BY BRIAN STONE One of the greatest hallmarks of the Democratic Party is our embrace of diversity. As the Democratic field of candidates widen for Michigan Attorney General, it's important that we ensure Democratic leaders [...]
BY JAY KAPLAN On Monday morning, Aug. 28, the ACLU filed a lawsuit in the federal district court of Maryland challenging the constitutionality of the Trump Administration's transgender service member ban. The 39-page lawsuit states [...]
As a child, there were two things I thought were unfathomable and absolutely morally wrong: nuclear war and Nazis. To see both in the news again as real threats to our country sickens and appalls [...]
BY DANA RUDOLPH As a child, there were two things I thought were unfathomable and absolutely morally wrong: nuclear war and Nazis. To see both in the news again as real threats to our country [...]
BY LA Jamison LGBT issues have always been a part of political battles in some form. However, conversion therapy (and "pray the gay away" type therapies called "ex-gay" ministry) really hasn't been in the news [...]
By Oriol R. Gutierrez Jr. Laurel Sprague, PhD, is the executive director of GNP+ (The Global Network of People Living with HIV). The Amsterdam-based organization works to improve the quality of life for all people [...]
BY GWENDOLYN ANN SMITH No matter how I put this, it feels like an understatement: we are living in increasingly frightening and dangerous times. This is especially true for those of us who are transgender. [...]
BY DANA RUDOLPH As an LGBTQ parent, I sometimes feel like I've had to make things up as I go along. But "Pride and Joy: A Guide for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Parents," gives [...]
BY GWENDOLYN ANN SMITH Since prior to the last election, many have warned of the precarious position transgender law was on the federal level. While great strides were made during the Obama years on behalf [...]
BY CURTIS LIPSCOMB It is that time again, and after months of strategic planning and securing partnerships, Detroit comes alive. The summer heat, the creative energy, and the festivities are highlighted accomplishments and challenges of [...]
BY GWENDOLYN ANN SMITH On a recent episode of Chelsea, a Netflix-based interview show, host Chelsea Handler asked guest Janet Mock about another transgender celebrity, Caitlyn Jenner. Days before the show, Jenner had joked about [...]
BY JAY KAPLAN In the midst of LGBT Pride month celebrations, on June 22 a three-judge panel for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the injunction (stay) on Mississippi's law that permits both individuals [...]
BY REV. ROLAND STRINGFELLOW June 26, 2015 - a day history was made. Crowds gather around their television sets waiting for the announcement from the High Court. A collective breath was held. Couples were holding [...]
BY REPS. ROBIN KELLY (D-IL2) & DAVID CICILLINE (D-RI) Every June, Pride comes to our cities and towns. We break out the rainbow flags, march in parades, and celebrate our uniqueness and being together. But [...]
BY GWENDOLYN ANN SMITH It was 25 years ago this year that I began to come out in earnest as a trans woman. My wife and I both came out as bisexual around the same [...]
JAY KAPLAN On May 30, the 7th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals issued a great decision for transgender students. Too bad Jenison Public Schools isn't paying attention to it. Granted the 7th Circuit covers the [...]
By Desiree Guerrero Desiree Guerrero I don't exactly remember when I first heard the word "AIDS." I know it was at some point during my childhood in the mid-1980s, when the epidemic first hit the [...]
BY GWENDOLYN ANN SMITH There was a collective groan on the 8th of November 2016, as we saw Donald Trump take the presidency. With his victory, we knew that transgender rights won through the administration, [...]
BY MICHELLE E. BROWN Bet that got your attention! ROMPERS!! They've been around forever. No, I don't have one. No, I don't care if you wear one. No, I don't care if men wear them! [...]
BY DANA RUDOLPH This wasn't the Pride Month I was looking forward to. I hoped we would be celebrating gains built on marriage equality, not battling to stop religious-exemption laws that could exclude us from [...]
BY TONYA Y. GRIFFITH, LMSW The LGBTQ community is still fairly silent when it comes to having conversations about mental health. As a trauma-focused therapist based in Harper Woods, I work closely with LGBTQ people [...]
BY GWENDOLYN ANN SMITH Recently, Heineken put out a long for advertisement and accompanying website, titled "Worlds Apart." The premise was to set up two people with strong, diametrically-opposed viewpoints, have them work together on [...]
BY MICHELLE E. BROWN It's been over 100 days and I'm still angry. I've been angry since November. It's not sour grapes just because my candidate did not win. This is anger, righteous indignation! I'm [...]
BY STEPHANIE WILLIAMS, PH.D. For some, Mother's Day is not a warm day of celebration. Many dread its arrival because their mother has passed or their relationship with their mother is tumultuous. The coming of [...]
STEPHANIE WILLIAMS, PH.D. You have probably heard this term thrown around a lot lately - Gaslighting. Gaslighting is a psychological term we, as a nation, know all too well - "Alternative Facts" taking the place [...]
By Jeff Berry These are uncertain times we live in. When daily messages of hopelessness and despair fill your newsfeed, there may be a temptation to shut down and tune out, or to return to [...]
BY GWENDOLYN ANN SMITH Caitlyn Jenner has an autobiography coming out, and sat down with Diane Sawyer to do an interview about her life as part of the promotional tour. I must admit that I [...]
BY DANA RUDOLPH This coming weekend, the March for Science in Washington, D.C. and hundreds of other global locations will encourage science that "upholds the common good" and allows evidence-based policymaking in the public interest [...]
BY JAY KAPLAN Two very important and significant court decisions impacting LGBT rights were issued last week. The first, Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, is a 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling [...]
BY GWENDOLYN ANN SMITH As I write this, I am packing and planning my trek to Orlando, Florida for the 2017 LGBT Media Journalists Convening. While I should only need concern myself with how to [...]
BY EMELL DERRA ADOLPHUS Cake is often the centerpiece of our celebrations. And depending on the occasion - birthdays, baptisms, and most of all, weddings - our preferential palates can give away bits and pieces [...]
BY JAN STEVENSON AND SUSAN HOROWITZ This Sunday, hundreds of LGBT people will shop, dance, eat, drink and be merry at the 7th Annual Ultimate LGBT Wedding &Anniversary Expo at MotorCity Casino Hotel. There will [...]
BY ANGIE MARTELL While many of us do not believe that marriage equality will be overturned let no one be confused that on the horizon there will be concerted efforts to strip gay and lesbian [...]
BY GWENDOLYN ANN SMITH In 1976, as a Georgia peanut farmer was elected to the Presidency and America went into a patriotic fervor over its bicentennial, the Ideal Toy Company decided to cash in on [...]
BY CHAR DAVENPORT In response to petitioners blocking the non-discrimination ordinance in the city of Jackson on March 3, transgender advocate and special lecturer at Oakland University, Char Davenport delivers a message to the community. [...]
By Jeff Berry These are uncertain times we live in. When daily messages of hopelessness and despair fill your newsfeed, there may be a temptation to shut down and tune out, or to return to [...]
BY GWENDOLYN ANN SMITH In its first major blow to transgender rights, the Trump administration has -- thanks to the Department of Education under Betsy DeVos and the Department of Justice under Jeff Sessions -- [...]
By Hattie Alexander Our new President promises to "Make America great again." Greatness, I think, is a matter of perspective. Mr. Trump was born into the privileged, wealthy class. From his perspective America used to [...]
By Dana Rudolph February, despite being the shortest month, is often a hard one. Where I live, any day might be a snow day, with my son home from school and the sidewalks needing to [...]
BY MICHAEL KEEGAN One of the primary purposes of the U.S. Constitution is to establish justice. It's right there in the opening words: "We the people, in order to form a more perfect union, establish [...]
By Val Bralt In the spring of 1949, a doctor examined a newborn baby and proclaimed "it's a boy". That simple statement defined the games and toys I ought to play with, the friends I [...]
BY JAY KAPLAN Jay Kaplan It has only been 10 days as I write this, but from the scrubbing of LGBT issues from the White House website to nominated cabinet members with a clear record [...]
BY JAN STEVENSON Our bus mates (l to r), Diane Northaft, Anita Marohnic, bus captain Marsha Sutfun, Kim Kern, BTL Publishers Jan Stevenson and Susan Horowitz, traveling Friday, enroute to what would be an epic [...]
by Gwendolyn Ann Smith We're very clearly under attack. Buoyed by the Trump victory and control of all branches of the government -- and in spite of the disastrous effect House Bill 2 has had [...]
By now, many of you have heard about the Kim Burrell scandal and her canceled appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." (And if you haven't, I wrote about it in this very issue and would [...]
By Gwendolyn Ann Smith By now, the crowds have dispersed from Times Square, leaving behind heaps of confetti, deflated balloons and the odd, broken pair of "2017" sunglasses. College bowl games and tie-in parades are [...]
By Gwendolyn Ann Smith On Dec. 2, a fire broke out in a warehouse building in Oakland, California. Its tenants knew the building as Ghost Ship; it housed an artists' collective. That's not uncommon in [...]
By Gwendolyn Ann Smith Our President-elect is stacking the deck against us. This in spite of his claims that he would be a supporter of LGBTQ rights, and a past history of the same. But [...]
By Keith Orr My husband and I are the owners of the aut BAR, a gay bar and cafe. We work hard to provide good food and drink. We strive to provide good, or even [...]
