Latest Stories By Grace Abels

When the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a Tennessee case challenging the constitutionality of the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, one justice homed in on two sparring figures: 1% and 85% Justice Sonia Sotomayor said both numbers claimed to represent how many children express “regret” after receiving treatment for gender […]

WASHINGTON — After the Supreme Court adjourned oral arguments over Tennessee’s gender-affirming care ban, a teen emerged from the columned courthouse sporting a lavender tie and stood quietly next to her parents, Brian and Samantha Williams.  To her right stood a large crowd decked out in rainbow flags. To her left stood another crowd warning of […]

Since 2021, 24 states have banned gender-affirming care for transgender youth, prompting dozens of legal challenges by transgender youth, families and advocates.  This week, for the first time, the land’s highest court will hear a challenge to one state’s law — which could prompt a domino effect for the others. On Dec. 4, the U.S. […]

With abortion access on Missouri’s November ballot, anti-abortion advocates are arguing that a proposed amendment, Amendment 3, goes beyond giving women the right to choose whether to have children.  “It will mandate constitutionally, all reproductive health services, and that includes transgender treatments for minors,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said at a Sept. 7, religious conference […]

Professional wrestler Hulk Hogan might have captured tons of attention at the Republican National Convention for ripping his shirt off and screaming to “Let Trumpamania run wild,” but references to queer and trans issues also ran wild throughout the four-day event. Leave it to the fact-checkers to tell you this, but: Some of the LGBTQ+-related […]

After an armed man climbed a rooftop and fired off rounds in an attempt to assassinate former President Donald Trump, who stood 450 feet away, questions swirled about how one of the nation’s premier security agencies could have allowed such a significant breach. Some conservative influencers and representatives claimed they knew the culprit: women — […]

By now, most of us are used to living in “unprecedented times.” But just how unprecedented is Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race a little more than three months before Election Day?  Occasionally, incumbent presidents have decided to not seek reelection. But dropping out midcampaign is incredibly rare. And it […]

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump opened his acceptance speech on the Republican National Convention’s final night by recounting the July 13 assassination attempt he survived at his rally five days earlier. Before the speech, Trump’s only public remarks about his experience were in a brief Truth Social post shared after the shooting: “I was shot […]

President Biden kicked off Pride Month this year with a message to LGBTQ+ Americans, posting “your president and my entire Administration have your back.” Former President Trump has been quiet on social media when it comes to LGBTQ+ issues and railed against trans women’s participation in sports at a recent campaign rally in Vegas. If […]

This spring, multiple federal government agencies announced changes to antidiscrimination policies for LGBTQ+ people at work, at the doctor and in the classroom. Around the same time, a federal court ruled that restricting gender-affirming care and barring a West Virginia transgender student from playing girls’ sports violates antidiscrimination law. Behind these policy and legal shifts […]

After the nation’s leading gender equity law, Title IX, received a long-anticipated update, the reviews are in — and they’re as mixed as a can of machine-shaken paint at Sherwin-WIlliams.  Civil rights advocates at the Southern Poverty Law Center praised the revisions as “bolstering protections for LGBTQ+ students.” Meanwhile, one sexual violence researcher said the […]

On March 29, the Biden White House proclaimed March 31, 2024, as Transgender Day of Visibility. This move prompted outrage from social media users and political figures upset that Easter, which fell on the same day, had been “replaced” or overwritten.   “Banning sacred truth and tradition —while at the same time proclaiming Easter Sunday […]