NATIONAL
Warning: This column mentions incidents of violence against transgender people.
Gay former congressman George Santos, Proud Boys chair Enrique Tarrio and ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich are among those reportedly preparing to seek taxpayer-funded payouts from President Donald Trump’s controversial new $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” The Advocate noted, citing The Washington Post. The fund was created as part of a settlement resolving Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over leaked tax returns. However, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, has temporarily blocked payments, the AP reported.
Drug-resistant cases of Shigella have increasingly been reported by adult men who have sex with men, according to a report in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the flagship publication of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Q Voice News noted. Dr. Carlton Thomas (a gastroenterologist and host of the Butt Honestly podcast) detailed his own battle with the bacterial infection after having oral sex in the dark room play space of a Fort Lauderdale gay bar last year—and later suffering diarrhea, dehydration, extreme fatigue and a 104-degree fever.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D) ruled that the anti-trans campaign Protect Girls’ Sports in Maine submitted invalid and forged signatures in its bid for a November ballot measure that sought to ban trans students from school sports and restrooms, per LGBTQ Nation.
Dmitriy Popov—who is charged with murdering out gay dancer and choreographer O’Shae Sibley at a Brooklyn gas station in July 2023—claimed that he took action in self-defense, Gay City Times reported. Also, Popov denied using anti-gay remarks or racist slurs, despite apparent video evidence.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the Kennedy Center to remove President Donald Trump’s name from the institution, The Advocate noted. Cooper stated that only Congress can rename the nation’s official memorial to President John F. Kennedy. Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board, brought the lawsuit.
In Houston, authorities are investigating the death of a transgender woman whose body was found near the Brays Bayou river, according to Them. The discovery of the body follows anti-trans incidents of violence over the last several weeks. For example, on April 18, 39-year-old transmasculine farmer Luca RedBeard, was fatally shot in New Mexico, with charges filed against a husband and wife.
Transgender track-and-field athlete AB Hernandez again took the top spot in several events at the California Interscholastic Federation’s (CIF) Southern Section Track and Field Masters meet—and officials decided to award a second gold medal to the runner-ups in those events, Yahoo! Sports noted.
WORLD
Dozens of prominent individuals from Africa and the African diaspora have urged Senegal to suspend its new law increasing the penalties for same-sex relations, Erasing 76 Crimes noted. Addressed to President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the letter counts lawyers, artists, community leaders and elected officials among the signees.
Openly gay Italian designer Filippo Sorcinelli—who has been behind the styles of Pope Leo XIV, Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI—told The Daily Mail that the looks and outfits aren’t about “personal taste, but about projecting authority and reinforcing the Church’s message,” according to New Ways Ministry. He added, in part, “Francis chose the strength of a surprising simplicity, almost a Gospel provocation. … Leo XIV manifests a desire to bring everything back to the centrality of Christ, making that axis the sign of a single path uniting past and future.”
Along with criticizing AI, Pope Leo XIV made a historic apology for the Holy See’s role in legitimizing slavery and for having failed to condemn it for centuries, calling the Vatican’s record a “wound in Christian memory,” the AP noted. The first U.S.-born pope apologized in his first encyclical/letter, “Magnifica Humanitas.” The Holy See is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City.
Valencia, Spain, officially announced its role as the official host of Gay Games XII, taking place June 27-July 4, per a press release. This international event will welcome athletes, allies and visitors of all identities to participate in 39 inclusive sports, cultural programming and community celebrations. More than 8,000 participants are already registered. For travel information and access to registration, visit this link: Valencia LGBTI Friendly | LGBTI in Valencia.
Uganda’s outgoing anti-queer speaker of Parliament, Anita Among—a mastermind of the harsh Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023—was placed under house arrest with husband Moses Magogo, Erasing 76 Crimes noted. The couple is being investigated for corruption, abuse of office, illicit enrichment and money laundering.
In Australia, far-right lawmaker Jason Virgo’s first speech as a member of Parliament caught some people by surprise, LGBTQ Nation noted. “The reality is I have been openly gay throughout my entire adult life,” he said, adding that he was in a relationship with a man who was “born in Indonesia, a Muslim and is now a proud Australian.” However, Virgo—who some have now accused of being a “Trojan horse”—is in the One Nation party, which was founded in 2015 on a platform opposed to multiculturalism, immigration (especially Asian immigration) and reproductive freedom, among other issues.
The Swiss Conference of Catholic Bishops (SBK) issued a statement asking for a ban on LGBTQ+-related conversion therapy, New Ways Ministry noted, citing Katholisch.de. The conference “firmly rejects conversion measures. They are incompatible with a pastoral mission based on acceptance, truthfulness, and the protection of the individual. In a religious context, such practices can constitute spiritual abuse when people are shamed, threatened, or manipulated in the name of God.”
Tony-winning non-binary Oh, Mary! writer and original star Cole Escola will reprise their performance in the play’s title role in London’s West End for a four-week limited engagement on July 20-Aug. 15, Playbill noted. The production has also extended yet again, with tickets now on sale through Jan. 2, 2027.
Ricky Martin was deemed safe after a recent concert in Montenegro was interrupted when someone sprayed tear gas toward the stage, Billboard noted. Martin left the stage following the incident, and security personnel and local authorities were able to contain the situation and “ensure the safety of those in attendance.” Also, while some members of Martin’s team advised against continuing the concert, Martin insisted that the show resume “in order to fulfill his commitment to fans.”
SHOWBIZ
Talking with talk-show host Tamron Hall, Briel Adams-Wheatley—a transgender social-media beauty influencer born with no limbs—spoke about trolls who like to mock her online, LGBTQ Nation noted. “Two years ago, I would’ve been sobbing in my bathroom about comments that would be left on my page,” Adams-Wheatley said. “[But] now where I’m like, ‘Wait, no. They’re coming back and they keep coming back. They’re fans, and it’s cute, and they’re paying my bills.’ So I love that for me.”
Filmmaker Matthew Miele is directing a new feature documentary on the life, career and theatrical legacy of openly gay Emmy- and Tony-winning actor Nathan Lane, Deadline noted. Interviewees will include Matthew Broderick, Tony Kushner, Jean Smart, Laurie Metcalf, and Mel Brooks, among others.
Caleb Shomo—the frontman for the rock and metalcore band Beartooth—has come out as gay, EW noted. Shomo wrote on Instagram, “I am a proudly gay man. This is something I’ve been unpacking and reckoning with in my life for quite some time now.” According to Queerty, Shomo had been married to his wife, Fleur, for 14 years.
Katy Perry revealed that Madonna’s 1991 documentary Truth or Dare inspired her when making her own Part of Me concert film that’s coming out July 4, per Digital Spy. Perry told Teen Vogue, “Madonna is everything to me and that movie is amazing, because it caught her at a time when she was a bit more vulnerable.”
Broadway will get its first revival of the Tony-winning play Other Desert Cities at the Hudson Theatre, with performances set to begin Sept. 29 ahead of an Oct. 18 opening night, Playbill noted. The limited engagement will continue through Jan. 17, 2027, with openly gay Tony winner John Benjamin Hickey directing. Julia Louis-Dreyfus will make her Broadway debut opposite Ed Harris, Oscar winner Allison Janney, Joe Keery (Stranger Things) and Lily Rabe (American Horror Story).
Las Vegas’ Neon Museum added the famed Siegfried and Roy bronze sculpture that once stood at The Mirage to its collection, KSNV noted. The 15-foot-tall sculpture features the busts of gay entertainers Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn with one of their white tigers.
Queer British showrunner Russell T Davies who his dream lead would be in the U.S. adaptation of his newest LGBTQ+ drama series, Tip Toe, Deadline noted. His choice would be Matt Bomer, the openly gay star of White Collar and Chuck who starred in 2023’s Fellow Travelers opposite another queer thespian, Jonathan Bailey. “There are actors like Matt Bomer who has always said he has wanted to work with me,” said Davies. “Frankly if he wants to make the American Tip Toe I’d sell it to him for 10 pence.”
In the HBO film (which debuted May 29) Miss You, Love You, gay actor Andrew Rannells stars opposite acting legend Alison Janney, per Instinct. The movie follows Diane Patterson, “a blunt, grieving widow” played by Janney who is forced to plan her husband’s funeral with her estranged son’s assistant, Jamie Simms, played by Rannells. Rannells told People that starring alongside the Oscar-winning actress felt like he had “won the gay acting lottery.”
A TV drama about the early life of Céline Dion is being developed, per Deadline. Growing Up Dion (the working title) marks the first time the singer’s family has formally supported a dramatized adaptation of her childhood, with her brother Jacques Dion producing; the show is based on Dion, A Family Saga, written by her nephew Jimmy Dion.
Queer rocker Yves Tumor has made their acting debut in the cult movie Matador Bolero, per Gay City News. Paying tribute to ‘70s exploitation films, the movie—which was shot on Super-8—focuses on acid-addled young women committing violence.
eserved
Morrissey, Alanis Morissette, Rise Against, Iggy Pop, Bad Religion, Nas, Patti Smith, Santigold, Tool, GWAR, Violet Grohl and Twenty One Pilots are just some of the acts scheduled to perform at Chicago’s Riot Fest this year. The event will take place in Douglass Park on Sept. 18-20.
Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, Dave Matthews, Brittany Howard and Joan Baez will headline a protest festival set for the D.C. area a month before the midterm elections, per the AP. Springsteen and Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello announced the Power to the People festival, which is set for Oct. 3 at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.
Young MC, Morris Day, the Commodores and Martina McBride are among the artists who have withdrawn from participating in the Freedom 250 concerts in June and July in D.C., ABC Philadelphia noted. McBride wrote on social media that she had agreed to perform after she “was assured this was a nonpartisan event.”
On the third anniversary of making her on-screen debut as queer character Kristina Corinthos-Davis on the daytime serial General Hospital, Soap Opera Network confirmed that actress Kate Mansi has exited the series. Reportedly, Mansi opted not to renew her contract with the soap opera.
LGBTQ+ pop artist and virtuoso pianist Saint Micah (formerly Micah McLaurin) launched a new era with the release of his high-intensity dance-pop single “The Grind” via Case Doce Music, a press release noted.
Jennifer Lopez’s now-adult child Emme has debuted a new name—Oskar Muñiz—while revealing plans to attend Sarah Lawrence College this fall, per Page Six. a A pic of the high school graduate featured the new name along with “⚣” and “
︎” symbols.