Bay Windows

The LGBTQ+ community remembers a trailblazing jurist, a sports pioneer, and a political force Barbara A. Lenk Barbara A. Lenk, the first openly gay justice to serve on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, has died, the state's highest court said. She was 75. Lenk died May 19, surrounded by her family; the court's statement did not give a cause of death. Lenk served 27 years on the bench.

WASHINGTON — Barney Frank, the longtime Democratic congressman and leading liberal who brought new visibility to gay rights and crafted the most significant reforms to the financial system in a generation, has died. He was 86. Frank died late Tuesday, according to Jim Segel, Frank's former campaign manager and close friend. After representing broad swaths of Boston's suburbs in Congress for 32 years, Frank and his husband moved to Ogunquit, Maine.

Former Congressman Barney Frank, speaking from hospice care in Maine, is warning Democrats that debates over transgender athletes in women's sports have become politically damaging for the party. In a new interview with NBC10 Boston's "At Issue," the 86-year-old Massachusetts Democrat said national Democrats failed to separate themselves from positions many voters viewed as too far outside the mainstream, allowing those positions to define the party in voters' minds.

A Cambridge-based nonprofit that supports LGBTQ+ migrants has returned a $7,500 Boston city grant and shut down a new wellness program after its founder received death threats and threats of being reported to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

WASHINGTON — The Human Rights Campaign, one of the nation's largest LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations, is vaulting into the midterms with a $15 million investment targeting Republicans in battleground districts after a series of setbacks in recent years.

"I don't know what the f&*k you're saying, hun. Please remember where you are, OK. 'Cause if you're trying to shade me, bitch, I'm gonna come for you. I'm from Brooklyn, and if I want to f&*kin' talk, I will do a tap dance if I f&*kin' want. Sorry. That, of course, is not part of my people skills." - Cyndi Lauper shuts down a heckler at the opening night of her Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace.

Advocates Remain Wary Gov. Maura Healey unveiled her own youth social media legislation April 15, one week after the Massachusetts House passed what supporters called one of the country's most restrictive youth social media measures, and as LGBTQ+ advocates warned both proposals could put queer young people at risk. "This isn't a ban," Healey said at a State House news conference.

A new exterior mural by Provincetown artist Joshua Wilmoth now wraps the façade of dbar at 1236 Dorchester Ave. as the longtime LGBTQ bar approaches its 21st anniversary on Dot Ave. Owner Brian Piccini called the piece "a love letter to the community," while Wilmoth said he wanted to bring the bar's energy and joy out onto the street.

The WNBA's landmark 30th season is about to start; the newer PWHL (Professional Women's Hockey League), is heading into its third-season playoffs; and baseball, soccer, rugby, and other sports are in full swing. Three recent and upcoming picture books happily showcase sports as an integral part of many LGBTQ+ lives. Why do these books matter?

"I would never have approved. She sticks out so much above the waist. She was totally wrong to play me." - Kim Novak shares thoughts on the casting of Sydney Sweeney in her proposed biopic. Last week, the Ohio House of Representatives passed House Bill 249, which is called the "Indecent Exposure Modernization Act". It would outlaw people from wearing clothes and makeup designated for the opposite gender. Now, of course, who is this targeting?