LGBTQ

Amid Backlash Fewer College Students Indicate They Are Nonbinary

15Sep

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

EDUCATION, LGBTQ

Amid Backlash Fewer College Students Indicate They Are Nonbinary

Fewer college students indicate they are nonbinary amid backlash. The national backlash against trans and nonbinary young people may have led fewer nonbinary students to disclose their gender identity in their applications to college for this fall. That is according to my analysis of how students who applied to college through the Common App identified their gender. The Common App is a good barometer because more than 1 million students use it annually to apply to more than 1,000 U.S. schools. For the most recent admissions cycle, 1.88% of students, or 23,620 individuals, chose a nonbinary gender term to describe themselves, down from 2.2%, or 25,959 individuals, in the last cycle. That may not seem like a large drop, but it is a huge change from the past few years, when the number o...

Details Of Harsh Conditions And Abuse For LGBTQ+ Asylum Seekers In ICE Custody

26Aug

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

LGBTQ

Details Of Harsh Conditions And Abuse For LGBTQ+ Asylum Seekers In ICE Custody

LGBTQ+ asylum seekers detail harsh conditions and abuse in ICE custody. In 2022, facing the prospect of murder or torture for being gay, Russian doctor Albert Aronov started a long journey that landed at the U.S. border in San Diego in 2023. Aronov asked for asylum. Hours later, he found himself on the floor of what looked like a basement with nothing but a toilet. A TV was playing. For six or seven days, the light never turned off. “You can't sleep in this place because there is no bed, there is nothing, and we sleep on the floor,” Aronov told The 19th. “It was extremely cold.” The experience stunned him. In Russia, his brother had called him a pedophile because he was gay. A close friend of his, also gay, had been tortured. The United States represented hope to him. Now that he had f...

Harassment, Abuse And Distrust — LGBTQ People And Their Opposition With Police

15Aug

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

LGBTQ, TOP FOUR

Harassment, Abuse And Distrust — LGBTQ People And Their Opposition With Police

LGBTQ people have a troubled relationship with police − new survey shows high rates of harassment, abuse and distrust. The LGBTQ community’s long history with law enforcement is so troubled and violent that organizers at some recent Pride parades decided to ban police from marching in the parade. Throughout the 20th century, the police would routinely raid gay bars, rounding up patrons and taking them to jail. Sometimes, the names and photos of those arrested were published in newspapers – with potentially dire social and economic consequences. Police departments across the country have taken steps in recent years to improve relations with the LGBTQ community, creating LGBTQ liaison officer positions and mandating sensitivity trainings. Yet raids continue to occur sporadically. In J...

The Longest-Running Gay Rodeo In The World

15Aug

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

LGBTQ

The Longest-Running Gay Rodeo In The World

Colorado is home to the longest-running gay rodeo in the world. The Colorado Gay Rodeo Association has held a gay rodeo every year since 1983, making it the longest-running event of its kind in history. Their flagship event, the Rocky Mountain Regional Rodeo in Denver, is part of a circuit of rodeos that, at times, has stretched across the United States and into Canada. Despite the cultural pushback these rodeos have faced, the legacy of the Denver rodeo continues as it celebrates its 41st anniversary on July 12-13, 2024. We researched the origins of this rodeo for our book, “Slapping Leather: Queer Cowfolx at the Gay Rodeo,” which also explores how gay rodeoers were at the forefront of combating discrimination and the AIDS crisis. Roots in Reno Gay rodeo didn’t originate i...

Uncovering The Reasons Behind The Astonishing Rise In LGBTQ+ Romance Literature

28Feb

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

LGBTQ, LIFESTYLE, TOP FOUR

Uncovering The Reasons Behind The Astonishing Rise In LGBTQ+ Romance Literature

What’s behind the astonishing rise in LGBTQ+ romance literature? A major transformation is underway in Romancelandia. Once upon a time, romance novels from major U.S. publishers featured only heterosexual couples. Today, the five biggest publishers regularly release same-sex love stories. From May 2022 to May 2023, sales of LGBTQ+ romance grew by 40%, with the next biggest jump in this period occurring for general adult fiction, which grew just 17%. The data from 2023 extends a boom that began in 2016: In the five years from May 2016 to May 2021, sales of LGBTQ+ romance grew by a jaw-dropping 740%. It’s tempting to see this trend as a sign of the times. After all, same-sex couples now populate TV shows, commercials and even Hallmark Christmas movies. Surely it was only natural for books su...

What Are The Implications Of The Big Tent Philosophy Of Free Speech?

18Feb

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

LGBTQ, LIFESTYLE, TOP FOUR, VIDEO REELS

What Are The Implications Of The Big Tent Philosophy Of Free Speech?

In the ‘big tent’ of free speech, can you be too open-minded? People often extol the virtue of open-mindedness, but can there be too much of a good thing? As a college dean, I regularly observe campus controversies about the Israel-Hamas war, race relations and other hot-button issues. Many of these concern free speech – what students, faculty and invited speakers should and shouldn’t be allowed to say. But free speech disputes aren’t merely about permission to speak. They are about who belongs at the table – and whether there are limits to the viewpoints we should listen to, argue with or allow to change our minds. As a philosopher who works on “culture war” issues, I’m particularly interested in what free-speech disputes teach about the value of open-mindedness. Talking together in the...

19Jan

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

LGBTQ, SOCIETY

The Tale Of A Disorienting Experience

A night they can't remember, at one of the country's most popular LGBTQ+ bars. Editor’s note: This story contains descriptions of sexual assault and druggings. One of the reporters who worked on this investigation had a disorienting experience at The Abbey years ago. One of her last clear memories of that night was of a barback handing something to the bartender. Yvette Lopez recalled looking to her right before taking the first sip of her drink. Another barback was sitting there with a plastic cup with a lid on it. “He cheers me and we had the drink, and I don’t remember anything after that,” Lopez testified in a deposition. The next thing she remembered was being doubled over in an alley. Lopez heard a man say to her, “Don’t throw up,” according to her police report. She then blacked ou...

This Coming June LGBTQ+ Workers Want More Than Just Pride Flags

13Jan

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

LGBTQ, LIFESTYLE

This Coming June LGBTQ+ Workers Want More Than Just Pride Flags

LGBTQ+ workers want more than just pride flags in June. Every year, more and more companies seem to recognize Pride Month. But a recent analysis shows that LGBTQ+ workers expect more than this once-a-year acknowledgment from their employers. In fact, some employees actually criticize such behavior as mere pinkwashing. So, what do LGBTQ+ workers want? In 2023, the jobs website Indeed conducted a survey of LGBTQ+ full-time workers from across the U.S., and the results provide a clear picture of their needs. As a lesbian transgender woman and a queer studies scholar, I wasn’t surprised by what Indeed found. Even so, non-LGBTQ+ workers – particularly managers – can learn a lot from this survey. It may help them realize what LGBTQ+ workers already know: Employers must do better if they want to ...

LGBTQ+ Students On What They Can Teach Schools — About Supporting LGBTQ Kids And What They’ve Learned

12Oct

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

LGBTQ, TOP FOUR

LGBTQ+ Students On What They Can Teach Schools — About Supporting LGBTQ Kids And What They’ve Learned

LGBTQ+ students on what they’ve learned — and what they can teach schools — about supporting queer kids. The start of the school year can be anxiety-inducing for just about any teenager. Many students are balancing school work with standardized tests, college applications, extracurricular activities and part-time jobs, but LGBTQ+ youth experience all the typical challenges of high school as well as the unique concerns of belonging to the queer community. They may attend schools where their pronouns are ignored, where no clubs for LGBTQ+ students exist and books about queer people have been purged from libraries. Others may experience bullying or complete their K-12 education without ever learning about the contributions LGBTQ+ people have made to society. What hopes do LGBTQ+ youth have ...

As Their Meanings Change Terms Of Address Such As Ladies And Gentlemen, Guys And Dudes Can Be A Minefield

12Oct

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

CULTURE, LGBTQ, LIFESTYLE, TOP FOUR

As Their Meanings Change Terms Of Address Such As Ladies And Gentlemen, Guys And Dudes Can Be A Minefield

Listen up, ladies and gentlemen, guys and dudes: Terms of address can be a minefield, especially as their meanings change. A male colleague could be forgiven for not knowing if using “guys” to refer to female co-workers is acceptable in the modern workplace. But should he address them as “ladies,” he risks a trip to HR, or at the very least being labeled a condescending creep. So what in the name of Messrs Merriam and Webster is going on with what us linguists call “address terms” – that is, the words we use to address individuals – and their gender? All languages have such terms, with the most common being “you,” or the second-person pronoun. But we have a host of alternative address terms commonly in use in the English language: “you guys,” “bro,” “dude,” “y'all” and “mate” – depending...