Oil-rich Venezuela once ranked as one of the wealthiest economies in the world, but it experienced an economic collapse that has resulted in widespread poverty.

While the country has recently made headlines because of the U.S. president’s recent invasion and kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, its LGBTQ+ community has long suffered — mostly out of the media spotlight — from a lack of legal protections.

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Same-sex relationships and marriage laws

While consensual same-sex relations between adults are legal in Venezuela, same-sex couples have been persecuted in the country based on vague “decency” and “lewd conduct” ordinances. Venezuela doesn’t offer legalized same-sex marriage. Article 77 of Venezuela’s 1999 Constitution defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, thereby excluding same-sex marriage.

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In 2003, Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice ruled that the government may introduce measures providing economic benefits to same-sex couples. The court, however, stopped short of saying that the government was required to do so under the law. In 2008, the court said that the country’s constitution neither prohibits nor requires government recognition of same-sex marriages.

In January 2015, same-sex marriage advocates filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Tribunal of Justice challenging Article 44 of the country’s Civil Code, which states that marriage is only legally valid between a man and a woman. But even though the court announced on April 28, 2016, that it would hear oral arguments in the case, it has taken no further action on the case since, not even issuing an official ruling.

Venezuela does recognize “stable unions” (similar to common law marriages in the U.S.) between different-sex couples who cohabitate and intend to have children, but legal recognition of these unions hasn’t been extended to same-sex couples.

Anti-discrimination protections and legal gaps

While Venezuela offers legal protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, banking, and housing, the country only prohibits discrimination based on gender identity for housing and banking.

Because the country neither collects nor releases official statistics on its LGBTQ+ citizens, queer Venezuelans remain invisible and unheeded in official government reports on how various policies affect them. Numerous LGBTQ+ Venezuelans have said that they experience harassment at work and at the hands of police, who accuse queer individuals of soliciting sex work or carrying/selling drugs.

A 2015 report from the LGBTI Network of Venezuela said that, because the country’s anti-discrimination laws lack any enforcement mechanisms, such discrimination rarely gets punished. As a result, queer Venezuelans “constantly live situations of discrimination, threats, and attacks against their moral, psychological, or physical integrity, and still lack legal protection, which makes them defenseless citizens in an atmosphere of alarming growth of homophobia and transphobia.”

In May 2016, Venezuela’s National Assembly unanimously approved a resolution establishing May 17 as the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, to raise awareness about anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, oppression, and harassment. However, in 2016, the country’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice suspended the resolution.

Nevertheless, in March 2023, Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice overturned Section 565 of the Military Justice Code, which banned “sexual acts against nature” and criminalized consensual same-sex relations between military members.

Transgender rights and legal recognition

Venezuela doesn’t legally recognize the gender identity of trans individuals.

In September 2016, Venezuela’s Administrative Service of Identification and Migration Affairs (SAIME) announced that it would take action to assist a group of transgender people in obtaining new identity cards with gender markers and a photograph that matches their gender identity.

SAIME said that individual applications for such changes would be assessed on a case-by-case basis, and would require copies of birth certificates and reports from psychiatric and psychological specialists that affirm the longevity and truthfulness of the person’s trans identity. However, it’s unclear if SAIME ever actually issued these changed identity documents.

A 2021 news report from Reuters noted that Tamara Adrian, Venezuela’s first out trans deputy, has fought in court since May 2004 for new government-issued identification cards and passports for trans people, but the court has never issued a ruling on the matter.

Family rights, adoption, and parental recognition

In December 2016, Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice ruled that children born to same-sex couples could be registered with the surnames of both parents, regardless of biological relation. The tribunal based its ruling on Article 75 of the Venezuelan Constitution, which mandates state protection for all families without discrimination.

However, the country’s food distribution program doesn’t include same-gender families, and joint adoption for same-sex couples is not legally permitted. Nevertheless, female same-sex couples are allowed to access services for in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Health care realities, including HIV and gender-affirming care access

Venezuelans have severely limited access to healthcare due to a collapsed public system, widespread shortages of medicines, supplies, and personnel, and decaying infrastructure, leaving millions lacking basic services for chronic and preventable diseases, and forcing many to rely on often inadequate private care or humanitarian aid.

HIV healthcare in Venezuela

HIV healthcare in Venezuela is severely compromised by economic and political crises, leading to major shortages of antiretroviral drugs (ART), treatment interruptions, and a weakened health system. For example, the Venezuelan Pharmaceutical Federation has reported a shortage of 80% of medical supplies, leaving both public and private clinics vulnerable to acute shortages of medical supplies and medicines, even for routine treatments.

As a result, some HIV-positive Venezuelans and natives seeking gender-affirming care must seek such healthcare abroad, with the help of international aid and non-government organizations.

As of 2022, the country has an HIV prevalence rate of an estimated 35.8% among transgender Venezuelans and 23.3% among Venezuelan men who have sex with men, compared with a prevalence rate of around 0.5% for the country’s total population, according to The Borgen Project.

Researchers in a 2025 study said there’s a significant and concerning deterioration in HIV-related research output from within Venezuela over the last decade.

While public reports haven’t shown that Venezuela restricts entry to or exit from its borders based on a person’s HIV status, Article 8 of the country’s Law on Migration and Aliens, on inadmissibility, states that foreigners can be denied entry if “they suffer from infectious or contagious diseases or others that compromise public health.”

Gender-affirming healthcare in Venezuela

Gender-affirming healthcare in Venezuela is extremely limited, with hormone therapy and other essential services largely unavailable in the public system, forcing many to seek care privately or abroad. Virtually no public hospitals or clinics provide free or accessible hormone therapy or comprehensive care, according to a 2019 report in El Universal.

Social climate, violence, and stigma

Venezuelan attitudes towards LGBTQ+ are in transition, with younger Venezuelans generally supporting the rights of LGBTQ+ people. However, this trend coexists alongside an atmosphere of anti-LGBTQ+ government repression, harassment, and violence against queer people.

A 2023 poll by the Equilibrium Center for Economic Development (Equilibrium CenDE) found that 76% of Venezuelans support LGBTQ+ people being open about their sexual orientation and gender identity, 55% of Venezuelans supported same-sex marriage (while 32% oppose it), 48% supported adoption by LGBTQ+ couples (while 39% oppose it), and only 49% felt that queer people should publicly display their affection towards one another.

The same poll found that 33% of Venezuelans think that LGBTQ+ people choose to be queer, and 13% believe LGBTQ+ identities result from past trauma — neither perception is true. Such views may be fostered by the fact that educational institutions don’t allow discussions on LGBTQ+ issues or discourse on sexuality in the country

LGBTQ+ activists in the country have faced systematic government attacks that have resulted in illegal searches, arbitrary arrests, and violence, according to a 2024 Washington Blade report. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights denounced Venezuela’s treatment of queer civil rights activist as a case of “state terrorism.”

Approximately 48% of LGBTQ+ Venezuelans have experienced discrimination or violence and 31% had chronic health conditions due to limited healthcare access or discrimination and revictimization by healthcare professionals, a 2023 analysis by the national LGBTQ+ organization Unión Afirmativa.

“In this context of oppression and violence, Venezuela’s LGBTIQ+ community continues to face monumental challenges in its struggle for equality and justice, while the government appears increasingly authoritarian and repressive,” one activist told The Washington Blade.

LGBTQ+ activism and community resilience

Despite conservative political pressure, LGBTQ+ activists in the country’s capital of Caracas continue to hold an annual LGBTQ+ Pride event, with over 50,000 attendees in recent years. The participants have demanded legal recognition of transgender people, legalized same-sex marriage, parental rights for same-sex couples, and LGBTQ+ inclusion in the government’s social programs and policies, especially regarding healthcare.

Unión Afirmativa remains the nation’s largest pro-LGBTQ+ organization, appealing to legislators and judicial officials for increased queer civil rights. International groups like The Cyrus R. Vance Center have also advocated for increased LGBTQ+ rights in Venezuela.

However, many LGBTQ+ Venezuelans, particularly trans individuals, emigrate to nearby Chile and Peru for refuge, community, and safety.

How Venezuela compares regionally

Venezuela lags behind many South American nations in LGBTQ+ rights, lacking national anti-discrimination laws, same-sex marriage, and legal gender recognition, and offering weak protections against systemic anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, and poor access to healthcare, especially compared to regional leaders like Colombia or Brazil, which have stronger legal frameworks and policies to protect queer civil rights.

The country currently ranks ninth among South American countries in LGBTQ+ rights, according to Equaldex. Activists have blamed the conservative influence of the military and evangelical churches for the government’s inaction on implementing more queer civil rights.

The next steps for equality in Venezuela

Improving LGBTQ+ rights in Venezuela would require a combination of legislative reform, the active enforcement of existing protections, and a shift in societal attitudes to counter ingrained discrimination.

Such reforms could occur under new and committed leadership, but would require the political will and government support to provide greater legal equality to LGBTQ+ people while fostering greater social awareness and acceptance of queer people and their lived experiences.

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A gay former employee of the Pittsburgh Steelers is suing the NFL team for alleged sexist and anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination.

As The Advocate reports, Chelsea Zahn filed a lawsuit against the Steelers last week, claiming she experienced “multiple incidents of discrimination and a hostile work environment” based on both her sex and sexual orientation while she was employed by the team from 2013 to 2024.

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According to the January 13 complaint, the Steelers violated Zahn’s constitutional right “to be free from illegal, invidious and damaging discrimination in her employment” under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1991, and the Equal Pay Act.

“Pittsburgh is Steelers town. We are very proud of our team,” Zahn’s attorney Joel Sansone, told The Advocate. “We can’t have them treating our citizens like this simply because they’re different.”

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Zahn alleges that the Steelers paid female employees less than their male counter parts for the same or similar work during her time with the team. She claims that prior to her promotion to corporate sales manager in 2022, she was denied promotions twice and told that she was “too young” and lacked experience, while less qualified and less experienced male employees were promoted instead. When she was promoted, Zahn alleges she was offered a lower salary than her male colleagues.  

According to the complaint, Zahn’s co-workers became aware that she is gay after she was promoted in 2022, and she alleges that she was consequently treated less favorably than her straight male colleagues. She claims her superiors made her cover for straight male co-worker at work events and was told to do so because she did not have children. She alleges that this treatment “was motivated by the fact that Plaintiff does not conform to the gender stereotypes of a heterosexual woman.”

Zahn resigned from her role with the Steelers in September 2024. Sansone told The Advocate that the hostility Zahn experienced because of her sexuality spurred her decision to resign.

“Management ignored her request for some sort of remedial action,” Sansone said. “The conditions were so intolerable that anybody would feel compelled to leave.”

Despite securing the most new sponsorship business of any corporate sales manager during the 2024 sales season, according to the complaint, Zahn was informed in February 2025 that Steelers president and owner Arthur J. Rooney II had decided not to pay her the entirety of the more than $100,000 in bonuses and commissions she had earned. Zahn alleges this was in retaliation for her prior complaints about her treatment during her employment.

To date, Zahn has received a check for less than half of what she is owed, which she has not cashed, according to the lawsuit.

“What I’m hoping for is that the Steelers recognize that they made a mistake here and step up to the plate,” Sansone told The Advocate. “Or step up to the line of scrimmage, I guess you’d say, and do what’s right.”

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Emmy-winner and former Saturday Night Live head writer Harper Steele will produce a documentary about the suicide crisis among trans masculine young people.

As The Hollywood Reporter first reported, Steele, who starred in the 2024 doc Will & Harper alongside friend and longtime collaborator Will Ferrell, serves as an executive producer on What Will I Become? from first-time directors Lexie Bean and Logan Rozos.

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Set to have its world premiere at the Berlinale film festival next month, the film reportedly explores the vulnerability of the transmasculine community by weaving together Bean and Rozos’ own experiences as well as delving into the high-profile suicides of Blake Brockington and Kyler Prescott.

“Homecoming king Blake Brockington and the soft-spoken Kyler Prescott were poets, musicians, and community advocates,” a plot synopsis of the film reads, according to THR. “This film traces their joys and challenges, their tragic deaths and resulting media attention, and the larger aftermath within their communities.”

Transgender youth activist Brockington died by suicide in 2015 after receiving national media attention as the first openly transgender boy to be named homecoming king in North Carolina. Prior to his death, Brockington had reportedly signaled that he’d experienced depression and suicidal ideation.

Fourteen-year-old Prescott also died by suicide in 2015, just weeks after he was treated for suicidal thoughts and self-inflicted wounds at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego’s youth psychiatry unit. His mother later sued the hospital, alleging staff had repeatedly misgendered her son, further traumatizing him.

According to the film’s synopsis, What Will I Become? will examine “why the transmasculine community is particularly vulnerable to living briefly and dying quietly” and explore “resources that affirm trans boys and the LGBTQIA2S+ community to provide an understanding of suicide-prevention practices.”

“We made this film for people who internalized feeling like a burden, people who had not seen a model for who they wanted to become, and believed the world was better off without them,” Bean and Rozos said, according to THR.

Producer Drew Dickler noted that the film’s crew is made up almost entirely of people who are part of the LGBTQ+ community and/or have been directly impacted by suicide.

“This film does not sensationalize loss or flatten trans lives into tragedy,” Dickler said. “It insists on community and accountability at a moment when trans youth are being erased and abandoned by systems meant to protect them. We are proud to provide a community resource for this moment and also hope to engage people who might not think this film is for them.”

“As someone who’s been steeped in trans culture for more than a decade, this film was an education,” Steele told THR. “As trans people come under increasing attack from all directions it is essential to show the harm transphobia enacts on the community but equally important to show is the joy they can never take away. What Will I Become? achieves both.”

Editor’s note: This article mentions suicide. If you need to talk to someone now, call the Trans Lifeline at 1-877-565-8860. It’s staffed by trans people, for trans people. The Trevor Project provides a safe, judgement-free place to talk for LGBTQ youth at 1-866-488-7386. You can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

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The lawyer representing Renee Good’s family is accusing the Department of Justice of possibly impairing the investigation into her death.

Good, a queer mother of three, was fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross earlier this month. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused Good of trying to run over Ross, which multiple videos showed was not true, which increased calls that she be impeached.

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Instead, the administration has doubled down on its position that Good herself is to blame for her death and started investigating her widow, Becca Good. The Department of Justice’s Office of Civil Rights said that it was not investigating Ross for a possible use of excessive force.

The Good family hired attorney Antonio Ramanucci, who represented George Floyd’s family, and he told the Legal AF podcast that the government is making it harder to know if Good’s vehicle is being preserved as evidence.

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“Very likely, there are either some bullet fragments or bullets themselves that are inside the vehicle,” he said on the podcast. “There may be shell casings that wound up inside the vehicle. There may be other pieces of evidence inside that vehicle.”

Ramanucci explained that, in a case like this, a lot has to be done immediately to prevent evidence from becoming useless over time. He said he sent a “letter of preservation” to the DOJ asking that they preserve the vehicle because it could be used as evidence in a possible civil case.

“We asked them to preserve that vehicle, to make sure that it’s stored in a safe manner so that none of the evidence gets altered, modified, destroyed, or spoiled,” he said. “If there’s any testing, it’s got to be done with us present.”

Podcast host Adam Klasfeld brought up the possibility that ICE agents kept paramedics at bay even though Renee Good may still have had a pulse by the time they got to her.

“One of the things we learned from the 911 calls was that there was a physician who was on site who said, ‘I could help,'” Ramanucci replied. “And he was denied any opportunity to help Renee while she was on-scene.”

“It could have, at least potentially, saved her life,” Klasfeld said.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson snapped at a reporter who asked about Donald Trump’s health, claiming the president works harder than anyone at the Capitol.

“The president mistakenly called Greenland Iceland, his speech is slurred, he’s got bruises on his hands. Are you at all worried about the president’s health or his decline at all?” the reporter asked Johnson.

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Johnson didn’t hesitate. “Is this a serious question?” he barked. “This president sleeps about three hours a night. He outworks everybody in this building by a factor of two or three.”

Mike Johnson snapped when I asked him about Trump slurring his speech and him confusing Greenland and Iceland. “I cannot even believe you are asking me that question.” pic.twitter.com/rc1AeimCcW

— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) January 22, 2026

Some on social media suggested that even if the president is awake at all hours of the night, he is probably rage-posting on Truth Social rather than working.

They also mocked Johnson for thinking the lack of sleep is a brag when really it’s a concern.

Others pointed out that Johnson evaded actually answering the question, which may be an answer unto itself.

This president rage posts all night and falls asleep during scheduled events/meetings by day.

— jennifer plus 8 (@jenniferplus8) January 22, 2026

Really great question, thank you for asking it. His non answer says a lot

— The okayest poster there is (@ok_post_guy) January 22, 2026

"This geriatric man sleeps three hours a night" is not the "own" you think it is, Mike

— The Original Grinch (@baked_grinch) January 22, 2026

Sleeping about 3 hours per night is a bug, not a feature.

— Brian Guteking SZN (@packrfan4) January 22, 2026

…that's Johnson's defense? Or is that outburst confirming that we should know that something is definitely wrong by the fact that his sleeping patterns are off as well?

— Diana Rivera (@dianarivera481) January 22, 2026

Sleeping three hours a night is bad, not good. Not sure why every Trump lackey thinks that Trump being sleep deprived is a good thing.

— Camille MacKenzie (@CamRMacKenzie) January 22, 2026

If a 79 year old is sleeping 3 hours a night, that is a very, very serious concern.

— Carolina Adesso (@odessaphi52) January 22, 2026

So I heard a journalist ask a relevant and serious question, but what he got was an unserious lie as an answer.

— Done with this trash site (@TandaRacing) January 22, 2026

Also why is he only sleeping 3 hours a night? Perhaps he could sleep instead of golfing. Or tweeting.

— Carolina Adesso (@odessaphi52) January 22, 2026

Just sayin…an 80-year-old sleeping three hours a night is not a sign of great health and is particularly worrisome when other signs of dementia are present.

— Michaleen (@michaleen) January 22, 2026

What a load of bullshit! Since when is posting unhinged grievances and rubbish on X 100 + times during the night considered "working hard". https://t.co/DOHX3lqoSk

— Aure (@AureolinDay) January 22, 2026

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Homophobia, catphobia, and dog park etiquette collided over the weekend when a gay man walking his cat in a local London park got into it with a dog owner offended by the pair’s repeated appearance there.

“It’s 2026. People are gonna walk their cats,” Bengal owner Jerome said in an Instagram reel chronicling the ugly encounter. His cat-centric account boasts 140,000 followers.

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Jerome and his partner Jacques are well known around the neighborhood and the internet for walking their two cats, a Bengal named Rajah and a Russian Blue named Lupin, and offering up “free pet therapy” for those who could use it. The dogwalker in this unfortunate story appears to be someone who might benefit from some counseling.

“Being threatened, sworn at and called slurs because I walked my cat into a public space?” Jerome asked in his post accompanying the video.

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“You f*gg*t. You know this a f*cking dog park,” the dogwalker says in the video, bearing out Jerome’s claims.

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A post shared by Lupin in London | Adventure Cat Family (@lupininlondon)

According to Jerome, “This person is always hostile towards us whenever he sees us here. I chose to stand up for myself after he had already said a few words to me off camera, asking me to leave, all because he thinks his dogs shouldn’t have to be in the same space as our cats.”

“Rajah was completely under my control, on his lead; his dogs were both off lead. I was nowhere near him – his dogs didn’t even seem to react to us. I just simply entered the park and attempted to avoid him like I always do,” Jerome continued.

That didn’t help mitigate the encounter, apparently. But rather than ignore the dog owner’s taunts, Jerome pulled out his phone and filmed the encounter, defending himself and his cat.

“It’s not a dog park. It’s a park for all animals. And I can do what I want with my cat,” Jerome shouts across the grass to the man.

“You can f**k off,” the dog owner replies. “C**t.”

The man’s dachshund mix and pit bull terrier seemed oblivious to the human altercation.

After Jerome wouldn’t back down, the dogwalker added, “I’ll do more than talk if I see you with that f*cking cat.”

The verbal brawl in the park, adjacent to a neighborhood church, then drew in fellow pet owners who had gone out for their own Sunday strolls.

“Keep it down, you stupid motherf**kers,” said one woman fed up with the loud bickering.

“What makes you so entitled, my friend?” Jerome finally shouted to the man as he heads for an exit, clearly unhappy that his intolerance was being recorded.

“Yeah, s**t on me,” the man replied.

In a breakdown of the incident, Jerome lamented the dogwalker’s refusal to change his views on cats in the churchyard.

“I’m respectful. Most people are respectful,” Jerome said of his cats’ interactions with their traditional canine enemies and dog owners.

“I’m gonna walk my cat,” Jerome added. “I give grace and patience to people, but if I’m being bullied over and over again in a public space that I have access to, that I’ve been using, you’ve lost my respect at this point, and I’m not going to tolerate it.

“So to the man who called me a f**got, and had all the profanities in the world to say to me because I for once stood up to them, you’ll be hearing from the police. Trust and believe. No cat owner should ever have to put up with that,” he promised.

“Let’s end dog owner entitlement in 2016,” Jerome closed. “It’s not cute.”

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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has a new excuse for why Donald Trump’s hands are bruised again.

People have been noticing for the past year that Trump’s hands are often bruised when he appears in public, wondering whether this is a symptom of a larger medical issue. Leavitt has offered multiple explanations in the past for his bruises, including that he “shakes [Americans’] hands on a daily basis more than any other president in history” and that he has “chronic venous insufficiency,” which Leavitt described as a benign condition.

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And Trump’s doctor, Dr. Sean Barbabella, said last month that the bruising is a result of the large dose of aspirin that Trump takes daily, which, according to at least one medical professor, is usually prescribed in the aftermath of a stroke.

The bruises were even more pronounced this week during Trump’s visit to Davos, Switzerland, and were visible on his left hand, even though it’s usually his right hand that has had them. People on social media are sharing images of those bruises.

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Trump's *left* hand — not the one that is usually disfigured — now has a large bruise and is discolored These pictures are from today in Davos and are via Chip Somodevilla (Getty) and Fabrice Coffrini (AFP)

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-01-22T14:33:16.559Z

“He’s literally rotting,” New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie wrote.

Leavitt has a new explanation for the bruising: Trump had an accident.

“At the Board of Peace event today in Davos, President Trump hit his hand on the corner of the signing table, causing it to bruise,” she said in a statement.

Another White House official said that all the aspirin Trump is taking makes him susceptible to bruising.

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The board of Tucson Pride in Arizona recently announced that it has not only cancelled the group’s upcoming Pride Festival but also is dissolving the entire organization amid financial challenges.

“This decision was not made lightly,” the board wrote in a statement on the Tucson Pride website. “We recognize the deep importance Tucson Pride has held in our community since 1977, serving as a space of visibility, advocacy, celebration, and resilience for nearly five decades. We are profoundly grateful to every volunteer, sponsor, artist, activist, and community member who has supported Tucson Pride throughout its history.”

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The note was brief and concluded by thanking the LGBTQ+ community and allies for “unwavering support, passion, and commitment over the years.” It did not explain why the board chose to shutter, but activists in the community told The Arizona Daily Star that Tucson Pride has struggled financially since former president Jimmy West was caught embezzling from the organization in 2017.

Events continued due to fundraising by impassioned supporters, but, according to Rick Morey-Wolfe, who has been involved with Tucson Pride since 2017, the current board has squandered money on things the community doesn’t want.

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“The community has been very steadfast about not hiring high-end, expensive headliners and featuring local talent,” Morey-Wolfe said. “And for some reason, this specific group of people has continued to ignore that year after year, which has created debt year after year, and that’s pretty much the bottom line.”

Morey-Wolfe told the Daily Star he has cried multiple times since hearing about the organization’s closure. Local LGBTQ+ activist Scott Blades added he was “really surprised.”

The announcement of the closure on Facebook has garnered almost 700 comments. “Totally heartbreaking for the community!” someone said. “This visibility is so important.”

Many also communicated their anger at the board for giving up rather than figuring out how to reorganize or explaining to the community what the problems are so they can try to solve them. “I’m deeply disappointed and disgusted by this lack of candor and accountability!” one person wrote.

“The newly appointed Board owes the community an overview of their rationale for this decision,” another added, “especially given the history and longevity of the organization in our community (not to mention our national and global Pride history) as well as what will take its place going forward and when.”

Some folks, however, expressed excitement about the opportunity to build something stronger in its place.

“Let’s start a new organization,” one commenter declared. “Sometimes we have to allow things to go in order to make something bigger and better.”

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Transgender Utahans and their supporters marched through the state Capitol building on Wednesday to protest what one lawmaker called “possibly the most egregious anti-trans bill” yet introduced by Republicans during their years-long campaign attacking the LGBTQ+ community.

“I’m anticipating a big fight” over the bill, state Rep. Sahara Hayes (D) told the Utah News Dispatch at the protest. Hayes is Utah’s only out queer legislator, and she’s married to a trans woman.

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She called H.B. 183 the worst of a slew of new anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced this session.

The sweeping bill replaces the term gender with sex in the state; repeals previous provisions related to gender identity (including protections for housing, employment, and crime); prohibits amendments to the sex designation field of a birth certificate; requires use of the term “biological sex” when referring to gender on state documents; prohibits trans employees from interacting with children in state health care settings; and requires courts to favor parents who disavow a child’s gender identity if it differs from their sex assigned at birth in state custody disputes.

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Salt Lake City state Rep. Jen Dailey-Provost (D) said the “misguided” bill “could not be more mean-spirited.”

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A post shared by Romy Colvin (@colvining_photography)

The demonstration drew more than 60 people who marched through the state capital on the legislature’s second day back in session. The demonstration followed protests the day before against fascist Republican and Trump administration policy, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the war in Gaza.

“We’re here because trans people are continuously being attacked in Utah and across the country. Frankly, we’ve had enough,” said Veronika DaVil, a drag artist who organized the Wednesday event.

Trans people are a “marginalized community that keeps being attacked over and over again to distract from larger issues,” she said, adding that “people need to stand up for the trans community because they can’t do it by themselves.”

“This is such a small community,” DaVil said. “Attacking trans people won’t make rent cheaper. Attacking trans people won’t make our groceries more affordable. It is a smoke screen.”

Kree Arias, a trans man and member of the grassroots activist group Utah March, said LGBTQ+ people are “under attack,” and H.B. 183 is just the latest example.

He hoped that alerting the public to the draconian legislation during the legislature’s first week back in session would increase the community’s visibility.

When asked what he’d say to lawmakers if he had a chance to meet with them, Aria replied, “I would like to just sit down with them and be like, ‘Hey, you know, this is who we are,’” he said.

“I don’t want to talk about our transness or our gayness, or any of that. I want to talk about who we are as people. We’re brothers, we’re sisters, we’re uncles,” he continued.

“‘This is what we’re about,'” he’d say, “being ourselves, being beautiful and proud.”  

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The anti-LGBTQ+ group Turning Point USA has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Candace Owens — a conspiracy theorist — “continuing to cause harm” to the organization by pushing conspiracy theories related to the September 10 murder of its co-founder and CEO, Charlie Kirk.

Since Kirk’s death, Owens has used her massive online platform to spread her beliefs that France, Israel, and Egypt might have had a hand in Kirk’s September 10 murder; that Kirk was “betrayed” by people close to him; and that state and federal law enforcement are covering up a bigger crime in their handling of his murder, CNN reported.

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Turning Point USA, which is now headed by Kirk’s widow Erika Kirk, accused Owens of “violating a non-disparagement clause” which forbids her from criticizing the organization. Owens was hired as a guest speaker during the organization’s cross-country tour.

The letter also tells Owens to stop saying or implying that the organization or any of its employees “played any part in Mr. Kirk’s assassination,” or that they “knew about the assassination beforehand, participated in the assassination day of, or covered up the truth after the fact.”

A federal judge has voided a Department of Justice (DOJ) subpoena requiring Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. to hand over private information on young patients receiving gender-affirming care (GAC). The ruling is just the latest roadblock in the DOJ’s quest to end GAC for trans youth; however, the hospital stopped offering GAC last July in response to the current presidential administration’s threats to defund institutions that offer such care.

The case involved eight families that received transition-related healthcare through the hospital’s Gender Development Program between 2020 and 2025. The families said that the DOJ’s subpoena — which demanded their addresses, children’s social security number, medical diagnoses, prescriptions, and all documents affirming parental authorization, among other information — violated their Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure, and their Fifth Amendment right to privacy in their medical records.

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The DOJ argued that the families lacked legal standing to oppose the subpoena because none of them directly received it — the subpoena was sent to hospital workers — and because the families challenged the subpoena after the DOJ’s deadline for patient information had passed.

But, because the subpoena sought “private medical records containing highly sensitive treatment” about children, U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin wrote in her ruling that the families had legal standing, both because the subpoena put an “undue burden” upon the families and because their children were relying on their parental guardians “to protect [their] interests because [they lack legal] capacity to act in self-protection.”

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“This court joins the district courts around the country in finding that the Government’s Subpoena lacks a proper investigatory purpose under law; serves only to bolster the Executive’s policy objective of terminating access to gender affirming healthcare for adolescents; and has no plausible or coherent tether to its stated purpose,” Rubin wrote.

Last June, the DOJ sent subpoenas to 20 medical providers who offer gender-affirming care to trans youth. Under the pretense of investigating healthcare fraud, the DOJ demanded patients’ Social Security numbers, emails, home addresses, and information about the care they received.

The DOJ said that its subpoenas seek to prevent healthcare fraud and “off-label” use of puberty blockers and hormones to treat youth gender dysphoria, beyond the “on-label” uses approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The blockers and hormone treatments in question have been used safely on children for decades to treat precocious puberty and certain cancers, and off-label uses of these drugs for trans individuals have also occurred safely for decades without any additional federal government oversight.

However, Judge Rubin said that DOJ lawyers “failed to place before the court any information, record, or evidence” — such as an affidavit, complaint, or whistleblower statement — “supporting or pertaining to the investigation of the hospital for any health care offense.”

“The Government seeks to investigate how the Hospital treats its patients; specifically, in the context of gender-affirming patient care,” the judge wrote. But the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) that the DOJ cited in its investigatory subpoena “regulates commerce, not patient care,” the judge added. As such, the DOJ shouldn’t need such sensitive private medical information in order to investigate alleged healthcare fraud, the judge ruled.

“The court concludes the Subpoena was not issued for a legitimate governmental purpose, is not limited in scope to any legitimate purpose, and is oppressive in its breadth,” Judge Rubin wrote. “The court finds the Subpoena is a pretext to fulfill the Executive’s well-publicized policy objective to terminate and block gender affirming healthcare.”

“The Subpoena bears no credible connection to an investigation of any statutory violation by the Hospital,” Judge Rubin continued. “Rather, the Subpoena appears to have no purpose other than to intimidate and harass the Hospital and [the families], and those similarly situated. The Government seeks to fulfill its policy agenda through compliance born of fear. Moreover, in the view of the court, the Subpoena is the classic impermissible fishing expedition.”

While the judge applied her ruling only to the eight families that sued, her mention of the DOJ’s “fishing expedition” echoes a federal judge’s ruling last September that reached the same conclusion, as well as a similar ruling issued by another federal judge in November.

“Today’s ruling is a crucial victory for families and for the fundamental right to medical privacy,” said Donovan Bendana, Liman Law Fellow at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law) and counsel for the families. “The court saw through the government’s attempt to use its investigative powers as a weapon against families who are simply trying to access healthcare for their children. These families should never have been forced to go to court to protect their children’s private medical information from government intrusion. This decision makes clear the federal government does not have the authority to intimidate patients and doctors or to insert itself into private medical decisions. We are grateful the court stood up for these families and for the principle that all Americans have a right to make healthcare decisions without fear of government harassment.”

“When families fear their private health information could be exposed or used against them, they may delay or avoid seeking necessary medical care – putting children’s health and wellbeing at risk. The court’s decision protects not only the families who brought the case, but reinforces fundamental principles of medical privacy and limitations on government power that benefit all Americans,” said Jennifer Levi, Senior Director of Transgender and Queer Rights at GLAD Law. 

“Parents of transgender adolescents want what every parent wants: to ensure their children get the medical care they need to be healthy and thrive,” said Eve Hill, Partner at Brown, Goldstein & Levy. “This ruling affirms that the government cannot intrude into the exam room or second-guess the medical decisions families make with their doctors.”

The administration’s “toxic” war on gender-affirming care

Though there is no federal law banning gender-affirming care, the current presidential administration has sought to eradicate the practice through a January executive order (that has since been blocked by several courts). The order instructed the DOJ to extend the time that patients and parents can sue gender-affirming doctors and to use laws against false advertising to prosecute any entity that may be misleading the public about the long-term effects of gender-affirming care.

In April, Bondi issued a memo to DOJ employees, telling them to investigate and prosecute cases of minors accessing gender-affirming care as female genital mutilation (FGM), even though hospitals don’t conduct such female genital surgeries. The memo threatened to jail doctors for 10 years if they provide gender-affirming care to young trans people.

Additionally, the DOJ sought information about the providers’ employees and their correspondence with pharmaceutical manufacturers, marketing departments, and sales representatives, as well as other sensitive information dating back to January 2020.

Fewer than 3,000 teens nationwide receive puberty blockers or hormone replacement therapy, according to a 2025 JAMA analysis of private insurance data. Gender-affirming care is supported by all major medical associations in the U.S., including the American Medical Association, the Endocrine Society, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, as safe and life-saving for young people with gender dysphoria.

One doctor interviewed by The Washington Post called the federal government’s crusade against gender-affirming care a “toxic plan” that will force some patients to detransition, potentially forcing them into adverse psychological and physical effects, including increased anxiety, depression, and the development of unwanted physical changes.

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