BY AMIE BISHOP and KENDRA HUGHBANKS | International humanitarian law is failing in its promise to protect aid workers and civilians alike in situations of armed conflict. Indeed, 2023 was the most fatal year for humanitarian workers ever recorded. Concurrently, thousands of civilians have lost their lives because they fell through protection gaps. On Aug. 19, World Humanitarian Day, Outright International joins the United Nations in calling for states to #ActForHumanity by ensuring accountability for armed actors’ wanton attacks, and for humanitarian actors to be boldly inclusive in how they prevent and protect against violations of international law. 

Among those who bear significant risks in conflicts and other humanitarian crises due to these protection gaps are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ) people. Internalized biases and discriminatory environments result in armed actors directly targeting LGBTIQ people, while humanitarian responses may actively overlook or passively exclude them. A recent report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar highlighted how LGBTIQ people’s gender identity or sexual orientation is “weaponized” by the military junta “to inflict hypersexualized forms of rape, torture, harassment, and other forms of sexual abuse” against them. The Special Rapporteur called on states to do more to ensure accountability for these crimes, and on UN agencies and other humanitarian actors to “ensure that humanitarian aid reaches the most vulnerable communities, including those that have historically faced discrimination and violence.” In Afghanistan, LGBTIQ people face harrowing violence at the hands of the Taliban, while the UN system itself appears to largely disregard their suffering. Meanwhile, LGBTIQ people are among the tens of thousands dead as a result of brazen bombardments by the Israeli Defense Forces on Gaza and mass killings of civilians by the Rapid Support Forces across Sudan. Survivors continue to be subjected to crimes against humanity such as gender persecution and mass forced displacement, which may disproportionately impact LGBTIQ people. From the Democratic Republic of Congo to Haiti to Ukraine — where Outright International is managing a program aimed at improving LGBTIQ inclusion in humanitarian action — LGBTIQ people experience emergencies in unique ways that must be accounted for in humanitarian action.

Institutionalized and social discrimination do not relieve States of their obligations to uphold the rights of LGBTIQ people, even during armed conflict. Nor do such conditions diminish the responsibility or commitment of humanitarians, who must remain steadfast in their principles to alleviate suffering in a neutral and impartial way. Stakeholders in the humanitarian response must examine and maximize their power to improve recognition and inclusion of LGBTIQ people’s humanity. Working with and listening to LGBTIQ people — activists, organizations, and ordinary individuals — is vital to ensuring their protection and inclusion in humanitarian action.

Just one week ago, the International Committee of the Red Cross urged the world to renew its commitment to the Geneva Conventions on their 75^th anniversary. The Geneva Conventions are the backbone of humanitarian law, ensuring the protection of civilians and humanitarians working in conflict settings. Despite this, LGBTIQ people are still not fully and equally protected during conflicts. Furthermore, since humanitarian law applies concurrently with human rights law, States must still respect, protect, and fulfill the right to nondiscrimination even in emergencies. When humanitarian agencies respond to crises, they must take a comprehensive approach to protecting and promoting people’s rights under both humanitarian and human rights law. This includes addressing the specific risks and vulnerabilities of LGBTIQ people while adhering to core humanitarian principles.

This year’s World Humanitarian Day theme recalls the fundamental nature of the humanitarian principle of humanity. Outright’s recent investigation into good and promising practices for LGBTIQ inclusion in humanitarian response highlights ways that humanitarian practitioners and donors can leverage their power to better account for the humanity of LGBTIQ crisis-affected people. This research provides an important launching point for humanitarian actors to revitalize the central role of inclusion in the way they #ActForHumanity. By leveraging their power and principles, humanitarian stakeholders can spark positive social change to create a protective environment with LGBTIQ crisis-affected people. By ensuring meaningful LGBTIQ inclusion in humanitarian response, humanitarian actors not only set a path toward guaranteeing that peace and justice processes are more accessible, substantively equal, and reflect the diversity of conflict-affected societies. They also, in a world that at times seems numbed to violence, provide a sorely needed affirmation of the core humanitarian principle that all human lives have value. 

Amie Bishop is director of humanitarian and global development programs for Outright International and Kendra Hughbanks is a guest writer for Outright International.

Three years have passed since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.

The Taliban continues to arrest LGBTQ Afghans one after another, and punishes them in public in front of people and local Taliban authorities across the country. There is no news about their fate. And the severity of repression and increased violence against LGBTQ people by the Taliban has, unfortunately, been away from international attention and their situation is deliberately ignored.

The Supreme Court of the Taliban over the last three years has published several rulings regarding the punishment of LGBTQ people for “lawat,” a reference to sexual relations between two men in Sharia law, and most punishments of LGBTQ people has taken place in public in five provinces: Kabul, Parwan, Sarpul, Zabul, and Kandahar.

A court in the Saidkhel district of Parwan province on July 1 announced it had tried and punished four people for “lawat.”

The Supreme Court of the Taliban in a newsletter said the Seyed Kheli district’s primary court sentenced three defendants to a year in prison and 39 lashes. Another defendant received a 2-year sentence and 39 lashes.

The Taliban in June publicly punished dozens of LGBTQ people in Sarpul, Parwan, and Kabul provinces.

Some of the LGBTQ people who the Taliban freed from their prisons told the Rainbow Afghanistan Organization that they were subjected to sexual exploitation, gang rape, and all kinds of torture, including electric shocks, physical beatings, and fingernail removal that caused severe pain and suffering.

On the other hand, the spreading of hatred and the issuing of harsh punishments for LGBTQ people by the Taliban is not hidden from public view. The Taliban, for example, continues to execute LGBTQ people by toppling walls on top of them.

The Taliban in May 2023 published a declaration that emphasized the implementation of Sharia law in Afghanistan. The Taliban issued dozens of final verdicts of “Islamic retribution and ‘hudud’” (“hudud” are Islamic penal codes under Sharia law) and punishments that included stoning. Four people were reportedly executed when walls fell on to them.

Gul Rahim, a Taliban judge, told the German newspaper Bild in July 2021, just before Afghanistan fell, there are “two punishments for homosexuals: Either stoned, or they have to stand behind a wall that falls on their head. The height of the wall should be 2.5 to 3 meters.”

The Taliban used this method to punish LGBTQ people when they were in power between 1996-2001.

Taliban member Mohammad Khel said on Afghanistan International TV on March 28, 2024, that those who are of two sexes — and it is not clear whether they are male or female — should be killed immediately, should be killed tomorrow, and should have been killed yesterday. He continued the program host’s answer, and said he is a Muslim and the Quran has ordered him to kill. The Supreme Court of the Taliban two days before the interview ordered the flogging and punishment of an LGBTQ person in Khaf Sefid district in Farah province for “lawat.”

Mohammad Khel, a member of the Taliban group, told @AFIntlBrk ; A person who is bisexual and it is not clear whether he is male or female should be killed right now, he should be killed yesterday, he should be killed tomorrow, and he should be killed in the morning.1️⃣👇 pic.twitter.com/vHMVOjijKS

— Ali Tawakoli 🇦🇫🏳️‍🌈 (@ali_tawakoli) March 28, 2024

LGBTQ people have always been excluded from U.N. Security Council declarations and resolutions, despite the Taliban’s public punishment of LGBTQ people and the Taliban’s increased violence against them.

Each Security Council resolution — Resolution 2679, and Resolution 2721 — the U.N. Security Council adopted over the last three years has ignored LGBTQ Afghans.

We, the LGBTQ community of Afghanistan, see the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has adopted this wrong approach, which has completely excluded the experiences of LGBTIQ people in its human rights reports from 2021 until now. This omission in UAMA reports for the past three years shows gender-based violence that LGBTQ Afghans face is being ignored.

The U.N. has unfortunately not adopted any new, more inclusive approaches in the implementation of its resolutions, declarations and meetings for Afghanistan; despite Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International’s declarations and concerns to the U.N. and the international community regarding the unfortunate situation of LGBTQ people and women in Afghanistan and requests to pay more attention to it. The U.N. and the international community always excludes a vulnerable group — such as the LGBTQ community, which experiences the most violence in Afghanistan and has been sidelined and ignored for years from all resolutions and declarations — and deliberately ignores their situation.

The U.N., the U.N. Security Council, and UNAMA’s disregard for the unfortunate situation of LGBTQ Afghans is a slap in the face to the concept of human rights in Afghanistan.

LGBTQ Afghans today are bewildered that the same international community that championed free elections and LGBTQ rights is willing to compromise its own moral values to cave in to an extremist ideological group that represents an armed clerical regime that has established gender apartheid in Afghanistan.

The Taliban have succeeded in silencing the voices of LGBTQ people in Afghanistan by using repression, violence, torture, and punishment in public. The U.N. and others in the international community have given this opportunity to the Taliban and their supporters by ignoring the situation of LGBTQ people, by silencing the voice of the Afghan LGBTQ community outside of Afghanistan.

We, and Afghanistan’s LGBTQ community are deeply concerned about the Security Council and UNAMA’s neglect of these serious violations. We believe that what is happening in Afghanistan is a clear example of gender apartheid and human crime.

We condemn every U.N. meeting, declaration, and resolution on Afghanistan that excludes the LGBTQ community. We consider it a violation of the human rights charter.

Ali Tawakoli is an Afghan LGBTIQ rights activist and director and founder of the Rainbow Afghanistan Organization.

BY ZEKE STOKES | Let me say up front that no one from GLAAD asked me to write this, and I did not run its content by them or coordinate in any way. These are my independent observations based on my experience as Vice President and Chief Programs Officer under the leadership of Sarah Kate Ellis for five years. I was there for much of what is detailed in the recent New York Times story, and I feel compelled to provide a counterpoint to the imbalanced — and perhaps libelous — story put forward by the Times. 

Before I get into the content of the piece, it’s incredibly relevant to point out that the writer of this piece, Emily Steel, signed an open letter last year criticizing GLAAD and more than 100 other organizations and leaders who spoke out against The New York Times’ coverage of transgender people. That alone should have disqualified her from investigating and writing this story. I won’t speculate about her motives or those of her editors, but the fact that she had taken a public position against GLAAD’s work speaks volumes. 

Beyond that, the piece is riddled with bad reporting, innuendo, lies, mistruths, facts out of context, and misinformation. I know because I was there — but no one at the New York Times bothered to call any of us (and there are many) who could have instantly debunked this nonsense. 

So let’s get into it — facts first. 

Sarah Kate Ellis’s salary is not $1 million per year. It’s not even close. It’s easily searchable and publicly available on GLAAD’s IRS 990 forms, which are filed annually. The most recent documents indicate a salary of roughly $575,000 and a bonus of about $27,000 — a lot of money, yes, but a far cry from $1 million and very much in line with the leadership of nonprofit organizations with similar budgets. 

Much has been made of GLAAD’s work at Davos, so let me offer some context there as well. The World Economic Forum meets in Davos each year and is composed of leaders from government, business and international organizations, civil society, academia, and media to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges. Until GLAAD entered the frame in 2017, LGBTQ issues were not on the agenda. Today, they are a centerpiece. 

While I did not attend any of GLAAD’s trips to Davos, I was privy to the strategy, logistics, and other details related to those activations. Here’s the truth. Those trips are funded by a donor who specifically designated those funds for that purpose in order to provide GLAAD an opportunity to have a seat at the table with world leaders, Fortune 100 CEOs, and global influencers in order to make progress on criminalization of LGBTQ identities, HIV medication access, and reform in the Catholic Church. You don’t do that with events and meetings at the local Hampton Inn. If you want to have a seat at the table with world leaders, you go where they are. 

GLAAD is not a direct services organization — it is an agent of culture change, and culture change is a long and expensive game. When you show up to Davos, Cannes Lions, the Emmys, Sundance, and other places of elite influence, you must show up as their equal in order to earn a place in the conversation and be trusted to co-create the change we are advocating for. And what is the change that has happened, exactly, from GLAAD’s presence in Davos? 

A simple Google search will produce a laundry list of impact for the LGBTQ community from GLAAD’s work there, especially critical at a time when DEI and other inclusive programs are under attack in the corporate world. It’s also worth noting that GLAAD’s fingerprints are all over many things that never are acknowledged publicly because to do so would damage the work and the end goal. 

Nonetheless, here are just a few headlines tell the tale: 

Washington Blade: GLAAD, HRC Presidents Attend World Economic Forum

Associated Press: Pope Approves Same-sex Blessings For Couples

Associated Press: Pope Says Homosexuality Not A Crime

World Economic Forum: What Davos Taught Me About Supporting My Transgender Child Partnership for Global LGBTQIA+ Equality: Davos Promenade Lights Up Rainbow 

New York Times: Vatican Says Transgender People Can Be Baptized and Become Godparents Here’s the bottom line. 

Sarah Kate Ellis has taken the organization from literal bankruptcy to the stages at Davos, the Emmys, Cannes Lions, the Super Bowl, and countless other places to represent our community and make change. She has made GLAAD a juggernaut with a place at the table at the world’s most influential cultural moments and among the globe’s leading decision makers and culture shapers. That’s why Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2023 and why she commands the respect of the team she leads at GLAAD, the board of directors who hired her, and the leaders of the industries in which she is making change every day. On a personal level, she is one of the most honorable, visionary, judicious, and impactful leaders I have ever worked with. 

It’s a shame to see the New York Times stoop to petty vindictiveness and shoddy reporting for clicks and revenge. It’s not just an attack on Sarah Kate Ellis — it’s an attack on all of us who have been a part of turning GLAAD around and making it a leading global voice for equality and acceptance. My only demand of GLAAD’s leadership would be to go even bigger, even louder, even harder, and even faster. Stay the course. The world needs you now more than ever. 

Zeke Stokes is former Vice President and Chief Programs Officer at GLAAD and an executive producer of the award-winning documentary ‘TransMilitary.’

The Los Angeles Blade has published Fallon Fox’s Facebook post with permission.

Yesterday was proof positive that some women are absolute chumps in combat sports. Olympic boxer Angela Carini flat out just gave up from a single punch to the face. No KO or injury, which would happen from an “extraordinary punch.” She just quit.

“I got into the ring to fight. I didn’t give up. But one punch hurt too much and so I said, ‘Enough.’ I’m going out with my head held high,” Carini said after literally quitting the match — that she didn’t “quit.” LOL 

Let’s break this down. First off, a real boxer, one that’s actually any good, isn’t going to quit because a punch stings. No. You’d get KO’d first. And let’s not forget that Olympic boxers wear headgear for crying out loud! I know most of you reading this have never boxed with padded headgear. But, it doesn’t “hurt” as much as one might think, no matter if it’s a far stronger opponent in your weight class or not. 

It’s less of a matter of how painful the punch is, and more about having your brain smack against the inside of your skull from the force of impact. Stopping a fight from a punch with headgear on? No, injuries. No concussion from punches, not even a bruise. Not a solitary scratch. Just, “it hurt bad” is the most pathetic excuse I’ve heard from a so called “seasoned fighter” ever. 

Some women like Angela Carini are just embarrassments. Instead of actually earning respect from being a tough athlete, they’d rather rely on the prospect of the audiences unwarranted sympathy for them to make their name when dominated. And you’ll never see these “Riley Gaines” type of women reaching the highest levels of their sport. Although you may hear some complaints from some top level athletes in women’s sports who have NEVER been bested by someone with an “unfair advantage.” 

We don’t even know what test the International Boxing Association gave the formerly disqualified women’s boxer. Was it a genetic test? If so, we don’t even know if she had intersex genetic characteristics, or some other non-XX chromosome characteristics. But, opponents of inclusion are calling her a trans woman, or woman with “male genetic characteristics.” Genetic differences may be true. But let’s not jump the gun. We don’t know. And she was assigned female at birth which makes her cisgender. 

And, if she were to be trans, or a woman with “male genetic characteristics,” only higher than average testosterone without reduction of said testosterone over a waiting period, would be the factor for disqualification. 

Angela Carini can cry harder. She’s nothing, and she’ll never be anything of any relevance outside of the fame received from crying like a baby over getting tagged in the face, and walking away without a scratch in the Goddamn Olympics for crying out loud. Some people just don’t belong in the ring.

While the Biden administration announced positive policy shifts for some immigrants last month, he simultaneously nearly closed the door to asylum and set a new record for the number of immigrants in detention. Currently, there are over 13,200 people jailed in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention in the U.S. — a record for the Biden administration that has been steadily climbing. As a queer, Black migrant who fled persecution in Nigeria — where homosexuality is illegal and punishable by up to 14 years in prison — this shameful and continuing record reminds me of my days in ICE detention and the right to due process I was denied.

In 2017, I fled my home in search of America’s promise of refuge and freedom, after being subjected to violent attacks due to rising LGBTQ+ persecution in Nigeria. Upon landing in Atlanta, without being able to consult a lawyer, I was shackled and caged in ICE detention for three months. I quickly learned that there is no right to a public defender for people navigating the U.S. immigration system who can’t afford to hire their own lawyers. I called countless organizations for help; one of the groups even told me they don’t assist queer refugees. 

Facing these realities alone in detention was devastating — as it is for thousands of others like me who have endured the indignities of detention and lack of legal counsel. It is nearly impossible to win an immigration case without a lawyer while in detention: Only six percent of people without representation in deportation proceedings initiated since 2001 have had successful case outcomes, compared to 45 percent of people with representation. Immigrants with attorneys are five times more likely — and detained immigrants with attorneys are 10.5 times more likely — to obtain relief from deportation than those without representation.

The stakes are even higher for Black and queer immigrants like myself, who are significantly more likely to be targeted for deportation, detention, and abuse. While only seven percent of non-citizens in the U.S. are Black, they make up a full 20 percent of those facing deportation. In a recent letter to the White House, my organization, the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), and other advocates condemned the Biden administration’s ballooning, punitive immigrant detention system, in which “LGBTQ individuals … suffer homophobic and transphobic harassment and abuse … [and] Black immigrants face unaffordable bonds and violence at disparately high rates.” 

To change these devastating outcomes, I joined a campaign advocating for universal legal representation through the Fairness to Freedom Act and its recently introduced companion bill, the SHIELD Act, which together would build the nationwide infrastructure needed to provide access to legal representation for every person facing deportation, whether or not they can afford an attorney. While I managed to eventually find an attorney to help secure my freedom and make my asylum case before a judge, others are not so fortunate. Fairness to Freedom would help provide attorneys for anyone facing deportation, regardless of circumstance, identity, nationality, or ability to pay.

In the face of expanding immigrant detention and as people like myself continue to seek safety in the U.S., I urge federal lawmakers to take a stand against detention and for due process by establishing the right to legal representation for all people facing deportation. Everyone should have a fair shot at asylum or other forms of relief with a legal advocate by their side to help them make their case and secure their freedom. This is the promise of America I had imagined — the opportunity to thrive in safety, freedom, and dignity. 

Uchechukwu Onwa (he/him) is a Nigerian-born organizer, trainer, abolitionist, and movement strategist. As a high-impact voice for the LGBTQ+ community, he is a steering committee member of the Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP) with over 10 years of experience working in community outreach, public health, and human rights. Before joining the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) team, he worked as the Co-Director/Organizing Director for the Queer Detainee Empowerment Project (QDEP). Uche’s work has been featured in the Windy City Times, Shondaland, Plus Magazine, Buzzfeed, the Advocate, Vogue, PoliticsNY, AMNY, Pulitzer Center, the Washington Blade, and more. 

Sen. JD Vance presented a “questionnaire” last year to career State Department nominees for ambassador to intimidate them — or thwart their nominations. It was recently leaked without comment from Vance. More than a neutral questionnaire, this was a loaded invitation to rumble on the far right of the Republican Party from a senator who does not serve on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Washington Post headline de-gayed the story, “Leaked memo shows JD Vance’s anti-woke ideology…”.  In fact, the questionnaire was focused solely on LGBTQ issues.

Professionally nurtured and funded with a $15 million donation by gay billionaire Peter Thiel, vice presidential candidate Vance is caught up in the contradiction between having a billionaire gay business and political mentor while launching a searing, anti-gay questionnaire targeting career State Department nominees for ambassadorial posts worldwide. A political contortionist, Sen. Vance became in the last year the single largest obstacle to confirming career ambassadors in the Senate. 

The Vance questionnaire is a stunning, obsessive document harkening back to the Eisenhower-era investigations of suspected homosexuals, State Department diplomats (“twisted twerps in pinstripes”) and “Fellow Travelers” of the Lavender Scare. It is written in the icy language of investigators —“Please provide a discreet response to each question.” Like FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s insistence that suspected “sex deviates” be reported to him using a “green pencil,” the Vance questionnaire obsesses over really small things like “gender neutral bathrooms” intended to stigmatize and inflame. But for this questionnaire it is “The Progress” flag, over and over. Will you fly “the Progress Flag?” When would that be “appropriate?” Should “the Progress Flag” be displayed? “If confirmed, on what basis would you determine when and where raising the Progress Flag….”, Vance, the questioner, presses. What the heck is the “Progress Flag?,” I wondered as a gay man in my 70s. Oh, right, it is the banner known worldwide as the rainbow Pride flag, itself something of a cliché, with some new stripes to include transgender people and people of color.

The questioner asks nominees, “how would you explain ‘human rights for LGBTQ people?” where they are neither respected nor exist, in states where imprisonment or execution may be possible. You can feel the questioner doing an eye-roll as though “human rights for LGBTQ people” is a crazy oxymoron. I am reminded of U.S. Civil Service Commission attorney John Steele’s memorandum in the early 1960s discussing why homosexual Americans can have no such rights. “Although there are dissenting voices, our society generally regards homosexuality as a form of immoral conduct … uniquely nasty,” he wrote in a document the Mattachine Society discovered in a file labeled “Suitability” at the National Archives.

It is surprising that recipients of Vance’s questionnaire, the folks whose appointments were put on hold by Vance, did not leak the document sooner. We do have gay ambassadors who have led the way, ably representing our country and its values, even in places like authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Hungary. U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman hosted in 2023 at the embassy in Budapest a Family Pride picnic attended by several hundred guests and their families, including Ambassador Pressman, his husband and their two children. 

In his remarks Ambassador Pressman said, “It has become abundantly clear that right now in Hungary — as leaders call for new laws to “protect children;” as books are wrapped in cellophane; and bookstores fined for displaying books; as rainbow benches are defaced — now is also the right time for the U.S. to celebrate you and your families by hosting what I am told is one of the largest LGBT family gatherings in Hungary’s history.” This is the great soft-power of American example, a force worldwide. During Ambassador Pressman’s confirmation hearing a rubber boat on the Danube River carried a sign that said, “Mr. Pressman, don’t colonize Hungary with your cult of death.” I understand a photo of that protest is proudly displayed behind Ambassador Pressman’s desk. 

LGBTQ historians and archive activists should be grateful to whomever leaked the questionnaire. First, because it so well reveals JD Vance’s character in hot pursuit of anything LGBTQ with the small-bore criticism of displaying the Pride flag during regional Pride celebrations. Most important, in the larger context of targeting State Department nominees, we owe remembrance to the LGBTQ Americans who came before us — those “twisted twerps” who were interrogated and left with stalled careers in ruins.

Charles Francis is president of the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C. and author of “Archive Activism: Memoir of a ‘Uniquely Nasty’ Journey.’“

President Joe Biden not seeking re-election isn’t just good for Democrats looking to stave off a second Donald Trump presidency, but it’s good news for all the other candidates on the ballot who were at serious risk of millions of Democratic voters sitting out November altogether.

This unexpected, but much needed, turn of events has generated a wave of reactions across the nation, but one thing is clear: Vice President Kamala Harris’s entry into the presidential race is going to provide a significant boost to down-ticket races for the Democratic Party.

Before Biden’s delayed departure from the election, the Democratic Party was doing an excellent job at ignoring the increasing number of voters of all ages who were not willing to compromise their morals or values in November for Biden to vote in the lesser of two evils — which to them is still evil. From the administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas War, immigration, the economy, and more — these Democrats were okay with dealing with the consequences of Biden losing understanding that they will struggle under Republicans, they will struggle under Democrats. No matter who is in office, they will struggle. Why should their conscience be in conflict as well? And that was before Biden’s “Weekend at Bernie”’s debate performance.

Biden staying on the ticket wasn’t just going to hurt our chances to keep the White House and democracy alive in the U.S., but it was going to hurt all the local and state candidates and propositions that had the luck of being on the same ballot had Democratic voters sat this one out.

Now, I am not really under the illusion that his decision not to seek re-election had anything to do with the millions of Democratic voters who were set to watch the chips falls where they may. I am pretty sure it had to do more with hard to have conversations about the millions of dollars that were not going to go to the Democratic Party had Biden stayed the course. And now that Harris is in and will be the presumptive nominee, the spigots are on again and the money is flowing. I haven’t seen this much excitement for a candidate since a then-Senator Barack Obama earned the nomination of the Democratic Party back in 2008.

Whether you like her or not, for millions of Democrats, Kamala Harris represents a new era of leadership, one that is more inclusive and reflective of America’s diverse population. Within 24 hours, her candidacy has galvanized a broad coalition of voters, including women, people of color, and young people. This renewed enthusiasm at the top of the ticket is going to have a ripple effect, energizing the base and increasing voter turnout, which is crucial for down-ticket candidates.

For states like California and counties like Los Angeles, the largest in the U.S., this is a game changer.

Californians have 11 ballot propositions on their November ballot. Among them, a controversial ballot proposition to repeal parts of Proposition 47 (Prop 47) and increase drug crime and theft penalties and allow a new class of crime to be called treatment-mandated felony, which gives offenders the option to participate in drug and mental health treatment.

Prop 47 was a ballot measure passed by California voters on in 2014 that made some non-violent property crimes, where the value does not exceed $950, into misdemeanors. It also made some simple drug possession offenses into misdemeanors and provided for past convictions for these charges to be reduced to a misdemeanor by a court. Under Prop 47, offenders qualified for a reduction from a felony to a misdemeanor for certain crimes including: certain forgeries, commercial burglary, petty theft with priors, bad check, grand theft crimes, possession of stolen property, and possession of a controlled substance.

Realistically, there is very little that could happen to keep California’s 54 electoral college votes from going to Harris — assuming she’s the nominee — a low voter turnout of Democrats would favor this conservative backed proposition.

Even though local races are “technically” nonpartisan in California, a similar fate was projected in the Los Angeles County’s district attorney race that sees progressive prosecutor Democrat George Gascón fighting to keep his job against former Republican turned No-Party-Preference Nathan Hochman. Hochman has been endorsed by at least six of the nine people (excluding Gascón) that he ran against during the primary. Setting the stage for a second showdown between Gascón and seemingly everyone else who was on the ballot during the primary and has now lined up behind Hochman.

Harris’s historic candidacy as the first Black and South Asian woman on a major party’s presidential ticket holds immense symbolic value. Her presence has already mobilized minority voters who feel underrepresented in the political arena. Increased turnout among these demographics can significantly impact races at all levels which is going to be especially key for progressive candidates like Gascón and criminal justice reform measures on the November ballot whom these voters are more likely favor.

President Biden’s decision to step aside has opened the door for Kamala Harris to lead the Democratic ticket and give us a fighting chance to avoid another Trump presidency. The announcement of Harris as the potential nominee has raised more than $81 million in the 24-hour period since Biden’s announcement.

Facts. Harris’s candidacy has energized the base, already mobilized key voter demographics, and strengthened the party’s overall electoral chances. As we move towards the election, Harris is going to be a powerful catalyst for important down-ticket races. She was just the lifesaving move that had to happen in order to bring the Democratic Party back to life because all races on the ballot with Democrats were going to suffer had Biden stayed on the ticket. Now, on to November.

Jasmyne Cannick is a Democratic strategist and elected delegate to the Los Angeles County Democratic Party.

Seven years ago, my fight for queer liberation in notoriously homophobic Jamaica culminated in a violent and brutal unlawful arrest and detention. This was the peak of decades of persecution due to my sexual orientation and work as a queer human rights defender and activist. It completely broke me and silenced me. I suffered severe emotional trauma, from which I am still recovering years later. 

Following that life-threatening arrest, I became a shell of who I once was. I cut off communication with my community for several years, unable to face my fear of the police and the hostility of the world around me. 

In 2022, I was one of the 9,591 at-risk LGBTQI+ people who reached out to Rainbow Railroad for help. Through the organization’s Emergency Travel Support (ETS) program, which relocates at-risk LGBTQI+ people and helps them make asylum claims in countries like the U.S., I resettled in Canada where I’ve been living safely with dignity and pride. 

This Pride Month, I’m reflecting on what it means to be safe. Who has access to safety and why others are excluded from it. What is our collective role and responsibility in expanding safety for our queer and trans communities, especially those in the over 60 countries that criminalize LGBTQI+ people? 

Safety means different things to different people depending on our experiences and journeys. For me, it’s the difference between suffering and thriving, feeling worthless and worthy, and feeling hopeless and hopeful. It is the difference between displacement and belonging. 

Rainbow Railroad recently released a report that examines the state of global LGBTQI+ persecution, drawing on data from 15,352 help requests spanning 100+ countries. This report is significant for several reasons, chief among them is the reality that no other organization or government captures the breadth and depth of data on LGBTQI+ forced displacement, perpetuating the invisibility of queer individuals in humanitarian responses. The report is an important contribution to the discourse on the intersection of queer identity, LGBTQI+ persecution, forced displacement, and humanitarian protection systems. 

Of all the data and insights uncovered in the report, I was most struck by one statistic — 91 percent of at-risk LGBTQI+ individuals relocated through the ETS program reported an improved sense of personal safety. This statistic is particularly personal to me because ETS was the only relocation option accessible to me in 2022 when I reached out to Rainbow Railroad for help. 

I am in that 91 percent because I am now thriving. I feel worthy. I am hopeful about life. And I belong. 

Today, among the 120 million forcibly displaced people around the world, queer and trans individuals face compounded complications from homophobia and transphobia while trying to access protection and safety. And while the anti-gender movement continues to swell in some states, I firmly believe that the U.S. remains a global leader in refugee resettlement — which is why the U.S. government must uphold its international obligations and reverse its recent executive order that imposes severe restrictions on the right to seek asylum. 

Queer and trans individuals deserve freedom, a sense of home, and belonging — realities that flourish only when rooted in the bedrock of safety. 

There is a lot more work to be done. It’s challenging. It’s complex. It’s costly. But I have experienced firsthand what the transformative impact of Rainbow Railroad’s work has on someone’s life — that ability to lift people out of danger into safety is something worth celebrating this Pride. 

Latoya Nugent is the head of engagement for Rainbow Railroad.

For close to two decades now, I have witnessed the never-ending brutality and stigmatization of key populations, not only in Uganda but across the global Black community.

For too long, LGBTQI+ people in Uganda and across the African continent have been subject to discrimination, social exclusion, and prosecution, which restricts their access to jobs, health care, and much more. 

A toxic concoction of prejudice and legislation, including Uganda’s 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA), has driven the LGBTQI+ community underground.

In Uganda today, LGBTQI+ people are less likely to seek out necessary, lifesaving services like HIV prevention and treatment. Drug users are regularly denied necessary harm reduction treatments. Sex workers are routinely targeted for assault and extortion by clients and by the police. 

Throughout the continent, marginalized communities are contending with intersecting forms of discrimination based on socioeconomic class, gender identity, and sexual orientation.

And so, the cycles of poverty and marginalization roll on, health inequities widen, HIV and other illnesses can spread, and mental health and general well-being suffer.

We founded the Uganda Key Populations Consortium (UKPC) in 2018 to put a stop to all this — to challenge draconian laws like the AHA and advocate for equity and equality for key populations. 

Back then, so many of us didn’t have a home — a place where we could sit together and say: This is what we, as a people, need and stand for. 

UKPC brings together LGBTQI+ people and people from other key populations to express themselves, learn and build community. We work with partners to create safe spaces — drop-in centers — across the country, where our community can connect, access health services, and make their voices heard. 

Thanks in large part to these drop-in centers, we saw a huge increase in the number of people starting antiretroviral therapy, using HIV self-testing tool kits and taking steps to prevent sexually transmitted infections.

We also establish strong relationships with civil society, nongovernmental organizations, and government partners that support us and our work to serve our community, despite constant challenges.

Today, all our work is under threat.

The AHA encourages violent abuse and discrimination against my community. A recent report paints a grim picture: since the AHA was passed, Uganda’s LGBTQI+ community has suffered 434 evictions and banishments, 309 incidents of violence, 92 recorded instances of mental health distress, and 69 arrests. 

The law also threatens people supporting LGBTQI+ communities and those providing or seeking basic health services.

Our community organizations have closed dozens of drop-in centers, shutting down a critical link between individuals and their peers — not to mention essential mental and physical health care. We have diverted much-needed funds to make our offices and meeting places safe and secure. We can’t be sure that reaching people online is safe, and that their data and identities will be protected.

Still: we are fighting back. I am fighting back. Our community is fighting back.

Changing the status quo will require more work and support. We need partners like the Global Fund and its Breaking Down Barriers initiative, because those programs empower communities to lead — and give us a voice. They also give us a platform for collective action, to continue working against the violence and hatred that, some days, feels inescapable. 

When communities come together, change is possible.

Pride is a moment to celebrate — and to protest. Every June, I take a moment to close my eyes and focus inward, to honor myself and the community that made me. To think about what we’ve accomplished, and the work still left to do. This year is no exception.

We are proud of who we are. No law can take that away from us.

Richard Lusimbo is the founder and director general of the Uganda Key Populations Consortium, and a longtime LGBTQI+ and human and health rights activist. UKPC is a partner of the Global Fund’s Breaking Down Barriers initiative, which aims to reduce human rights-related barriers to health.

By Laura Friedman & Jirair Ratevosian | BURBANK, Calif. – As we celebrate Pride in Los Angeles, it’s important to reflect on the rich history and ongoing fight for LGBTQI rights in this vibrant city and all around us.

Pride is not just a celebration of who we are and who we love, but a reaffirmation of the values of equality and acceptance that have driven the LGBTQI movement for decades. 

The LGBTQI community has been at the forefront of advocating for rights that many take for granted today. From the Stonewall Riots to the recent landmark Supreme Court decisions affirming marriage equality and workplace protections, the LGBTQI movement has consistently pushed the envelope, demanding that the promise of democracy be fulfilled for all citizens.

This fight is not just about the rights of LGBTQI individuals; it is about the integrity of our democratic system itself.

However, as we revel in the progress we have made, we must also recognize the threats that persist. Across the United States and around the world, anti-LGBTQI legislation continues to emerge, threatening the hard-won rights of the community. In some states, laws are being enacted to restrict access to healthcare for transgender individuals, ban discussions of LGBTQI topics in schools, and undermine marriage equality.

Internationally, many countries still criminalize same-sex relationships, subjecting individuals to persecution and violence simply for who they are.

These threats underscore the importance of Pride as more than just a month-long celebration. It is a call to action, a reminder that our fight for equality is intrinsically linked to the broader fight for democracy.

We must stand together, not only during Pride Month but throughout the year, to defend the rights of all LGBTQI individuals. Practicing pride yearlong means advocating for comprehensive policies that protect the community against discrimination in housing or healthcare, supporting LGBTQI organizations, and fostering inclusive spaces where everyone can thrive.

In recent years, we have also seen efforts to suppress voter turnout, particularly targeting marginalized communities. These attempts to undermine our democratic process make it all the more crucial for us to remain civically active and exercise our right to vote.  By participating in elections, we can elect leaders who are committed to advancing LGBTQI rights, defending against discriminatory legislation, and promoting a society where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.

The power of the LGBTQI community has been demonstrated time and again, influencing policies and shaping the political landscape to be more inclusive and representative.

Even as we exercise our right to vote, we must remain vigilant against those who seek to divide us and spread misinformation. We have witnessed a troubling rise in efforts to sow discord within the LGBTQI communities in Los Angeles, often fueled by falsehoods and harmful rhetoric.

These divisive tactics are designed to weaken our solidarity and undermine the progress we have made. More than ever, we must double down on our commitment to acceptance, inclusivity, and mutual respect. 

LGBTQI individuals who also belong to ethnic minority communities, such as Black, Latino, Asian, or Armenian, face disproportionate systemic injustices. They often find themselves at the crossroads of multiple forms of discrimination.

This harsh reality highlights the urgent need for comprehensive reforms that address both racial and sexual orientation-based biases within our justice system and resources to organizations working to create tolerance in communities. By recognizing and confronting these interconnected issues, we can work towards a society where all individuals, regardless of race or sexual orientation, can live free from fear and persecution.

It was here that the first Pride parade in Los Angeles took place in 1970, marking a significant milestone in our ongoing journey toward visibility and acceptance. As we celebrate Pride this year, let us honor the history of West Hollywood and the legacy of those who fought before us.

Let us commit to carrying their spirit of resilience and advocacy into our daily lives- and to the ballot box this November. By doing so, we can ensure that pride is not confined to a single month but is a constant force driving us toward a more equitable, inclusive, and loving society. 

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First elected to the California State Assembly in November 2016, Laura Friedman represents the cities of Burbank, Glendale, and Los Angeles, as well as the communities of La Crescenta, Lake View Terrace, Montrose, North Hollywood, Shadow Hills, Sherman Oaks, Sunland-Tujunga, Studio City, Toluca Lake, and Valley Village.

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Dr. Jirair Ratevosian is a former legislative director to Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA). Ratevosian, 42, was born in Hollywood, CA, to a Lebanese mother and an Armenian father. He served as a Senior Advisor for Health Equity Policy at the U.S. Department of State and worked for the Office of U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator.