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Polari Prize halts 2025 competition following John Boyne ‘TERF’ controversy

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The Polari Prize has announced it will “pause” its 2025 awards competition following controversy over its inclusion of author and self-proclaimed ‘TERF’ John Boyne in its long list. In a statement issued on Monday (18 August), organisers of the LGBTQ+ writing award confirmed that this year’s proceedings had been put on hold in the wake of the backlash, which has seen other nominated authors withdraw from the competition. Public backlash was ignited earlier this month after the Polari Prize included Earth, the latest novel from The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas author Boyne, on its long list. In July, Boyne described himself as a “TERF” – […]

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Black lesbian couple in Virginia almost killed in what authorities say is ‘potential hate crime’

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The top prosecutor in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, says his office is giving its full attention to the reported July 20 attack on Amylah Majors and Jamaria Gaskins, a married Black lesbian couple who say they were chased, threatened at gunpoint, and nearly killed in what they describe as a racially motivated hate crime. “I am taking the case very seriously and immediately requested a thorough investigation of all of the facts and circumstances when the case first came to my attention, which is underway,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Ryan Mehaffey told The Advocate. “All relevant charges, including potential hate crime charges, will be considered upon completion […]

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Someone keeps throwing dog poop at an LGBTQ+ youth center in Los Angeles. Police need info

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Police in Los Angeles have no suspects as an LGBTQ+ youth center continues to be vandalized with dog poop. Unknown individuals have been leaving dozens of bags containing feces outside the entrance of Mi SELA over the past several months, according to the center’s parent organizations, the Los Angeles LGBT Center and Latino Equity Alliance (LEA). There are currently no leads in the case, with law enforcement saying it is unable to act. “This senseless harassment is abhorrent and unacceptable,” LEA said in a statement. “In 2025, it is shocking that young people and community organizations continue to face such targeted hate and intimidation. While law enforcement […]

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Gay Jamaican asylum seeker  ‘suffering’ in ICE custody, lawyer says

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A gay asylum seeker from Jamaica is fighting to be released from ICE custody after he was detained before his asylum hearing. Rickardo Anthony Kelly, 40, was arrested by ICE officers at an immigration courthouse in Manhattan on Monday morning while he was waiting for his prescheduled hearing, accompanied by his attorney. Agents offered him $1,000 to self-deport, and apprehended him when he refused, Kelly said in a writ of habeas corpus petition filed Wednesday and reported by Courthouse News Service. Kelly said that he came to the U.S. on a tourist visa in 2021 shortly after he was the victim of a violent attack motivated by […]

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State Dept. omitting anti-LGBTQ+ actions from foreign human rights reports

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The U.S. State Department is redoing its human rights reports on other countries, omitting anti-LGBTQ+ persecution, gender-based crimes, and other information the reports have traditionally included. Leaked drafts of reports reviewed by The Washington Post on El Salvador, Israel, and Russia “strike all references to LGBTQ+ individuals or crimes against them, and the descriptions of government abuses that do remain have been softened,” the Post reports. The drafts, which cover 2024, are significantly shorter than they have usually been, and they have been long delayed. The reports for the previous year are supposed to be sent to Congress by the end of February, and they are generally released to the public […]

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FBI report: Despite overall crime drop, anti-LGBTQ+ violence remains alarmingly high

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Anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes remain high despite a drop in violent crime overall in the U.S., according to the latest report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, released Tuesday. In 2024, law enforcement agencies sharing data with the FBI reported 2,278 single-bias hate crimes based on sexual orientation and 527 based on gender identity. For sexual orientation-motivated crimes, that’s a drop of 5 percent from 2023’s tally of 2,402. For crimes based on gender identity, that’s a drop of 3 percent from 2023’s total of 547. Crimes in both categories had risen from 2022 to 2023. But the numbers are still unacceptably high, activists say, and anti-LGBTQ+ political […]

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Model’s husband was isolated for years before he was found dead in NYC apartment, friends say

Jacob Zieben and Jacob Paulson were fast friends when they met in 2013. Aside from their shared name, the pair were both young gay men fresh out of college who recently moved to New York City.  After two years spent glued at the hip, Paulson said their dynamic quickly changed after his friend, a personal trainer from Texas, started dating model Donald Hood.  “He just vanished,” Paulson said this week in a phone interview, choking up. “I had no contact with him, and I just wanted him to be happy, and that’s all I really cared about. And I was […]

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Days 101-200: Every Anti-LGBTQ Move the Trump Administration Has Made

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Back in April, Uncloseted Media documented every move President Donald Trump made on LGBTQ issues in his first 100 days and uncovered a relentless and unprecedented attack against the community. That attack has only intensified. Here’s the Trump administration’s complete track record from days 101-200. May 1, 2025 The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) publishes “Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices,” a 409‑page report promoting “gender exploratory therapy.” The report’s nine authors are left anonymous in a move experts have called unusual. MIT philosophy professor Alex Byrne would later come forward as one of the authors, drawing criticism for […]

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Islamic court in Indonesia sentences 2 men to public caning after they were caught hugging and kissing

An Islamic court in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province on Monday sentenced two men to public caning, 80 times each, after Islamic religious police caught them engaged in what the court deemed were sexual acts: hugging and kissing. The trial at the Islamic Shariah District Court in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, was held behind closed doors. Judges have the authority to limit public access in such a case and open it only for the verdict. The two men, aged 20 and 21, were arrested in April after residents saw them entering the same bathroom at Taman Sari city park and […]

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New Repost from MAP and The Trevor Project Underscores the Harms of Conversion Therapy

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Today, the Movement Advancement Project (MAP) and The Trevor Project released a new report that spotlights the harms of conversion “therapy” and details the shifting landscape of efforts to protect LGBTQ young people against this abuse. With the U.S. Supreme Court set to hear a case this fall (Chiles v. Salazar) challenging the legality of these protections, this report offers a timely analysis into the history of these laws, the present landscape, and the importance of continuing to protect LGBTQ youth.   THE PREVALENCE OF CONVERSION “THERAPY” — AND ITS GROWING FOCUS ON TRANSGENDER YOUTH  Conversion “therapy” is a dangerous and discredited practice […]

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