Pew Research Center surveys conducted earlier this year revealed that almost two-thirds of both LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ adults under 50 in the United States say they hope to marry someday, per Gay City News. Among LGBTQ+ adults younger than 50, 59% say they want to get married someday—slightly under the 63% of non-LGBTQ+ adults who say they wish to wed. Recently, the former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis—known for refusing to issue marriage licenses to queer couples—asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review its landmark 2015 ruling that extended same-sex marriage rights nationwide.
Ohio residents who want to end the state’s dormant ban on same-sex marriage and add protections for queer residents were cleared to collect the signatures needed to make the 2026 ballot, per The Columbus Dispatch. The proposed amendments would repeal a 2004 constitutional amendment that defined marriage as “a union between one man and one woman,” and bar state or local government from discriminating against individuals based on “race, color, creed or religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression regardless of sex assigned at birth, pregnancy status, genetic information, disease status, age, disability, recovery status, familial status, ancestry, national origin, or military and veteran status.” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost authorized supporters of the amendments to collect signatures; now, they must collect at least 413,487 valid signatures, including a specific number from at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties, for each of the two proposals.
California-based Stripe apologized after staff wrongly said it would no longer process the payments of LGBTQ+-related content or goods, the BBC noted. The firm—which millions of global businesses rely on for their online transactions—was criticized for being one of several payment processors to not allow itself to be used for purchases of adult content online. It turned out that “the information given by our support team was totally wrong,” a Stripe spokesperson told the BBC. Stripe’s policies are in the spotlight after payment processors, including Visa and Mastercard, faced pressure from an Australian campaign group to play their part in stopping online video game distributors selling certain pornographic games.
Target CEO Brian Cornell will step down after more than a decade leading the retail giant, per The Advocate, citing CNN. Target had been the subject of protests and boycotts after it rescinded its DEI programs earlier this year and after it cut back on its Pride collections over the last couple of years; the company previously openly supported Pride Month in June with Pride merchandise around its store. Michael Fiddlke, the company’s current COO, will take over as CEO on Feb. 1, 2026.
More than 2.8 million people in the U.S. are transgender, according to a new report from the Williams Institute, The Advocate noted. The number includes 724,000 youth ages 13 to 17. This accounts for 1 percent of the nation’s total population 13 and older, 0.8 percent of adults (more than 2.1 million people) and 3.3 percent of young people. Among the adults who identify as transgender, 32.7 percent (698,500) are trans women, 34.2 percent (730,500) are trans men and 33.1 percent (707,100) are non-binary.
U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher—a Trump-appointed judge in Baltimore— blocked the Education Department from withholding billions of dollars in federal funding from public schools that continue to practice DEI initiatives, according to Fox News. Gallagher Gallagher said that the Trump administration’s efforts to remove funding from educational institutions that kept DEI initiatives in place violated the Administrative Procedures Act, and risked threatening free-speech protections under the First Amendment. This decision is almost certain to be appealed to higher courts for review.
In California, the Kern County Board of Education voted to ban transgender athletes from girls sports, per The Spun. The vote was made to comply with the federal definition of Title IX. The state is currently in a lawsuit with President Trump’s administration over trans athletes participating in girls’ sports; however, one major school board has now sided with him and his administration.
Former Swarthmore College track-and-field athlete Evelyn Parts sued the school, several athletic department officials and the NCAA, claiming they discriminated against her because she is a transgender woman, ESPN noted. The suit—filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania—claims the defendants violated Parts’ Title IX rights, inflicted emotional distress and took part in a civil conspiracy. The NCAA banned trans women from competing in women’s sports on Feb. 6—a day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order authorizing federal agencies to penalize schools that allow trans girls and women to compete in girls’ and women’s sports.
And in a related matter, transgender volleyball player Emma Morquecho is suing a California university that stripped her of a scholarship, The Advocate noted. Morquecho filed a suit against Westcliff University, the California Pacific Conference and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) after the private school revoked her athletic scholarship based entirely on gender identity. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) is backing the lawsuit.
The Advocate noted that Judge Carlos Mendoza of the U.S. Middle District Court of Florida sided with authors and publishers in a lawsuit against the state’s book ban, ruling that the law violates free-speech protections. “None of these books are obscene,” Mendoza wrote. “The restrictions placed on these books are thus unreasonable in light of the purpose of school libraries.” Penguin Random House, PEN America, the Authors Guild and parents in the Escambia County School District filed a suit against the measure known as HB 1069, arguing that it violated the First Amendment as well as the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; they were joined by five authors whose books were removed from school libraries or challenged, including Kyle Lukoff (When Aidan Became a Brother and Too Bright to See) and Ashley Hope Pérez (Out of Darkness), among others.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked a West Texas university’s ban on drag shows, citing the First Amendment, according to USA Today. The judicial body said a district court made a mistake in rejecting a request for a preliminary injunction that would prevent West Texas A&M University, near Amarillo, from enforcing its ban while a lawsuit works its way through the courts. Spectrum WT, a LGBTQ student group at the school, was organizing a March 2023 drag show to raise funds for The Trevor Project; however, University President Walter Wendler canceled the show days before the performance, saying a “harmless drag show” was “not possible.”
The Department of Defense claimed that Secretary Pete Hegseth actually believes women should be allowed to vote after he reposted a video in which pastors associated with his church—including Doug Wilson, a self-described “Christian Nationalist” from Idaho—called to criminalize same-sex relations and repeal the 19th Amendment, per The Advocate. “Of course, the secretary thinks that women should have the right to vote,” Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said at a press conference. “I’m not going to litigate every single aspect of what he may or may not believe in a certain video.”
Gay billionaire OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has told Gen Z graduates struggling to gain a footing in the entry-level job market that “this is probably the most exciting time to be starting out one’s career—maybe ever,” Forbes noted. However, those young adults are facing a harsh reality: AI has taken most of their opportunities to kick-start their careers. “I think that [a] 25-year-old in Mumbai can probably do more than any previous 25-year-old in history could,” Altman said on the People by WTF podcast.
A national network of drag performers has put together a guide for Floridians regarding rights and organizing, per The Bay Area Reporter. Scott Simpson—a gay man who is organizer of the D.C.-based Qommittee—said that although drag is protected under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, “That is not stopping these folks from trying to intimidate and abuse their positions of power.”
The Bay Area Reporter also noted that Mayor Daniel Lurie—presiding over his first official trans flag-raising ceremony at City Hall on Aug. 5—recognized local transgender leaders. Speakers used the occasion to reflect on the city’s past trans activism, acknowledge local organizations that provide support, and honor members of the trans community. “The world, as it always has, is looking to us to be the beacon for the trans community. San Francisco remains steadfast; we will continue to stay true to our history and cherish our trans community for making San Francisco the city we know and love today,” Lurie said.
NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists announced that the publication Georgia Voice is the 2025 recipient of the Legacy Award, per a press release. Georgia Voice—which is in print and online—has earned numerous awards for its journalism and design. In addition to its core products, Georgia Voice also annually publishes “Destination: Gay Atlanta,” the city’s official LGBTQ+ travel guide, in partnership with the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau (ACVB). The award will be presented at NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists’ 2025 National Convention in Atlanta.
Brooklyn-based, queer-owned, sustainable fashion pioneer Zero Waste Daniel has extended its pop-up celebrating the 40th anniversary of The Golden Girls, in partnership with ABC/Disney/Hulu, to Sept. 14, per a press release. The 25-piece gender-neutral capsule collection features items such as banana-leaf wallpaper, couch-cushion florals, cheesecake motifs and memorable one-liners.
The new queer bar Oberon has opened in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, Gay City News noted. The bar is named after the king of the fairies in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and its website describes the space as a “haven where heritage meets hedonism.” Oberon features retro seating and tables along with mirrors, industrial windows and walls decorated with art by Gerrard Deecey—including one piece depicting the Stonewall Uprising and other ones paying tribute to historic queer icons such as the late trans activist Marsha P. Johnson and the late Brooklyn-born gay DJ Larry Levan.
A former Liberty University employee says she was terminated in part for cooperating with a federal investigation of the school’s handling of sexual assault, USA Today noted. Erika Woolfolk said she was paid less, required to work more, and was the subject of a hostile work environment while employed in the university’s office of Equity and Compliance and Title IX. Recently, Peter Brake sued the private Christian school; his firing was cited in Woolfolk’s filing.
In Minnesota, biracial cis lesbian Gerika Mudra, 18, filed a discrimination charge against a Buffalo Wild Wings franchise, alleging that a worker followed her into a bathroom and coerced her to “prove” her gender by showing her chest, per Them. In her complaint with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR), Mudra claimed that when she used the women’s bathroom during her meal, a server followed her into the bathroom, misgendered her and ordered her to leave. The worker allegedly continued to insist that Mudra “[had] to get out now” until she exited her stall and unzipped her sweatshirt to show that she had breasts “just to make it stop,” Gender Justice (which is representing Mudra) wrote in a statement. The Owatonna Buffalo Wild Wings location did not respond to a request for comment, per the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Non-binary wildlife biologist SJ Joslin was fired from their job with the National Park Service (NPS) after hanging a massive transgender flag from Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan back in May, according to Them. Joslin—who had worked as a biologist at Yosemite since 2021—said they were recently let go via a letter from the park’s acting deputy superintendent, Danika Globokar. Joslin told Them that they have never described the flag-hanging—which was not done on work time, they added—as a “demonstration,” but rather a “celebration of my identity and just trans identity in general.”
Gay All Things Considered co-host Ari Shapiro is leaving NPR, per The Advocate. “It has been a wild privilege to spend 25 years at NPR. After a decade as host of All Things Considered, I’ve decided to move on at the end of September,” Shapiro said on Instagram. “My decision to move on has nothing to do with the challenges facing public radio, the news media, or the country. Those are real and profound, and I plan to continue engaging with them in meaningful ways. But they aren’t informing this transition.” For now, Shapiro said he’ll be touring with the band Pink Martini, with whom he’s performed for years.
Right-wing influencer Laura Loomer claimed that Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham is gay in a deposition given as part of an ongoing defamation suit against Bill Maher and HBO, according to Them. “Several of President Trump’s staff have told me in confidence that Lindsey Graham is gay,” Loomer said in an unprompted reply. Loomer later responded on social media that what she said about Graham was true because she didn’t want to perjure herself.