We Turned 1 Yesterday. In the last year, LGBTQ Rights Have Come Under Unprecedented Attack
Spencer Macnaughton | Uncloseted Media Weekly Newsletter
Yesterday was Uncloseted Media’s one-year anniversary. If you told me a year ago how far we would have come, I would’ve called your bluff.
☑️ About 100 original stories, including 60+ pieces of investigative journalism 🕵♀️
☑️ Content partnerships with big LGBTQ brands like Gay Times, LGBTQ Nation and Them 🏳️⚧️ 🏳️🌈
☑️ Breaking out of the queer echo chamber by landing on the cover of The Idaho Statesman and The Chicago Sun-Times and getting our work republished by dozens of other outlets 🇺🇸🗽
☑️ Award-winning investigations, including a prestigious NLGJA award and National Institute for Health Care Management award 🏆
☑️ LGBTQ stories that lawyers, politicians and other influential figures have used in their work to move the needle on important issues at a time when the queer community and the freedom of the press is under attack. 📰
I am so SO proud of what my team of journalists and my board have accomplished in such a short amount of time. The work is even more critical now than when we started, as LGBTQ rights in the U.S. are under an unprecedented attack. Since we launched…
Donald Trump spent more money on ads targeting transgender people than on those covering any other topic.
The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming health care for minors, threatening the health care of thousands of trans youth nationwide.
Attacks on gay marriage have slowly crept their way back into the mainstream, with some states introducing resolutions calling on the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell.
The Trump administration has cut billions of dollars in funding to various programs that impact the LGBTQ community, from HIV programs to the LGBTQ suicide hotline to research in notoriously underserved areas of LGBTQ health.
Many federal departments have come under the leadership of individuals with histories of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and policy.
Our sleeves are rolled up and we’re just getting started. As a nonprofit newsroom, we can use all the help we can get. If you want to get involved, feel free to reach out directly. And if you’d like to support Uncloseted Media, consider upgrading to a paid or founding subscriber here:
Or you can submit a tax-deductible donation here:
Thank you for your support and engagement. Because of you, the work continues on!
Join us to celebrate our one-year anniversary at The Stonewall Inn on Sept. 17th. We would love to meet you in person and reflect on a remarkable year of journalism.
Celebrities and a #CutsKill Quilt Join AIDS Advocates in DC to #SaveHIVFunding (Hep)
As the U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS (USCHA) takes place this week, GOP lawmakers propose massive HIV funding cuts.
Burkina Faso parliament passes law outlawing LGBTQ practices (Reuters)
Burkina Faso's transitional parliament passed legislation outlawing conduct deemed to promote LGBTQ practices, introducing fines, prison sentences and sanctions for persons convicted, its justice minister said.
Pope Leo meets LGBTQ+ Catholic advocate and vows continuity with Pope Francis’ legacy of welcome (The Associated Press)
Pope Leo XIV met Monday with one of the most prominent advocates for greater LGBTQ+ inclusion in the Catholic Church and encouraged his ministry, sending a strong signal of welcome in the early months of his pontificate.
Illinois launches LGBTQ+ legal hotline amid Trump-led onslaught (The Guardian)
Governor JB Pritzker’s promotion of phone line comes as other US states have faced rollbacks of LGBTQ+ initiatives.
CNN anchor embarrasses White House counterterrorism chief over false transgender mass shooter stats (The Advocate)
“We can’t stick with your facts because they’re not accurate,” Brianna Keilar told Sebastian Gorka.
Over the next week, be on the lookout for new Uncloseted reporting:
🆕 Liberty Counsel, a far-right Christian legal group, made the news last month when the Supreme Court announced that they’d be formally considering their petition for a case to overturn legal gay marriage. But this isn’t their first rodeo—we dug into their decades-long history as some of the most fervent opponents of LGBTQ rights.
🆕 A major figure from far-right parent organization Moms for Liberty and an influential figure in Florida politics has been claiming for years to be an operating room nurse, using that credential to spread medical misinformation. But is she really a nurse? We investigate.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to email me with questions, complaints and story ideas!
Spencer Macnaughton, Editor-In-Chief — spencer@unclosetedmedia.com
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