Advocate NL 10/8/26

For many LGBTQ+ Americans, becoming more visible and feeling less safe doing so are happening at the same time.

Hello and Happy Thursday folks, Audience Editor Edgar Ramirez here, back in your inbox with today's lead story from The Advocate's Christopher Wiggins.

New findings released by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation show that one-third of LGBTQ+ adults surveyed said they were more open about their identities than two years ago. Yet 56 percent said the political climate made them less likely to be open — a figure that reached 70 percent among transgender and gender-expansive adults.

Released ahead of National Coming Out Day, the findings, shared exclusively with The Advocate, describe a community navigating political pressure while continuing to build connections that respondents overwhelmingly believe can strengthen support for equal rights.

You can find Christopher's full story here.

Transgender Arizonans don’t need surgery to update birth certificates, federal appeals court confirms

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Trump deported a transgender woman to Central Africa. She says she has to hide to survive

Patrick Meinhardt/AFP via Getty Images

State ID restrictions could stand in the way of transgender Americans’ ability to vote

KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP via Getty Images

After Trump called Annie Andrews an anti-trans slur, the Democrat now calls trans women ‘biological men’

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Trump deported a gay man to a country he’d never known. A judge ordered him returned to the U.S.

Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP via Getty Images

Public schools banned a record 12,000 books this year. Most were in Texas and Florida

Envato

LGBTQ+ Americans are living more openly despite pressure to hide

Quentin de Groeve / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images