Photo courtesy of Juniper Simonis

PORTLAND, Ore. — Denied medical attention, misgendered, jumped and aggressively handcuffed. These are the abuses that Juniper Simonis, a genderqueer nonbinary pansexual person, suffered after federal authorities took them into custody last month during a protest in the city.

Simonis was drawing property lines with surveying chalk in front of the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building in downtown Portland on July 10. Simonis three days earlier attended a vigil at the same location to honor Summer Taylor, a Seattle protester who was hit and killed by a car in early July.

Federal authorities violently disrupted the vigil.

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Photo courtesy of Mathew Shurka

Instagram and Facebook on July 10 announced they will ban conversion therapy content on their sites, following a block on ads promoting the practice earlier this year.

This announcement comes on the heels of the U.N. formally calling for a global conversion therapy ban.

Mathew Shurka, co-founder of Born Perfect, a project run by him and the National Center for Lesbian Rights that is dedicated to ending conversion therapy, worked with Instagram and Facebook to create a system to identify content promoting the practice. Shurka also worked with Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the independent U.N. expert on LGBTQ issues, in preparation for the global call to end conversion therapy.

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LGBTQ internet freedoms may be at risk on a global scale due to the new leadership at the U.S. Agency for Global Media, according to technology freedom experts.

The agency, which operates independently from the U.S. government, oversees five different entities that include Voice of America and Radio Martí, broadcasting platforms and the Open Technology Fund. This fund is an independent non-profit organization that focuses on advancing global internet freedom by providing internet access, digital privacy tutorials, privacy enhancement and security tools like encryption.

The U.S. Senate on June 4 confirmed Michael Pack, a conservative documentary filmmaker, as the U.S. Agency for Global Media’s new CEO. Pack quickly fired then-Open Technology Fund CEO Libby Liu after she announced her resignation with hopes to carry out the rest of her term.

Pack also fired Laura Cunningham, the fund’s former president, along with the heads of Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting two weeks after his appointment.

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Photo courtesy of LOGO

Intimacy, relationships, parenting, sexual health and social justice: these are just some of the topics covered in “Noah’s Arc,” the hit 2005-2006 series covering the daily life of a group of gay, Black men in Los Angeles.

Often described as being ahead of its time, this show was the first series to feature an all-Black, LGBTQ cast, making history in the industry. Dubbed a gay version of “Golden Girls” or “Sex and the City,” the show developed an active fan base that still loves it and its cast.

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Yulia Tsvetkova (Photo courtesy of Facebook)

More than 40 people were arrested in Moscow on June 27 for protesting against the arrest of an LGBTQ activist who is accused of spreading “gay propaganda” on her social media page and distributing pornography.

Yulia Tsvetkova, 27, is currently facing a six-year prison sentence for running a social media page called “Vagina Monologues.” The page encouraged people to share artistic depictions of vaginas and bodies as a whole, as well as drawings of same-sex couples with children. 

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Laverne Cox recalls her thorny history with Hollywood in the new documentary ‘Disclosure’ out today on Netflix. (Photo courtesy Netflix)

Dil (Jaye Davidson) disrobes for Fergus (Stephen Rea) in “The Crying Game” and he runs to the bathroom to vomit. The scene is later parodied in “Ace Ventura.”

Candis Cayne makes history as a trans actress in a trans role as Carmelita on ABC’s “Dirty Sexy Money” only to discover watching it they’ve lowered her voice electronically in her first scene. 

Trans is a trope used for cruel comedic effect in dozens of movies and shows from “Soapdish” to “Married … With Children” and used to exploit guests on trashy ‘90s talk shows such as “The Jerry Springer Show.”  

A new eye-opening and mostly comprehensive documentary on Hollywood’s depiction of the transgender experience titled “Disclosure” created by trans filmmaker Sam Feder starts streaming on Netflix on June 19. 

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Serving on Howard County’s Board of Education since 2016, Kirsten Coombs decided last May to come out as bisexual.

Coombs said despite not winning reelection in the June 2 primary for District 4, the community has been accepting of her. She said she does not attribute her loss to coming out.

“I think that the district in which I live is pretty progressive. And people care more about your involvement — and engagement — and intelligence,” she said. “And, it didn’t really matter being in a same-sex relationship or not. They want to know that you’re a hard worker and that you share their values.”

Coombs said being LGBTQ has given her an advantage while serving on the board. 

“I think it’s made me more supportive — just in general — of all under-represented groups,” she said. Before she formally came out, she had been an active ally for LGBTQ people, she said.

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