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In the case of Mirabelli v. Bonta, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a big setback to California transgender students, allowing parents challenging the state’s school gender-identity policies to enforce a lower-court injunction that restricts student confidentiality while the case moves forward on appeal, The Advocate noted. The justices ruled that parents objecting on religious grounds are “likely to succeed on the merits” of their claims under the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. The case centers on California guidelines banning school staff from telling parents if a student socially transitions at school—i.e., using a different name or pronouns—without the student’s consent.
Scouting America (formerly the Boy Scouts of America) said that transgender youths are still welcome in its programs, defying claims from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that the organization would limit membership based solely on sex assigned at birth, according to The Advocate. “We have transgender people in our program, and we’ll have transgender people in our program going forward,” President/CEO Roger Krone said to The Associated Press. Hegseth had also said the organization would ensure “biological boys and girls will not be allowed to occupy or share intimate spaces together—toilets, showers [and] tents.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James ordered NYU Langone Health to resume gender-affirming care for patients under 19 after the hospital shut down its Transgender Youth Health Program because of pressure from the Trump administration, Gay City News noted. James’ office gave NYU Langone 10 business days (from Feb. 25) to comply with the directive. James has filed lawsuits against the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict gender-affirming care.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Robert D. Okum rescinded his earlier ruling declaring gay activist Darren Pasha in default for failing to attend a virtual court hearing regarding an anti-stalking lawsuit brought against him by the Capital Pride Alliance, per The Washington Blade. The Capital Pride lawsuit, initially filed last October, accuses Pasha of engaging in a year-long “course of conduct” of “harassment, intimidation, threats, manipulation, and coercive behavior” targeting Capital Pride staff, board members and volunteers; Pasha has strongly denied the stalking-related allegations against him.
Delaware queer community center CAMP Rehoboth has hired Dr. Robin Brennan as its new executive director, per The Washington Blade. Brennan will start on March 23; the position opened following the retirement of Kim Leisey, who had been in the post for two years. At Nemours Children’s Health in Wilmington, Delaware, Brennan held senior roles in evaluation, population health and DEI education, according to a CAMP Rehoboth statement; most recently, she was vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer at Redeemer Health.
In Michigan, a nonbinary student (recognized as Jane Doe) is suing the Kalamazoo Public School District for gender-based discrimination, The Advocate noted. The Loy Norrix High School student said the school district did nothing to protect them or investigate claims they were being assaulted and harassed in 2023, when they were 14. A KPS spokesperson told Kalamazoo CBS affiliate WWMT that the district “[does] not comment on pending litigation.”
In Indiana, a school district will pay former orchestra teacher John Kluge $650,000 after he lost his job for refusing to call a transgender student by their name. Kluge sued the Brownsburg Community School Corporation after being fired in 2018 for refusing to comply with the district’s preferred name policy, according to the Indianapolis Star.
The 39thAnnual Tibet House US Benefit Concert brought an evening of performances and activism to New York City’s Carnegie Hall, per a press release.The eclectic lineup of artists—assembled by co-artistic directors and curators Philip Glass and Laurie Anderson—included Robert De Niro, Elvis Costello, Maya Hawke, The B-52’s Kate Pierson, Allison Russell, Jesse Malin, Toro y Moi, The Philip Glass Ensemble, The Resistance Revival Chorus, The Scorchio Quartet and a house band led by Musical Director Tony Shanahan. The festivities continued with a post-concert gala at Ziegfeld Ballroom. Honorary chairs included Uma Thurman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Arden Wohl and Jonah Freeman.
WORLD
In Cameroon, five men were released from Kondengui Central Prison in Yaoundé for homosexuality, Erasing 76 Crimes reported. Their personal finances allowed them to pay the relatively low fines of 30,000 CFA francs (about US $51) each. The men’s troubles began last September, when police arrested one of the men; they offered to release him if he paid a bribe of 100,000 CFA francs (about U.S. $177)—but after he couldn’t, authorities arrested other men based on what they found on the first man’s phone.
Similarly, two women were arrested in northwestern Uganda for kissing in public, per Erasing 76 Crimes. The twentysomething women have been detained without legal representation since Feb. 18. The arrest, under Uganda’s 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act, angered human-rights groups. If convicted of engaging in same-sex intimacy, they could face life imprisonment.
Also in Uganda, queer-rights ally Fox Odoi-Oywelowo lost his seat in parliament during the recent national elections, Erasing 76 Crimes noted. Odoi-Oywelowo was instrumental in the campaign that resulted in the nullification of the 2014 Anti-Homosexuality Act. Odoi-Oywelowo—a longtime member of Uganda’s ruling party and a former senior legal counsel to President Yoweri Museveni—hit back at his fellow anti-LGBTQ+ lawmakers for “scapegoating minorities” and spreading misinformation for political gain.
Obscured Pictures revealed that it has two films—Adam’s Apple and The Ballad of Judas Priest—that it’s submitting to the 2026 CPH:DOX Festival, per a press release. In Apple, a transgender teen and his mother chronicle their lives over two decades. In Judas Priest, the film dives deep into lead musician Rob Halford’s long struggle as a closeted gay man in heavy metal and explores the “culture war” surrounding the band’s controversial, high-profile trial during the ‘80s Satanic Panic. The festival runs March 11-22 in Denmark.
Drag Race Thailand winner Angele Anang announced that she has quit drag—seven years after becoming the first out transgender woman to win any season of the Drag Race franchise, per PinkNews. “Read my bio,” she wrote under an Instagram post. Anang’s updated Instagram bio now reads “Yes, I quit drag,” alongside a smiling emoji. In addition to becoming the first out trans woman to win any season of Drag Race internationally, she became the first contestant to win six challenges in a single season.
British artist Morrissey released his 14th solo studio album, Make-Up Is a Lie, out now via Sire/Warner Records, per a press release. The album features a dozen tracks, including the title single, “Many Icebergs Ago,” “Notre-Dame” and “The Monsters of Pig Alley.” Make-Up reunites Morrissey with producer Joe Chiccarelli (The Strokes; My Morning Jacket) as he returns to Studio La Fabrique in the Saint-Rémy-de-Provence region of southern France.
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Trans actress/activist Alexandra Billings shared an emotional memory of working with Eric Dane on Grey’s Anatomy following the actor’s death at age 53, People noted. “I got the role on Grey’s Anatomy, which was shocking to me. I hadn’t done a lot of television, and I was floored. This was 2006,” she explained on Instagram. At one point during filming, Dane, who portrayed Dr. Mark Sloan on the show, turned to Billings and asked about her own real-life experience transitioning in the ’80s—later showing true compassion as they refilmed their scene. “I know how mundane this sounds, but back then, it changed everything for me. This compassionate, kind, brave human being changed everything for me,” Billings tearfully recalled.
Ricky Martin—who appeared during Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show—will perform at Ravinia Festival in Highland Park (near Chicago) on Thursday, Aug. 20, according to NBC 5 Chicago. This summer’s lineup features other prominent names in music, including Bonnie Raitt, Paul Simon, Ray LaMontagne and Alison Krauss.
The new queer romantic dramedy Almost Us will debut April 17 on Watch VIM—a free LGBTQ+ streaming platform created by director/star Anthony Bawn, a press release noted. The movie focuses on the one-night stand and the rom-com complications that follow between Darren, a closeted and politically connected real-estate developer; and Jason, an openly queer and charismatic community organizer.
Following Joaquin Phoenix’s exit last year, Todd Haynes’ drama De Noche is back on track, per Variety. Pedro Pascal is officially set to play a hard-boiled detective opposite Danny Ramirez as his younger lover. The story focuses on the passionate and unexpected love affair between a cop (Pascal) and a boarding school teacher (Ramirez) in 1930s Los Angeles; the two men become targets of the city’s political machine and have to flee to Mexico.
LGBTQ+ Grammy-nominated songwriter/producer Justin Tranter has started a new weekly video and audio podcast, Unfamous. The series pulls back the curtain on how pop culture’s biggest moments actually get made. Each episode pairs a celebrity with his/her/their collaborator who helped build their defining work and lets audiences hear how it really happened.
Mexican-Italian rapper/model Heartthrob Robb has released the album To Know Me More, Is to Love Me Less—a tribute to “confident gay male sexuality,” per Out. “My father always taught me that presentation dictates perception. He was an artist, like me, and I grew up believing that anything we touch should be made beautiful,” Robb told the outlet. “I didn’t make this album to be liked or please anyone; I made it because I needed it.” The album was released during Super Bowl weekend as a symbolic “return to the game” for Robb.
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