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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is tracking 452 anti-LGBTQ bills in the U.S., according to data the organization has compiled through April 11. These bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the U.S. since January and represent a new record — already more than twice the number of such bills introduced all of last year.

A transgender woman was found fatally shot at an apartment complex in southwest Atlanta.

The U.S. Department of Education has drawn mixed reactions over its issuance on Thursday of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for a draft regulation governing the eligibility frameworks for transgender athletes who compete on school sports teams.

Tyler DiChiara was working his nine-to-five job, auditioning for acting gigs on the side, when he got word from his agent about a potential new gig. When he saw it was a DC project, it caught his attention.

“Summer: The Donna Summer Musical 

There are many definitions of Modernism, but for the moment we can think of Modernism as an artistic and social movement that reacted to the constraints of the old: backward looking, holding onto tight class and artistic structures and concrete gender roles, spawned and enforced in particular by English and American strict heteropatriarchal culture.

Queer Bait 

Like many of you, I’m struggling to grasp the realities of the Nashville school shooting on March 27. If you were watching cable news on Monday and were in shock when they announced yet another school shooting, you quickly learned that this time was in Nashville at a private Christian school called The Covenant School. We all held our breath waiting to hear what we expected to be horrible news. Then it came, the sickening news that there were three children killed along with three adult staff members.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued new guidelines on March 31 requiring the collection of LGBTQ identifying data to improve data collection on small business lending for LGBTQ-owned businesses.

Republican New York Congressman George Santos has introduced a bill that would ban U.S. foreign aid to countries that criminalize LGBTQ people and women.

On International Transgender Day of Visibility (March 31), hundreds of students from across Florida descended on the Capitol to protest the legislature’s fast-tracking of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ agenda of book banning and classroom censorship and assaults on academic and medical freedom.

2023 James Beard Award-nominated chef Deborah VanTrece‘s restaurants Oreatha’s at The Point and Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours are offering special Brunch menus this Easter Sunday. 

Three lawmakers on Tuesday introduced a bill that would require the U.S. to promote LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad through its public policy.

In a press conference Nashville Police Chief John Drake told reporters that earlier Monday morning a 28-year-old local female armed with two “assault-type rifles and a handgun” was killed by responding officers.

Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is aiming to expand the state’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law, officially known as the Parental Rights in Education Act, such that it would apply to public school classrooms from pre-K through grade 12.

The State Department’s annual human rights report that was released on Monday details the prevalence of so-called conversion therapy and the treatment of intersex people around the world.

If you want to understand diversity, try programming a mini-film festival with five features and a package of shorts that makes everyone in the LGBTQIA+ community feel represented. (Or try living in Florida, where diversity means that anyone who is not straight, white and Christian breaks the law if they demand equality.)

LGBTQ advocacy groups have criticized the passage of SB 140, a bill to ban most gender-affirming medical treatments for transgender kids, by the Georgia Senate.

In the wake of the closure of the Atlanta Lyric Theatre, Atlanta arts organizations like Voices of Note are urging the community to support the arts with a five-pronged plan.

After the passage of SB 140 in the Georgia House, the amended bill moves back to the Senate for a final vote.

In the Georgia Senate, one anti-LGBTQ bill was passed while another stalled.

In her new book, “Drastic Dykes and Accidental Activists: Queer Women in the Urban South,” LaShonda Mims explores the history of queer women in Atlanta and Charlotte following World War II. Uniting Southern women’s history with urban history, the book serves as an imaginatively constructed archive of feminist newsletters, queer bar guides, oral histories, and political rhetoric to explore the complex history of lesbian life in the South.

Even for the non-religious, Easter weekend is a big deal in LGBTQ Atlanta. Queer Atlantans don their Sunday best for drinks, drag, and dancing. Take a first look at what Easter weekend has in store this year!

St. Patty’s Party

I would like to preface what I am about to say with the very firm statement that there is nothing I find valuable about TERF logic, and I very explicitly denounce TERFism as nothing more than dangerous, violently transphobic rhetoric. We all have a very real responsibility to protect the trans community, and I take that very seriously. TERFs are not welcome here, no exceptions.

A recently posted TikTok has gone viral showing a woman inside a Miami Starbucks accusing a lesbian of raping children.“Is lesbianism ok?” the woman asks.

U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and the Congressional Equality Caucus held a press conference Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol to rally opposition to House Republicans’ proposed legislation that would prohibit transgender women and girls from participating in sports.

In honor of Trans Day of Visiblity, an open mic talent show for transgender performers will be held on March 31 at Wild Heaven Beer West End.

Out on Film and Atlanta Pride have announced the lineup of films for a special Out on Film Spring Fest, taking place April 3-6 at the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema. Featuring films that have already made an impact on this year’s film festival circuit, titles will include Lisa Cortes’ Little Richard: I Am Everything, Maryam Touzani’s The Blue Caftan, Georgia Oakley’s Blue Jean, D. Smith’s Kokomo City, and Eva Vitija’s Loving Highsmith.

Florida state Sen. Clay Yarborough on March 3 introduced a measure that would mandate state intervention in cases of transgender minors receiving gender-affirming care.

Blown Cartridge Improv Showcase 

The 95th Academy Awards® — scheduled for March 12 — feature many films with queer themes, such as “Tar,” “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and “The Whale.” Directed by out director Lukas Dhont, “Close” is also nominated for a Best International Feature Oscar®. While it’s not the favorite — “All Quiet on the Western Front” has that distinction — it’s certainly a remarkably moving motion picture worthy of the award.

Hot Wing King 

Now that theater companies are producing again in a fairly normal manner after time off during the COVID-19 pandemic, the local spring season is a robust one. Many quality plays and LGBTQ-themed and -friendly works are on tap in Atlanta theaters.

I am thrilled to interview George Santos, the first openly gay Republican elected to the U.S. Congress. Rep. Santos and I met during a recent visit to Atlanta where he is helping organize the Project to Make Dixie Great Again.

The U.S. Senate confirmed on Tuesday the nomination of Judge Gina Méndez Miró to the federal court of the District of Puerto Rico, making her the first LGBTQ person to serve in the position on the island.