It’s the weekend, gays, we made it! Before you ditch your business-casual for whatever fab outfits you’re planning to don over the next two days (PJs also acceptable), here are five news stories you don’t want to miss.
1. TikTokers refusing to let Black queer history be erased
2. Sports solidarity
3. Spain passed a landmark LGBTQ+ rights bill
4. The NYT is called out for anti-trans bias—and responds with more of the same
5. How can we get more of Miss Argentina and Miss Puerto Rico’s love story?
1. TikTokers refusing to let Black queer history be erased
Ron DeSantis may be hell-bent on erasing Black history from high school curriculums, but thankfully he can’t control the internet (god knows he’s doing enough damage as is).
TikTok creators are responding to the DeSantis administration’s decision to block AP-level high school classes in African American history by using their platforms to highlight historical Black queer figures. TikTokers like Philip Johnson and Melchisedek Shabaz are combating the systematic erasure of Black queer history by celebrating important, oft-overlooked figures like civil rights activist Bayard Rustin and Black lesbian drag king and activist Stormé DeLarverie.
“[DeSantis] is erasing histories, erasing stories, erasing identities and that’s incredibly harmful. Black history has already been erased or rewritten a multitude of times throughout this country and throughout the world,” said Shabaz of DeSantis, in an interview with PinkNews. “But I have faith that his negative efforts won’t win in the long run.”
2. Sports solidarity
Oh, sports. We want so badly for you to deliver League of Their Own-level queer hotness, and so often we get homophobia and transphobia. But this week, some athletes are trying to repair this historically fraught relationship with shows of solidarity.
Most notably, the Warrington Wolves, a U.K. rugby team, paid tribute to Brianna Ghey, the trans teenager whose murder last week has sparked massive outcry in the U.K. and around the world, and with whom the Wolves share a hometown. One player wore a jersey bearing Brianna’s name during their game, and the team expressed their condolences in a tweet.
On top of that, women’s soccer players are wearing their support for the LGBTQ2S+ community on their sleeves (literally). The U.S. team tweeted a photo with members sporting armbands that read “Defend Trans Joy” and Leah Williamson, the captain of England’s team, committed to wearing diversity and inclusion armbands during the 2023 World Cup. Okay, sports! We hope you get the ball in the goal, or whatever!
3. Spain passed a landmark LGBTQ+ rights bill
Yesterday, Spanish lawmakers gave final approval to a bill that lowers the threshold for legal gender recognition and bans conversion therapy—given the leaden feet of other governments working on this kind of legislation (*cough* the U.K. *cough*), this is worth celebrating. “This law recognizes the right of trans people to self-determine their gender identity, it depathologizes trans people,” said Equalities Minister Irene Moreno, according to the Washington Blade.
Before this law was passed, anyone in Spain looking to change their legal gender markers had to have been formally diagnosed with gender dysphoria and prove that they had been undergoing hormone replacement therapy for at least two years. For minors, there was an added burden of getting a judge’s approval before changes could be made. Now, anyone over the age of 16 can legally change their gender without any medical intervention, and without any parental or judicial approval. The new law also has provisions to prevent discrimination on the basis of gender identity.
4. The NYT is called out for anti-trans bias—and responds with more of the same
On Wednesday, New York Times contributors and LGBTQ2S+ advocacy groups sent two open letters to the New York Times, accusing the paper of irresponsible and biased coverage of trans people. The first letter was signed by over 350 former or current contributors, including notable names such as Cynthia Nixon, Roxane Gay and Jia Tolentino. The contributors accused the paper of covering gender diversity using a “familiar mix of pseudoscience and euphemistic, charged language.”
The second letter was from over 100 LGBTQ2S+ advocacy groups and leaders, and had signatures from GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign and prominent drag performers like Nina West and Peppermint. “We won’t stand for the Times platforming lies, bias, fringe theories and dangerous inaccuracies,” they wrote. It called on the Times to take action by refusing to print biased stories, calling a meeting with trans community members and leaders, and investing in more trans staff. The message was also delivered via a billboard truck that drove around the Times offices.
Unfortunately, in typical beyond-cringe fashion, the Times printed a story defending a known transphobe the very next day.
5. How can we get more of Miss Argentina and Miss Puerto Rico’s love story?
Fabiola Valentín and Mariana Varela, or, as they’re often known, Miss Puerto Rico and Miss Argentina, thrilled all of us queer romance stans in November by announcing that they had not only been secretly dating for two years, but they had also tied the knot. Two former-rival beauty queens in a clandestine relationship? One that ends in a queer marriage? Hallmark could never. Now, they’re revealing more heart-melting details in a new Fenty ad that spotlights their love.
In the ad, they talk about meeting during a pageant in Thailand and how they instantly became “inseparable” despite the fact that they were competitors. It includes super adorable details like how they bonded over how they take their coffee, and how their initial attraction grew into a “magical” friendship and now partnership. All this against a backdrop of holding hands, gazing lovingly at one another and sharing sweet lil’ smooches. I’m not crying, you are!
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