Transgender University of Oklahoma graduate assistant Mel Curth, who gave a student a failing grade on an anti-transgender paper, will no longer be teaching at the university, The Advocate noted. Curth had been placed on administrative leave after giving student Samantha Fulnecky a zero on her psychology paper, which described transgender people as “demonic” and asserted that gender roles are “Biblically ordained.” The university stated the graduate assistant “was arbitrary in the grading of this specific paper” and “will no longer have instructional duties.”
In Ohio, the Columbus suburb of Grove City unanimously passed an ordinance that bans workplaces, landlords and public accommodations from discriminating against LGBTQ+ individuals, The Buckeye Flame noted. Council member Melissa Anderson proposed the ordinance at the City Council meeting on Dec. 1; during its second reading at the next meeting, two community members spoke positively of the measure. The city of 44,000 residents joins 36 other Ohio municipalities that have passed similar ordinances, including Columbus, Youngstown and Portsmouth.
Sarah O’Neill—an out trans woman who works as a data scientist for the National Security Agency (NSA)—has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the Trump administration, accusing it of violating her civil rights, per The Advocate. O’Neill claims that the Trump administration violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by enforcing executive orders that deny the existence of trans people and force them into single-sex facilities based on their gender assigned at birth. The suit cites the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton, which issued a ruling preventing employment discrimination against trans people under Title VII.
Outgoing NYC Mayor Eric Adams announced a $2 million emergency fund to support organizations serving transgender, gender nonconforming or non-binary (TGNCNB) New Yorkers. The funding—the first of its kind in the nation—will be administered by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). Up to $92,000 will be made available to approximately 20 experienced organizations that are positioned to continue delivering these services in 2026. The application period is now open through Jan. 5, 2026.
Readers of New Ways Ministry’s Bondings 2.0 sent submissions for the worst LGBTQ+ Catholic-related news of 2025. The top item was the U.S. Bishops’ Conference publicly supporting the Trump administration’s anti-transgender executive orders. A few other items that made the top 10 included a conservative Catholic group investing $4 million dollars to potentially out gay priests based on their private digital data; the death of Pope Francis; and Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the archbishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka, criticizing the nation’s tourism agency for seeking to promote the nation’s tourist opportunities to LGBTQ+ markets.
After announcing in July that the San Francisco nightclub Oasis would permanently close after New Year’s Eve, a surprise emergency donation could possibly save the nightclub, which will now only temporarily close for a few months, per The Bay Area Reporter. Considered a queer sanctuary, Oasis has won multiple awards and hosted hundreds of events in the past 11 years. However, this is not the first time the venue has suffered a financial crisis. In the past few years, the venue hosted two marathon telethons online; the first raised more than $250,000, but only covered Oasis’ debt.
U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez, sitting in San Diego, struck down a California policy that prevented teachers from informing parents when their child identified as a different gender at school, saying it’s unconstitutional, Newsweek noted. He said that California’s policy—meant to protect queer students’ privacy—improperly restricted communication between parents and educators. The decision is a major setback to state officials and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups that had defended the policy.
Stevenson Charles—one of the three inmates who escaped from Georgia’s DeKalb Jail—was convicted of federal hate crimes and serving a life prison sentence over violent attacks targeting gay men on Grindr, LGBTQ Nation noted. Part of Charles’ criminal history included targeting men in South Florida through Grindr between October and November 2022, according to a February 2023 Department of Justice press release. On three instances, Charles robbed his victims at gunpoint, stealing their phones, one couple’s wedding rings and forcing them to withdraw over $2,500 from ATMs. Authorities soon recaptured the three escapees.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it was referring Seattle Children’s Hospital for investigation for providing gender-affirming care to trans youth, LGBTQ Nation noted. The post said that the investigation was warranted “for failure to meet professional recognized standards of health care as according to Secretary [Robert] Kennedy’s declaration that sex-rejecting procedures for children and adolescents are neither safe nor effective as a treatment modality for gender dysphoria, gender incongruence, or other related disorders in minors.” Two years ago, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a subpoena demanding records pertaining to any Texas patients who received gender-affirming care at Seattle Children’s, although he eventually dropped the request.
WNBA player Paige Bueckers was named Outsport’s Female Athlete of the Year. This past spring, the player from Edina, Minnesota, led the University of Connecticut Huskies to the NCAA National Championship. Eight days later, she became the WNBA’s No. 1 Overall draft pick, going to the Dallas Wings. Also, Bueckers, after winning the ESPY’s best college athlete in women’s sports, used her acceptance speech to shine a light on Black female athletes, crediting them for their contributions to women’s basketball and the WNBA.
Similarly, San Francisco-based runner Cal Calamia was named Outsport’s Non-Binary Person of the Year. In 2025, their determination in opening distance running to include non-binary competitors resulted in wins on roads and trails where they were previously forced into categories that they felt didn’t fit. In competition, Calamia completed a milestone by earning a coveted Super Six medal that symbolizes competing and completing each of the world’s designated six “major” marathons. While working toward the achievement, Calamia also was a part in getting each of them—the Chicago, Berlin, New York, Boston, Tokyo and London marathons—to add non-binary divisions.
Elon Musk’s X is supporting the legal case of Texas Republican activist Michelle Evans, who faces potential criminal charges after resharing a picture of a trans woman using a women’s restroom, according to PinkNews. The Global Government Affairs department for the platform wrote that it was “proud” to assist Evans as she seeks to overturn an appeals court earlier this month decision allowing a criminal investigation into the 2023 post to continue. The investigation was launched after Evans reshared the picture of the trans woman using the women’s bathroom in the Texas State Capitol during a legislative debate on banning gender-affirming care for minors. Musk himself has said the so-called “woke mind virus” is responsible for his estranged daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson’s trans identity.
Also involving Musk, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani clapped back after Musk verbally attacked his nominee for commissioner of the Fire Department of New York as she makes history, The Advocate noted. Mamdani announced that he has appointed Lillian Bonsignore, a 56-year-old out lesbian and decorated first responder, to lead the FDNY once he is inaugurated on Jan. 1. In response, Musk took to social media to attack Bonsignore, claiming that “people will die because of this.” Mamdani replied, “Experience does matter, which is why I appointed the person who spent more than 30 years at EMS—you know, the workforce that addresses at least 70% of all calls coming into FDNY?”
Tina Thompson was ordained in November as a Roman Catholic Woman Priest—an international group that has attached itself to the Catholic Church but isn’t officially recognized, per The Kansas Reflector. Thompson said she is the first Roman Catholic Woman Priest in Kansas, but she is one of hundreds of women Catholic priests around the world. “This is about something so much bigger than me,” Thompson told the Kansas Reflector podcast. “This is about women who want to show the world that we are the Roman Catholic Church.”
Trans Congresswoman Zooey Zephyr called on the government to have a “serious talk” about “AI girlfriend” companion apps and the danger they pose to women and girls, per PinkNews. AI companion apps, commonly called “AI girlfriend” apps, allow users to generate “people” to chat with. On Bluesky, Zephyr shared an ad for one such app, Candy AI, which claims to let users create their “dream companion.” The politician commented, “We need to have a serious talk about the way ‘AI companion’ apps not only prey on the vulnerable, but are priming their users to ignore consent and to conflate love with control.”
Five out LGBTQ+ political leaders in California’s Bay Area took on new roles ahead of 2026, per The Bay Area Reporter. For example, in Alameda, out gay man Ryan LaLonde was sworn in Dec. 9 as president of the Alameda Unified School District Board of Education, marking the first time an LGBTQ+ person has served in the leadership role. Also, in El Cerrito, which has a majority LGBTQ+ City Council that just saw Black lesbian Carolyn Wysinger end her historic run as ceremonial mayor, gay Councilmember Gabe Quinto was selected to serve as mayor and was sworn in on Dec. 16; lesbian mom Rebecca Saltzman, who was elected in 2024, was chosen as mayor pro tem, setting her up to serve as mayor beginning next December.
Richard Grenell, the out Kennedy Center president, demanded that jazz musician Chuck Redd pay for canceling an annual free Christmas Eve performance after Donald Trump added his name to the center, per The Advocate. Grenell told Redd he would seek $1 million in damages, calling Redd’s actions a “political stunt.” Redd told the AP, “When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert.”In Wisconsin, the multimedia documentary experience “Beacons of the Bay,” will debut at Green Bay’s Tarlton Theatre with a red-carpet opening night on Jan. 31, according to Urban Milwaukee. The Beacons project, made possible by The Canary Fund, explores the history of LGBTQ+ progress in Wisconsin through the voices of “Beacons”—those who fought on the front lines for liberation, equality and social justice across six decades. The Beacons project includes a gallery exhibit, guest speakers, a video documentary screening, and a live panel discussion, Q&A, and photo ops with the Beacons themselves.