Through thoughtful conversations and dynamic images, Quil Lemons’s new book Quiladelphia explores how Black men navigate desire and masculinity as well as the stereotypes placed on them. With a foreword by Brontez Purnell and including Lemons in dialogue with musician Santigold and artist Lyle Ashton Harris, Lemons asks the audience to consider who can embody the American dream

While organizations celebrate the reinstatement of the ‘press 3’ option by Samsha, details about rollout and training counselors remain secret

For nearly three years, counselors through the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline for LGBTQ+ individuals answered more than 1.5m calls, texts and online chats – until the Trump administration terminated it in July 2025. But now, more than a year later, the service is back online.

The federal agency that oversees the lifeline, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (Samhsa), shuttered the specialized national lifeline service known as the “press 3” option for financial reasons last year, though critics cited political motivations. After pressure from activists, LGBTQ+ organizations and politicians, Congress approved legislation to allocate more than $33m to services for queer youth, including to the specialized lifeline. While suicide prevention and LGBTQ+ rights groups celebrate the reinstatement, details about the rollout and how the counselors will be trained remain shrouded in secrecy.

The RuPaul’s Drag Race alum on queer visibility, politics and starring in Cole Escola’s smash comedy

Alaska may be starring in the most subversive comedy in American theater today, but she carries herself with the poise of a 40s movie star. On a brisk September afternoon, the actor, comedian and RuPaul’s Drag Race alumnus is in a small rehearsal room in New York’s midtown, sipping hot tea from a flask while perched on a hard-shell travel case. She sits bolt upright, as if she has spent her life balancing books on her head.

It has been a madcap time for the actor as she prepares to play Mary Todd Lincoln in a new touring production of Cole Escola’s Tony award-winning comedy Oh, Mary!. She is amid a few weeks of rehearsals in the city before the show’s four-month sprint across the US. When I ask how she is handling the upheaval from her Los Angeles home, she smiles indulgently. “I mean, I would go to the planet Remulak for this show,” she says, referencing the home planet of the Coneheads. “I didn’t even think about it. I was just like, ‘Let’s make this happen.’”

Last Ditch bar announced it would ‘soft close’ after it went viral following a story on its attempt to relax Covid rules

A Massachusetts lesbian bar that went viral for loosening its Covid mask policy last month announced plans to “soft close” on Monday as it seeks new ownership.

The Last Ditch bar, in the small city of Greenfield, said in an Instagram post that it was searching for co-owners, new owners or a full sale, and that it would “soft close effective immediately”, with “only booked events” continuing while it closes this winter. It had opened just last year as a bar for “dykes, transsexuals, gender freaks, workers, and their friends”.

Exclusive: Wes Streeting says MoD in talks amid legal challenge by LGBT staff forced out of military

Wes Streeting is pursuing an out-of-court resolution to a legal battle over compensation for gay veterans who were forced to resign from the armed forces because of their sexuality.

The defence secretary told the Guardian the Ministry of Defence was holding talks this week in the midst of a high court challenge over rules that blocked some veterans receiving £50,000 payments despite being forced out of military service.

Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles
With performances by Christina Aguilera, Lola Young and Tinashe, the pop star brings a colorful vision to life in support of LGBTQ+ charities

At Chappell Roan’s Super Graphic Spectacular, the sincerely camp pop star imagines a world where the most vulnerable among us aren’t wielded as scapegoats, and where life can be good, so long as we are good to one another.

That better world takes the form of a two-night extravaganza at Los Angeles’s Shrine Auditorium, part kiki ball, part fabulous revue, celebrating the first anniversary of the Midwest Princess Project, the non-profit Roan founded in 2025 to support transgender youth and LGBTQ+ communities.

The beloved high school TV show is returning in a different political climate. I’m skeptical that Ryan Murphy has the nuance this moment needs

For months, Ryan Murphy has been discussing Glee. In July, he expressed his love for the musical comedy drama he created. In September, he said that he had finished writing a pilot for a potential reboot, adding that he had reached out to some of the cast about a reunion. And now it is official: Disney+ and Hulu have commissioned a Glee revival.

Glee, which ran for six seasons between 2009 and 2015, was a cultural juggernaut during its initial tenure. The show won six Emmys, four Golden Globes and made stars of actors including Lea Michele, Jonathan Groff, Chris Colfer, Darren Criss and the late Cory Monteith and Naya Rivera. Centred on the trials of New Directions, a scrappy show choir at the fictional McKinley high school in Ohio, the show became known for its peppy covers of show tunes, 80s power pop hits such as Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ (a Glee signature), 2010s chart-toppers and some truly baffling mashups (the amalgamation of Scissor Sisters’ Let’s Have a Kiki and Turkey Lurkey Time from Promises, Promises remains … a choice).

Decision stands in contrast to recent trans rights actions from court that often sides with Trump administration

The US supreme court went against Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday, refusing to allow the immediate enforcement of sweeping restrictions on gender-affirming care for transgender individuals held in prisons and federal facilities.

The decision marks an unusual victory for transgender rights before the nation’s highest court, which has largely sided with the administration and other opponents of transgender rights in several major cases.

Exclusive: rules on same-sex wards could lead to delays in care, discrimination and animosity between groups, finds internal assessment

Trans people could face delays and a greater risk of “corridor care” under new NHS England guidance that means they will no longer be able to use same-sex wards, according to an internal report.

An NHS England impact assessment, seen by the Guardian, stated that trans people may also potentially experience discrimination and this could lead to them “avoiding accessing healthcare at all”.

As the WNBA finals kick off Saturday in San Francisco, the pro-LGBTQ+ sports fanbase push a message of inclusion in the face of anti-trans attacks

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At Wilka’s Sports Bar in lower Manhattan, a crowd of mostly LGBTQ+ fans was fired up during a WNBA playoff game between the New York Liberty and the Atlanta Dream. When the Liberty’s Jonquel Jones blocked the Dream’s star forward Angel Reese at the basket, then chest-bumped her – leading teammates to separate them – the bar erupted in cheers. One fan quietly joked: “Now kiss!”

“I love strong women, and I love supporting strong women,” said August, a trans organizer and Liberty fan who asked to go by their first name for privacy reasons.