Matthew Shepard – Photo: Matthew Shepard Foundation.
A gay man was attacked in queens after refusing to perform oral sex on a stranger, Frank Ocean launched a new queer club night in New York, and a New Jersey city was targeted with anti-gay, Nazi graffiti — here’s some of the LGBTQ stories you need to know:
Matthew Shepard’s Parents Slam AG Barr for Transgender Rights “Hypocrisy”
The parents of gay teen Matthew Shepard, who was brutally killed in an anti-gay attack in Wyoming in 1998, have slammed Attorney General William Barr for refusing to protect trans rights. Judy and Dennis Shepard wrote an open letter criticizing both Barr and the Trump administration for trying to legalize anti-trans discrimination, after Barr invited them to an event recognizing ten years since the passing of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. “We find it interesting and hypocritical that he would invite us to this event,” the Shepards wrote, adding, “Mr. Barr, you cannot have it both ways. If you believe that employers should have the right to terminate transgender employees, just because they are transgender, then you believe they are lesser than and not worthy of protection.”
New Jersey Homes Sprayed with Anti-gay, Nazi Graffiti
Police in Trenton, N.J., are investigating after various buildings in the state capital were tagged with swastikas, satanic references, and anti-gay messages. Per The Trentonian: “A black spray-painted Swastika and a picture of an erect, ejaculating penis appeared along a message seemingly targeting tenants of the homes: ‘Fags live here.'” According to reports, at least one Jewish landlord owns properties in the neighborhood targeted, and police are investigating the graffiti as bias crimes.
Gay Man Beaten, Robbed After Refusing Stranger’s Demands for Oral Sex
A gay man in Queens claims he was beaten and robbed by a man who kept demanding that he perform oral sex. The victim, Carlos, told Gay City News that the man “exposed himself, punched him, stole his belongings, and dragged him on the ground — all because he wouldn’t perform oral sex on him.” “When I looked back, he grabbed his penis and said, ‘You want this?’ I didn’t pay attention to it,” Carlos said. “When I turned around a second time, he said, ‘Do you want to suck my dick?’ I said, ‘No.’” Police later arrested 26-year-old Jelani Stewart on charges of robbery and public lewdness.
Frank Ocean Launches Queer Club Night “PrEP+” in NYC
Queer musician Frank Ocean has launched a new club night in New York City called “PrEP+.” According to Queerty, the party “envisions a 1980s LGBTQ community not decimated by AIDS.” An official statement says “PrEP+” will pay “homage to what could have been of the 1980s’ NYC club scene if the drug…. had been invented in that era.” It also notes “[zero] tolerance for racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, ableism or any form of discrimination.”
VIDEO: Trans Man’s Family Supports Him After Top Surgery in Heartwarming Viral Clip
A video of a transgender Brazilian man’s family supporting him after he underwent top surgery has gone viral for all the right reasons. Richard Alcântara, from Sao Paolo, Brazil, was still bandaged following the surgery when he went shirtless around his family — only to be met by the sight of all of the men wearing their own bandages in a wonderful show of support. Watch the reveal — and Alcântara’s emotional reaction — below:
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, of the District of Columbia, issued a preliminary injunction blocking President Donald Trump's executive order banning transgender people from enlisting in the military, which also includes expelling transgender service members from the Armed Forces.
The federal judge found the Trump administration's ban violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because it discriminates against trans service members on the basis of their transgender status and sex.
Reyes said Trump's executive order was "soaked in animus."
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Britain's highest court, unanimously found that the terms "woman" and "sex" as used in the country's Equality Act -- the national law prohibiting instances of sex-based discrimination -- refer only to individuals who were biologically female at the time of their birth.
The advocacy group that brought the case, For Women Scotland, sought to clarify that the term "sex" refers only to one's assigned sex at birth, based on their biological or chromosomal makeup.
The group felt that the clarification was necessary after the Scottish government eliminated the requirement that a person must be medically diagnosed with gender dysphoria to legally change one's gender identification, thereby making it easier for people to do so based solely on self-identification.
Thanks to the Trump administration, policing gender is becoming the norm -- and it's about much more than trans women.
By Riki Wilchins
March 29, 2025
A Tucson Walmart called the police on a Black "stud"-identified lesbian last month, claiming a man had entered the women's room.
The two male Pima County sheriff's deputies accosted 19-year-old Kalaya Morton just after she had used a tampon and while she was in the stall still trying to pee.
They demanded that she come out immediately, which she was unable to do. Even after she finished her business and exited the stall, lifting her shirt to show the two men that she was a cisgender woman, one of the male deputies still complained that Kalaya "looked like a man."
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