Free Republic

Across the country, gay bars — often a fixture of queer nightlife — have been shuttered at an alarming pace. More than 45% closed between 2002 and 2023. But the closing of gay bars is prompting some to reimagine queer nightlife, argues Amin Ghaziani, a professor of sociology at the University of British Columbia. Sabri Ben-Achour: So let’s start with this idea of the disappearing gay bar. This comes down to economics that I think are very relatable to a lot of businesses. It’s not that they’re not viable as a business, it’s that they’re getting priced out.

Governor Janet Mills (D-ME) said Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that President Donald Trump is not the law and his administration’s actions were “not rational” while discussing their transgender athletes dispute. Mills said, “Very unexpectedly the president called on me to answer a question that was unrelated to the topic at hand. I’ve been to the White House and talked to President Trump before, President Biden, President Obama, several presidents, always been a good conversation, exchange of ideas. This was different, very different, and when he said, ‘I am the law,’ basically, ‘we are the law,’ my jaw dropped, and...

Miami Beach's annual Pride Parade celebrates the LGBTQ community's impact in South Florida, but attendees said that this year feels different with government policies they feel roll back some protections... Since Jan. 20, the Trump administration has rolled back DEI programs in the federal government and frozen grants. The president also signed an executive order declaring that the U.S. government will only recognize two genders: male and female. "We have had to go back into our federal contracts," said Daniel Molloy of Pridelines, an LGBTQ community center. "We've had to go back into our state contracts. And redact any mention...

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is asking the public for help in locating a transgender girl who went missing in the Antelope Valley. An LASD bulletin states that Raymond “Sophia” Chavez, 14, was last seen just before 10:50 a.m. Friday in the 1700 block of East Avenue J in Lancaster.

Community organizations and county services have lost funding after the federal government began to cut $11 billion from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. On Tuesday, the Trump administration eliminated multiple agencies and laid off 10,000 workers with HHS, according to The Associated Press. These cuts have affected several programs in the region, including the Sacramento LGBT Community Center and county programs.

Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas has sparked outrage after vowing to 'keep fighting' for inclusion in women's sports despite Donald Trump's ban. Trump signed an executive order banning trans athletes from women's sports back in February, with the president using Title IX to ensure only biological females are allowed to compete. Thomas, a biological male, was at the center of major contention in 2022 after winning a national swimming title for UPenn in 2022, with former opponent Riley Gaines currently leading a lawsuit against the NCAA for a number of athletes who were forced to compete against them. Yet despite Trump's...

The Colorado Senate commemorated Transgender Day of Visibility on Monday with a resolution on the chamber floor, but Democrats want to do more than just talk. Colorado Capitol News Alliance They’re also proposing new protections for trans people. “Transgender Coloradans are part of the fabric of our communities. They are parents, students, care givers, faith leaders and neighbors,” said one of the resolution’s sponsors Sen. Lisa Cutter, a Jefferson County Democrat. “They experience elevated levels of poverty, discrimination and violence.”

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has some advice for the federal judge who is preventing the imminently sensible Defense Department policy based on President Trump's Executive Order 14183 (Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness – The White House) that the military can no longer recruit transgenders and that transgenders are not eligible for retention in the military. Maybe, mused Hegesth on the X social media platform, "Since 'Judge' Reyes is now a top military planner, she/they can report to Fort Benning at 0600 to instruct our Army Rangers on how to execute High Value Target Raids…after that," he continued, "Commander Reyes...

An LGBTQ club in Sacramento, California, is banning all “MAGA-related attire” after a patron wore a “Make America Great Again” hat to the popular venue. The phrase and its acronym — especially when emblazoned on red baseball caps — have been popular among Donald Trump’s supporters since the president’s first term. Badlands owner TJ Bruce announced the new policy on the club’s Instagram page this week, saying the hat “led to discomfort among some patrons.” “We initially decided to ban all political attire to avoid further issues. However, after careful consideration, we’ve realized that a blanket ban is not the...

Tavish Forsyth, previously an associate artistic lead at the Washington National Opera’s Opera Institute, has been fired after releasing a nude video protesting changes being made at the Kennedy Center by President Trump and his point man Amb. Ric Grenell. In the YouTube video, Forsyth—who Kennedy Center sources tell The National Pulse was part of an education division which regularly engaged with students—performed a 35-minute spoken-word poem while nude. He was fired on Thursday afternoon.

A Washington state mayor scolded an LQBTQ+ activist who was outraged that the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action flag was allowed to fly over City Hall but the Pride flag was not. Newcastle Mayor Robert Clark was berated by activists at a public hearing Tuesday night as citizens of the city — about 12 miles from Seattle — were upset over the council’s decision last year to stop the Pride flag from being flown at City Hall during Pride Month. Toward the end of the three-hour session, an activist stood in front of the council and called Clark “disgusting” and...

LGBTQ activists showed up en masse to protest against a parent who spoke out about her daughter being forced to share a bathroom and locker room with a male and being barricaded in the locker room by staff members and forced to undress.

CNN has honored trans-identified influencer Dylan Mulvaney as its "game changer" of the week, with the social media influencer saying he told his mom as a small child that he thought "God made a mistake." Video footage shared by the left-leaning media watchdog Media Matters of America shows that CNN recognized Mulvaney as its "game changer" Friday. The profile segment on the activist aired on "CNN News Central" and comes nearly two years after the presence of Mulvaney's face on a special promotion can of Bud Light drew a conservative boycott against the beer company led by country and rock...

Horrified dogwalkers have launched a campaign to reclaim Hampstead Heath from gay 'cruisers' who claim the site is their 'cultural right'. Signs put up on the western side of the north London park read 'Cruising for sex? Homosexuality is legal. Use a hook up app like Grindr or Sniffies and get a room'. It also had a map of the park with a red circle labelled 'This is not a cruising ground'. The poster encouraged dog walkers and residents to 'walk in the red area' and to 'take back West Heath'. The term refers to the practice where individuals, often...

Transgender activists stormed the Iowa Capitol on Thursday as lawmakers consider a bill that would eliminate “gender identity” as a protected class from state civil rights law. “Hundreds of Iowans again packed the Iowa Capitol rotunda to protest the bill, waving pride flags, holding signs and chanting ‘no hate in our state’ and ‘you represent us.’ A line of protesters led out the building’s door as more people waited to be let inside,” the Des Moines Register reported.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Some believe the Democratic Party’s next savior is living here, huddled with family, in the relative obscurity of a small city on the shores of Lake Michigan. Pete Buttigieg has yet to decide if that’s a responsibility he wants. For now, Buttigieg, the 43-year-old former U.S. transportation secretary, is discussing his future with party officials, labor leaders and top strategists. He must decide soon whether he wants to return to the national spotlight as a candidate in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race or step aside to instead seek a much bigger role as his party’s next...

A man accused of multiple child sex offences allegedly raped a 12-year-old boy and smoked a bong with him at his flat, a trial has heard. Stephen Ireland, 40, who co-founded Pride in Surrey in 2018, is facing 35 charges while his flatmate David Sutton, 27, a volunteer with the organisation, is accused of 20 offences. The pair targeted "children for their sexual proclivities", Guildford Crown Court was told. The defendants have denied all the charges and jurors were told they would argue the allegations were ill-founded and untrue. Mr Ireland is alleged to have met a 12-year-old boy at...

Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.), the maverick Democrat who has praised President Trump at times, on Thursday condemned the Trump administration’s decision to bar transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. military and called for a reversal of the policy. “I am unapologetically pro-military — I believe in a strong, lethal military. But I am also unapologetically pro the LGBTQ community,” Fetterman said in a video posted to X. “I am calling on President Trump to rescind this executive order — to allow and honor the inherent dignity of our service members regardless of what their race is, what their gender...

The town of Worcester, Massachusetts, voted to become a “sanctuary city” for transgender and “gender diverse people” this week after several self-proclaimed LGBTQ+ members asserted they are under attack in President Trump’s America, with one warning that transgender individuals would make the city a “very unsafe space” if it does not bend to their will. The meeting lasted several hours as several self-proclaimed queer members of the community pleaded for sanctuary status. One individual wearing a red hat — clearly a biological male — said he represented both the “b” and “t” in the community and explained that he feels...

Speaking at the 16th International Aids Conference in 2006, the then UNAids executive director, Peter Piot, remarked: “Since the beginning of the epidemic, stigma, discrimination and gender inequality have been identified as major causes of personal suffering, and as major obstacles to effective responses to HIV.” Now, in the fourth decade of the HIV crisis, this statement remains largely true. Despite the leaps and bounds that have been made in the treatment and prevention of HIV, stigma and discrimination continue to harm the lives of people living with HIV, and hinder efforts to stem the epidemic globally.