newsletter - 7/14/25

Happy Monday,

Tomorrow, I'll pass the newsletter baton to my colleague Christine Linnell, who will be writing the newsletter Tuesday through Friday. But don't worry: On Mondays, you'll still get one from me. 🌈

📣 As drag shows across the country continue to face threats and violence, a group has used their own experiences to compile a book of resources helping other artists protect themselves. Qommittee, a national advocacy network of drag artists and allies led by survivors of high-profile hate crimes such as the Pulse and Club Q mass shootings, has published the Drag Defense Handbook. With over 40 pages, the document demonstrates how drag artists and organizers have successfully fought back against harassment and bans.

🕯️ Celebrated queer poet Andrea Gibson has died. They were 49. According to Gibson's social accounts, the poet died Monday "in their home surrounded by their wife, Meg, four ex-girlfriends, their mother and father, dozens of friends, and their three beloved dogs." Rest in power.

💵 A nonbinary special education teacher in Arizona has settled a lawsuit against their school district after two board members reportedly accused them of "grooming" children and released their address on social media.

Onward and upward,

Alex Cooper,

Editor-in-Chief, The Advocate

P.S. Support The Advocate's journalism. Become a member today.

How drag artists can protect themselves from the far-right attacks

Glynnis Jones / Shutterstock

Celebrated queer poet Andrea Gibson dead at 49

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

Transgender woman who escaped Alabama for her safety beaten & left for dead near National Mall in D.C.

Courtesy Cayla Calhoun

Florida Republican official suspended for social posts mocking Pulse murder victims

Mia2you/Shutterstock

Ellen DeGeneres shows unexpected support for Rosie O'Donnell in Trump feud

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Indiana LGBTQ+ rights protesters surround strip-mall church that preaches death for 'sodomites'

footage still via The Jade DeMelody

19 photos from 1990s San Francisco show the roots of butch and femme culture

original photography by CHLOE SHERMAN via Von Lintel Gallery

Trump poised to make LGBTQ+ nonprofit workers ineligible for student loan forgiveness

Shutterstock Creative

Nonbinary Arizona teacher doxxed and accused of grooming by board members settles lawsuit

shutterstock creative

5 charged in assault that left a transgender girl with a broken jaw in D.C. juvenile detention center

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