Ally Love, a senior Peloton instructor, was one of 11 teachers when she joined the company four years ago. Now, that count has reached 34 teachers — and Love said her incredible colleagues and the community she’s helped cultivate solidifies her sense of purpose.
“As an early instructor, it’s been incredible to see this sensational community grow to over three million members, and also to have seen Peloton innovate at the rate we have.”
Love has a bird’s eye view of how everyone interacts, from teachers to users. Members, however, hardly get to see the camaraderie between instructors.
“I think members are always curious about what the relationship between instructors is like, and I think it’s fun for them to see how we’re all friends and have so much fun together.”
“We’re friends, and we have a bond because of our unique position to experience, perform, and produce content that has never been produced before in the manner we’re doing it at Peloton, which intersects media, tech, and fitness.”
Another mystery to members is which classes teachers favor the most. But to be fair, Love struggled to provide a clear-cut answer.
“I do love Peloton Barre, especially intermediate classes, because it’s new and a novelty. [Barre] requires no hardware, and I get to move my body differently.”
She’s a big fan of Sunday’s With Love, Feel Good rides, and Tabata and Pop rides, too: “I know it seems like a lot, but we have such a variety of classes at Peloton, so it’s hard to pick just one.”
Love even gave Peloton’s stretching sessions a shoutout when I asked her opinion on the app’s most underrated class.
“I don’t think there’s an underrated class necessarily,” she said, “but one thing we all encourage members to do is to take stretching classes. We have warmups, cooldowns, and stretches that are great no matter what discipline you’re taking.”
Investing in warmups and cooldowns are important parts of preparing your body for workouts, Love said — which is why Peloton makes prioritizing stretching easy.
Gay and Lesbian Tourism Australia (GALTA) has welcomed two new members to its board, following the LGBTQ+ travel association’s annual general meeting (AGM) for 2020.
Ben Woodward, director of sales and marketing for the CaPTA Group in Cairns, will step into the role of vice president of GALTA, and brings significant experience in tourism and LGBTQ+ pride events.
Sean Hodges-Colavitto, founder of business management company SHC Consultancy, will take on the role of GALTA’s company secretary, and has over 15 years’ experience in tourism and leisure.
The incoming board members join incumbent directors Louise Terry (president), Rod Stringer (finance), Dennis Basham (social media), and Ty Sutherland.
Terry, said the new board additions would be a wonderful asset not only to the team, but also for GALTA’s national members and the LGBTQ+ tourism industry in Australia at a much-needed time.
“In a year that has seen devastating bushfires and an ongoing global pandemic severely impacting tourism in Australia, the board of GALTA is keen to play a part in our national tourism recovery, and the skills that both Ben and Sean bring will be central to this effort,” she said.
“Over the past six months, our priorities were to support members through the challenges as best we could and also take steps to ensure GALTA could continue to operate through the uncertainty and emerge in a solid position.”
“Moving forward, the board will be focussed on a review of GALTA’s strategic plans to ensure we are aligned, on behalf of our members, with the new circumstances and opportunities for tourism into 2021 and beyond,” she said.
GALTA’s AGM was held at Water’s Edge Resort in Airlie Beach and was followed by a partnership industry networking event with Tourism Whitsundays and its members.
The GALTA board also spent time meeting with its members in the region, including Ocean Rafting, Sundowner Cruises, Magnums Airlie Beach, at Hotel Group, Wings Sailing Charters and Whitsunday Escape.
Image caption (L-R): Sean Hodges-Colavitto, Rod Stringer, Louise Terry, Ben Woodward, and Dennis Basham
Vermont state Rep.-elect Taylor Small. (Photo courtesy of Taylor Small)
Colorado state Rep. Brianna Titone said she never thought she would be able to mount a successful candidacy for public office. As a transgender woman, she assumed that would immediately disqualify her.
Then, in 2017, Titone watched Danica Roem run for and win a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates.
“Watching [Roem’s campaign] really showed me what was possible and that gave me the nudge,” Titone told the Washington Blade. “I only needed to win by one vote.”
In 2018, she won by 439 votes in her race to represent Colorado’s 27th House District, a traditionally conservative area that includes the Denver suburb of Arvada, in the state’s House of Representatives. With her victory she became the first trans person elected to Colorado’s General Assembly and was reelected on Nov. 3, this time by an 1,800-vote margin.
Colorado state Rep. Brianna Titone (Photo courtesy of the Titone Campaign)
Titone is part of a group of eight openly trans or gender non-conforming state legislators. Among this historic group of lawmakers is Delaware state Sen.-elect Sarah McBride—the first openly trans person to be elected to a state senate. And come January she will the highest-ranking out trans state legislator in the U.S.
“I think the results of my race and so many others across the country are so powerful because it shows the fair mindedness of voters,” McBride told the Blade. “Yes, voters are excited about creating a diverse government but they’re also ultimately looking at candidates based on their ideas and their experiences. Whatever message was sent by my campaign was not sent by me but was sent instead by the voters in my district.”
Other history-makers for this election are Mauree Turner from Oklahoma’s 88th House District, who is the first openly non-binary person elected to a state legislature, and Stephanie Byers from Kansas’ 86th House District, who is the first trans woman of color elected to any state legislature.
Since winning her seat in 2018, Titone said she has worked to ensure that people view her as a good representative for her district and not just a representative for the LGBTQ community.
“I have work to do for the people in my district,” she said. “And when you win by a small margin, like I did and you’re under that microscope, you have to do the work for the people.”
She said she’s focused on issues like health care access, water conservation and affordable housing.
Roem was not just an inspiration to Titone but to many of the other trans candidates who now find themselves working in their state legislatures.
Virginia state Del. Danica Roem speaks to supporters following her re-election on Nov. 5, 2019. The Virginia Democrat has inspired other transgender people to run for seats in their respective state legislatures. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Taylor Small, a 26-year-old LGBTQ activist, said it was Roem and Vermont state Rep. Diana Gonzalez who inspired her to run.
Small this year became the first openly trans person elected to Vermont’s House of Representatives after Gonzalez, the incumbent, decided to retire and asked her to run. Gonzalez was the state’s first openly queer person of color to serve in the Vermont House.
“There was so much history being made in such a short period of time through Rep. Gonzalez,” she said. “To see the progressive work she has been able to accomplish over the past six years and then to know that she sees the same potential in me was just the push I needed to step into that role.”
Small said she never imagined being able to work in state politics at such a young age as a trans woman. When Gonzalez approached her about running, she only had days to get her campaign together and file her paperwork to get on the ballot. This, combined with the coronavirus pandemic, led to an unconventional campaign, she said.
“It felt like we were building the plane while we were flying it,” Small said. “So what that meant is that it was a relatively equal playing field for both incumbents and challengers coming into this race, because nobody has campaigned during a pandemic and nobody knows what will work.”
The policy she is most looking forward to reforming, she said, is healthcare. Small said she will push the state to move towards a Medicare For All system.
“We have health insurance connected to employment, which should not be the case,” she said. “Healthcare is a human right, it is not a privilege, though, in its current setup in the United States, it is a privilege for folks who are able to afford it.”
Small also performs as a drag queen in her spare time as Nikki Champagne. She and Emoji Nightmare, her “partner in all things drag,” travel to libraries around the state and hold story hours where they read books and do crafts with children. Small said doing drag allowed her to get in touch with her femininity and embrace her authentic identity as a trans woman.
“Now knowing that this is a space where [LGBTQ kids and families] can come and read and get books and find community and also knowing that we were able to promote inclusivity and diversity through these story hours, it was just the best thing,” she said.
Two trans women in N.H. House reelected
New Hampshire currently has two trans state legislators: Lisa Bunker and Gerri Cannon. Both were initially elected in 2018 and they won reelection on Nov. 3.
Bunker said President Trump’s 2016 election initially motivated her to run, but she ran in 2018 after Roem’s victory the year earlier. After she decided to announce her candidacy to represent Rockingham County District 18, which includes the city of Exeter, Bunker said the race was “relatively easy.”
Because the New Hampshire House of Representatives has 400 members, each person has to represent relatively few constituents, which means it takes much less money and resources to start a campaign. When she came into office in 2019, Bunker said there was no open hostility towards her or Cannon.
“There’s a culture and an expectation of courtesy that’s strongly enforced. People are expected to treat each other with decorum and courtesy at all times,” she said. “But there are certainly folks serving in the state legislature who are demonstrably, evidently, deeply uncomfortable with me as a trans person. One comes to know the fixed stares or the refusal to meet my gaze in the hall and things like that.”
Cannon spent her years before public office as a carpenter and truck driver but she started to work with state politicians to pass protections for trans people after she came out at 45.
Her first effort died in 2009, the same year New Hampshire lawmakers approved a marriage equality bill. Cannon said this was the first time she was asked to run for office but declined because her own business was in peril during the economic crisis.
She left to become a truck driver for five years and she said that when she came back, no one had made any progress with trans protections so she decided to step into politics herself. In 2018 she won her race to represent Strafford County District 18, which includes most of the city of Somersworth.
Cannon said the most important aspect of having trans people in the New Hampshire General Court was to represent the experiences of a community which doesn’t frequently get a voice at the table.
“I think more people are seeing that they don’t have to sit in the shadows,” she said. “They don’t have to just put up with what the legislature is going to do. They can get involved, they can help set the agenda and set the direction. They can spread knowledge and information about trans people because we’re people too and it’s important for others to know that.”
New Hampshire state Rep. Gerri Cannon. She is one of two openly transgender women in the New Hampshire General Court. (Photo courtesy of Gerri Cannon)
When Joshua Query joined the New Hampshire House in 2018, they identified as a gay man but halfway through their first term started questioning their gender identity. They said the strict dress code for state representatives—men are expected to wear pants and suit jackets with ties—helped them realize how uncomfortable they were living in the gender binary.
“This helped me realize that I was being a little bit restricted and I didn’t feel comfortable expressing myself, or being tied to that certain gender performative nature that we’re required to,” Query said in an interview.
They came out to their colleagues in late 2019 as genderqueer and said most of them didn’t “bat an eye.”
“Some people on the other side of the aisle just say it’s identity politics playing and all that kind of stuff,” they said. “But I don’t really pay too much attention to that.”
Query ran for reelection in 2020 to continue representing Hillsborough County District 16 but the election has gone to a recount with Query up by only 36 votes. Query said they’re confident they will prevail over their Republican challenger, Robert Kliskey.
“I think it’s just the same as Election Day jitters but I’m confident in the way our poll workers handle our elections and from my research, Manchester has rarely seen a race be flipped on because of a recount, and in those few instances, they were all under 10 votes,” they said.
Along with Bunker and Cannon, Query said they have led the New Hampshire House’s LGBTQ caucus in pushing for reforms to make state laws more inclusive.
Cannon in 2017 pushed for legislation that would protect individuals from discrimination based on both sexual orientation and gender identity in public accommodations, housing and private or public employment. Cannon was a member of the Somersworth School Board when Republican New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu signed the bill.
According to Bunker, she and other LGBTQ state representatives focused on extending this language to other areas of state law. Another area of focus, Query said, is eliminating the gay and trans panic defense.
“When the Black Lives Matter protests started to break out, I had a lot of people who were Black or indigenous reaching out to me because they were also queer, and they saw the gay panic defense as a way that someone could condone violence towards them just because they’re out protesting for their rights,” Query said.
The wave of new gender non-conforming lawmakers in state government comes at the same time President-elect Biden’s defeated Trump in the election. Biden in his victory speech called for unity and peace in the deeply divided country.
For Small, the term “unity” tends to be challenging.
“It is so much easier to say that we need to come together when you are coming from a place of power, because you know that it is not a risk for you to come together,” she said. “There are people who carry hate towards marginalized communities and you cannot unify with someone who is going to actively harm you. I would love for our communities to embrace one another and see each other holistically. Until we can hold that everyone deserves equitable rights in the United States, we truly cannot unify.”
Titone said she understands the hesitations to reach across the aisle and unify in a bipartisan way but also understands the importance of it.
“The bully picks on you and beats on you for years, and you finally get the upper hand, it’s hard to just take the high road and work with that person to try to make them into something better,” she said.
In her traditionally conservative district, she said she has had to work with people she doesn’t agree with and has had to hold space for those who don’t agree with her.
“I want to hear people’s opposing sides. I can’t make allies when I constantly push away those who disagree with me,” she said. “Joe Biden understands that when there’s such polarization that has happened, you have to try to bring those people back together somehow.”
Adam J. White, Rory Magrath and Luis Emilio Morales studied 60 coming-out stories of male athletes, mostly in the United States. All of the stories ran on Outsports in 2016. They say in the report that they chose to focus on stories published in 2016 because there was a surge in the number of coming-out stories on Outsports told that year.
The study shows, nearly without fail, a familiar pattern in the stories: Male athletes are afraid to come out to their teammates, but when they do they are nearly universally met with acceptance. The handful of accounts of negative reactions came almost exclusively from places outside of sports, including family members and other classmates.
It’s a pattern we’ve identified at Outsports for years; Now the claim has the backing of an academic study.
“The findings presented in this research further critique the claim that sport is a hostile environment for sexual minorities; there is now a significant body of research on Western sport which challenges this line of reasoning,” the report says. “Further, perpetuating the narrative that sport is homophobic without an impartial body of evidence is, in itself, potentially further traumatic to closeted athletes already concerned about coming-out.”
The study also shows that language considered to be homophobic — e.g., the casual use of gay slurs — does not reflect an actual hatred or dislike of gay people, and that that language is reduced or disappears entirely when a gay teammate comes out due to heightened sensitivity and awareness. In fact, after the athlete comes out the language can be used as a form of supportive banter with the newly out athlete, “a way of them simply being included on the team.”
The upshot? Acceptance of gay teammates in American men’s sports is widespread.
“Indeed, every athlete in the sample described an acceptant and inclusive response from their teammates and, therefore, improved psychological wellbeing,” the study says. “We show that, post-coming-out, homosexually themed language among their teammates either declined, or was increasingly positioned as evidence of ‘gay-friendly banter’.”
The three men who conducted the research are building their careers in this space: White is a lecturer in Sport & Coaching Sciences and an interdisciplinary researcher in Sport, Exercise, Health and Education at Oxford Brookes Univ.; Magrath is an associate professor of Equality and Diversity and a faculty member of Sport, Health and Social Sciences at Solent Univ.; and Morales is a Ph.D. student mostly focused on gender, sport, race, and ethnicity at the Univ. of Winchester.
They claim that the stories told on Outsports can be an even stronger indication of the actual state of homophobia in sports than studies done through polls and interviews conducted by researchers. Because the Outsports stories are told by the athletes themselves, the reader gets a more raw, less-veiled look inside the athletes’ lives without bias.
“This allows athletes greater freedom to discuss the points they perceive as most important, and thus better illustrate their own coming-out experiences and expectations.”
Some have claimed that Outsports intentionally publishes only positive stories, or that only those stories find their way to us. That is false. Many of these stories come to us even before the athletes come out to their teammates, and the results are nearly universally positive. The study addresses this.
“It is possible, of course, that this self-selecting sample may be skewed toward more positive experiences, with participants sharing their experiences with Outsports,” the study says. “But note that Outsports also publish negative coming-out stories, too, even if these are fewer in number.”
While four of the 60 athletes included some form of negative reaction to their coming out from some corner of their lives, that accounted for less than 7% of the athletes, and even they claimed an overall positive coming-out experience.
Not surprising to anyone, the research outlines strong, positive effects coming out has on the gay, bi and queer male athletes themselves.
“Athletes in this research outlined a marked turnaround in their psychological state – from depression and anxiety, to the elation that coming-out provided. Indeed, in these sporting contexts, coming-out was universally associated with greater happiness and self-confidence,” the study says.
According to the Yucatan Times, the Mexican state of Puebla has just legalized gay marriage. The state Congress approved an update to the state’s Civil Code, which will now recognize same-sex marriage. Now, 20 out of 32 Mexican states have legalized same-sex marriage. On top of that, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SJCN) already declared in 2015 that state civil codes denying same-sex marriages were unconstitutional. Though to this day, many Mexican states have continued to prevent gay marriage.
For Puebla, this announcement and change is surprising due to the state’s deeply rooted Catholic faith and conservative society. That is what has led to the rise of the right-wing National Action Party (PAN) within the region. Though the leftist morena party is currently in power within the state, and they are the party that passed this change.
According to the Thomas Reuters Foundation, this announcement from Puebla has been an exciting change for LGBTQ advocates. Though, they warn that Mexico has seen increasing anti-LGBTQ discrimination and violence in this year, especially for transgender women. Though with the country currently being led by leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s National Regeneration Movement (Morena), perhaps the country will fight for its LGBTQ citizens. Though, the president and morena tend to be fairly moderate and try not to alienate conservative voters, so progress is happening. But, it won’t happen fast.
We are obsessed with getting likes on social media. We post carefully, making sure that our content and captions will guarantee the most likes. Every major social media platform has a like button, a number that defines your popularity and conditions your rise to potential fame. Now, enter TikTok.
The younger generation soaks up TikTok trends like a sponge; they participate in humorous videos for a variety of reasons, but the primary reason is popularity — funny and unexpected videos have a better chance of becoming popular.
Recently, seemingly straight male TikTok stars are creating videos that could be interpreted as homoerotic, like going in for a kiss, for views and humor. However, feigning homosexuality to attain virality both undermines the difficulties of coming out and abuses queerness as a popularity-seeking tool. Seventeen-year-old British TikTok star Connor Robinson, who has posted multiple sexually suggestive videos, is an example. A video of him and his friend grinding against each other now has over 15.1 million views. Though he and his friend identify as heterosexual, many influencers like him have discovered that implying queerness in their videos appeals to more female viewers and generates traffic. Similarly, users Vu Nguyen and Bencreated a TikTok series that features Nguyen trying various couple activities with Ben. It was a cute “gay couple reveal” until it became clear that neither were gay and that it was fake. This is a fetishization of queerness; falsifying queer relationships should not be used to seek attention.
It doesn’t stop there. Some TikTok stars, like Olivia Ponton and Ivan Martinez, have also produced fake coming-out videos as April Fools’ Day pranks without realizing the ramifications of their actions. Lip-syncing to will.i.am’s “Boys & Girls” while coming out as queer, as some LGBTQ+ users have done, is not a fad straight people can co-opt. Revealing one’s sexual identity to the world takes courage, and these videos trivialize that difficulty. These viral videos not only are a form of queerbaiting, whereby people pretend to be queer for attention, but also are invalidating LGBTQ+ experiences. Identifying as LGBTQ+ is not a gateway to fame or a simple joke. It’s not a train for straight people to hop on and off as they please.
Using queerbaiting as a tactic to expand viewership and as proof of LGBTQ+ representation in the media is attention-grabbing and of no substance. But while the commodification of gay culture should be condemned, it is not as black and white as people may think. The fluidity within the LGBTQ+ spectrum, the modern aversion to labels and the freedom of expression of sexuality complicates the impact of queerbaiting. The “homiesexual” trend highlights the decreasing toxic masculinity that we see on social media; we are less focused on labelling certain stereotypes or expressions of sexuality, but rather embracing the ambiguity of it all.
The 80s and 90s saw a trend of homohysteria, or the fear of being perceived as gay. It significantly impacted behaviors of heterosexual males, who would do anything to avoid the stigma of homosexuality.
Another similar phenomenon is the phrase “no homo.” Defined by Urban Dictionary as a “phrase said after saying something that could be interpreted as homosexual to someone of the same gender as the speaker,” it implies that being gay is socially unacceptable. Yet while researching the use of the phrase, University of Oregon sociologist C. J. Pascoe found in 2019 that the phrase had been tweeted more than 14 million times since 2012. A majority of the tweets did not actually express any negative feelings toward the gay community, but conveyed affection and acceptance. Though this phrase is not always used positively, it nevertheless protects men against a society that has decided that they must fear peer affirmation and supportive emotions.
Rising support for homosexuality is disrupting that norm. Men have long contended with a cultural taboo on showing affection; they have been taught to be stoic and repress their emotions. But now, teenagers are rebelling against this with a TikTok trend: #homiesexual. The embracing of ‘softer’ manliness is a rebellion against “the anti-gay, anti-feminine model attributed to the youth cultures of previous generations,” said Eric Anderson, a professor of sport, masculinities and sexualities at the University of Winchester in England.
The new “homiesexual” trend is “less about gayness” and more of a “paradigm shift of some sort for an evolving form of masculinity that is no longer ashamed to show affection,” according to social media forecaster Steven Dam. High schoolers and millennials today are supporting the fluidity of sexuality and emotional expression.
While redefining heterosexuality, as well as accepting and normalizing fluid sexuality warrant praise, these cannot remain mere side effects of popularity-seeking behavior on social media.
Coming out and identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community can be a long and profound process. It is about learning to accept oneself despite the backlash they may face. Straight men who partake in the homiesexual trend for views and likes never have to deal with that. They can back out of the trend or stop posting sexually suggestive videos whenever they want. The LGBTQ+ community has no such option. They cannot step in and out of the gay shell freely. Their sexuality is not a shallow fad.
While we should actively dismantle notions of toxic masculinity and homohysteria, we must recognize the LGBTQ+ community’s struggles as well. The homiesexual trend is a meaningful social movement, but the intention to change long-standing gender norms needs to expand beyond desperation to be the next Charli D’Amelio. The LGBTQ+ experience is not a springboard.
We are obsessed with getting likes on social media. We post carefully, making sure that our content and captions will guarantee the most likes. Every major social media platform has a like button, a number that defines your popularity and conditions your rise to potential fame. Now, enter TikTok.
The younger generation soaks up TikTok trends like a sponge; they participate in humorous videos for a variety of reasons, but the primary reason is popularity — funny and unexpected videos have a better chance of becoming popular.
Recently, seemingly straight male TikTok stars are creating videos that could be interpreted as homoerotic, like going in for a kiss, for views and humor. However, feigning homosexuality to attain virality both undermines the difficulties of coming out and abuses queerness as a popularity-seeking tool. Seventeen-year-old British TikTok star Connor Robinson, who has posted multiple sexually suggestive videos, is an example. A video of him and his friend grinding against each other now has over 15.1 million views. Though he and his friend identify as heterosexual, many influencers like him have discovered that implying queerness in their videos appeals to more female viewers and generates traffic. Similarly, users Vu Nguyen and Bencreated a TikTok series that features Nguyen trying various couple activities with Ben. It was a cute “gay couple reveal” until it became clear that neither were gay and that it was fake. This is a fetishization of queerness; falsifying queer relationships should not be used to seek attention.
It doesn’t stop there. Some TikTok stars, like Olivia Ponton and Ivan Martinez, have also produced fake coming-out videos as April Fools’ Day pranks without realizing the ramifications of their actions. Lip-syncing to will.i.am’s “Boys & Girls” while coming out as queer, as some LGBTQ+ users have done, is not a fad straight people can co-opt. Revealing one’s sexual identity to the world takes courage, and these videos trivialize that difficulty. These viral videos not only are a form of queerbaiting, whereby people pretend to be queer for attention, but also are invalidating LGBTQ+ experiences. Identifying as LGBTQ+ is not a gateway to fame or a simple joke. It’s not a train for straight people to hop on and off as they please.
Using queerbaiting as a tactic to expand viewership and as proof of LGBTQ+ representation in the media is attention-grabbing and of no substance. But while the commodification of gay culture should be condemned, it is not as black and white as people may think. The fluidity within the LGBTQ+ spectrum, the modern aversion to labels and the freedom of expression of sexuality complicates the impact of queerbaiting. The “homiesexual” trend highlights the decreasing toxic masculinity that we see on social media; we are less focused on labelling certain stereotypes or expressions of sexuality, but rather embracing the ambiguity of it all.
The 80s and 90s saw a trend of homohysteria, or the fear of being perceived as gay. It significantly impacted behaviors of heterosexual males, who would do anything to avoid the stigma of homosexuality.
Another similar phenomenon is the phrase “no homo.” Defined by Urban Dictionary as a “phrase said after saying something that could be interpreted as homosexual to someone of the same gender as the speaker,” it implies that being gay is socially unacceptable. Yet while researching the use of the phrase, University of Oregon sociologist C. J. Pascoe found in 2019 that the phrase had been tweeted more than 14 million times since 2012. A majority of the tweets did not actually express any negative feelings toward the gay community, but conveyed affection and acceptance. Though this phrase is not always used positively, it nevertheless protects men against a society that has decided that they must fear peer affirmation and supportive emotions.
Rising support for homosexuality is disrupting that norm. Men have long contended with a cultural taboo on showing affection; they have been taught to be stoic and repress their emotions. But now, teenagers are rebelling against this with a TikTok trend: #homiesexual. The embracing of ‘softer’ manliness is a rebellion against “the anti-gay, anti-feminine model attributed to the youth cultures of previous generations,” said Eric Anderson, a professor of sport, masculinities and sexualities at the University of Winchester in England.
The new “homiesexual” trend is “less about gayness” and more of a “paradigm shift of some sort for an evolving form of masculinity that is no longer ashamed to show affection,” according to social media forecaster Steven Dam. High schoolers and millennials today are supporting the fluidity of sexuality and emotional expression.
While redefining heterosexuality, as well as accepting and normalizing fluid sexuality warrant praise, these cannot remain mere side effects of popularity-seeking behavior on social media.
Coming out and identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community can be a long and profound process. It is about learning to accept oneself despite the backlash they may face. Straight men who partake in the homiesexual trend for views and likes never have to deal with that. They can back out of the trend or stop posting sexually suggestive videos whenever they want. The LGBTQ+ community has no such option. They cannot step in and out of the gay shell freely. Their sexuality is not a shallow fad.
While we should actively dismantle notions of toxic masculinity and homohysteria, we must recognize the LGBTQ+ community’s struggles as well. The homiesexual trend is a meaningful social movement, but the intention to change long-standing gender norms needs to expand beyond desperation to be the next Charli D’Amelio. The LGBTQ+ experience is not a springboard.
COVID-19 has forced many HIV conferences and panel discussions to move online—which means you can attend more of them regardless of where you live. Case in point: The Latino Gay/Bi Men’s Health Rally is now a virtual event kicking off Monday, November 9.
You are invited to the NYC Latino Gay/Bi Men’s Health Rally 2020!
Spearheaded by the Hispanic Health Network, this year’s rally includes two panel discussions. “HIV Stigma and COVID-19” takes place at 1 p.m. ET Monday, November 9. According to the rally’s website, “panelists will share and discuss information about the importance of U=U in the times of COVID-19, how U=U is used to combat stigma and barriers to reach an undetectable viral load. They will also discuss how COVID-19 has impacted Latinx Gay/Bi Men’s Communities and HIV-related stigma connected to U=U. During this panel, speakers will explore the role of religion to interrupt stigma.”
U=U stands for Undetectable Equals Untransmittable, which refers to the fact that people living with HIV who maintain a suppressed viral load cannot transmit HIV via sex, even when condoms are not used.
The second virtual panel, “Strengthening of the Latinx Gay/Bi Men’s Communities,” is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET, Tuesday, November 10. “The panelists will discuss racism colorism, machismo and heteronormativity in Hispanic/Latinx communities,” according to the website. “Panelists will also touch upon how to address these issues through diversity acceptance. Panelists will talk about the impact of Black Lives Matter on the Hispanic/Latinx communities and the importance of developing leadership to strengthen communities for a healthier future.”
You can register for both events and read speaker bios on the Rally 2020 site.
An image from the Zero Transphobia Campaign 2020Courtesy of the Latino Commission on AIDS
Just a few days later, November 15 to 20 marks the Week Against Transphobia, a Latino-focused initiative to educate about bias against transgender and gender-nonconforming people. Available in Spanish and English, the event is supported by the Hispanic Health Network and the Oasis Latino L.G.B.T.S. Wellness Center, a program of the Latino Commission on AIDS that operates two locations in New York City.
The video above is from last year’s Zero Transphobia campaign and shares “Five Things to Never Ask a Transgender Person.”
The theme of this year’s Zero Transphobia campaign is “Protect, Support and Celebrate.” According to the Latino Commission on AIDS, events throughout the awareness week include:
Tuesday, November 17, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET: Short Live Interview: Protect
Wednesday, November 18, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET: Short Live Interview: Support
Thursday, November 19, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET: Short Live Interview: Celebrate
You can register for the webinars and learn more about each discussion topic at the appropriate links above.
Transgender individuals, especially trans women of color, are at higher risk of contracting HIV. For more details, see “National Transgender HIV Testing Day 2020.” Members of this community also face higher rates of violence and discrimination. The Week of Zero Transphobia leads up to the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, which is observed each November 20 and is a time to contemplate those killed as a result of transphobia. To read about last year’s event, click here.
Bill approved in Italy’s lower house of parliament and now needs final approval from upper house before becoming law.
Italy’s lower house of parliament has passed an anti-discrimination bill that makes violence against LGBT people and disabled people, as well as misogyny, a hate crime.
Under the legislation – approved by 265 votes to 193, with one abstention – those found guilty of such attacks would risk longer prison terms.
The bill now needs final approval from the upper house, where it is backed by the ruling coalition parties, before becoming law, reports Reuters.
Alessandro Zan, the politician and LGBT activist who promoted the bill, described it as a “big step forward against discrimination, hatred and violence.”
Nicola Zingaretti, the leader of the centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) which backed the bill, welcomed the vote as paving the way for a “more humane and civilised Italy.”
Bene! La Camera approva la legge per contrastare #omotransfobia, #misoginia e #abilismo. Quando c’è da fermare violenza e odio il @pdnetwork combatte, sempre. Ora presto approvazione al Senato, per un’Italia più umana e civile
The bill, which modifies an existing law punishing racist violence, hatred and discrimination, would see people convicted of such crimes facing up to four years in jail.
The bill focused originally on tackling offences involving homotransphobia and misogyny however during examination in the assembly greater protections were extended to disability, with the consent of the centre-right.
However the bill has faced months of strong opposition from right-wing parties, conservative Catholic groups and the Italian Catholic Church.
One of the most contentious elements is the marking of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia on 17 May with initiatives and ceremonies in Italian schools, reports Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
Denying that the bill would impinge on free speech, Zan said it would “criminalise hate” against LGBT people and disabled people as well as punishing misogyny, reports The Guardian.
Zan said that, once the bill becomes law, “Italy will finally be a country that accepts LGBT rights, because right now we are among the last countries in Europe for the social acceptance of LGBT people.”
Arcigay, Italy’s foremost national gay rights organisation, records more than 100 hate crime and discrimination cases each year – according to Reuters – however over the last 25 years numerous attempts to create a law to punish acts of homophobia and transphobia have failed.
SPOILER ALERT – This post contains spoilers from the latest episode of Supernatural, so stop reading now if you don’t want to know what happened.
Supernatural‘s final season is currently airing and in episode 1518, which was titled “Despair,” something happened that has fans very upset.
Misha Collins‘ character Castiel was killed off the show after confessing his love for Dean, who is played by Jensen Ackles.
To quickly summarize the plot for those who don’t watch, Castiel made a deal with The Entity to allow him to live his life until the moment he’s truly happy. While being faced with the possibility of being killed alongside Dean, Castiel takes his own life by revealing his true feelings for Dean and ultimately reaching that moment of happiness.
Cas told Dean, “I never found an answer because the one thing I want is something I know I can’t have. But I think I know now happiness isn’t in the having. It’s in just being. Knowing you has changed me. Because you cared, I cared. I cared about the whole world because of you. You changed me, Dean.”
Dean asked Cas why it sounded like a goodbye and he replied, “It is. I love you. Goodbye, Dean.”
Fans are upset with this new development because Castiel’s feelings for Dean were never revealed until this moment, but now this storyline won’t be explored. The general consensus is that Castiel revealed he’s gay in this moment, but there are some fans who think he just loved Dean as a best friend. People are also debating if #Destiel is actually “canon,” which means that it actually happened in the fictional universe of the story, unlike fan fiction.
The series finale of Supernatural will air on November 19.
Read what fans are tweeting below.
i stopped watching supernatural like 30 years ago but from what i can see from stan twitter – castiel just confessed his love for dean then immediately died? 😅 #Supernatural
future history books: the 2020 election was shaken by one singular event. on november 5th, destiel became canon, and one long-time supernatural fan was so overwhelmed by the news they chose to resign their job. that man was none other than vladmir putin
Maybe it wasn’t and it’s just the way the sound was processed or something, I don’t know, I haven’t watched SPN in years, but the resulting aesthetic is just a chefs kiss.
— 16 Tape Recorders In A Trench Coat (@rustypolished) November 6, 2020
why didn’t they kiss >:( I don’t even go here and I know they should’ve kissed come on #Destiel
historians 100 years from now are going to look at tonight, 11/5/2020, & analyze the connection btwn destiel becoming canon, putin stepping down, that one racist twitter artist rping ted bundy, new system of a down dropping, & the Bolivian president being attacked with dynamite
— sol @ taco bell depression meal w/ the baja blast (@greatgalaktyka) November 6, 2020
y’all realise how big this is? spn finally making destiel canon on their final season? breaking twitter and tumblr? the longest slow burn to ever slow burn??? the old fans returning??? the old accounts reviving??? in the middle of a pandemic?? in the middle of THE US ELECTION????
the way castiel said “the one thing i wanted is the one thing i couldn’t have” then said “i love you” and dean was too in shock to say it back so castiel died without ever knowing he could have dean that dean loved him i am NOT OKAY #Supernatural#CastielForever
destiel reveal is so funny I cant get over “dean can’t reciprocate” the writers r literally so homophobic its hilarious. yes I love bury your gays its my favorite trope <3333 pic.twitter.com/6Iy7tBKr8y
KOB4/Metropolitan Detention CenterA suspected white supremacist is facing charges after allegedly ditching a bullet-riddled car containing three dead men in the parking lot of an Albuquerque hospital this week.Richard Kuykendall, a 41-year-old with an “apparent association” with the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang, was charged Friday with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition for his role in the Wednesday triple homicide, according to a criminal complaint filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for New Mexico.Prosecutors allege that after a deadly shootout in a nearby alley, Kuykendall drove to Presbyterian Kaseman Hospital with the victims, removed his shirt and told a security officer “that there were three dead guys in the Chevy” before he walked away.The criminal complaint—first obtained by Seamus Hughes, a researcher at George Washington University’s Program on Extremism and a Daily Beast contributor—notes that authorities only believe Kuykendall “may be responsible for the death of one of the three men.”The victims, who have not yet been identified, were also members of the gang. Kuykendall is being held on bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque.SHOOTING VIDEO: @ABQPOLICE said three bodies showed up at Kaseman Hospital around 3pm yesterday. They have not confirmed these videos are connected, but show a what appears to be a barrage of bullets at 2:40p yesterday. 2 miles away a bloodied man is seen leaving the scene @KOB4 pic.twitter.com/jqnvdcW4Tn— Ryan Laughlin (@RyanLaughlinKOB) May 13, 2021 Prosecutors described the Aryan Brotherhood as a “nationwide prison gang that strives to control drug distribution and other illegal activity within state and federal prisons.” Formed by white inmates, it has about 20,000 members both in and out of prison and is known for using Nazi symbols, including swastikas and SS lightning bolts, the complaint states.While authorities have not provided a motive for Wednesday’s slaying, the complaint notes that the gang is known for murdering or threatening members who do not remain loyal or pose a threat to the enterprise.“The [Aryan Brotherhood] uses murder and the threat of murder to maintain a position of power within the prison and jail system,” the complaint states. “Inmates and others who do not follow the orders of the [Aryan Brotherhood] are subject to being murdered, as is anyone who uses violence against an [Aryan Brotherhood] member.”Prosecutors state Kuykendall was walking in an alley behind a local pizza shop on Wednesday when a dark-colored Chevy Malibu pulled up behind him. When Kuykendall tried to get in the car, shots were immediately fired at him.Kuykendall “ducked and maintained a low center of gravity as he ran around the front” of the car while shots were still being fired. He was able to jump in the car.She Masqueraded as an Aryan Princess to Take Down Neo-NazisA few seconds later, Kuykendall exited the car and walked toward a dumpster, the complaint states. “Kuykendall remained next to the dumpster for nine seconds and then went back to the car.” The Albuquerque Police Department later found a 9mm pistol in the dumpster.Prosecutors state that after possibly moving a person inside the car, Kuykendall got into the driver’s seat—on top of the presumably dead driver—and drove to the nearby hospital.Once there, he took off his shirt, revealing several tattoos associated with the neo-Nazi group, including “a large letter B on his left shoulder and an iron cross on his left breast,” the complaint states.When authorities arrived, they found a car “riddled with bullet holes” with a loaded pistol under the driver’s seat, an empty pistol on the back seat and spent bullet casings throughout the car, the complaint says.It’s far from Kuykendall’s first run-in with the law. “Kuykendall has an impressive criminal history, with at least 35 arrests in New Mexico and Massachusetts,” the complaint states. His crimes range from forgery and identity theft to larceny and conspiracy, to an assault of a family member in 2018.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
United States Election 2020 set new records and new precedents. American people have elected a first transgender senator and a first black gay congressman. LGBT rights activist and Democrat candidate Sarah McBride won as the Delaware’s Senator. 30-year-old McBride, who is a former spokesperson for the LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights campaign, has defeated the Republican Steve Washington with ease. Thus, Sarah will be the highest-ranking transgender official in the US.
McBride was a trainee in the White House when Mr Barack Obama was the US President. McBride had become the first transgender person to speak at a major political convention when she addressed Democrats in Philadelphia in 2016. Soon after her victory in the just-concluded election, McBride wrote, “I hope tonight shows an LGBTQ kid that our democracy is big enough for them, too.”
Meanwhile, Democrat candidate for Congress Ritchie Torres has created history by capturing New York’s 15th district. 32-year-old Ritchie Torres, a city councillor, will be the first openly gay Black Congressman. Ritchie is an Afro-Latino gay member.
Another Democrat black gay candidate for Congress, Mondaire Jones, also created history. He is declared as the winner later on Wednesday. Jones will now follow Ritchie Torres into the House and thus becomes the second openly gay Black Congressman. Jones beat Republican Maureen McArdle Schulman and Conservative Party candidate Yehudis Gottesfeld in the race to represent New York’s 17th Congressional District.
On the other hand, all four members of the progressive “Squad” of Democratic congresswomen of colour – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib – have been comfortably re-elected.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Starting Friday, members of Ann Arbor’s LGBTQ community and their families can take part in the Y’s new Out to Swim program.
Taking place between 7:30-8:30 p.m. on Fridays, the dedicated swim time was created in response to requests from LGBTQ youth. It offers a welcoming space and opportunities for community members to socialize, according to a release by Ann Arbor YMCA.
“At the Ann Arbor Y, we strive to ensure that everyone, regardless of age, race, gender, gender identity, gender expression, income, faith, sexual orientation or cultural background has the opportunity to live life to its fullest,” Ann Arbor YMCA President and CEO Toni Kayumi said in the release.
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Kayumi said a dedicated swim time was discussed when the Y’s leadership team asked local LGBTQ youth about equity and inclusion programs they wanted at the Ann Arbor organization.
“With the isolation that so many have experienced throughout the coronavirus crisis, it’s important for us to offer socially distanced in-person opportunities for people of all ages to connect, while simultaneously following CDC, state and local health department guidelines,” Kayumi said.
Out to Swim is will take place in the Y’s aquatics center and free for YMCA members. Community members can pay $50 for 6-week sessions.
Financial aid is available for those seeking YMCA memberships or access to Out to Swim.
The number of gay and bisexual men (GBM) with newly diagnosed HIV fell to the lowest point in 20 years, according to a new report from Public Health England (PHE) published today.
The report shows there were 1,700 new HIV diagnoses in GBM in 2019 compared to 1,500 in 2000.
Overall, the number of people with a new HIV diagnoses fell by 10% (from 4,580 in 2018 to 4,139 in 2019). There was also a 34% decline from a peak of 6,312 new diagnoses in 2014.
There were 1,700 new HIV diagnoses in gay and bisexual men (GBM) in 2019 compared to around 1,600 cases in heterosexual adults. This is the lowest number of new HIV diagnoses in GBM since the year 2000 (1,500) and since 1998 in heterosexual adults (1,600).
HIV transmission in GBM has fallen by 80%; newly acquired HIV infections fell from an estimated peak of 2,700 cases in 2011 to an estimated 540 in 2019 (see background information).
While the proportion of people diagnosed late remained high at 42%, the overall number decreased from around 1,900 in 2015 to 1,300 in 2019. People diagnosed late in 2019 had an eight-fold risk of death compared to those diagnosed promptly.
The decline in HIV transmission in GBM can be directly linked to the increase in combination prevention, including:
the use of condoms
pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)
frequent HIV testing in a wide range of settings
starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) as soon as possible after diagnosis
Treatment is now so effective that 97% of people receiving ART have undetectable levels of virus, which means it is impossible to pass the virus on, even if having sex without condoms. Undetectable = untransmittable (U=U).
HIV testing is vital for preventing HIV-related illness and death and to achieve the goal of ending HIV transmission in the UK by 2030. The UK continues to meet the United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) 90-90-90 targets for the third consecutive year – however, there are opportunities to improve uptake of testing and support those testing positive to continue their treatment.
Almost 300,000 people declined to have an HIV test when they attended a specialist sexual health service. Black African heterosexual women attendees were more likely to decline a test than Black African heterosexual men (20% versus 9% declined testing) but less likely than heterosexual women and men overall (25% versus 13%). More focused conversations on HIV, testing, prevention and treatment in schools and clinical settings can help to combat high rates of declined tests.
By comparison, only 4% of GBM attending specialist sexual health services declined an HIV test – this is the group in which greatest declines in HIV transmission have been achieved.
Dr Valerie Delpech, Head of HIV Surveillance at PHE, said:
In the UK, we have made great progress towards eliminating HIV transmission by 2030. Frequent HIV testing, the offer of PrEP among those most at risk of HIV, together with prompt treatment among those diagnosed, remain key to ending HIV transmission by 2030.
Further progress can only be achieved if we also address the inequalities in reducing HIV transmission that exist around sexuality, ethnicity and geography.
The most common way of getting HIV in the UK is through sex with a person who is unaware of their HIV infection.
You can protect yourself from HIV by consistent and correct condom use with new and casual partners, by using PrEP, or if your partner is on treatment and is undetectable if they are living with HIV. Correct and consistent condom use will also stop you getting or transmitting other sexually transmitted diseases (STIs).
People can get tested through free tests available from sexual health clinics, GP surgeries, as well as through a self-sampling service or by using a self-testing kit.
Background information
Those at risk of HIV and STIs can still access services through sexual health clinics during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many clinics offer online testing, which means people can order tests using clinic websites, take them in the privacy of their own home, return by post and receive results via text, phone call or post.
New HIV diagnoses reflect diagnoses that occurred within a year. Since people can live with HIV for many years without being aware of their HIV infection, trends in diagnoses do not necessarily reflect trends in newly acquired infections. We use models to estimate newly acquired infections (infections acquired recently) for gay and bisexual men only.
This story was published in partnership with The 19th, a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy.
His first bullies arrived by bike, middle-schoolers.
They called him a fairy, and other slurs. They smashed eggs on his head.
The taunts came day after day as he walked to and from school. His mother, fearing for her son, put him in a new school. He entered seventh grade with new classmates, but it didn’t get easier. This was Utah in the ‘90s.
From the time he was little, he loved Barbies and Disney princesses. In kindergarten, he chose dresses when playing dress-up.
“When I was like 8, and nobody was home, I would go in the closet and get the poofy part of my sister’s prom dress and just twirl around by myself and in the mirror,” he recalls. “And I definitely identified with what a culture calls female. And the great injustice for me, as someone who identifies with the feminine, is that this world says, a dress and makeup and sparkles are only for women.”
Mormon-raised in a house that did not support homosexuality, he desperately tried to suppress his attraction to boys. He went to Brigham Young University and served on a mission for two years in France. Still struggling after college, he put himself through anti-gay conversion therapy where he was promised a “normal” life. He started dating a best friend, a girl.
“Her father actually left her family because he’s gay,” he said. “And I watched that devastation. And I was like, I’m not doing that, … She deserves a man who loves her, sexually and emotionally and physically and romantically, and I can’t do that.”
He took his chances. At age 22, he came out.
More than a decade later, Lady Maga USA makes her entrance into a throng clad in red T-shirts and hats.
“Trump is making America great again, whether you’re Black, White, Latino or a drag queen!” she says to the crowd in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The drag queen bit is not a joke. That’s actually Miss Maga herself. It’s been years since that closeted young Mormon from Utah broke up with his girlfriend and came out. Today, he’s a mini-celebrity among die-hard Trump supporters.
Miss Maga is wearing a “Make America Great Again” shirt and hat, looking out across a crowd of thousands chanting “USA! USA!” She wears white a “Lady Maga USA” sash across her chest. Her lips, like her shirt, are bright red. Her curls are perfectly curled and blonde.
This outfit, like all of her outfits, is strictly G-rated. When she first appeared as Lady Maga USA (always add the USA, lest Lady Gaga’s people get litigious), it was in an American flag bikini. Now, she aims to be a family-friendly drag queen, typically sporting jeans or a ball gown.
Miss Maga, who chooses to go by her stage name – she said she and her mother have received death threats because she supports Trump – used to be a Democrat. In the early 2000s, she met Al and Tipper Gore at a Human Rights Campaign dinner.
Back then, Republicans just weren’t accepting, she said. Even still, she voted for George W. Bush in 2004. She felt like the left was growing intolerable and unforgiving, unwilling to engage in difficult conversations.
For three years, her drag persona had been Ryanna Woods, a nod to the character Elle Woods from the film “Legally Blonde.” In 2019, she debuted Lady Maga USA. Friends she had for years through Utah’s drag bars stopped talking to her.
“As soon as I came out as a Trump supporter, for them it erased all the good qualities that I have, and they only focused on that, assuming that I’m some sort of monster,” she said. “I lost everything. I lost my performances. I lost my friends. I lost my sense of community.”
Her new community is made up of thousands of other LGBTQ people who back president Trump, she says. She almost always appears at rallies as Lady Maga USA, and this October she was fully booked. Her schedule had no less than eight Trump events – all unpaid – leading up to Election Day.
Miss Maga has drained her own finances on costumes, travel and hotels to show her support for the president.
Miss Maga’s top issues are not LGBTQ rights. She is a strong advocate for the Second Amendment and for free speech. She thinks that people have a right to say offensive things, even if they are hateful.
“I think that the LGBT mainstream community is pushing further and further trying to eliminate all discussion or questioning of their agenda,” she said. “And I think that’s dangerous because we could be next. Anyone can be next, and I believe that free speech is absolute.”
At the Albuquerque Trump rally, she gives hugs to fellow supporters. She speaks in Spanish and English. She stops for photos.
“God bless you,” a man says to her.
This is not the response she expected the first time she went to a Trump rally in drag last year.
“I was terrified to go to the Trump rally, because I thought I may be rejected, I may be yelled at, I may be kicked out for all I know,” Miss Maga told The 19th. “But the moment I arrived, the first thing that happened was a lady comes running up to me and asked for a picture and told me I was fabulous. And then I walked in my full drag into the rally past the line and people were just cheering and screaming and welcoming me.”
Embraced by conservatives
Miss Maga is among a rarely discussed voting bloc: LGBTQ Republicans. According to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, just 15% of LGBTQ people are Republicans, compared with 35% of the general population. It’s unclear what percentage of those Republicans will vote for Trump in this election. Before taking office, Trump vowed to be a friend to LGBTQ people. Many say he broke that promise.
LGBTQ media organization GLAAD has tallied at least 175 incidents of the Trump administration attacking the community, from substantial policy rollbacks to the transgender military ban to fighting against landmark LGBTQ workplace protections won at the Supreme Court in June. Jennifer Pritzker, transgender billionaire, backed Trump four years ago. This time around, she has funneled more than $100,000 into defeating him.
Conservative values have often been painted as antithetical to LGBTQ rights. But the people who encapsulate both of those groups present a different picture.
Chad Felix Greene describes a similar experience of being embraced by conservatives as an openly gay person. Greene grew up in West Virginia and Ohio, with no openly gay peers in school.
As he entered his teenage years, he wished desperately he could be a girl. He tried wearing women’s clothing, but none of it looked right on him.
“I felt a sense of despair that there did not seem to be an option for me,” he said.
In 1998, the same year as the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado, Greene’s principal outed him to his parents in front of school counselors, he said. His father, who had only seen depictions of gay people because of the AIDS epidemic, was traumatized by the event, Greene said. He was the first person in his high school to come out, and it made him a target of bullying. Adults in his life worried that like the Columbine shooters, Greene was an outcast.
“I had to go to a therapist and had to have a written statement that I was mentally fit, and I wasn’t dangerous to anybody,” he recalled.
He remembers sitting in high school science class one day next to a friend he’d had since kindergarten. Her eyes, crystal blue, reminded him so much of Ellen Degeneres’, which he’d seen on the cover of a book. He told her she had Ellen’s eyes.
“And (I) remember that she instantaneously said, ‘Don’t ever compare me to that woman,’” Greene recalled.
The experience struck him so much that he drew into himself. Comparing anyone to a gay person was unforgivable – he was unforgivable. “I almost didn’t graduate,” he said. “I ended up graduating, I think second to last in my class. I just barely got by because I didn’t care any longer.”
In college, he took sociology and psychology classes, and the world started to open up. He became what he called an “aggressive liberal activist,” making pamphlets about gay rights that he left on cars and at churches.
But Greene found his liberal peers dismissive and unforgiving, he said. His first girlfriend in middle school, whom he always idealized, had been Black. He remembers sharing with a college class that when he had a kid, he wanted to adopt a Black child.
“Several of the Black girls in the class told me that was the same as slavery,” he said. “They thought that I was purchasing a Black woman to be a symbol of pride for myself and that it was racism, and it was so startling to me to be called a racist.”
It was one of several incidents that pushed Greene away from progressive circles and toward conservative politics, he said. But it wasn’t until 2018 that he voted Republican, or voted at all. The confirmation process for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh pushed him over the edge. Greene did not believe allegations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh or concerns from LGBTQ advocacy groups that he posed a threat to equal rights.
“I thought he was brutally targeted by an intentional campaign to smear him as aggressively as possible with false allegations to try and thwart his nomination,” Greene said. “I’m a survivor of rape. What they did hurt me very personally.”
Today, Greene’s a prominent LGBTQ conservative voice. He has more than 45,000 Twitter followers and a new book out, “Without Context: Evaluating the Anti-LGBT Claims Against the Trump Administration.” He early voted in Ohio this year, his first presidential election.
Ideas over identity
Like Greene, Wyatt Torosian takes issue with identity politics. Torosian, a bisexual and mixed-raced conservative, says he cares less about a person’s race or gender and more about their ideas.
“There has been an overemphasis on personal background and people’s identifiers as determining what their beliefs could be,” he said.
Torosian lives in Hollywood, a beacon of LGBTQ acceptance. His best friend is a “cis Jewish liberal socialist female,” he says. He grew up in what he describes as an apolitical family in Fresno, California. He came out as conservative in high school, long before he came out as bisexual, which was just four years ago. It’s hard to say which was more difficult, he said.
Torosian believes in limited government and strong national defense. Social issues are low on his list. He concedes that it might be a privilege to look at this election and not see the outcome as life or death for him or the people that he loves, but he also thinks that people overstate that worry to bully people into voting with them.
“If you’re on dialysis, and your health care coverage protects that, and then the next occupant [of the White House] might alter that health care coverage that could be a life or death situation, that is the person I want to hear from,” he said.
LGBTQ conservatives interviewed tend to value the same things as as other conservatives: They believe in small government, have an “America-first” mindset, and are anti-abortion. They see Trump’s rollback of LGBTQ rights as part of a larger deregulation campaign to limit the powers of the federal government, not as a targeted attack on gay and transgender rights.
Straight Republicans have welcomed LGBTQ people, they say. New data from the Human Rights Campaign suggests that Trump voters in swing states largely support LGBTQ equality. In Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas, Trump voters were more likely than not to support marriage equality, adoption rights and transgender military service. At least 60% in each state said trans people should be able to live freely and openly, and 87% or more backed trans access to medical care.
However, this doesn’t translate to support for transgender rights across the board. In fact, many gay, lesbian and bisexual conservatives openly question the validity of transgender people. Miss Maga and Greene believe transgender people will forever be “biologically” the gender they were assigned at birth.
“I’m not going to tell a person who is transgender that they are not who they feel they are,” Greene said. “But I also don’t think that I’m obligated to believe them, or agree with them based on just what they tell me, either.”
Greene cites his own teenage desires to be a girl as proof that it’s possible for people to outgrow gender dysphoria. He desperately wanted to be female, but he’s perfectly happy presenting as male now – though his gender is complicated, he says.
“I feel like it’s similar to somebody who believes they’re psychic,” he said. “From an objective point of view, I can’t say that they aren’t, but I also can’t believe that they are. I feel the same way that if you are biologically male, you’re a physical male, and you say ‘I feel like I am female,’ what you’re doing is you are imagining what that must be like based on what you know, a female is.”
Miss Maga, too, always longed to put on dresses and sparkle, like a Disney princess. But she’s very clear that when the dress comes off, so does the lady. She wants people to use male pronouns when she’s out of drag.
Torosian differs here. While he says there is a difference between gender identity and sexual orientation, he sees trans issues as inherently connected to lesbian, gay and bisexual issues.
“I don’t get into the conversation where people want to get into the semantics of what trans is and everything like that,” he said. “I think that it’s a personal experience for each individual.”
Like many conservatives, Torosian, Greene and Miss Maga oppose gender-affirming health care for transgender children.
Transgender children who experience gender dysphoria can be prescribed puberty blockers, temporary injections that pause puberty until a young person is old enough to make an informed decision about whether or not they want to medically transition.
The American Medical Association states that the importance of puberty blockers “cannot be overstated,” adding that once kids start development of the “ ‘wrong’ sex,” their psychological well being substantially deteriorates and they are at risk for suicide. A Harvard Medical School study this year found that puberty blockers lowered suicide risk in transgender children by 15 percent.
But many LGBTQ conservatives think that kids are too young to socially transition, and they discount consensus among major medical organizations that state puberty blockers are reversible, safe and necessary, favoring controversial, often debunked studies.
But for Miss Maga, the argument is simple. She feels like she grew up a lot like Elsa, heroine of Disney’s “Frozen,” who is forced to wear gloves because she can’t control her ability to turn everything into ice with a wave of her hand.
“That’s how I felt as an Eagle Scout,” Miss Maga said. Playing into masculinity felt like keeping gloves on, keeping some magical power hidden, she said.
When “Frozen” came out in 2013, Miss Maga realized that boys could be sparkly and beautiful. Boys could wear dresses and heels. A person doesn’t need to transition to do that, she feels. To her that feels like gender essentialism. Lost in this discussion is the difference between gender identity, who you are at the core, and gender expression — some of us wear pants and some of us wear skirts.
“What makes me different, is actually beautiful,” she said. “It’s actually amazing, and I have something to offer the world. Watch me build a castle. Watch me sparkle.”
And now, thousands of people do. At Trump rallies.
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