NATIONAL
There were more than 1,000 anti-LGBTQ+ incidents across 47 states and D.C. last year, according to the ALERT Desk, GLAAD’s Anti-LGBTQ Extremism Reporting Tracker, Out noted. This marked a 5% increase from the 984 incidents in 2024. These included 128 acts of vandalism, 76 assaults, 22 threats of mass violence and 15 arson attempts. More than half (532) of all incidents in 2025 specifically targeted transgender and gender non-conforming people—a 10% increase from the 485 incidents in 2024.
Federal agents arrested journalist Don Lemon on Jan. 29 in Los Angeles, per media reports. According to The Advocate, The arrest followed public threats by senior Justice Department officials tied to Lemon’s coverage of protests in Minneapolis and St. Paul after federal agents killed two peaceful protesters in January. Lemon’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said, “Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done.” Judge Patricia Donahue later released Lemon on his own recognizance.
Many groups condemned Lemon’s arrest. “We are witnessing the steady erosion of constitutional protections before our eyes,” said Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen in a statement. GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis responded to the arrests of journalists Lemon and Georgia Fort by saying, “Journalists are under siege in America by our own government. The arrests of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort have alarmed citizens nationwide, who do not want American freedoms and the rule of law to be replaced by harassment and state-sponsored disinformation.” And NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists stated, “The federal government cannot arrest journalists simply because it objects to their reporting. Journalists must be allowed to document protests and matters of public concern without fear of detention or prosecution, as guaranteed by the First Amendment.”
The Trump administration is claiming that California’s San José State University (SJSU) violated federal law by allowing a transgender woman to play on the women’s volleyball team, The Advocate noted. “SJSU caused significant harm to female athletes by allowing a male to compete on the women’s volleyball team—creating unfairness in competition, compromising safety and denying women equal opportunities in athletics, including scholarships and playing time, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said in a press release, misgendering the trans woman. The volleyball team was reported to have had a trans player from 2022 to 2024; however, the team has not confirmed that, nor has a trans player come out.
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center canceled a talk by a retired doctor who advocates for a woman’s right to receive a third-trimester abortion, Inside Higher Ed noted, citing the conservative website Texas Scorecard. The Health Sciences Center sent a statement to the Scorecard saying the center “evaluated the request and determined that it is not in the best interest of the university to host this event on campus.” Shelley Sella, whose website describes her as “the first woman to openly practice third-trimester abortion care in the U.S.,” was set to speak.
In New York City, members of the activist group Gays Against Guns (GAG) gathered in the garden at the Stonewall National Monument to discuss plans for its 10th anniversary year in the wake of anti-LGBTQ+ violence, hate speech and legislation. GAG was established in 2016 following the mass shooting at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, during which 49 individuals were killed. Individuals dressed in white represented those taken by gun violence and held up posters of individuals like Joaquin Oliver, a victim of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland; and Renee Nicole Good, who was killed by an ICE officer on Jan. 7.
WORLD
Five queer men in Cameroon are close to ending their scheduled releases from Yaoundé Central Prison on Feb. 6 after serving four months each for same-sex activity, per Erasing 76 Crimes. They were arrested on Oct. 1, 2025 in the Essos neighborhood of the capital of Yaoundé. Authorities reportedly worked with a motorcycle taxi driver who directed the men to where the officers were waiting to arrest them. On Dec. 2, the prisoners received emergency food and clothing from queer-rights activist/journalist Jean Jacques Dissoke and a representative of Positive Vision, a Cameroonian association fighting violence against transgender people.
Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony has been indicted for helping organize a Pride march last year despite a new law that banned public LGBTQ+ events, per The Advocate. However, Hungarian prosecutors said they would seek to impose a fine on Karácsony for promoting the Pride celebration rather than seeking to jail him, Courthouse News reported. Last year, Hungary amended its 2021 Child Protection Act, barring the “depiction or promotion” of LGBTQ+-related material to minors; the move came just months before Budapest’s 30th annual Pride celebration was slated to take place.
So far, at least 44 athletes are expected to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, according to Outsports. That includes eight U.S. residents, including speedskater Conor McDermott-Mostowy and figure skater Amber Glenn, who will make history as the first out LGBTQ+ woman to compete in Olympic figure skating. There are also individuals such as French figure skater Kevin Aymoz, French hockey player Lore Baudrit and Gus Kenworthy (who’s representing Great Britain).
Russia’s Ministry of Justice has added the queer-advocacy federation ILGA World to its list of “undesirable organizations,” Erasing 76 Crimes noted. This development paves the way for people convicted of working with ILGA World inside Russia to be sentenced to up to six years in prison. ILGA World replied, “Together with ILGA-Europe, we acted without delay to take responsibility for the mitigating measures within our control, reaching out to member and partner organizations in and from Russia.”
Drag queens recently took part in the festival of Sinulog—one of the largest Catholic festivals in the Philippines, New Ways Ministry noted. In a Rappler.com article about this year’s event, one drag performer recalled attending Sinulog every year growing up, saying, “I learned devotion before I learned drag. So when people tell me I don’t belong here, I don’t know what to do with that. This festival raised me.” However, several queens also spoke about the weight of performing in a Catholic space because religion had often been used to shame them.
Among those addressing the audience at Italian fashion designer Valentino Garvani’s (aka Valentino’s) funeral at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and the Martyrs in Rome were the two men he was closest to in life, Queerty noted. Those were his former boyfriend turned business partner, Giancarlo Giammetti; and his companion for the past 40 years, Vernon Bruce Hoeksema. An emotional Hoeksema said, in part, “I know how many people loved you, and I’m grateful for that, but what we shared was ours alone, and I will hold that carefully for the rest of my life.”
In Thailand, authorities arrested someone regarding the murder of Tin Zaw Htwe—a 25-year-old LGBTQ+ TikTok star with more than 1 million followers whose body was discovered in a forest near the Myanmar border, per LGBTQ Nation. It turned out that the Myanmar national was beaten to death. A housemate told authorities that before he vanished, the victim received a call for help on social media; the TikTok influencer went to meet them, they said. Police (who say the investigation is ongoing) believed two suspects lured Htwe to the secluded spot where he was killed, according to the Bangkok Post.
Cate Blanchett and Sandra Oh (of the lesbian-centric show Killing Eve) are among the stars who will be part of London’s National Theatre’s 2026 season, Variety noted. Two-time Oscar winner Blanchett will reunite with Tár co-star Nina Hoss and Ella Lily Hyland in Benedict Andrews’ Electra/Persona. (Tár is a 2022 movie that features Blanchett as a renowned lesbian conductor.) Oh will make her National Theatre debut alongside Paul Chahidi and Abigail Cruttenden in Martin Crimp’s contemporary adaptation of Molière’s The Misanthrope.
In Tokyo, Lady Gaga paused and spoke out against ICE during one of her Mayhem Ball concerts, Variety noted. In part, she said, “I’m gonna be heading home and my heart is aching thinking about the people, the children, the families, all over America, who are being mercilessly targeted by ICE. I’m thinking about all of their pain and how their lives are being destroyed right in front of us.” Gaga has joined celebrities such as Mark Ruffalo, Olivia Wilde, Wanda Sykes and more who condemned ICE at the Golden Globes and Sundance Film Festival.
SHOWBIZ
Jan. 29 marked the first-ever EL-JE-BE-TEE-KYOO GRAMMY week party for LGBTQ+ members of the music industry, a press release noted. Co-hosted by Justin Tranter, Ink, Leland, Aaron Rosenberg, Joe Carozza, Dani Oliva and Joshua Edmond, the event invited queer folks from all sides of the industry to celebrate and connect. Guests included Trixie Mattel, Billy Porter, Jake Wesley Rogers, Bonnie McKee, Shea Diamond and more.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman may have recently said that he binge-watched the hit show Heated Rivalry in one night, but series co-star François Arnaud said on The Kelly Clarkson Show that he hopes the show forces the National Hockey League (NHL) to embrace more out queer athletes, according to Them. “It’s crazy to think that there’s no out player in the NHL,” Arnaud, who plays closeted hockey player Scott Hunter on the hit show, said to a surprised Clarkson. “I hope that the league that is now using the show for tweets and Instagram posts and selling tickets, that it actually follows through and supports openly in the league and in the players.” As of 2026, the NHL remains the only major men’s sports league without any out gay players in its more than 100-year history.
Nearly one year after queer musician Chappell Roan criticized the music industry over its lack of support for artists at the Grammys, a new resource has launched to support those who are struggling with their mental health, per Them. Backline Care, a nonprofit dedicated to musicians’ mental health, launched B-LINE (1-855-BLINE99)—a hotline that offers artists counselors trained to assist music industry professionals, per The Hollywood Reporter. B-LINE also offers a text help line (254-639).
And speaking of the Grammys, after Trevor Noah, who hosted the event, made a joke about her meeting with Donald Trump, Nicki Minaj retaliated—by calling Noah gay on social media, per LGBTQ Nation. On X, Minaj posted, “Trevor refuses to come out the closet when everyone in the industry knows his boyfriend. Allegedly.” And in a subsequent flurry of posts, Minaj added “that Democrats are ‘getting the gay vote by default’ and said that gay people ‘should be able to choose every 4 years like everyone else.’”
Heated Rivalry star Connor Storrie was spotted in Paris speaking with award-winning gay director Luca Guadagnino—the director of acclaimed films such as Call Me By Your Name, Queer and Challengers, according to Out. Guadagnino is currently working on the movie Artificial, in which Andrew Garfield will play openly gay OpenAI CEO Sam Altman; his 2025 film After the Hunt—starring Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri and Andrew Garfield—was prominent on the awards circuit.
Out British actor Stephen Fry (Wilde; Gosford Park) is slated to star in the Fox drama The Interrogator, per Variety. An official description stated that the show is “centered on Conrad Henry (Fry), former MI6 agent, and his elite team. When conventional methods have failed, Henry’s quirky charm, superior intellect, and mind-bending behavioral maneuvers make him the only man able to lockpick the minds of the world’s most dangerous criminals.”
Production has wrapped on director/writer Gary Jaffe’s LGBTQ+ romantic comedy Before I Do, according to Variety. The ensemble stars Cole Doman, Michael Hsu Rosen, Nico Greetham, Robin de Jesús and Jared Reinfeldt. The film “follows a lakeside bachelor party weekend that devolves into chaos when the groom and his best man’s past romantic feelings reignite, entangling the wedding party—their college BFFs and the groom’s not-so-straight best friend—in the chaotic pre-wedding drama,” per its official description.
Wasteland—a queer art novel by New York City-based artists Jason Haaf and Scooter LaForge—will be released on Feb. 24 via Doable Guys, per a press release. A description about the artists’ work stated, “combining painting, prose, poetry and collage, together they explore queer intimacy, anger and angst.” Doable Guys is a homoerotic art collective showcasing and promoting different styles of art from around the world. Haaf was a recipient of the 2025 Seattle Erotic Art Fair’s Foundation Award for Literary Art; LaForge sells his custom-made, handcrafted clothing through Patricia Field’s ArtFashion Gallery. LGBTQ+ Olympic gold medalist Sha’Carri Richardson was arrested and charged with speeding in Florida, HuffPost noted. Richardson was arrested for allegedly going 104 mph on a parkway just outside of Orlando. The sprinter won a silver medal in the 100 meters and gold in the 4×100 relay in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics; her medals came after she was disqualified from the 2020 Olympics when she tested positive for chemicals found in marijuana.