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Lots of people are talking about Avery Jackson, a nine-year-old girl from Kansas City who is the first transgender person to appear on the cover of National Geographic. Since we shared photos of the cover of our special issue on gender on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, tens of thousands of people have weighed in with opinions, from expressions of pride and gratitude to utter fury. More than a few have vowed to cancel their subscriptions.

The North Carolina Senate Wednesday voted down legislation to repeal the controversial law known simply as the “bathroom bill,” months after the measure limiting LGBT protections triggered an economic backlash for the state. ADVERTISEMENT The Senate voted 32-16 against the repeal effort before voting by the same margin to adjourn, ending the special session two days after the Charlotte City Council gutted an ordinance that in March led the state's General Assembly to pass House Bill (HB) 2. The state House also adjourned without voting. The repeal legislation, Senate Bill 4, caused new turbulence by imposing a six-month moratorium on...

As part of its January 2017 issue exploring our evolving understandings and definitions of gender, National Geographic is featuring nine-year-old transgender rights activist Avery Jackson on its cover—the first time a trans person has made the cover of the magazine. Jackson rose to stardom last year when she began documenting her transition with “Avery Chats,” a series of YouTube videos describing how she came to understand her identity at such a young age and eventually came out to her parents as trans. “When I was born, doctors said I was a boy, but I knew in my heart I was...

During Friday’s broadcast of “CNN Tonight,” anchor Don Lemon stated that Vice President-Elect Mike Pence “has rallied and railed against” and “does not love” gay people. Lemon said, “Mike Pence has rallied and railed against gay people, and tried to shoot down and block gay legislation.” He added, “Mike Pence does not love gay people. His record shows that he does not love gay people.”

On yesterday evening’s Hardball, an overwrought Andrew Sullivan stopped just short of chewing the scenery, while repeatedly referring to Donald Trump and Ann Coulter as fascists. But precisely because of Trump’s supposed fascist fear-mongering, Sullivan predicted that “Trump is going to win this election.” Former New Republic editor Sullivan claimed that we are in a “fascist moment” because white Americans are reacting to the country becoming majority-minority. Calling Ann Coulter “the other fascist” along with Trump, Sullivan cited Ann’s book “Adios, America” as epitomizing the fear of the foreigner driving Trump’s support. View the video here.

For many viewers, this came as no surprise, but for many FOX conservative loyalists, this latest news would have come as a shock. FOX News host Shepard Smith joins other high-profile gay cable news anchors like CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Don Lemon. A number of high-profile media critics including top-rated talk radio host Michael Savage, have recently raised the alarm that FOX News is undergoing a liberal facelift following the departure of its news head Roger Ailes over a number sexual harassment cases.

In canonizing Mother Teresa as a saint ("Pope declares Mother Teresa a saint," Sept. 5), the pope publicly confirmed the essential tenets of Catholicism: That God could have stopped Catholic priests from raping altar boys. But, overall, He didn't want to. And millions throughout the world rejoiced in this good news. Such is religion.

The Indiana governor and culture warrior would balance the ticket with a twice-divorced, proud philanderer at the top -- except he legalized discrimination against LGBT people with a law so extreme other GOP states rejected it. In choosing Mike Pence as his running mate, Donald Trump has shored up the GOP's religious base. But based on the Indiana governor's disastrous run-in with pro-business Republicans and moderates last year over gay rights, Trump may have just lost the election. [Snip] Unlike Newt Gingrich and Chris Christie, Pence has been a right-wing culture warrior for his entire career. As Samantha Allen detailed...

Democrats shouted "Shame! Shame!," but seven Republicans switched their votes and defeated a measure to protect gay rights. The final vote was 213-212 after the chaos on the House floor. That was enough to defeat an amendment by Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., aimed at upholding an executive order that bars discrimination against LGBT employees by federal contractors. Maloney and other Democrats were incensed. "They literally snatched discrimination from the jaws of equality," Maloney said. He said he had approached Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as McCarthy worked on GOP colleagues to vote against the measure. McCarthy told Maloney to...

The Texas Republican Party considered a platform Friday that would soften support of widely rebuked “reparative therapy” for gays while still preserving some of the toughest anti-gay language on any party plank in the U.S. The new platform also would oppose bathroom rights for transgender persons — an unsurprising move after the state’s Republican lieutenant governor said Friday that Texas is ready to forfeit billions of federal dollars rather than comply with a new Obama administrative directive on transgender rights in public schools. …

Manny Pacquiao is not backing down from his stance against homosexuality. Less than a day after the Filipino boxer and politician lost his sponsorship deal with Nike because he compared gay people to animals, Pacquiao took to Instagram early Thursday morning and posted some Bible verses that support his views. One of them, Leviticus 20:13, states in no uncertain terms that homosexuals should be killed: "If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on...

Lena Dunham is taking over the Hillary Clinton campaign Instagram account as she stumps for the candidate in New Hampshire this weekend. "Hey y'all! I made it to New Hampshire and I'm thrilled to be taking over the HRC Instagram! Warning: I'm pretty focused on my outfits," Dunham wrote. The post got almost 10,000 likes as of Friday, but also some critical reactions to Dunham's involvement in the campaign. Dunham also has been making campaign appearances with FIFA Women's World Cup champion Abby Wambach. Meanwhile, Clinton will appear on "The Ellen Show" on Monday.

A once great newspaper's descent into special-interest, sex-obsessed self-parody is now complete. Even if the Gray Lady did have to travel all the way to ladyboy Indonesia to find the subject closest to its Leftist heart just before Christmas. The headline says it all: Transgender Muslims Find a Home for Prayer in Indonesia No, really. As the call to prayer boomed over this midsize university town on a recent Sunday evening, rows of conservatively dressed Muslim women laid out their prayer mats, bowed toward Mecca and murmured prayers in Arabic. As dusk fell, it was a ritual being carried out...

<p>Among the Christian Right, and most Republican presidential candidates, it’s now an article of faith that the United States is persecuting Christians and Christian-owned businesses—that religion itself is under attack.</p> <p>Why has this bizarre myth that Christianity is under assault in the most religious developed country on Earth been so successful? Because, in a way, it’s true. American Christianity is in decline—not because of a “war on faith” but because of a host of demographic and social trends. The gays and liberals are just scapegoats.</p>

In a recent disquieting article for the New York Times, Choire Sicha investigates a curious new challenge for gyms: Some men want to shower and change without ever being publicly nude, and they expect their gyms to build locker rooms that accommodate that desire. Drawing upon the experiences of gym managers and architects, Sicha explains that over the last quarter-century, men have grown increasingly uneasy with being naked in the locker room. While older men generally remain comfortable being undressed among others, younger ones insist on maximum privacy, pining for a way to strip, shower, and change clothes without even...

The news in this year's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report on sexually transmitted diseases is not good. The number of cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea in the United States increased between 2013 and 2014, after being on the decline for several years. Cases of syphilis, which have been on the rise for the last decade, shot up in 2014. Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis are the three most common STDs in the United States that are also notifiable, meaning health departments are required to report new cases to the CDC. (HIV and shigella are also notifiable STDs.) Chlamydia is...

It kills me to write this post. I have spent more time worshiping Beyoncé than just about any other pop star. I've spent countless hours dancing to "Grown Woman" alone in my apartment. I've been the only guy in a dance class aimed at teaching the "Single Ladies" dance, and I loved every second of it. Beyoncé has been queen in my life since the first time I watched the "Crazy In Love" video. But. Over the past few months, Beyoncé has repeatedly refused the opportunity to speak out against the legalization of discrimination against LGBT people in her hometown......

To keep up with the adventures of the Keswani family, visit PEOPLE.com/keswanis. It's been a big year for the transgender community, thanks in large part to Caitlyn Jenner. But not every member of the community is 66: Devina Keswani, the youngest of three children in PEOPLE's new web series, The Keswanis: A Most Modern Family, and a proud Girl Scout, is just 6. "One [of my classmates] hates transgender, and he hates me because I'm transgender," Devina says, adding, "Before that he liked me, but now he hates me. He spits at me and pushes me."

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- On the first day of early voting, two new ads were released to abc13. Both of them are available here, but we are told will start airing on broadcast and cable television Tuesday. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick held a news conference Monday to unveil his offering. In the 30-second spot paid for by Patrick's campaign, the Lt. Governor stands against a flag draped background and tells viewers, "City of Houston Prop One is not about equality. That is already the law of the land. It's about allowing men in women's locker rooms and bathrooms."

Mayor Annise Parker took a moment on Twitter to bash former Houston Astros star Lance Berkman after he voiced opposition toward the city's equal rights ordinance known as HERO. In late September, Berkman recorded an advertisement for the Campaign for Houston PAC, a group that is opposed to HERO. "My wife and I have four daughters," Berkman says in the ad. "Proposition One, the 'bathroom ordinance,' would allow troubled men to enter women's public bathrooms, showers and locker rooms. This would violate their privacy and put them in harm's way. That's just wrong." The mayor called Berkman a hypocrite for...