Queer Culture Catch-Up

A perfect queer day in NYC, Black history and a trans research takedown

This week, S. Bear Bergman’s Queer Culture Catch-up has got it all

By S. Bear Bergman

Media

Contributors, organizations and celebrities call out the New York Times’ transphobia

The paper of record is the target of two open letters

By Oliver Haug

Transphobia

Brianna Ghey deserved better than the U.K.’s transphobia

OPINION: The U.K.’s normalization of anti-trans hate has real-world consequences—the trans teen murdered this week should be alive

By V.S. Wells

Youth

New peer mentorship group connects transfeminine youth and community leaders in Regina

Into the Streets fills a critical gap in resources for transfeminine youth

By Jackie Richardson

Mental Health

Trans and queer folks can’t solely rely on our resilience to survive

Perhaps LGBTQ2S+ writers, creatives and historians can teach us how to do more than just get by

By Leigh Hendrix

Ask Kai: Advice for the Apocalypse

I love banter, but my friends say my teasing is ‘toxic’

A reader questions whether she has to change her personality in order to respect her “tender” friends’ boundaries

By Kai Cheng Thom

Trans Health

Nothing in place for U.K.’s trans youth as the country’s only children’s gender care clinic closes

The clinic is supposed to be replaced by regional service centres, to help reduce waiting times—but the centres don’t yet exist

By Diamond Yao

Politics

As conservatives attack trans people, does Joe Biden still have our backs?

OPINION: In his 2022 State of the Union address, Joe Biden told trans kids, “I will always have your back.” In this year’s speech, the president was silent on trans issues

By Katelyn Burns

Activism

Trans activists celebrate legal victory in Hong Kong

The verdict comes after a five-year legal battle for the right to change gender markers on IDs without undergoing full gender reassignment surgeries

By Eve Cable

Activism

Meet the coalition of advocates fighting for Missouri’s trans youth

In the state with the most anti-trans legislation proposed this year thus far, families, school communities and even rabbis are banding together

By Sophie Hurwitz

Identity

Thanks to new legislation, it’s significantly easier for trans people to change their gender markers in Finland

The process no longer requires that trans people have surgery or a psychiatric assessment

By Claire Forth

Xtra News Flash

Celebrating more inclusion on ‘The Sims,’ anti-trans bills killed in Virginia and Finland’s gender update—just a few of the stories we’re tracking this week

6 news stories impacting LGBTQ2S+ folk today

By Maddy Mahoney

Sexual Health

Why the world’s only Vagina Museum deserves a permanent home

OPINION: On Wednesday, when the Vagina Museum in Bethnal Green, U.K., was forced to shutter for the second time in less than two years, the community lost a vital sexual health resource

By Quinn Rhodes

Trans Health

The ‘Utah-style compromise’ is dead

OPINION: In recent years, legislators in the state have occasionally shown compassion on LGBTQ2S+ issues. Utah’s recent anti-trans bill shows that empathy has run out

By Katelyn Burns

Media

When it comes to anti-trans bills, how much panic is too much panic?

ANALYSIS: Constant legislative attacks are damaging trans people’s mental health. How do reporters inform the public without telling them they’re doomed?

By Jude Ellison S. Doyle