upon Dominique Morgan’s conviction for embezzling funds, the nonprofit expresses sympathy and sadness for its former executive director.

Vatican report admits conversion therapy caused LGBTQ+ Catholics’ ‘profound suffering’

The historic Synod report features firsthand accounts from gay Catholics who say the dangerous practice deepened shame, isolation, and spiritual anguish.

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Advocate newsletter 5/8/26

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The Latest

Reports of polygraphs, leak hunts, and bourbon bottle controversies are intensifying scrutiny of the FBI director’s leadership.

Meta denies claims it unfairly targets LGBTQ+ users as critics point to suspended queer and sexual wellness accounts.

The National Center for LGBTQ Rights says the Trump administration unlawfully ordered prisons to ignore federal standards protecting transgender incarcerated people from sexual violence.

A Boston-based travel creator says passengers aboard the outbreak-hit vessel are “people with families” as the ship continues toward the Canary Islands. But what is the virus?

LGBTQ+ stories deserve to be told.

More For You

Most Popular

The escalating controversy now includes allegations of heavy drinking, criminal leak investigations, personalized bourbon bottles, and fears of retaliation inside the FBI.

The bill would bar many forms of gender-affirming care from Medicaid coverage and pressure Ohio cities to drop trans-inclusive employee health plans.

Braden Peters, AKA Clavicular, has gone from overnight fame to being banned by YouTube and facing multiple criminal charges.

The Justice Department says the court ended the lawsuit. A federal appeals judge seems unconvinced.

Upon Dominique Morgan’s conviction for embezzling funds, the nonprofit expresses sympathy and sadness for its former executive director.

The historic Synod report features firsthand accounts from gay Catholics who say the dangerous practice deepened shame, isolation, and spiritual anguish.