In Iowa, transgender individuals are preparing for a major change, as gender identity will be removed as a protected class from the Iowa Civil Rights Act on July 1, Iowa Public Radio noted. Earlier this year, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed legislation making the state the first to remove anti-discrimination protections for gender identity from its civil rights code. The new statute makes it more difficult for transgender individuals to bring claims alleging discrimination or harassment in state court, and the amended law states that “separate accommodations are not inherently unequal.” In addition, the bill impacts school curricula, banning schools from providing any program, curriculum, test, survey, questionnaire, promotion or instruction related to “gender theory” or sexual orientation to students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
Delaware County made history recently by becoming the first Philadelphia suburb to describe itself as a safe haven for LGBTQ+ and for transgender residents, per DELCO.TODAY, citing CBS 10 Philadelphia. Delaware County Councilmembers voted unanimously on Resolution 2025-09 to reaffirm its commitment to protect LGBTQ+ residents. Officials said that “about 20 percent of the U.S. population identify as LGBTQ+, with 115,000 of those individuals living in Delaware County.” One part of the resolution states that county personnel are barred from assisting out-of-state investigations that target individuals seeking or providing gender-affirming healthcare, unless required by lawful authority.
In Ohio, ahead of Columbus Pride, the Columbus City Council announced a new commission aimed at protecting the rights of the LGBTQ+ community and promoting inclusivity, ABC 6 reported. The commission—the first of its kind in the city—was unveiled during a luncheon attended by 50 leaders and LGBTQ+ officials. “If statehouses and Congress aren’t able to lead with love, then here in Columbus we will,” said Council President Shannon Hardin. “We are enshrining this in our city that we will have this voice and that everyone knows how inclusive we are.”
The Pink Triangle—the San Francisco Pride Month memorial to queer people persecuted by Nazis—was vandalized, SFGate noted. San Francisco police caught a man “actively defacing” the memorial on Twin Peaks, and he was booked into jail on suspicion of vandalism, possession of graffiti materials and resisting arrest. The SFPD joined others in criticizing the vandalism, calling the Pink Triangle “a powerful symbol of our city’s commitment of supporting LGBT rights.” State Sen. Scott Wiener, who is gay, added in a statement, “[the] vandalism of the Pink Triangle is yet another horrific attack on the LGBTQ community—at a time when our community is under intense assault on a daily basis. The Pink Triangle is a symbol of our community’s resilience in the face of hatred and violence. We’re not going anywhere, and no amount of vandalism or violence will change that.”
The Delaware Senate passed two partisan bills that now head to the House for consideration—including a constitutional amendment that would enshrine same-sex marriage in the state’s constitution, Delaware Public Media noted. While same-sex marriage was legalized in Delaware in 2013 and was became a constitutional right by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015, Democratic state Sen. Russ Huxtable wants to add an extra layer of protection. State Sen.
Eric Buckson was the only Republican to vote for the bill—but not before saying that he finds it difficult to reconcile his faith with his support for same-sex marriage.
Legal authorities arrested Marion County, Florida, resident Michael Wilcox, 35, for allegedly threatening to shoot up a local Pride festival, per LGBTQ Nation. Wilcox allegedly made the threats on a Facebook and Instagram post from Goblin Market, a local restaurant and lounge, advertising its June 14 Pride festival at the Central Florida Fairgrounds. The event was scheduled to coincide with the six-year memorial weekend of the Pulse nightclub mass shooting on June 12, 2016, in which a gunman killed 49 people and wounded 53 more. Wilcox’s arrest occurred a day before the arrest of 31-year-old Michael Monheit, who allegedly tried to enter a Pride event in Wilton Manors (about 250 south of Marion County) while illegally carrying a concealed firearm.
On July 4, Vermont state Rep. Mari Cordes is leaving her state for Nova Scotia in a move that also marks her resignation as a representative, VT Digger noted. As a queer person, a senior and a nurse at the University of Vermont Medical Center, Cordes had several personal and political reasons that spurred her decision to resign and relocate, she said. Cordes has feared for her safety as a member of the LGBTQ+ community since President Donald Trump’s first presidential term, and in her past six years as a representative she’s received two death threats, she said. Besides homophobic attitudes, Cordes is also concerned that Trump will slash Social Security.
USA Today ran a piece on how LGBTQ+ students are seeking social networks and safety in fraternities and sororities. Although fraternities and sororities have a history of homophobia, Greek life today is more diverse and inclusive than ever, according to Douglas N. Case, a former coordinator of fraternity and sorority life at San Diego State University and an initiate of Kappa Sigma Fraternity. In 1996, just 25% and 19% of LGBTQ+ men and women, respectively, said they were out to their Greek brothers and sisters; by 2007, 79% of LGBTQ+ participants in Greek life said they were out. “Now it’s 2025, and things have continued to evolve,” Case said. Similarly, Adelphi University Associate Professor of Psychology Chana Etengoff found similar evidence of inclusion in a 2022 study of 50 LGBTQ+ students: 66% of LGBTQ+ participants in Greek life said their Greek experience was positive and 88% said Greek life contributed positively to their overall college experience.
Talking with Gay City News, current NYC Mayor and independent candidate Eric Adams discussed LGBTQ+ issues. Among other things, he criticized those who are pulling back on NYC Pride, describing the backlash as “unfortunate,” adding, “Those who are part of the LGBTQ+ community, they’re consumers, they’re shoppers, they’re travelers. … I think that the communities speak with a loud voice, just as other communities do when they believe they’re treated unfairly, and let individuals know that they’re going to shop with their feet.” Adams also said that he plans to attend the NYC Pride March and other events marking the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. Adams hasn’t had the most stable relationship with the LGBTQ+ community; although he was a strong ally before becoming mayor, his relationship with the LGBTQ community became strained when he appointed three anti-LGBTQ religious leaders to his administration—including former Bronx Councilmember Fernando Cabrera, who once praised Uganda’s “kill the gays” bill. (Cabrera is no longer with the administration.)
The military contingent that has led the San Diego Pride Parade for more than a decade did not participate in this year’s event, citing safety concerns and a lack of support from San Diego Pride organizers, according to CBS 8. The decision came amid recent actions by the Trump administration affecting LGBTQ+ service members and veterans. Marine Corps veteran and former Pride Military Department chair Clay Kilpatrick listed several factors influencing the decision, including the Trump administration’s reinstatement of the ban on transgender service members, the deployment of California National Guard troops and U.S. Marines in Los Angeles, and the Department of Defense’s decision to strip the USNS Harvey Milk of its name.
In Ohio, trans woman Laura Schueler, 47, was shot and left to die in a Cincinnati neighborhood—and now her friends and family want answers, Local 12 reported. While authorities have released few details in her murder, Schueler’s loved ones believe she was running away from her killer. The Transgender Advocacy Council pointed out that Schueler is the third known Black trans woman to be shot and killed in Cincinnati in recent years, per CityBeat. National Black Justice Collective Director of Public Policy and Programs Victoria Kirby York said in a statement, “We can see the disproportionate impact this violence has on the members of our community. Black trans women continue to be most vulnerable as they sit in the intersections of multiple marginalized identities. Like Laura, many of those stolen too soon are staples in their community, supporting the other Black people around them. We must stand up and protect them.”
Queerty recently held its Pride50 celebration in New York City. The annual campaign honors 50 LGBTQ+ entertainers, trailblazers and newsmakers, and the event culminated with a gala event at the PHD Rooftop Lounge at the Dream Downtown in Chelsea; Trojan and Discover Puerto Rico sponsored the gathering. Honorees in attendance included Severance star Tramell Tillman, Mid-Century Modern actor Nathan Lee Graham, Tre Leches podcast co-host Ian Paget, Olympic silver medalist Lauren Scruggs, trans activist Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, fashion designer Prabal Gurung, Titanique sensation Marla Mindelle, NYC councilman Erik Bottcher and DNC Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta, among others.
A crowd welcomed Pulitzer Prize-winning MSNBC and Washington Post journalist Jonathan Capehart to the Stonewall National Museum, Archives, & Library for a tour and light refreshments before heading over to the Sunshine Cathedral and a discussion of his memoir, Yet Here I Am: Lessons from a Black Man’s Search for Home, a press release noted. The book discusses his struggle for acceptance, embracing one’s full identity, and a desire for connection in a world rife with bigotry. Museum President/CEO Robert Kesten said that “[Capehart’s] story is one of mastering each and every facet of your life, no matter how much pushback comes your way. When you are reaching for the stars you will get hit personally and professionally, yet when it comes together, it is inspirational.”
In a post attacking the media for its coverage of his strike on Iran, President Donald Trump referred to CNN host Anderson Cooper as “Allison Cooper” in what seemed to be a homophobic comment, per LGBTQ Nation. Trump posted, “Working especially hard on this falsehood is Allison Cooper of Fake News CNN, Dumb Brian L. Roberts, Chairman of ‘Con’cast, Jonny Karl of ABC Fake News, and always, the Losers of, again, Concast’s NBC Fake News.” Cooper was one of the journalists who questioned the president’s claim that his strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities completely obliterated them.
The 2025 Lavender Law® Conference & Career Fair will take place July 28-30 in NYC, according to the LGBTQ+ Bar website. Events will include 1-on-1 Law Student Career Counseling & Resume Review Workshop; the Queer Legal Scholarship Symposium; Law Professor Caucus & Luncheon; the Transgender Law Institute; Mental Health Support at Lavender Law® 2025; and many others. A few of the panels slated to take place are “From Passion to Action: Serving with Purpose on an LGBTQ+ Non-Profit Board,” “Combatting the Criminalization of Trans Lives” and “LGBTQ Threats in Autocratic Regimes: Legal Repression and Societal Consequences.”
“Queer Transformations at SF State, 1969-1974” is an online exhibit that examines a transformative chapter in LGBTQ and campus history, per SFSU. History Professor Marc Stein is the director of the website and the curator of the exhibit. More than 40 SFSU students contributed to researching it. SFSU’s Marcus Transformative Research Award and the Jamie and Phyllis Pasker Chair in U.S. History and Constitutional Law helped support the exhibit. (Note: The exhibition, which can be viewed here, includes nudity, explicit language and hate speech.)
In Kentucky, roller-derby teams took on each other to raise money for an LGBTQ+ program, LEX 18 noted. Fans cheered as ROCK’s All-Star roller derby team took on Lansing roller derby in Lexington for the first home game of the season. Hannah Spahn, the head of public relations for ROCK, said the game raised money for Camp Beacon, an LGBTQ+ summer camp: “It’s just Kentucky’s first LGBTQ summer camp so basically it’s just a safe space for kids to get together and have fun during the summer.”
In NYC, the BronxWorks Jobs Plus program was slated to host a special hiring event, “Celebration of Pride,” on Thursday, June 26, per the Bronx Times. Dozens of companies will have reps on hand in search of employees. Attendees will have the opportunity to connect with affirming employers, explore inclusive job openings, and build careers in a safe and welcoming environment. “Part of our mission at BronxWorks is to support vulnerable communities, and this hiring event is an opportunity to support their efforts to find gainful employment with supportive organizations,” BronxWorks Chief Executive Officer Eileen Torres said.
The Olympus Spa (a Korean spa where customers are segregated by gender and mingle freely in the nude) sued Washington state after officials imposed changes on the business so it would comply with state anti-discrimination laws, MSN noted. Five years ago, the trans woman who inspired the enforcement, Haven Wilvich, complained to the state’s Human Rights Commission that she was denied services among other female customers because she has a penis. The venue had argued in a lawsuit against the state that its enforcement violated the spa’s rights to free speech, freedom of religion and freedom of association. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit recently ruled that none of those freedoms were applicable to this case.
Former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will return to his alma mater this summer as a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at the USC Gould School of Law, KTLA noted. Emhoff, who earned his Juris Doctor from USC Gould in 1990, will begin his faculty role on July 1. The announcement comes as his wife, former Vice President Kamala Harris, weighs running for California governor—a decision she isn’t expected to make until the end of summer.
The National Juneteenth Museum received $10 million from Texas lawmakers for its development in Fort Worth’s Historic Southside, per KERA News. Museum CEO Jarred Howard said the state’s new financial support was a bipartisan effort, adding that state Sen. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, and state Rep. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth, were two of the Tarrant County leaders involved in the fundraising campaign. The Juneteenth museum has now raised $50 million—more than two-thirds of its $70 million goal to start building.
Boise, Idaho hosted the “Hetero Awesome Festival” on June 20-21—an event created by area bar owner Mark Fitzpatrick, who has accused LGBTQ+ people of “pushing a transsexual agenda on children,” according to Them. However, the event was a total flop, with just 50 people attending. The “festival” also featured racism front and center, with American Nationalist podcaster David Reilly on hand to say Boise was a nice, “clean” city because “there aren’t any Black people here.”
Justin Heath Smith—the adult-film performer known professionally as Austin Wolf—pled guilty in a Manhattan federal courtroom to a felony charge of enticing a 15-year-old boy to engage in sex, Pride.com noted. Smith, 43, entered the plea before U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer nearly a year after his June 28, 2024, arrest following an undercover FBI operation. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum of life; Engelmayer has scheduled Smith’s sentencing for Sept. 29 in lower Manhattan.