The Washington Blade

A new report that Outright International released on Thursday notes 90 percent of LGBTQ and intersex rights groups around the world have lost funding since January 2025. The New York-based global advocacy group surveyed 229 LGBTQ and intersex rights groups in 94 countries. Forty-nine percent of the organizations that responded said they have lost more than half of their total budget since January 2025 — 75 percent of the groups said they lost more than a quarter of their total funding.

From left: Miss Gay Old Bay winner Vanya Varushka, Miss Gay Maryland America 2025 Ivanna Rights, and Miss Gay Old Bay first alternate Glitter Douglas. The Miss Gay Old Bay pageant was held at The Lodge in Boonsboro, Md. on Friday, Aug. 29. Vanya Varushka was crowned the winner. Glitter Douglas was named first runner-up. Both Varushka and Douglas qualify to compete in the Miss Gay Maryland pageant in October.

Gloria Steinem was an icon, a feminist, a woman of substance and consequence. A rare person who made a difference her entire life; sometimes quietly, sometimes by making noise. She was an incredibly beautiful woman, inside and out. I heard of Gloria Steinem and admired her for all she was doing. But that was from a distance. I read about her, and saw her on TV.

Rehoboth Mayor-elect Susan Stewart will speak at the Blade Foundation fundraiser on Sept. 12. The Washington Blade Foundation will host a fundraiser on Saturday, Sept. 12 in Rehoboth Beach featuring remarks from Rehoboth’s Mayor-elect Susan Stewart and Delaware state Rep. Claire Snyder-Hall. The Foundation funds fellowships for aspiring queer journalists and enterprise journalism projects. The event will be held at a private home in Rehoboth.

Grindr has agreed to pay £26 million ($35.24 million) to settle a lawsuit in the UK over allegations it shared users’ HIV status and other personal information with third parties. The BBC on Monday reported a lawsuit was filed in the High Court of England and Wales in 2024. A class action lawsuit with more than 11,000 plaintiffs was pending in the U.S. Grindr in a U.S. Security and Exchange Commission filing notes the California-headquartered company as part of the settlement it reached on Sept.

Anne Arundel County Public Schools has issued new internal guidance for students who ask to be addressed by gender-affirming names and pronouns. (Photo by Eric Thompson for the Baltimore Banner) By JESSICA CALEFATI | Anne Arundel County Public Schools staff cannot use transgender students’ preferred names if their parents oppose it, according to an internal document reviewed by the Banner, a change that comes after conservative groups challenged the school system’s approach to gender identity.

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey speaks outside of the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 13, 2026. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key) U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) clinched the Democratic seat for his reelection campaign in Massachusetts’s primary election on Tuesday. Markey won the deep-blue state with 64.8 percent of the vote, according to NBC News, triumphing over Marine Corps combat veteran and Congressman Seth Moulton, who received 35.2 percent of the vote.

A newborn baby died after contracting measles in Pennsylvania last month, and, as if it wasn’t enough grief for his parents, anti-vax activists are trying to track down and harass his family. Apparently, Gov. Josh Shapiro tangled with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his “inaccurate and misleading claims.” On Aug. 26, RFK Jr., the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, declared that the deaths could be fabricated.

SANTA ANA, El Salvador — La muerte de Yoisi Villalta, mujer trans y vendedora de tortas en Texistepeque, Santa Ana Norte, ha vuelto a colocar en el centro del debate una realidad que durante años ha acompañado a la población LGBTQ en El Salvador: la violencia no termina con una agresión o con una muerte. También puede manifestarse en la manera en que una persona es buscada, nombrada, registrada, despedida y recordada.

A structure fire at a commercial office building located at 215 Church St. in downtown Decatur, Ga., which housed a gender-affirming care clinic, was the target of arson, the Decatur Fire Department confirmed. According to local media outlet Decaturish, a police report indicates QMed/QueerMed was the victim of the Oct. 30, 2023 fire. In a statement released on Jan. 26, the Decatur Fire Department wrote: “On the morning of Oct.