In an unprecedented move, the Trump administration filed subpoenas in June on normally confidential patient data from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and nearly 20 other physicians or clinics that provide gender transition services. This action was justified by Attorney General Pam Bondi as necessary for the investigation of “healthcare fraud.” The information included names, […]
Men publicly punished in Indonesia for same-sex physical affection
Two young men aged 20 and 21 were recently whipped in the same park where they were caught kissing and hugging in a bathroom by police in April. This happened in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province – the only province in the country where Sharia law is still practiced. The men initiated contact with each other […]
Reproductive rights under threat around the world
The Guttmacher Institute – a research and policy organization committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) globally – recently published a report that reviews the damage the Trump administration has wreaked thus to SRHR services and programs. It’s not just the cuts to foreign aid that are a problem, but U.S. foreign […]
It’s Raining…Green Dildos?
The surreal phenomenon of sex toys being thrown onto basketball courts during WNBA games as of late has a new plot twist: a cryptocurrency group has come forward and claimed responsibility for starting the trend as a protest of sorts against the state of things in the crypto world. I’ll admit that upon first glance […]
Detransitioners Are Not a Monolith
Critics of gender-affirming care often point to the growing number of “detransitioners” to support arguments against providing it to minors. Estimates of the number who detransition vary widely and its prevalence may ultimately be unknowable, since detransitioners may break off contact with their former medical providers. York University social work professor (and trans powerlifter) Kinnon […]
Will conversion therapy make a comeback in the U.S.?
Although a total of 27 states – in addition to the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and more than 100 municipalities – have banned the practice of conversion therapy as well as on governmental funding for it, all mostly within the last ten years, there is growing paranoia that popularity for the pseudoscientific and downright abusive practice […]
Gender Panic Abounds
Gerika Mudra is a non-trans 18-year-old lesbian woman who is filing a charge of discrimination against a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in Minnesota because an employee followed her into the women’s bathroom and tried to prevent her from using it upon suspicion of her being a man. While being harassed Mudra revealed her breasts to […]
Clinical psychologist calls for nuance re: gender-affirming care
Dr. Laura Edwards-Leeper opposes both bans on pediatric gender medicine and immediate provision of “gender-affirming” care to any minor who wants it. Instead, she proposes what she calls an “assessment approach” (a term she prefers to “gatekeeping”), involving at least ten hours of meetings with minors and parents, evaluation of other mental health and family […]
Queers are keeping the receipts…
…because someone has to! Journalism of this kind is so important in this here and now. When the time comes for building back, for healing, and for redesigning an American sociopolitical infrastructure that is more productive for more people – and such a time will come my dear sexual subjects, I promise you – detailed […]
Politics continues to interfere with vaccine research
The world’s first gonorrhoea vaccine program was just rolled out in the United Kingdom. Gonorrhea, which is both preventable and treatable, is mostly transmitted through vaginal, oral or anal sex. According to the World Health Organization, in 2020 there were an estimated 82.4 million new infections among adults globally. Aside from increasing the risk of […]