June, 2025 News (65 Articles with 65,037 total views)
On the cover of the print edition for June, 2025 Erie Queer Community volunteers from several organizations with 676 pounds of donations collected at the Second Harvest Food Drive on May 10, 2025. Photo by Martine Barclay-Black
This began publication in December 2002 after a hiatus
Category for this issueCalendar & Upcoming Events
Calendar of Local GLBT Events |
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Local and Regional News
Education Session on June 4 - "Still, They Resisted" Celebrating the Unsung Heroes of the LGBTQ+ Movement
Join the LGBT Fund & Safe Harbor UPMC Western Behavioral Health at Safe Harbor for a community education session facilitated by the Persad Center. All are welcome for this session on June 4, 2025, from 11am-12pm at Erie Center for Arts & Technology, Community Room (650 East Avenue, Erie, PA 16503)
"Our Favorite Color is Rainbow" Art Show at Erie Food Co-Op for June
"Our Favorite Color is Rainbow" is a rainbow-themed art show in honor of Pride month at the Erie Food Co-Op Cafe, 1341 W 26th St #100, Erie, PA 16508. Art will be on display June 1 to June 30. The exhibit features artists Patty Mazza and Eerie Eric Fargiorgio. They are very excited about what they have put together. In 2025, they feel that it is important to spread a message of love and inclusion. Their art features their signature monsters that they have been individually working on for years. They are excited to have them come together for such a special occasion. Their monsters come in all shapes and colors, and they want to celebrate the beauty of our differences and encourage everyone to live and love authentically.
Get Ready! Pride on the Bay 2025 is Coming!
Mark your calendars and get your rainbows ready! NWPA Pride Alliance is thrilled to announce Pride on the Bay 2025! This is more than just a party; it's a vibrant expression of our love, our joy, and our unshakeable presence. We're coming together to celebrate, yes, but also to proudly claim this day, to fill the space with the laughter and love of a community that has faced adversity and continues to shine brightly. Our joy is a powerful answer to the hatred in the world, a beautiful act of resistance. Join us for the main event, Pride Fest, on Saturday, June 28th, at the beautiful Rebich Investments Amphitheater in Liberty Park. The fun kicks off when the gates open at Noon, with the official Pride Fest activities running from 1 PM to 6 PM.
Volunteers Needed for Pride on the Bay!
Get ready to make a splash! NWPA Pride Alliance is calling all enthusiastic and dedicated folks to help us make Pride on the Bay a huge success. This amazing celebration is happening on Saturday, June 28th, and we need YOU to bring the energy and support that makes our community shine.
Pride Guide 2025
Check out all of the wonderful Pride celebrations taking place in our region!
Weekly Social Events for Local Trans Community being planned
Looking for some additional outreach for Trans community members? Nessa Willow, a Trans Advocate, Activist, and fellow trans human in Meadville, PA, would like to talk with you.
Erie Community Protests UPMC Youth Healthcare Denial
On April 3, 2025, on the corner of State and 2nd Street, the Erie community convened to protest UPMC's decision to stop providing gender affirming care to trans and gender-expansive youth after an executive order prohibiting such treatment.
Jamestown Pride 2025: A Week of Visibility, Community, and Celebration
Jamestown, NY - In 2025, Jamestown Pride has expanded, offering nearly a full week of events, proudly presented by Evergreen Health. Spanning art, wellness, drag, film, and music, this year's Pride is set to be the biggest yet.
Mayor Schember and City of Erie Police Department Mark Mental Health Awareness Month
Erie, PA - May 15, 2025 Today, to mark Mental Health Awareness Month, Erie Mayor Joe Schember, Erie Police Department (EPD) officers Lt. Jamie Russo, Sgt. Marc Bellotti, and Sgt. Tom Covatto, along with Crisis Services Program Director Stacey Buettner, explained the recent initiatives implemented by the EPD to handle increased calls dealing with homelessness, mental and behavioral issues, substance use disorders, crisis situations, violent crime, and domestic disturbances.
Journey: Healing Together - Cupcake Wars!
On May 3, 2025 Journey:Healing Together (J:HT), a nonprofit centering on mental health and wellness for Erie's diverse communities hosted Erie's first (of many!) Cupcake Wars! competition. 11 bakers brought their best bakes forward for Erie to taste, vote, and crown (or whisk as the case may be) a baker in 7 different fun categories. Special thanks to our bakers, the 130 community members, and 16 sponsors for helping raise awareness of the importance of mental health and wellness on this Mental Health Awareness Month kick-off event. Pride Fuel - National Fuel's LGBTQ+ affinity group was the Golden Whisk Sponsor. Thanks to the Erie Community Foundation, and 14 other private and company sponsors for an amazing event. The $7,500 raised at this event will help J:HT's programs like monthly Wellness Weekends, support and recovery groups, and Erie's Journey to Wellness. Mark your calendars for the first Saturday in May, 2026 because you won't want to miss this again!
Temple Anshe Hesed Pride Shabbat on June 20
The name of Erie's Reform Jewish temple, Anshe Hesed, is Hebrew for "People of Kindness." This name perfectly encapsulates the temple's acceptance and welcoming of the LGBTQ community. Many members of Temple Anshe Hesed are part of the LGBTQ community, and the temple takes part in Pride celebrations every June. Temple member Kris Haas explains, "When we came to temple, very early on Rabbi told us that [my wife and I] were far from the first lesbian coupleand that was a huge thing for me. Knowing that there were others and that I wouldn't have to hide the most important person in my life for fear of being ostracized."
April Aging With Pride Dinner at Colony Pub & Grille
On April 29, Aging With Pride had their monthly dinner at Colony Pub & Grille, 2670 W 8th St, Erie PA. Aging With Pride dinners are usually the last week of the month. They also celebrated the birthday of webmaster Steve with a cake! The next dinner will be on Thursday, May 29 at Pineapple Eddie Southern Bistro, 1402 W 10th St, Erie PA. In addition to monthly dinners, Aging With Pride meets twice a month for planning and discussion, as well as a book club on the third Saturday of the month and a game night the second week of the month.
City of Erie announces Summer Paving and Construction as part of 2025 Road Improvement Plan
Erie, PA - May 08, 2025 - Mayor Joe Schember and Public Works Director Jason Sayers have announced $3.4 million in projects for the 2025 paving and construction season as part of the 2025 Road Improvement Plan
City of Erie announces 2025 Summer Recreation Guide
Erie, PA - May 12, 2025 - The City of Erie announces that its summer recreation guide is now available at City Hall, Erie School District schools, community centers, and online at cityof.erie.pa.us/summerrec. All programs listed in the guide are free to the City of Erie residents and focus on grades K-12, though ages vary for each program.
Glow Wild Zoo Trip for Chat and Chill Under 18
Compton's Table is taking their Under 18 Chat and Chill to see the Erie Zoo's Glow Wild exhibit on June 8, 2025 from 6:30-8:30! Participants will be treated to pizza, snacks, and soda while exploring the Glow Wild Chinese Lantern Festival's beautiful handcrafted lanterns inspired by zoo animals. If you know a queer youth (13-17) who might be interested, please visit this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSebUT6A7lnCn33CgxxRf8VYnSvZfCfpfyqZ5aL2bEo-CYmI0Q/viewform?usp=dialog
Community Spotlight: Erie Trans Picnics
Erie Trans Picnics is a loose organization of trans and nonbinary people in Northwestern Pennsylvania. Our goal is to create a stronger trans community and build our own care networks that we can rely on as the political and social landscapes become increasingly hostile. We believe that the atom of queer family is and always has been friendship, and that community is formed through direct connection with other individuals. The picnics are as much about building a larger network of queers as they are an opportunity to experience and spread trans joy in a time when sorrow is abundant.
April Meadville Happy Hour
NW PA Pride Alliance held its Meadville Happy Hour on April 23, 2025, at Julian's Bar & Grill, 299 Chestnut Street. Meadville Happy Hours will continue to be held on the 4th Wednesday of each month at Julian's. Erie Queer Happy Hour has returned and will now be rotating through four different establishments. The next Erie Queer Happy Hour will be on Wednesday, June 4, from 6 to 8 PM at The Zone Dance Club, 133 W 18th St, Erie PA.
Gov's Advisory Commission on LGBTQ Affairs Joins with Advocates & Legislators to Celebrate 50 Years of Protection from Discrimination for LGBTQ+ State Employees
Harrisburg, PA - April 30, 2025 Last week, the Governor's Advisory Commission on LGBTQ+ Affairs was joined by state legislators and LGBTQ+ advocates to commemorate the 50th anniversary of an Executive Order signed by former Governor Milton Shapp to protect state employees from discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation the first of its kind in the nation.
Deadline for June 2025 print edition (issue #354) of Erie Gay News is Monday, May 12, comes out Tuesday, May 20! This will include our Pride Guide!
For the next Erie Gay News (issue # 354, cover-dated for June 2025), please send in-person and online events, news items, and other info for late May, 2025 and beyond by Monday, May 12. We expect the next edition to come out on Tuesday, May 20. Please note that this issue will include our Pride Guide with listing of regional events.
City of Erie Immigration Statement
Erie, PA - April 25, 2025 - Recent changes in immigration policy at the federal level have caused a great deal of fear and uncertainty among our immigrant and refugee population. These fears have, in turn, generated many rumors about the role of local law enforcement with respect to the apprehension, incarceration, and cooperation with federal agencies in the deportation of immigrants. These rumors have wrongly created a divide between our police officers and the very people that they are sworn to protect and serve.
Entertainment and Travel
Tom Goss Drops Bouncy New Single "Bear Soup"
Out singer-songwriter Tom Goss is dishing out a deliciously audacious new track with the release of "Bear Soup," the fourth and fiercest installment in his beloved "bear song anthology" series. Following fan favorites like "Bears," "Round in All the Right Places," and "Nerdy Bear," this high-energy, bass-driven banger is a celebration of body positivity, joyful indulgence, and the vibrant bear subculture.
Some Like It Hot: Your Weekend in San Antonio
San Antonio is an amazing city. The plants from the West, Mexico, and east all reach their limit here making for an interesting mix found nowhere else: palms, cacti, live oaks, and more. The new Pearl District just northeast of downtown is great and features 2 food halls, restaurants, shops, and a walk along the San Antonio River (River Walk). It's a reborn area that once housed Pearl Brewery.
Drag Lunch Memory Cafe at Reg Lenna
Memory Cafe at Reg Lenna Center for The Arts will feature Drag Lunch with Lips Poppin on Tuesday, June 10 from 12:00PM 1:30PM. Reg Lenna is at 116 East 3rd StreetJamestown, NY, 14701. Memory Cafe at Reg Lenna Center for The Arts is a FREE respite and arts program for people with forgetfulness or other changes in their thinking (including cognitive decline, dementia or Alzheimer's) as well as their care partner, family, or friends.
Pride Journey: Detroit, Michigan
There's a distinct pull to Detroit. Built on industry and powered by music, it's a city that wears its grit like a badge of honor. But beneath the steel and soul lies something softer: a place that opens its arms to creatives, dreamers, and outsiders. For LGBTQ travelers, Detroit isn't just rising - it's already resonating, thanks to its authenticity and inclusive spirit.
Tethered Announces Auditions for September Immersive Production
Erie, Pennsylvania (May 6, 2025) TETHERED is excited to announce open auditions for dancers and actors ages 18 and over for their flagship September production. Immersive theatre often requires performers to be versatile and able to improvise. Actors with dance experience and dancers with acting experience is a plus, but not a requirement. Auditions will be movement and expression based. Comfortable clothing recommended.
Raleigh the Austin of the Southeast?
Raleigh is a college town on steroids, a hipster hangout, a city of interesting reinvented fun tree lined neighborhoods, and a state capitol in a booming state that features mountains and an ocean. It's weird and funky like Austin in Texas, not an Atlanta wanna be like the big city in the state, Charlotte.
Phase One of Customs House Preservation Project to Begin
Erie, PA - This May, the Erie Art Museum begins the first phase of a multi-phase historic preservation project centered around the Customs House. This project, scheduled for completion by August 2025, aims to enhance the exterior envelope of the building to mitigate water infiltration at the ground level.
Erie Art Museum Exhibition Drawing from Within: Sketchbooks by Frank Novel Features Local Artist
Erie, PA - The Erie Art Museum is thrilled to announce their next exhibition, Drawing from Within: Sketchbooks by FrankNovel, which opens on May 21st, 2025.
Waterfalls and More in the Biggest City in the Inland Northwest
Spokane is an amazing historic city in far eastern Washington. The Riverfront Park features stunning huge waterfalls. The downtown is very walkable. Towering ponderosa pines give it a feel more of the Rocky Mountains than the Cascades. The basalt lined Spokane River features a lengthy bike and hike trail. It combines an urban feel with the best of the outdoors. The new 40 mile Centennial Trail starts in Riverside State Park and runs all the way to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
Political, Activism and Legal
Lambda Legal Asks Court to Block Anti-Equity Threats to Critical LGBTQ, HIV, and Health Programs and Services
May 20, 2025 - Today, Lambda Legal asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to block implementation of three executive orders issued by President Trump that threaten significant funding and programmatic cuts to nine nonprofit organizations across the country that serve the LGBTQ community. In February, Lambda Legal filed a challenge to the executive orders, San Francisco AIDS Foundation v. Trump, and today asked the court to grant a preliminary injunction halting implementation of the executive orders as it litigates the challenge. The lead lawyer of the case, Lambda Legal HIV Project Director Jose Abrigo issued the following statement upon completion of today's hearing: "Today, we laid out in court how these executive orders are harming these organizations and the LGBTQ people they serve. The orders seek to erase transgender people from public life, dismantle diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives, and strip funding from nonprofits providing life-saving health care, housing, and support services. We demonstrated the existential threat posed by these orders, putting these organizations at risk of closing their doors and depriving thousands of people of critical services.
Lambda Legal Launches "Beyond the Uniform: Meet the People Behind the Service" Portrait and Audio Series This Memorial Day Weekend
WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 23, 2025) Lambda Legal proudly announces the launch of "Beyond the Uniform: Meet the People Behind the Service in These Intimate Portraits of Resilience," a compelling portrait and audio series debuting this Memorial Day weekend. This innovative multimedia exhibition showcases the plaintiffs in the Shilling v. Trump case through photography paired with intimate audio recordings that reveal their values, relationships, and experiences outside their military roles.
GLAAD Research: 70% of Americans Say LGBTQ Pride Merchandise Has Positive or No Impact on Purchasing Decisions
May 22, 2025 - Today, GLAAD, the world's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization, is releasing results of a survey conducted by Ipsos using the probability-based KnowledgePanel that examined consumer sentiment regarding corporate engagement with LGBTQ communities and Pride Month. The survey also sought consumer opinion on core corporate values and on chief executives' obligations to shareholders on issues that matter.
Lambda Legal Calls on US Senate to Reject Budget Bill Explicitly Targeting LGBTQ+ Community
(New York, NY, May 22, 2025) - The U.S. House of Representatives early Thursday morning passed a budget bill that explicitly targets health care for all transgender people, not just youth, and in other ways targets LGBTQ+ people, people living with HIV, and people living on limited incomes. Lambda Legal CEO Kevin Jennings issued the following statement: "Early this morning, under cover of darkness, the House of Representatives by a razor-thin margin of one vote approved a horrifically cruel and dangerous budget that explicit targets the transgender community and in many other respects poses tremendous risk to the LGBTQ+ community, everyone living with HIV, and those living on limited incomes. It strips all funding for trans health care from Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for transgender people of all ages a startling escalation from prior efforts to restrict trans health care for young people only -- and also bans those services under the Affordable Care Act.
Lambda Legal Sues National Institutes of Health over Terminating Critical Research Grants Relating to LGBTQI+ Health
(Baltimore, MD, May 20, 2025) Today, Lambda Legal, alongside law firms Crowell & Moring LLP and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP, filed a federal lawsuit against the National Institutes of Health (NIH) over the termination of hundreds of research grants that funded essential research addressing the health of sexual and gender minorities, including critical HIV research. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality and 16 individual health researchers whose funding was eliminated or whose grant applications have been unlawfully withheld from review.
Iowa Court Temporarily Blocks Banned Books and "Don't Say LGBTQ" Law
(Des Moines, Iowa - May 16, 2025) Yesterday, a federal district court once again temporarily blocked portions of SF 496, the sweeping Iowa law aimed at silencing LGBTQ+ students, erasing any recognition of LGBTQ+ people from public schools, and banning books with sexual or LGBTQ+ content.
Barriers to ID Access Impact Everyone - Here's Why.
The United States has a long history of making it difficult for marginalized communities to succeed, but today, the road to health and happiness is becoming more and more narrow for everyone. A number of avoidable barriers exist that make it harder to get identity documents (IDs), like driver's licenses or birth certificates??even though those same IDs are required to access many basic needs and services. These barriers create and perpetuate a harmful cycle that makes existing inequalities worse and harms those who are less able to access the right documents.
Lambda Legal Asks Court to Block Trump Administration's Discriminatory Passport Policy
Baltimore, MD, (May 15, 2025) Lambda Legal late yesterday asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland to block enforcement of the Trump administration's discriminatory policy denying accurate passports to seven transgender U.S. citizens. Lambda Legal asked the court to stop the U.S. Department of State from applying the passport policy to the seven Plaintiffs in Lambda Legal's lawsuit, six of whom have received inaccurate sex markers following their request to seek to renew their passport that already had the correct sex marker, to update the sex marker to the correct one, or to update their legal name only.
State Republicans, Emboldened by Trump, Push Extreme Anti-LGBTQ+ Attacks
WASHINGTON -May 7, 2025 - State Republicans continue to double down on anti-LGBTQ+ culture wars in legislative sessions this year instead of lowering costs and solving their communities' real issues.
Justice Denied: Supreme Court Allows Discriminatory Transgender Military Ban to Take Effect
(Washington, DC, May 6, 2025) The United States Supreme Court today granted the Trump Administration's request to stay the preliminary injunction that had blocked enforcement of Trump's executive order barring transgender people from enlisting or continuing to serve openly in the military. The order in Shilling v. Trump lifts the nationwide injunction, allowing the administration's policy to take immediate effect while legal challenges proceed.
Civil Rights Groups Call on VHSL to Reverse Trans Sports Ban
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (May 6, 2025) On Tuesday, the National Women's Law Center (NWLC), ACLU of Virginia, and Equality Virginia called on the executive committee of the Virginia High School League (VHSL) to reverse its discriminatory and unnecessary ban on transgender athletes in school events. The league had abandoned its long-running policy that supported both trans and cisgender student athletes in February following President Trump's executive order targeting sports organizations that include trans girls and women.
Transgender Federal Worker Challenges Trump's Federal Bathroom Ban
WASHINGTON - May 5, 2025 - A civilian employee of the Illinois National Guard has filed a class action complaint to the Army National Guard Bureau Equal Opportunity Office (NGB-EO) challenging a Trump administration policy prohibiting transgender federal employees from using restrooms and other accommodations aligned with their gender.
Medical Experts & LGBTQ+ People Agree - Conversion Therapy Is No Replacement for Health Care
WASHINGTON - May 1, 2025 - Today, the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization, responded to Sec. Kennedy's so-called "comprehensive review" of youth gender-affirming care, a politically-motivated document filled with outright lies and misinformation. This report had a predetermined outcome dictated by an Executive Order that deliberately mischaracterized health care for transgender people despite the uniform conclusion of the American medical and mental health experts to the contrary. Instead of assessing the actual evidence supporting the provision of gender-affirming care, this report instead attempts to lay the groundwork to replace that best-practice medical care for transgender and non-binary people with "gender exploratory therapy," a focus-tested and innocuous-sounding name for the debunked, destructive, and dangerous practice of anti-LGBTQ+ conversion therapy that is advocated for by fringe, far-right groups rejected by mainstream medical and mental health organizations.
Montana Court Strikes Down Ban on Healthcare for Transgender Youth
MISSOULA, MT - May 13, 2025 - Today, a Montana Court struck down SB 99, a 2023 Montana law that categorically bans often life-saving health care for transgender youth. The Court granted Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment in Cross v. Montana, holding that SB 99 violates the constitutional rights of transgender youth who are seeking gender-affirming care and the healthcare professionals who are providing that care.
New NWLC Report Shows Uneven Harm of Cutting Basic Need Programs for Women & LGBTQ+ People
Washington, DC - May 9, 2025 - As congressional Republicans and the Trump administration push for deep cuts to essential government programs, the National Women's Law Center (NWLC) has released a comprehensive new resource highlighting the critical role these programs play in the lives of women and LGBTQI+ people.
Lambda Legal Judicial Report: Progress Made under Biden Now at Risk under Trump 2.0
(WASHINGTON, D.C., May 14, 2025) - Lambda Legal today released a comprehensive report revealing the great progress towards a truly representative federal judiciary achieved under President Biden, while also acknowledging significant gaps in diversity remain, such as finding that only 2.7% of federal judges are openly LGBTQ+.
ACLU Asks Court to Expand Temporary Relief to All Trans, Intersex, and Nonbinary People Seeking Passports
BOSTON - April 30, 2025 - The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Massachusetts, and Covington & Burling LLC filed motions for class certification and preliminary classwide relief today in their lawsuit challenging the State Department's refusal to issue passports with accurate sex designations for trans, intersex, and nonbinary American citizens.
Lambda Legal Files Lawsuit Against Trump Administration's Discriminatory Passport Policy
Baltimore, MD, (April 25, 2025) Today, Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit on behalf of seven transgender U.S. citizens, including one who is nonbinary, challenging the Trump administration's policy denying them U.S. passports with accurate sex designations. The discriminatory passport policy exposes transgender U.S. citizens to harassment, abuse, and discrimination, in some cases endangering them abroad or preventing them from traveling, by forcing them to use identification documents that share private information against their wishes.
TODAY: Rallies Across PA to Demand UPMC and Penn State Health Continue Saving Trans Youth Lives
HERSHEY, Pa. Two weeks ago Penn State Health followed UPMC in denying full gender affirming medical healthcare for new and some existing patients under 19 years old. This care has been vital to the many young people whose lives depend on it. This evening, rallies calling on UPMC and Penn State Health to continue to save the lives of trans youth will take place in Pittsburgh, State College, and Hershey. Last month, rallies supporting healthcare for trans youth took place in front of UPMC locations in Pittsburgh, Erie, Altoona, Lancaster, and Lewisburg. Following, over 80 public officials including 58 state lawmakers and House Speaker Joanna McClinton, and a majority of Pittsburgh City Council and the Pittsburgh Mayor) and 40 organizations signed a letter to UPMC in support of these demands. UPMC has not responded to these requests.
Federal Court Denies the Trump Administration's Request to Stay the Injunction Blocking Its Ban on Transgender Military Servicemembers
(Tacoma, WA, April 21, 2025) The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Department of Defense's motion to stay the preliminary injunction that blocks enforcement of the Trump administration's executive order banning transgender people from enlisting or continuing to serve in the United States Armed Forces. This order means that the nationwide preliminary injunction issued in Shilling v. Trump remains in place, keeping transgender servicemembers in the military while the government appeals the injunction.
GLAAD and LGBTQ Community Advocacy Organizations Respond to U.S. Supreme Court Oral Arguments Heard in Kennedy V. Braidwood Case
New York, New York - Monday, April 21, 2025 GLAAD, the world's largest LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) media advocacy organization, together with a community advocacy coalition led by Lambda Legal, PrEP4All, Harvard Law's Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation (CHLPI), and The Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP), today released statements following oral arguments in the Braidwood case heard before the U.S. Supreme Court this morning.
VICTORY! Premera Blue Cross Discriminated Against Transgender Teens Denied Needed Gender-Affirming Chest Surgery
(Seattle, WA, April 21, 2025) The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington late Friday ruled that Premera Blue Cross's arbitrary and categorical policy to deny coverage for gender-affirming chest surgery for patients under 18, regardless of the patient's medical needs, unlawfully discriminated based on sex in violation of Affordable Care Act. Lambda Legal and Sirianni Youtz Spoonemore Hamburger PLLC filed a federal lawsuit in June 2023 on behalf then-15-year-old transgender adolescent A.B. and his parents challenging Premera Blue Cross's policy. The lawsuit was later amended in June 2024 to add then-17-year-old transgender adolescent J.M. and his parents as plaintiffs.
Health
Trauma cases can rise around summer holidays, help save lives by giving blood or platelets now
[May 21, 2025] Emergencies don't take a holiday. As we head into Memorial Day weekend, the American Red Cross urges donors to keep the blood supply top of mind and help save lives by making an appointment to give blood or platelets.
Erie Queer Community's Food Drive a Resounding Success
The Erie Queer Community came together on Saturday, May 10, and once again showed the strength of unity, compassion, and grassroots care. The Second Harvest Food Drive, held at Central Outreach Wellness Center, was a heartfelt success, gathering 676 pounds of non-perishable food plus monetary donations for local families in need.
Trump Budget Proposal Confirms HIV Advocates' Worst Fears
May 5, 2025 (New York, NY) The topline FY26 budget request released by the Trump administration on Friday would decimate domestic HIV prevention, treatment, and research while derailing U.S. work toward ending the HIV epidemic. The cuts would destroy the decades-long bipartisan response to HIV by cutting and reorganizing HIV programs within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) without the input of people living with HIV, state and local health departments, medical providers, and other experts. The budget request ominously omits mention of key HIV initiatives and offices, including the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative, the CDC's Division of HIV Prevention, and both the SAMHSA and HHS Minority AIDS Funds.
How To Be Popular
from Michael Dale Kimmel of Life Beyond Therapy - There are hundreds of books and videos on how to be popular. In this column, I'd like to talk about some of the personality characteristics I've noticed over the years in clients, friends and colleagues who were particularly loved and cherished. If you're feeling lonely or unloved, consider these suggestions (listed, for your convenience, in alphabetical order):
Pope Francis
from Michael Dale Kimmel of Life Beyond Therapy: I'm not Catholic, but I have been a fan of Pope Francis from the get-go. He seemed to be a harbinger of change for the Catholic Church: he said, "Who am I to judge?" when asked a question about gay people in 2013.
Letters, Columnists and Opinion
Want to fight back? Lambda Legal is doing the work.
If you're like me, your inbox is flooded daily with emails from organizations sounding the alarm on the latest attacks by the Trump administration always followed by a request for donations. But here's a logical question: Instead of just expressing outrage, shouldn't these groups be telling us exactly how they're fighting back before asking for our hard-earned dollars? And more importantly, are they the ones doing the heavy lifting in the fight to stop Trump? Let's be honest. Many organizations contribute something to the resistance. But when it comes to the legal frontline, there's one that consistently leads the charge: Lambda Legal.
A little hope, and my call to action
from Mark Segal of Philadelphia Gay News: Over my 60 years of activism, I've witnessed many backlashes against our community but never one as fierce and coordinated as what we are facing today from this administration. Let's look at the record so far and don't worry, I promise to leave you with hope at the end.
LGBT Boycott of the USA?
from Mark Segal, Philadelphia Gay News: Recently, Jason and I were on vacation and met a delightful gay couple from Australia. In their professional roles, they frequently travel to the U.S. for government and corporate business. Naturally, we said that if they found themselves in the States, we'd love to meet up for dinner.
Contests
Enter to win Billy Porter: A Little Golden Book Biography!
Enter to win Billy Porter: A Little Golden Book Biography! To enter the contest, fill out the form here between Tuesday, June 10, and Tuesday, July 1.
Enter to win A Language of Limbs!
Enter to win A Language of Limbs! To enter the contest, fill out the form here between Tuesday, June 3, and Tuesday, June 24. USA residents only.
Enter to win Queer Moderns: Max Ewings Jazz Age New York
Enter to win Queer Moderns: Max Ewings Jazz Age New York! To enter the contest, fill out the form here between Tuesday, May 27, and Tuesday, June 17.
Enter to win Bless the Messy: Life Lessons from a Work in Progress!
Enter to win Bless the Messy: Life Lessons from a Work in Progress! To enter the contest, fill out the form here between Tuesday, May 20, and Tuesday, June 10.
Enter to win And Introducing Dexter Gaines!
Enter to win And Introducing Dexter Gaines! To enter the contest, fill out the form here between Tuesday, May 13, and Tuesday, June 3.
Enter to win Ultimate Chick Flick Cookbook!
Get ready to fall in love with your favorite films all over again - and experience them in a whole new way with a signed copy of The Ultimate Chick Flick Cookbook. To enter the contest, fill out the form here between Tuesday, April 29, and Tuesday, May 20.
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