NATIONAL
Black trans activist/drag performer Shyyell Diamond Sanchez-McCray, 42, was shot and killed in Petersburg, Virginia, according to Them. Sanchez-McCray was a frequent competitor in drag pageants, winning Miss Mayflower EOY in 2015. RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Kennedy Davenport wrote I will certainly miss you my sister. [Rest] in the Lord” on her Facebook page. Sanchez-McCray is the first known trans person to die by violence this year, although other trans victims may have been misgendered in news reports as well, obfuscating their deaths, Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents noted.
The Idaho Senate passed a GOP-backed measure (House Bill 752) that would criminalize transgender people for using bathrooms aligned with their gender identity, sending the measure to Gov. Brad Little for his signature, The Advocate reported. With this bill, someone who violates the measure could be charged with a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail; a second conviction within five years could be a felony, carrying a potential prison sentence of up to five years. If Little signs the bill, it will take effect July 1.
On March 28, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) held its annual Los Angeles Dinner, a press release noted. This year’s event honored Sex and the City writer-director and The Comeback co-creator Michael Patrick King with HRC’s Visibility Award. Drag icon RuPaul and actress/ally Lisa Kudrow were special guests at the event and presented King with the award. Other guests included Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, actress Niecy Nash-Betts, Olympian Brittany Bowe, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Bruce Vilanch and many more. The night also featured a live auction led by comedian and Out 100 honoree Dana Goldberg.
Lesbian Visibility Week North America (#LVW26), powered by The Curve Foundation, will run April 20-26 with a diverse range of coordinated events built on the belief that visibility boosts belonging and safety, a press release announced. This year’s Lesbian Visibility Week embraces the theme “Health & Wellbeing” through activities such as high-profile receptions, civic proclamations, cultural festivals, wellness gatherings, sports events and more. Hundreds of events are planned across New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Seattle, Houston, Portland, Provincetown, Winnipeg and beyond.
In a bizarre rant, Donald Trump accused pro-trans Texas Rep. and Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico on Truth Social of having “six Genders,” per Them. Trump wrote, in part, “He’s got six Genders, insults to Jesus, only vegan food, was wearing a mask in 2023 and 2024, and is a weak, ineffective guy who we ‘allowed’ to win prior to releasing the avalanche of information we had on him because, as bad as Crockett was as a Candidate, this guy is worse!”
Boston University President Melissa Gilliam defended the school’s removal of Pride flags and pro-LGBTQ+ signs from campus buildings over spring break, Metro Weekly noted. Boston public radio station WBUR reported that the university removed Pride flags displayed in outward-facing windows, including ones in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program, the BU Children’s Center and from Professor Nathan Phillips’ fourth-floor office window. Phillips said the flag wasn’t confiscated but was taken down and left on a chair with a note stating it had been removed “per University policy” for being outward-facing. It added that university affiliates are “welcome to display signs, posters or flags on authorized bulletin boards or on interior walls of their private offices.”
After transgender women were pushed out of traditional tennis play, several players in Las Vegas started their own league, The Advocate noted. The group, called Tennis with Friends, was co-founded by Valarie Witherspoon and Christine Delisle. The United States Tennis Association quietly barred trans women from competing in the women’s leagues in October 2025.
WORLD
Trans women athletes are no longer eligible for the Olympics after the IOC (International Olympic Committee) agreed to a new eligibility policy that aligns with U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order on women’s sports ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games, the AP reported. It is unknown how many, if any, transgender women are competing at an Olympic level; no woman who transitioned from being born male competed at the 2024 Paris Summer Games.
South African artist Gabrielle Goliath criticized her country’s decision to leave its pavilion at the upcoming 61st Venice Biennale empty, as she prepares to show the project she had planned for the space as an independent exhibition at Chiesa di Sant’Antonin in Castello, not far from the South African pavilion, The Art Newspaper noted. In 2025, Last year, Goliath was selected to present a new iteration of Elegy—her decade-long project that has focused on femicide and the murder of LGBTQ+ people in South Africa—in the nation’s pavilion at the 2026 Biennale. However, the country’s sports, arts and culture minister, Gayton McKenzie, controversially cancelled the plans in January.
In Prague, LGBTQ+ U.S. athlete Amber Glenn fell short of the podium in her second major figure-skating competition this year after stumbling in the Milan Cortina Olympics, per Sports Illustrated. Glenn placed sixth overall in the 2026 World Figure Skating Championships following an error-laden free skate, losing out on a chance for her first-ever World Championship medal. Glenn took to social media to share a hopeful message while also discussing how “exhausted” she was after this season. Also, with their respective fourth- and sixth-place finishes, U.S. skaters Isabeau Levito and Amber Glenn have qualified three U.S. entries into next season’s World Championships, to be held in Tampere, Finland.
Ugandan Parliament Speaker Anita Among blamed the defeat of her anti-LGBTQ+ ally Asuman Basalirwa on his leading role in the enactment of the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) of 2023, Erasing 76 Crimes noted. During an annual Iftar dinner that the parliament annually hosts, Among described Basalirwa as a political messiah who was embattled in his constituency because of his anti-homosexuality stance; however, she promised him a job to compensate for his electoral loss.
Openly queer Belgian singer-songwriter Oscar and the Wolf (aka Max Colombie) has released a stripped-back ballad reinterpretation of the R.E.M. classic “Losing My Religion,” per a press release. The musician is returning to the United States this May, with stops in Los Angeles (at Echoplex and CORE) and New York (at Elsewhere). Oscar has released songs such as “Breathing” and “Strange Entity” as well as the anthems “You’re Mine” and “Warrior,” which the Belgian national soccer team chose as its anthem in the 2022 World Cup.
SHOWBIZ
After previous seasons have hinted at same-sex romance, Bridgerton’s fifth season will center on two women falling in love, according to Them, citing a press release from Netflix. Middle daughter Francesca (Hannah Dodd) decides to look once again for lasting love after losing her beloved husband. However, she meets John’s cousin Michaela (Masali Baduza) and “Fran’s complicated feelings will have her questioning whether to stick to her pragmatic intentions or pursue her inner passions,” per the logline.
HBO announced multiple additions to the cast of season three of its hit show The Last of Us—including that a cisgender actor will play the role of Lev, a transgender boy, according to Them, citing Deadline. Kyriana Kratter (Star Wars: Skeleton Crew) will play Lev in the upcoming season. As pointed out by gaming outlet Kotaku, Lev’s gender identity plays a huge role in the story of The Last of Us Part II. In the game, Lev runs away from a violent religious cult that attempts to force him into becoming a child bride—all while misgendering and deadnaming him.
GayCities ran a piece about five queer bars opening across the country this spring and summer. They include Vers., in Albuquerque, New Mexico; the leather-oriented Eagle Bar Cathedral City, in Cathedral City, California; Prism, in Medford, Oregon; the alcohol-free Everywhere Social Club, in Chicago; and Fathom, also in Chicago. Fathom comes from Whitney LaMora and Zoe Schor, who already operate the lesbian cocktail lounge Dorothy.
LGBTQ+ adult-film actor Seth Peterson (real name: Adam Aguirre) has died at age 28, per People. His partner, Kobe Marsh (aka Cyrus Stark), posted the news on Peterson’s social media, adding, “I’m truly at a loss for words, and my heart is broken.” Peterson’s final Instagram post on Instagram—shared on Oct. 5, 2025—featured several pictures of himself and Marsh at Burning Man in 2025.
Out actor Adrian Anchondo talked about the demise of his gay General Hospital character, Marco Rios, TV Insider noted. “He had a short journey, but it was full of love,” Anchondo said of Rios, who died in the March 25 episode. Although his stay was relatively short, he said the departure was still emotional. “Those are real relationships that we developed over the last year that have gotten stronger even in the last half a year,” Anchondo said. ”With Van [Hansis, who played Rios’ partner, Lucas], I just became so much closer to him.”
Hawaii-based Lo Colby was crowned Miss International Queen USA, succeeding Midori Monét. According to the event’s website, Miss International Queen USA took place March 26-27 at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The site added that “The Miss International Queen USA stands as the premier platform for celebrating the beauty, strength and diversity of transgender women across the nation.”
at Harrah’s Resort, Atlantic City at Harrah’s Resort, AtlanticGay original Survivor winner Richard Hatch lost a multimillion-dollar tax battle, WJAR noted. A federal judge in Providence, Rhode Island, ruled in favor of the federal government, allowing it to start collecting nearly $3.3 million plus a couple years of interest it said Hatch owes after never paying the taxes on his $1 million prize from winning back in 2000. Hatch was convicted in federal court in 2006 and spent three years in prison, but contended afterward that he never committed a crime. Out ran an article on 14 queer celebrities who have discussed being in open relationships. Some of them included RuPaul, Janelle Monáe, Dan Savage, drag queen Sasha Colby, Bob The Drag Queen, comedian Mae Martin and Willow Smith. “My problem with monogamy is, we’re told that if we’re in love, we won’t want to sleep with anybody else,” Savage said in 2015. “The truth is, if we’re in love and we make a monogamous commitment, that means we will refrain from sleeping with other people. We still want to sleep with other people.”
