06/17/25

Hi there,

🚨 The Trump administration’s cancellation of National Institutes of Health grants for research projects on diverse populations amounts to racial discrimination and anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, a federal judge ruled Monday.

🩺 In whispered hallway conversations and encrypted texts, and with rainbow pins discreetly clipped to lanyards, an underground resistance is taking shape within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. After the Trump administration stopped providing gender-affirming care for transgender veterans in March, some physicians within the VA system around the country are risking their careers — and safety — to defy the rollback quietly, chart by chart, patient by patient.

The underground resistance to the department's anti-trans policies was described to The Advocate in interviews with three different VA doctors and one transgender patient, who all spoke on the condition of anonymity. The doctors fear retaliation from supervisors and the Trump administration; the trans patient fears harassment. Read the story here.

🌈 On the 10th anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling for marriage equality, join The Advocate editors who covered it as they share stories of their professional and personal experiences. Catch the discussion via livestream on June 20, 11 a.m. Eastern.

Onward and upward,

Alex Cooper

Editor-in-Chief, The Advocate

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

🌈 Look, queer trivia! 🌈

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

This week's question: In what year were the first Pride marches?

⚡ Respond with the correct answer and you might receive a shoutout in a future email newsletter.

Site Navigation

Inside the Veterans Affairs Department’s underground resistance to Trump’s care ban for transgender vets

San Francisco is fighting opioid overdoses by giving out Narcan at drag shows — and this queen started it

Oh, to dream the impossible dream of being a ‘normal gay’ like Richard Grenell

Man arrested for killing Minnesota Democrat gave anti-LGBTQ+ speech in Africa

Trump's termination of health research grants shows anti-LGBTQ+ and racial bias, judge rules

Lesbian, gay, and bi medical students more likely to leave school than straight peers: study

LGBTQ+ elders are more likely to live in poverty. Here's how we can change that

Spa can't discriminate against trans women, federal appeals court rules

Federal appeals court says transgender girl has right to bathroom access in Wisconsin school district

Rise in anti-LGBTQ+ content on Meta platforms since rollback of protections: GLAAD study

Get The Advocate in your physical mailbox, too!

🌈 Look, queer trivia! 🌈

📣 What you should also be reading:

The Latest

What Memorial Day owes queer soldiers

From Revolutionary War hero Baron von Steuben to veteran Leonard Matlovich, this essay argues that queer service members have always been part of the American story—even when the country tried to erase them.

Maine conservatives’ anti-trans ballot measure push unraveling after signature controversy

Officials are weighing whether to invalidate thousands of signatures tied to a proposed ban on trans students using bathrooms and sports teams aligned with their gender identity.

NYC man indicted on hate crimes charges in alleged antigay beating

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the alleged bias-motivated assault left the victim hospitalized after a bystander intervened.

Lawsuit challenging Idaho’s bathroom bill dismissed after student plaintiff dies by suicide

The court offered “sincerest sympathies to Jane Doe’s family.”

LGBTQ+ stories deserve to betold.

12/21/24

More For You

Most Popular

These 8 Democrats voted for the Republican national ‘Don’t Say Trans’ bill passed by the House

The ACLU and the House Equality Caucus blasted their fellow Democrats and the Republicans who voted to pass a bill threatening to censor educators nationwide and compel them to out transgender students against their will.

House Republicans advance education bill restricting discussions on racism & gender

The measure would bar federally funded civics and history programs from promoting what the bill calls “gender ideology” and “discriminatory equity ideology.”

Pulse survivor Brandon Wolf returns to Equality Florida to confront anti-LGBTQ+ extremism

The former Human Rights Campaign press secretary says he’s heading back to Florida’s “front lines” ahead of the 10th anniversary of the Orlando nightclub massacre.

Not enough people know the story of Sir Lady Java. That's going to change.

A recently published historical zine documents the legacy of the pioneering Black trans artist.

He did what? MAGA judge allows himself to view trans kids’ hospital records

After another federal judge quashed a subpoena to access trans kids' medical records, Judge Reed O'Connor of Texas orders a Rhode Island hospital to send them his way.

Clavicular was brutally 'mogged' by hunky judge in dead alligator case

The infamous "looksmaxxing" influencer is getting roasted on social media after taking a plea deal in front of a handsome judge.

Latest Stories

Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week.

06/17/25

🌈 Look, queer trivia! 🌈

📣 What you should also be reading:

FROM OUR SPONSORS

The Latest

From Revolutionary War hero Baron von Steuben to veteran Leonard Matlovich, this essay argues that queer service members have always been part of the American story—even when the country tried to erase them.

Officials are weighing whether to invalidate thousands of signatures tied to a proposed ban on trans students using bathrooms and sports teams aligned with their gender identity.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the alleged bias-motivated assault left the victim hospitalized after a bystander intervened.

The court offered “sincerest sympathies to Jane Doe’s family.”

LGBTQ+ stories deserve to betold.

More For You

Most Popular

The ACLU and the House Equality Caucus blasted their fellow Democrats and the Republicans who voted to pass a bill threatening to censor educators nationwide and compel them to out transgender students against their will.

The measure would bar federally funded civics and history programs from promoting what the bill calls “gender ideology” and “discriminatory equity ideology.”

The former Human Rights Campaign press secretary says he’s heading back to Florida’s “front lines” ahead of the 10th anniversary of the Orlando nightclub massacre.

A recently published historical zine documents the legacy of the pioneering Black trans artist.

After another federal judge quashed a subpoena to access trans kids' medical records, Judge Reed O'Connor of Texas orders a Rhode Island hospital to send them his way.

The infamous "looksmaxxing" influencer is getting roasted on social media after taking a plea deal in front of a handsome judge.