This Week on Gay USA 5/3/2023

"∎ MT judge rejects suit to force legislature to reinstate out trans Rep. Zooey Zephyr. ∎ Disney vs. DeSantis vs. Nikki Haley. ∎ Fightback in Kansas, Missouri, and Tennessee. ∎ Progress in MN and CO and glimmers of hope in SC and NE. ∎ Marjorie Taylor Greene attacks out teacher union leader Randi Weingarten. ∎ Hawaii Democrat sings praises of prominent Aloha State drag queen. ∎ Uganda’s murderous anti-LGBTQ bill advances overwhelmingly. ∎ Lots of LGBTQ+ angles on the Tony Award nominations."

This Week on Gay USA 4/26/2023

A trans member of the Montana legislature silenced by her Republican colleagues. ∎ Students and drag queens in Florida protest Republican bigotry. ∎ DeSantis’ crusade against Disney draws ridicule from Republicans. ∎ Texas votes to post a conversation starter on adultery in every public school classroom. ∎ US House Republicans pass a national ban on trans girls and women in girls’ and women’s school sports. ∎ Out Don Lemon out at CNN and the anti-LGBTQ Tucker Carlson and his gay senior producer out at Fox. ∎ We remember playwrights Megan Terry and Robert Patrick; NJ gay activist James Credle; trans photographer Loren Cameron; Koko Da Doll, a star of the hit documentary “Kokomo City;” entertainer and Civil Rights leader Harry Belafonte; and cross-dressing performer Dame Edna Everage.

Gay USA 4/21/2023

∎ Ron DeSantis bans abortions after six weeks and vows more revenge on Disney. ∎ Donald Trump, Jr. calls on GOP to stop boycotting Budweiser. ∎ The Republican AG of Missouri unilaterally restricts gender-affirming care. ∎ Progress in Colorado and Washington State. ∎ President Biden picks a gay man and a gay icon to head his arts commission. ∎ A week of losses of important LGBTQ figures. ∎ Crackdown on LGBTQ people and groups intensifies in Uganda. ∎ India’s high court is hearing plea for marriage equality and sounds sympathetic. ∎ Good news from Arkansas. Yes: Arkansas. ∎ Andy reviews SWEENEY TODD, FAT HAM, and SHUCKED.

This Week on Gay USA 4/12/2023

The Biden administration issues its guidance on transgender students in school sports. ∎ Supreme Court lets a 12-year old trans girl in WV play school sports for now. ∎ Judge rejects suit by teacher who wanted religious right to mis-gender trans students. ∎ The judge who banned abortion pills invokes the 19th century Comstock Act. ∎ More anti-LGBTQ legislation in AR, ND, MO, and FL. ∎ Activists in SF and WEHO drag up and fight back. ∎ The LGBTQ lobby group Freedom for All Americans dissolves. ∎ We remember a pioneering Indian chef, trailblazing transgender activists in PA and NY, and a prominent British countertenor. ∎ Uganda’s President set to sign heinous anti-gay bill. ∎ Mo’Nique comes out.

Gay USA 4/5/2023

Big progressive wins in Wisconsin and Chicago. ∎ Biden condemns the current wave of anti-trans youth laws that just keep coming. ∎ Trump judge in TN pauses the state ban on drag performances. ∎ Out judge in TX rules unbans 12 books. ∎ Gov. DeSantis attempt to de-gay Disney thwarted. ∎ Arrests in murders of NY gay bar patrons—and a shocking story about one of the victims. ∎ We mourn a pioneering Cuban American lesbian activist in Philadelphia, a groundbreaking lesbian young adult novelist, a drag legend in SF, and the bisexual man who was a muse for the Beatles. ∎ Homophobic Republican judge in TX rules insurance companies don’t have to cover PrEP.

This Week on Gay USA 3/29/2023

"∎ Friday is the Transgender Day of Visibility, while right-wing media blame the Tennessee shooting on transgenderism. Our guest is Tennessee transgender leader Dr. Marisa Richmond, a distinguished professor of history at Middle Tennessee State University. ∎ Ron DeSantis expands “Don’t Say Gay” to all grades and hires a white supremacist, anti-LGBTQ speechwriter. ∎ Chicago bakery closes after harassment over hosting a drag event. ∎ Right-wing censors ban kids from singing a rainbow song in Wisconsin or seeing a film about a 6-year old Civil Rights pioneer in Florida. ∎ Neo-Nazi leader says protesting drag has been a boon to recruitment. ∎ The oldest working drag queen in America has died at 92 in Portland, OR. ∎ World leaders try to stop Uganda’s extremist anti-homosexuality bill from being signed into law. ∎ “Brokeback Mountain” is headed for the stage. "

Gay USA 3/22/2023

" The torrent of anti-transgender legislation continues in Republican states including IO, AR, WY, TX, FL, and KY. ∎ A NE Democratic legislator is fighting back as are students in IN and country singers in TN. ∎ Trump gaybaits DeSantis. ∎ NY’s AG hosts a Drag Story Hour—protested by a handful and supported by many. ∎ Alphonso David settles his lawsuit against the Human Rights Campaign over his firing. ∎ A US anti-LGBTQ extremist played a gay role in a movie. ∎ US bishops forbid Catholic health services from providing gender-affirming care. ∎ Uganda’s parliament piles on the penalties for homosexuality."

Gay USA 3/15/2023

∎ Ru Paul and other prominent drag queens respond to the assault on their right to perform. President Biden speaks up for them, too. ∎ Ron DeSantis on warpath vs. LGBTQ rights and joined by Texas, Wisconsin, and Arkansas this week. ∎ The anti-LGBTQ Republican Lt. Gov. of Tennessee loves risqué gay male posts on Instagram. ∎ Mike Pence tries to make a homophobic “joke” at big DC dinner. ∎ Michigan is the 22nd state to protect civil rights on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. ∎ Catholic Church in Germany votes to bless gay couples in defiance of the Vatican. ∎ India’s government opposes marriage equality at the Supreme Court. ∎ All the LGBTQ angles on the 95th Academy Awards.

Gay USA 3/8/2023

∎ In a brilliant, inspiring speech in the Arkansas Senate, Democratic Sen. Clarke Tucker tries to use reason to kill a heinous anti-trans bathroom bill. ∎ Florida Republican attack on LGBTQ rights, free speech, reproductive rights, and democracy accelerates. Governor of Tennessee signs bill to criminalize drag performances. ∎ KY GOP moves to curtail gender-affirming health care and ban drag. ∎ LGBTQ activists and allies fight back in Iowa and Oklahoma. ∎ Alaska takes away LGBTQ rights protections. ∎ Michigan’s Democrats advance LGBTQ rights bill. ∎ The deaths of two gay men in NY drugged to death leaving gay bars ruled homicides. ∎ We mourn a longtime LGBTQ and Leather activist in the US, and in New Zealand the first out transgender member of parliament in the world. ∎ Out actor Stephanie Hsu wins at Independent Spirit Awards and is up for an Oscar on Sunday.