Cullen Smith takes an HIV preventative medication every day for “added security” and “peace of mind” after he thought he may have contracted the disease from a partner last year. “Once that situation came up, if I wanted to keep my current health, I needed to take other actions,” said Smith, an Atlanta resident. “I […]
LGBTQ
Posted inCulture, History, LGBTQ, Politics & Policy
As Chicago Celebrates Jesse Jackson’s Life, Those He Inspired Confront What’s Next
Jeanette Taylor, the alderwoman of Chicago’s 20th Ward, first met the Rev. Jesse Jackson in 2012. At the time, she was an organizer with the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, and her executive director insisted that she meet him. Taylor was nervous: She knew his national stature, his speeches, his mystique — and “sometimes when you […]
Posted inLGBTQ, Partner Content
Legendary Transgender Activist Miss Major Dies at 78
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a legendary transgender activist, was known for many things in her community. As a caretaker, she was known for getting Black trans women off the street and housed when they faced poverty and violence. As a fierce advocate for trans rights, she was known for demanding that LGBTQ+ people focus on protecting […]
Posted inLGBTQ
Black Transgender Youth Weren’t Getting Help So These Parents Stepped In
Editor’s Note: Due to the sensitive nature of this discussion, Capital B has chosen not to use last names to protect the families’ safety. WASHINGTON — Milissa’s parents initially didn’t embrace her identity when she came out as transgender about 10 years ago, when she was still a preteen. Instead, they told her to love […]
Posted inCourts, Health, LGBTQ, Politics & Policy
7 Supreme Court Cases That Black Americans Should Track This Summer
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday issued a number of blockbuster rulings that have implications for everything from President Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order to the future of LGBTQ books in schools. The justices punted a major Voting Rights Act case until next term, allowing time for further argument in the fall. In the […]
Posted inLGBTQ, Voices of Change
WorldPride 2025: Finding Joy During a Season of Political Backlash
On a cloudy June afternoon along 14th Street in Washington, baton-twirling marchers strutted in thigh-high boots and rainbow fans clacked and snapped in revelers’ hands. Hundreds of thousands had flocked to the nation’s capital — or, as D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser recently boasted, the “gayest city in the world.” Welcome to WorldPride, where for several days […]
Posted inHealth, LGBTQ, Partner Content
Inside HIV Activists’ Plan to Save Lives as Trump Guts Federal Funding
GREENVILLE, Miss. — Cedric Sturdevant woke up with “a bit of depression” but made it to church, as he does every Sunday. In a few days, he would drive from Mississippi to Washington, D.C., to join HIV advocates at an April rally against the Trump administration’s actions. It had clawed back more than $11 billion […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, LGBTQ
Sam Nordquist’s Death Highlights Violence Against Black Trans Men
Sam Nordquist craved romance. So, last September, he traveled to New York from his home in Oakdale, Minnesota, to meet his online girlfriend. A few months later, he was dead. On Feb. 13, human remains believed to be those of the 24-year-old Black transgender man (some outlets say that Nordquist identified as biracial) were found […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Education, Environmental Justice, LGBTQ, Politics & Policy, Reproductive Health
What Trump’s Second Term Could Look Like for Black Americans
The dread many Black Americans feel about Donald Trump’s triumph in the 2024 presidential election isn’t misplaced: He organized his reelection campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris around revenge — around how he and his allies can inflict the greatest amount of suffering on vulnerable groups and on those he considers enemies. Making things worse, […]
Posted inCourts, Elections, LGBTQ
Why Judicial Elections Matter
It was a moment in a Detroit courtroom that went viral. A judge ordered that a 15-year-old girl be handcuffed and dressed in a prison uniform. Her offense? She fell asleep in his courtroom during a class trip. The incident was caught on the cameras in state District Court Judge Kenneth J. King’s courtroom, the […]