Warning: This column mentions violence and suicide.
NATIONAL
Rev. Derek Terry, a Cincinnati pastor known for his LGBTQ+ activism, has died at age 42, per The Cincinnati Enquirer. He served as a Christian pastor at St. Peter’s United Church of Christ in Pleasant Ridge, according to a Facebook post from the church. In 2015, Terry came out as gay to his congregation—and more than 1 million TV viewers—on the Oprah Winfrey Network show Iyanla: Fix My Life. A joint statement said that “Terry touched the lives of everyone he encountered throughout his ministry in the United Church of Christ, and as the executive director of the Open and Affirming Coalition.”
In The Atlantic, Julia Curlee described how the second Trump administration came to view something as dangerously sensitive—the fact that one of its most experienced intelligence officials was a transgender woman, according to The Advocate. She stated that Trump officials had known about her identity during the president’s first term, when Curlee briefed senior White House officials and became Vice President Mike Pence’s daily intelligence briefer; however, things supposedly became intolerable only when the public might learn about Curlee being transgender.
In California, Long Beach’s queer community would face several cuts to programs and services if the City Council approves the city manager’s proposed $4 billion budget for fiscal year 2027, Q Voice News reported. Among the more than $55 million in proposed cuts are approximately $520,000 that would impact the city’s LGBTQ+ population.
Also in California, a rainbow door outside Fresno’s Big Red Church has been knocked down, smashed and vandalized—twice—during the summer, Instinct noted. The Big Red Church has stood in Fresno’s Tower District for 76 years and has identified itself as an open and affirming congregation for more than 30 years.
GLAAD released the findings of its sixth annual State of HIV Stigma Report, created in partnership with Gilead Sciences, a press release noted. The study reveals a widening gap between scientific advancements in HIV prevention and the treatment/awareness of these advances that can save lives and prevent new diagnoses Among other things, fewer Americans report feeling comfortable around family members living with HIV (61%, down from 66% in 2024) or medical professionals living with HIV (45%, down from 50%).
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee, halted a Trump administration overhaul of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program that would have required an abstinence-only approach to pregnancy prevention, Axios noted.
The Seattle City Council approved a mid-year budget revision that added funds for LGBTQ+-related services, among other things, The Stranger noted. Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck proposed that $300,000 be dedicated to nonprofit service providers serving the queer community. However, Seattle-based Gender Justice League estimated that $2 million are needed to assist trans people who have relocated to Seattle to flee transphobic policies in GOP-controlled states.
Wisconsin educator Jeffrey Peterson is suing his former school district for discrimination, alleging that several members of the district’s board worked with anti-LGBTQ+ activists to fabricate a pretext to fire him because he is gay, per LGBTQ Nation. Peterson claimed they went so far as to allegedly write an “anonymous” letter falsely accusing him of “inappropriate conduct” with children.
In Atlanta, My Sister’s Room co-owner Jen-Chase Daniels claimed that she was arrested for alleged noise violations that she says did not come from the lesbian bar, according to Them. Atlanta Police Department officer Jayden Joseph said in a report that he was responding to a violation of a city noise ordinance.
On Aug. 29, the Illinois chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is presenting Pride Pathways: A Suicide Prevention Event for LGBTQ+ Communities and Allies at Chicago’s Center on Halsted, per a press release. This comprehensive full-day conference is designed to deepen understanding of how suicide impacts the LGBTQ+ community.
Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library (SNMAL) will host a three-city series in October about the need for trustworthy journalism in marginalized and minority communities across the country, a press release noted. The events will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 6, in West Hollywood’s The Abbey in West Hollywood; Friday, Oct. 9, in Rancho Mirage, California, at the Tamarisk Country Club; and SNMAL’s “Focus on the Future” Celebration on Thursday, Oct. 22, in Ft. Lauderdale at the Broward Center’s Mary Porter Ballroom.
One Institute announced that the exhibition “Hold Each Other’s Hands: Trans Mutual Aid, 1966-1996”—co-presented by One Institute and OXY ARTS, Occidental College’s public art center—will headline this year’s Circa: Queer Histories Festival, a press release noted. The Circa Festival launch and opening reception for “Hold Each Other’s Hands” will take place Thursday, Sept. 24, in Los Angeles at OXY ARTS. The full Circa lineup will be available Thursday, Sept. 10, at circafestival.org.
Lambda Legal’s Landmark Dinner will take place Sept. 26 at Union Station in Dallas, per the event’s website. Honorees will include Dallas Reed Smith LLP Managing Partner Omar J. Alaniz and PFLAG National CEO Brian K. Bond.
Conservative voices and at least one advocacy publication alleged that a drag performance at Pride East Texas Longview’s annual Pride event in July violated a 2025 state law restricting sexually oriented performances in front of minors, per The Dallas Voice. Pride East Texas Longview President Dusty White—referring to a law that centers on such a violation—said, “We were aware of SB 12, but it [was not in effect] when we started to plan Pride.” Gov. Greg Abbott signed SB 12 into law in 2023, but it was not allowed to take effect until earlier this year due to a legal challenge and a restraining order that a judge issued.
Also in Texas, on Aug. 22, the City of Austin and The Austin Pride Foundation celebrated the 36th Austin Pride Parade, per a press release. This year’s event—“Viva la Resistencia”—commemorates strength, presence and momentum.
The National Catholic Reporter (NCR) officially announced that Michael J. O’Loughlin will become the organization’s next CEO and executive editor. He succeeds Joe Ferullo, who led NCR for nearly four years. O’Loughlin is author of the 2021 book Hidden Mercy, which chronicles the church’s response to the HIV/AIDS crisis in the United States; his reporting on HIV/AIDS was nominated for a GLAAD media award in 2023.
The board of directors of the Log Cabin Republicans (LCR)—a queer conservative organization that says it’s “building a more inclusive GOP—announced that it’s dropping transgender people from its mission, according to LGBTQ Nation. In Townhall, LCR President Ross Hemminger claimed, among other things, that “the transgender movement has ceased focusing on adults at all—nearly all of their efforts and those of their aligned special interest groups focus on minors.”
Weeks after launching Goose—a new gay dating app billed as “social-first” and “anti-algorithm”—Derek Chadwick has quit the company over a conflict of “vision for where this should go and the direction the company is going,” per Them, citing Out. An investigation by Wired found many Goose accounts and related social-media users didn’t appear to be real. Chadwick is an out gay model/actor who also has the clean beauty brand Chaddy.
A federal judge ruled that ex-Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries is competent to stand trial on sex trafficking and interstate prosecution charges, ABC7.com reported. Jeffries, 82—who has been accused of sexually abusing male models, per The Wall Street Journal—is scheduled to stand trial in October in Long Island.
WORLD
United Nations experts warned that the UK’s revisions to the Equality Act 2010 risk discriminating against and excluding trans individuals, JURIST News noted. The updated Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions, and Associations became official on Aug. 5. Among other things, the code states that “a person’s sex remains their biological sex, whether they have a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) or not.”
India’s Rajya Sabha passed the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill 2026 by a voice vote, but Dr. Menaka Guruswamy—the country’s first openly queer member of parliament—criticized the government’s decision, the Law Street Journal noted. In part, Guruswamy said that “the central government will not appoint women to the judiciary, they will not appoint lower caste to the judiciary, they will not appoint religious minorities to the judiciary, they will not appoint gay people to the judiciary. You only appoint judges who you think have your ideology.”
According to PinkNews, Russia has censored Pope Francis’ autobiography to remove the LGBTQ+-related sections. Reports state that the hard and digital versions of the book—which was only published in Russia this year—doesn’t contain any of the late pontiff’s thoughts on trans rights, homosexuality and the blessing of same-sex unions.
Also in that country, the 20-year-old Russian LGBT Network announced it will shut down after a court declared it an “extremist” organization, per The Washington Blade. “Continuing our public activities could have put at risk those who took part in the organization’s work, supported it, or received assistance,” the organization said. “We cannot control the repressive environment, but we can do everything possible to avoid creating additional risks for people. People’s safety comes first.”
In an interview with the BBC, Archbishop Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith—a Ghanaian Anglican bishop who is the head of the Anglican Church in West Africa—said, “Our point … is very clear: We do not support the criminalization of gay persons,” according to Erasing 76 Crimes. Ben-Smith acknowledged that criminalization is part of Ghana’s current legal framework but emphasized that the Church does not support that penalty. However, the Church is still traditional on matters of sex and gender.
The Pinnacle Foundation is providing scholarships to young queer Australians who are pursuing full-time tertiary or vocational education, according to Funds for NGOs. Eligible recipients (who must be between 18-26, and be citizens or permanent residents) can receive financial assistance, mentoring and development opportunities while studying at public universities, TAFE (technical and further education) institutions and other eligible public tertiary institutions in Australia. The deadline is Aug. 31. For more info, visit here.
In Bangladesh, two first-year students at the University of Dhaka were barred from a residential hall over allegations that they were involved in same-sex relations, Erasing 76 Crimes noted. The Daily Star reported that both students denied the allegations.
In a new interview with El Pais, British Queer As Folk creator Russell T Davies remarked on the current television landscape, including Heated Rivalry, Queerty noted. “I’m glad that LGBTQ+ stories like Heated Rivalry and Heartstopper have happy endings,” Davies said. “But I can’t seem to write them. Thanks to those shows, I don’t necessarily need to.”
A new LGBTQ+ Canadian national monument was unveiled in Ottawa, Xtra noted. Officially named Thunderhead, the monument—a 30-foot-tall cylinder with the imprint of a thundercloud hollowed out of its center—is a space to commemorate and reflect the hardships, experiences and achievements of queer and trans people in Canada.
Neil Amin-Smith—a queer musician who was once part of the Grammy-winning English electronic music group Clean Bandit—has been appointed as new Prime Minister Andy Burnham‘s economic advisor, according to a PinkNews item that cited The Daily Mail. After leaving the group in 2016, Amin-Smith joined the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) before leaving there in 2019 to become a senior policy advisor at His Majesty’s Treasury; he has been involved in politics ever since.
The WNBA team the Toronto Tempo unveiled two new mascots—a tortoise and a hare with at least one having a seemingly queer backstory, according to Them. Dez (she/they) is a “borealis blue” snapping turtle from Muskoka, Ontario; Dot is an arctic hare who takes her name from Toronto’s nickname, “T-Dot.” A spokesperson for the Tempo said the mascots are “besties.”
Yumbo is a new bathhouse in Birmingham, England, that aims to offer something more, according to GayCities. The two upper floors of the venue (promoted as a wellness and social spot) contain the men’s sauna facilities, ice bath, private rooms and more, while the first floor has a “bougie bar” and social space that’s open to all members of the LGBTQ+ community.
SHOWBIZ
Sports legends Candace Parker, Chamique Holdsclaw and Elena Delle Donne (all members of the LGBTQ+ community) were inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, the AP noted. They were part of the 2026 class that also included the 1996 U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team, NBA player Amar’e Stoudemire, longtime NBA official Joey Crawford, NBA coaches Doc Rivers and Mike D’Antoni, and Gonzaga University coach Mark Few.
And in another basketball-related item, the third episode of The Dynasty: UConn Huskies—a new docuseries on Apple TV focused on the women’s basketball program coach Geno Auriemma has built at UConn—is told mostly through the perspective of Paige Bueckers, per USA Today. Filmmakers of the series dove deep into the push-pull dynamic between Bueckers and Auriemma, but the episode also looks at the relationship between Buecker and girlfriend/teammate Azzi Fudd.
Alliance Home Entertainment will release the worldwide sensation and Crave Original series Heated Rivalry on Blu-ray and DVD on Oct. 20, per a media report. The release will be followed by a limited-run Collector’s Edition on 4K UHD—featuring steamier retro “VHS”-styled packaging, collectible art cards and more—on Nov. 24. Each of the three physical media releases features all episodes from season one and are available to pre-order at national online retailers in the U.S. and Canada.
Michelle Rodriguez said it’s “not normal” how many young stars are dying following Hayden Panettiere’s passing at 36, Page Six noted. “It’s disheartening, and it’s making me think, ‘What’s going on?’ It’s not normal. I don’t want to speculate about anything, but it’s weird,” she told Variety. In May, while promoting her memoir, Panettiere came out as bisexual, according to People; Rodriguez came out as bi years ago, per media reports.
Some investors in Selena Gomez’s mental-health startup, Wondermind, sued the singer/actress, her mother and their former business partner, claiming they were misled about the company’s success and Gomez’s involvement in it, per CNN. Five investors claimed they put in $1.2 million in 2022, expecting Gomez to leverage her star power and massive social-media following to build the company.
Recently, Grammy winner Ricky Martin shared a throwback photo on his Instagram Stories of his twins, Matteo and Valentino, who recently turned 18, according to Billboard. Martin soundtracked the photo with his 2011 song “Lo Mejor de Mi Vida Eres Tú” (“You’re the best thing in my life”).
On Aug. 17, Rosie O’ Donnell kicked off her week-long Jimmy Kimmel Live hosting duties by walking onstage in a bright pink suit adorned with flowers, Variety noted. At one point, the prominent Donald Trump critic said, “I’ve been living in Ireland for the past two years because of ‘Mango Mussolini.’ I read that Project 2025 and said, ‘Gotta get myself out of here!’”
The 1995 film Unzipped—a fashion documentary featuring superstar designer Isaac Mizrahi—will run at New York City’s Film Forum on Sept. 25-Oct. 1 in a new 4K restoration, per a press release. Mizrahi proved a force of nature on the road to his legendary fall 1994 collection in this film by Douglas Keeve, Mizrahi’s then-partner. Supermodels Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Kate Moss are also in the movie.
Queer singer/actress/model Cara Delevingne released her new single, “Crazy, Baby” via Warner Records, a press release announced. Alongside the release, Delevingne premiered the video for the new track. Directed by Bradley J. Calder, the video stars actress Samara Weaving alongside Delevingne in a passionate romance in their beautiful home—but all is not what it seems.
At least two directors have rejected the chance to work on HBO’s upcoming adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Variety noted. Alluding to Rowling’s anti-trans views, top TV director Ally Pankiw posted, “It simply is this easy to say no to funding transphobia!” Also, commenting on Pankiw’s Instagram post, preceded by three hearts, British filmmaker Kate Herron stated, “Yeah, thank you—exactly! … They’ve asked me twice and I’ve had to explain [that] my answer is never gonna change from a no.”
On Sunday, Sept. 13, Halloween Wars will return with its host, gay actor Jonathan Bennett, and a “Back from the Dead” theme featuring all-star expert pumpkin carving artists, sugar masters, and cake mavens who will face more difficult challenges than ever before, per a press release. Bennett will be joined by judges Shinmin Li and Andrew Fuller, who will evaluate each team’s compositions throughout the season and ultimately award $30,000 to the winning team.
Netflix responded to a lawsuit that Tyra Banks filed over the streaming service’s recent docuseries Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, ABC noted. A Netflix spokesperson said the company stands behind the project and plans to “vigorously defend” the series. In a motion, Netflix contends that Banks’ “disagreement” with how she was portrayed in the documentary does not make the series defamatory.
Philip Picardi—who has been the editorial director of Teen Vogue and who founded the LGBTQ+-based Them—has taken the reins at Playboy, Instinct noted. The magazine is now increasingly positioning itself as a glossy cultural publication rather than bedroom contraband, and Picardi wants to make it more queer-focused. Recently, Playboy has ventured into subjects including trans pornography and reclaiming sexuality.
NOTE: This week’s column mentions suicide. If you or someone you know needs support now, call or text 988, or chat via 988lifeline.org to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.