“According to community members who spoke with Erin In The Morning, Orlando’s LGBTQ+ residents and their allies wasted no time in responding. They quickly organized, gathered at the site, and restored the rainbow colors with meticulously colored chalk. One witness described how, as people worked to bring the crosswalk back to life, a rainbow appeared in the sky, further electrifying the crowd.”
This UCLA’s Williams Institute study, the most comprehensive of its kind, draws from federal surveys and state health data collected between 2021 and 2023. It highlights that 1% of Americans aged 13 and older identify as trans, with younger generations—especially those aged 18 to 24—far more likely to do so than older adults (2.72% vs. 0.42% for those between 35 and 64).
Of the 2.1 million trans adults, 32.7% are trans women, 34.2% trans men and 33.1% are non-binary.
“We have presented a detailed quantitative portrait of gender identity and sexual orientation over time in a sample of over 900 North American youths studied between 2013 and early 2024.
Gender identity tended to be a stable trait across development for the vast majority of youths (>80.0%), including those who were supported in a social gender transition during childhood.
These early‐identifying transgender youths were no more or less likely to show gender change than their siblings or an unrelated comparison group of youths who were recruited into the study as cisgender children.”
Organisers have cancelled an annual literary prize created to promote LGBTQ+ writing, following a row about comments by one of the nominated authors, BBC reports..
John Boyne (photo), best known for writing The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, was longlisted for the Polari Prize earlier this month for his latest novel Earth.
However, some other nominated authors asked to be removed from the longlist, objecting to an article Boyne wrote defending JK Rowling’s stance on trans issues and women’s rights. More than 800 figures in the publishing industry also signed an open letter criticising his nomination.
The Polari Prize’s organisers have now said it would not be awarded this year but they hoped it would return in 2026.
The article by Dr. Claire Bradley critically examines the UK Supreme Court’s decision in For Women Scotland (FWS) v Scottish Ministers, arguing it was wrongly decided due to a flawed legal foundation. The case originated from a challenge to statutory guidance issued under the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018, which aimed to improve female representation but included transgender women in its definition of “woman.” FWS contended this redefinition exceeded the Scottish Government’s authority.
Bradley argues the Supreme Court’s reliance on the repealed 1975 Sex Discrimination Act was inappropriate, especially given the Equality Act 2010 and its 2008 amendments, which were influenced by EU law. She highlights that EU law remained applicable during the UK’s transition period in 2020, and the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement required courts to interpret domestic law in line with EU principles.
