Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have released new photos from Jeffrey Epstein’s email and computer records, including images highlighting the relationship between President Donald Trump and the convicted sex offender.

Epstein, a wealthy financier, was found guilty of procuring a child for prostitution and sex trafficking, serving a 13-month prison sentence in 2008. At the time of his death in prison under mysterious circumstances, he was facing charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy to traffic minors.

Among those pictured in Epstein’s digital files are Trump, former President Bill Clinton, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, actor and director Woody Allen, economist Larry Summers, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, entrepreneurs Richard Branson and Bill Gates, and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

One photo shows Trump alongside Epstein and a woman at a Victoria’s Secret party in New York in 1997. American media outlets have published the image, while Getty Images identified the woman as model Ingrid Seynhaeve.

Oversight Committee Democrats are reviewing the full set of photos and plan to release additional images to the public in the coming days and weeks, emphasizing their commitment to protecting survivors’ identities.

With just a week left for the Justice Department to publish all files related to Epstein following the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which requires the Justice Department to release most records connected to Epstein investigations, the Washington Blade sat down with U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the ranking member on the Oversight Committee to discuss the current push the release of more documents.

Garcia highlighted the committee’s commitment to transparency and accountability.

“We’ve said anything that we get we’re going to put out. We don’t care who is in the files … if you’ve harmed women and girls, then we’ve got to hold you accountable.”

He noted ongoing questions surrounding Trump’s relationship with Epstein, given their long history and the apparent break in friendship once Trump assumed public office.

“There’s been a lot of questions about … Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein. They were best friends for 10 years … met women there and girls.”

Prior to Trump’s presidency, it was widely reported that the two were friends who visited each other’s properties regularly. Additional reporting shows they socialized frequently throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, attending parties at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and Epstein’s residences. Flight logs from an associate’s trial indicate Trump flew on Epstein’s private jet multiple times, and Epstein claimed Trump first had sex with his future wife, Melania Knauss, aboard the jet.

“We’ve provided evidence … [that leads to] questions about what the relationship was like between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein.”

Garcia stressed the need for answers regarding the White House’s role in withholding information, questioning the sudden change in attitude toward releasing the files given Trump’s campaign promises.

“Why is the White House trying to cover this up? So if he’s not covering for himself … he’s covering up for his rich friends,” Garcia said. “Why the cover up? Who are you hiding for? I think that’s the question.”

He confirmed that Trump is definitively in the Epstein files, though the extent remains unknown, but will be uncovered soon.

“We know that Trump’s in them. Yeah, he’s been told. We know that Trump’s in them in some way. As far as the extent of it … we don’t know.”

Garcia emphasized accountability for all powerful figures implicated, regardless of financial status, political party, or personal connections.

“All these powerful men that are walking around right now … after abusing, in some cases, 14‑ and 15‑year‑old girls, they have to be held accountable,” he said. “There has to be justice for those survivors and the American public deserves the truth about who was involved in that.”

He added that while he is the ranking member, he will ensure the oversight committee will use all available political tools, including subpoenas — potentially even for the president. 

“We want to subpoena anyone that we can … everyone’s kind of on the table.”

He also emphasized accountability for all powerful figures implicated, regardless of financial status, political party, or relationship with the president.

“For me, they’re about justice and doing the right thing,” Garcia said. “This is about women who … were girls and children when they were being abused, trafficked, in some cases, raped. And these women deserve justice.”

“The survivors are strong.”

Deputy White House Press Secretary Abigail Jackson issued a statement regarding the release the photos, echoing previous comments from Republicans on the timing and framing of the photos by the Oversight Committee.

“Once again, House Democrats are selectively releasing cherry-picked photos with random redactions to try and create a false narrative,” Jackson said.

“The Democrat hoax against President Trump has been repeatedly debunked and the Trump administration has done more for Epstein’s victims than Democrats ever have by repeatedly calling for transparency, releasing thousands of pages of documents, and calling for further investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends,”

In a press release on Friday, Garcia called for immediate DOJ action:

“It is time to end this White House cover-up and bring justice to the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and his powerful friends. These disturbing photos raise even more questions about Epstein and his relationships with some of the most powerful men in the world. We will not rest until the American people get the truth. The Department of Justice must release all the files, NOW.”

Admiral Rachel Levine — the first transgender person ever confirmed by the U.S. Senate and the highest-ranking trans official in American history — had her official portrait in the Humphrey Building altered, with staff replacing her correct name with her deadname, the name she has not used since 2011.

NPR first reported the change, and an HHS spokesperson confirmed to the outlet that Levine’s portrait had recently been altered. A digital photograph obtained by NPR shows Levine’s former (male) name typed on a placard beneath the portrait, placed under the glass of the frame.

Levine served as a four-star admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps under the Biden-Harris administration and was appointed the 17th assistant secretary for health.

During her tenure, Levine oversaw the Commissioned Corps and helped lead national public-health initiatives, including the federal COVID-19 response and vaccination strategy; efforts to address rising syphilis infection rates; HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs; and strategies to combat the opioid epidemic, particularly through expanded harm-reduction approaches for the communities most affected.

The Trump-Vance administration’s decision to publicly deadname Levine is widely viewed within the trans community as demeaning and disrespectful. The move comes amid a series of federal policy reversals targeting LGBTQ Americans, particularly trans youth seeking gender-affirming care.

Those actions include: weakening workplace protections for LGBTQ employees; limiting restroom access; downgrading gender-identity discrimination cases; pressuring hospitals to end gender-affirming care; cutting HIV research and prevention funding; removing LGBTQ crisis resources; restricting access to trans-inclusive medical policies for veterans and young people; supporting trans sports bans and threatening funding for teams that include trans athletes; and forcing schools and universities to eliminate DEI and LGBTQ offices, inclusive curricula, gender-neutral bathrooms, and books or training materials addressing LGBTQ issues.

The Trump–Vance administration has also expanded federal censorship by removing LGBTQ language from surveys, agency websites, Smithsonian materials, and human-rights reports; blocking Pride recognitions; creating federal communications that misgender trans women; imposing passport and travel barriers for trans Americans; lifting protections for trans service members; limiting benefits and care for LGBTQ veterans; and pressuring states, universities, and hospitals to end trans-inclusive policies under threat of losing federal research, education, or Medicaid funds. The administration has additionally deported LGBTQ asylum seekers to unsafe conditions, removed LGBTQ issues from global human-rights reporting, and escalated anti-trans rhetoric at public events.

These actions stand in stark contrast to Levine’s public-health record. As assistant secretary for health, she worked to expand LGBTQ+ health data collection, promote equitable vaccine distribution, strengthen national health-equity initiatives, and reduce care disparities experienced by historically underserved communities, including LGBTQ populations. Within HHS, she led councils and task forces dedicated to reducing structural barriers to care and improving community outcomes.

Before joining the federal government, Levine oversaw health and safety for nearly 13 million residents as Pennsylvania’s physician general from 2015–2017 and as Pennsylvania secretary of health from 2018–2021.

Asked by NPR about the alteration of her official portrait, Levine responded that it had been an honor to serve as assistant secretary for health, adding: “I’m not going to comment on this type of petty action.”

It has been just over two years since George Santos — the disgraced politician who once represented New York’s Third District — was expelled from Congress. Now, Santos is breaking his silence about his expulsion, imprisonment, subsequent pardon, what he believes he did wrong, and allegations regarding immigration fraud.

In 2022, Santos was elected to represent the Long Island communities of North Hempstead, Glen Cove, and Oyster Bay, one of the wealthiest congressional districts in the United States. This week, he sat in the lobby of the Hyatt Capitol Hill, just blocks from his former office in the Cannon House Office Building, to speak with the Washington Blade about how he became the center of one of the most outrageous political scandals in modern U.S. history. Despite the media scrutiny surrounding his lies, criminal convictions, and eventual pardon by President Donald Trump, Santos appeared relaxed during the interview, speaking freely about his experiences, admissions, and grievances.

Scope of Santos’s misconduct

Many journalists have struggled to verify George Santos’s personal history and professional resume. Numerous claims he made during his campaigns have been debunked or walked back, particularly regarding his personal and professional history since 2020.

Santos gained media attention for claiming Jewish heritage despite being raised Catholic and identifying as Catholic. He said his maternal grandfather grew up Jewish, converted to Catholicism before the Holocaust, and raised his children Catholic. Investigations, however, show his maternal grandparents were born in Brazil, not Ukraine or Belgium. Santos described himself variously as “Jew-ish,” “half Jewish,” a non-observant Jew, a “proud American Jew,” and a “Latino Jew.”

He also misrepresented his mother’s professional history, claiming she was “the first female executive at a major financial institution.” Records, including her 2003 visa application, show she had not been in the U.S. since 1999 and listed her occupation as a domestic worker.

Santos further fabricated his educational history, claiming a bachelor’s degree in finance and economics from Baruch College, where he said he graduated near the top of his class. Investigations revealed he never graduated. He also falsely claimed an MBA from New York University on official campaign documents — a misrepresentation that later became grounds for his expulsion. Santos later blamed the lies on a local Republican Party staffer.

His professional claims were also fraudulent. Santos called himself a “seasoned Wall Street financier and investor” and claimed to have worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. Both companies reported no record of his employment. When pressed, Santos admitted he had used a “poor choice of words,” eventually describing his experience as “limited partnerships.” He also falsely claimed to have lost four employees in the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando; no victims had any connection to companies listed in his biography.

Santos misrepresented his residences during his 2020 campaign. He listed an Elmhurst, Queens, address outside the district he sought to represent, later moving with his partner to a Whitestone rowhouse. He was registered to vote at the Whitestone address but did not live there.

When asked about his lies, Santos told the Blade he wishes he did everything differently.

“Everything, everything, everything,” Santos told the Blade. “I made so many poor choices that I think it would be redundant to not say everything.”

He did not fully take responsibility, describing the scandals as a mix of personal ambition and what he called a “sensational political assassination.”

“Ambition is a toxic trait, and unfortunately, I was consumed by that. I forewent everyone else’s [considerations]… I had no consideration for anything around me other than myself, and that’s awful,” he added.

In addition to personal history fabrications, Santos made numerous false claims the Department of Justice later treated as campaign finance fraud. He solicited donations through a fake political entity, diverted funds into an LLC he controlled, and disguised personal expenditures as legitimate political expenses, using donations for luxury purchases.

Santos denied wrongdoing, stating, “I didn’t steal people’s credit cards… I didn’t go shopping at Hermes and Onlyfans. It’s not true either.”

He defended some purchases as campaign-related, singling out House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest.

“The only two luxury brands that you’ll see of purchases in my campaign were Ferragamo and Tiffany. [I got] Ferragamo for the [male members of the] Republican steering committee when I was lobbying for my seat committee and three Tiffany pens for the females … That’s where those are legal expenses. They’re very legal.”

The House Ethics Committee found “substantial evidence” of lawbreaking, stating Santos “fraudulently exploited every aspect of his House candidacy,” using campaign funds for luxury shopping, cosmetic procedures, travel, and rent.

“I had a choice to not straw donate to my campaign, and I chose to, yeah, that was a poor choice,” Santos admitted. “Of course, I’m guilty for that. Was I forthcoming in the GOP with the party? No, I was not. I was very dishonest with the GOP, and for that I regret, and I also regret that the GOP in New York created an environment that made somebody like me feel it was needed to do that. But I regret not being forthcoming and honest about it.”

Santos also collected pandemic unemployment payments of approximately $24,000 while employed.

He was charged with multiple federal offenses, including conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, wire fraud, making materially false statements to the FEC, falsifying records, aggravated identity theft, access device fraud, money laundering, and theft of public funds. Santos pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft and was sentenced to 87 months in prison in April 2025, ordered to pay hundreds of thousands in restitution and forfeiture. He was released from the Federal Correctional Institution in Fairton, N. J., following Trump’s pardon in October.

Immigration fraud allegations

In addition to the professional and personal claims Santos has made that have been proven false, he also addressed allegations of immigration fraud raised by the Washington Blade. A source familiar with Santos’s history with U.S. immigration proceedings described several alarming allegations, most notably a reportedly fraudulent marriage to his former wife, Uadla Viera, to help her obtain U.S. immigration status. Santos has adamantly denied wrongdoing.

According to the source, who spoke to the Blade on condition of anonymity, Santos married Viera in a civil ceremony in Manhattan in 2012, despite neither living in the city. There are no known photos, announcements, or records of a wedding celebration, engagement, bridal party, shower, or honeymoon. This unusual lack of documentation stands out for Santos, whose life and actions are typically geared toward media attention.

While the source questioned the motive behind the marriage, Santos insisted it was legal and not done for any nefarious purpose.

“I married a person who was legally in this country, and all in all, what I did was kind of skip the line for her. And we were married, and there was no financial benefit [for me]. We were married. We had bills together. There’s no proof or evidence of a financial benefit other than jaded people again, anonymously, lying saying ‘He got paid. He offered me money.’ First of all, I don’t even have the wherewithal for that. Second of all, we went through a very rigorous — fucking rigorous — immigration litmus test, house interviews, multiple layers of interviews, a consummate marriage that was very obvious for anybody who was around us, and then I ended up cheating for now, obvious reasons.”

In 2013, the source said Santos dated Leandro Bis, a Brazilian tourist, while still married to Vieira. Santos denies this, framing the period as tumultuous and asserting that he was merely helping someone in need who now falsely alleges more. Bis told ABC News in a 2023 interview that Santos had “promised the world” to him while they dated.

“I’ve never dated a Leandro,” Santos told the Blade. “I can’t believe that six months of my life are common stories in the New York Times. This lunatic is going on TV and putting himself out there…I look so much better than him, and I’m much older than him. I mean life does numbers on people, because hate is a virus.”

The source further recounted Santos’s interactions with Greg Morey-Parker, a former roommate of Santos’s who told CNN that he was suspicious of Santos’s academic resume and stories of family wealth.

“Greg Morey-Parker is not a boyfriend– nowhere near a boyfriend,” Santos told the Blade. “He was actually a homeless Starbucks barista that I felt bad for. Let him crash in my living room. … He accused me of stealing his Burberry scarf. You’re homeless and you have a Burberry scarf? Bro, make up your fucking mind.”

In 2014, Santos met Pedro Vilarva, 18, on Tinder and dated him for a year while still married to Viera. According to the source, the trio socialized frequently: Santos and Vilarva with other gay men, Viera with heterosexuals. That same year, Santos filed a family-based immigration petition for Viera, who was granted conditional permanent residency. Santos publicly celebrated his engagement to Vilarva in a Facebook post at La Bonne Soupe, a Manhattan restaurant, though the relationship eventually ended. That Facebook post has since been deleted.

Santos maintains he was honest with both immigration authorities and his spouse.

“I was honest with immigration authorities, 100% above board. I was honest with my spouse, as far as my relationship with him and with my ex-wife, so much I’m the one who told her, I’m sorry we can’t do this anymore. I’m seeing Pedro. And she knew Pedro, it was a shit show. Okay? I’m gonna leave it at that, out of respect to both her and Pedro … I cheated on my first wife, and that was a whole story on its own.”

Later in 2014, Santos met Morey-Parker, who told the Daily Beast that Santos advised him to marry an immigrant woman from Brazil to make money. Santos denied that claim to the Blade.

“That is Gregory again making more shit up and there’s no proof or evidence or anything that you can point to,” Santos said.

Viera became a permanent resident in 2017, according to previous media reports, and in 2018 gave birth to a daughter. Santos did not claim paternity or seek custody. Santos and Viera were granted an uncontested divorce in 2019. Viera became a U.S. citizen in 2022 and purchased a $750,000 home in New Jersey, according to the Blade’s source and to the official deed of the property.

Santos did not mention that he had been married or divorced during his congressional campaigns until an internal vulnerability study commissioned by the campaign identified it as a potential issue for voters.

Santos downplayed all of this, saying it was a running joke among his staff. “I would be a joke. I would allude to it [and say] ‘Ladies, look, I love you guys, but there’s a reason that I don’t date women anymore, and I’m divorced from my first wife.’ It was like a running joke, making light of it and self-deprecating humor, which is my favorite kind of humor.”

He claimed that the New York Times story was the reason he became more sensitive with posts related to his ex-wife.

“The reason it’s not [visible] today is because I pulled it all off because of privacy issues. It was all archived for my Instagram, but if you had access to my Instagram prior to the New York Times story, you would see I never deleted my pictures with her…They were all over my Instagram, going to the beach, like everything. It’s like our entire life was documented together.”

On Trump, politics, and public office

Santos was tight lipped when the Blade questioned him about his conversations with President Trump.

“You never, ever share a lick of a word you exchange with the sitting president of the United States, no matter who that person is… I’ve seen it backfire for people who did it with Biden, with Trump, with Obama. I’m not about to make that mistake. Yeah, my conversations with the president are private.”

He did say that he was humbled by Trump’s pardon but regrets ever entering politics.

“I had such a good life, and to have to be at the place I am today is indicative of, you know, politics is really for the elites…I’m so uninterested in politics these days…I want to get involved in policy change, but not politicking.”

He said he is not interested in a position in the Trump administration.

“I would respectfully decline [any government job], I would say thank you from the bottom of my heart, and say ‘I’m probably not best suited for a job in government.’ I want nothing to do with the government or public office.”

Trans and LGBTQ issues

Santos also spoke on his experience as both a member of the LGBTQ community and a Republican legislator. Most notably, he doesn’t think there is any barrier for gay people to join the Republican Party, citing his ascent into Republican leadership as an example.

He defended his record as a gay Republican, noting the continued election and reelection of LGBTQ members of Congress and emphasizing that he disproved stereotypes about Republicans.

“There’s no bigotry in the Republican Party. It’s a matter of how you present yourself…I’m not saying there’s no anti-gay sentiment, I’m pretty sure there is, but I never experienced it.”

He continued, explaining how far-right figures gaining prominence within Republican circles sets off some tension.

“I know it exists… I mean Nick Fuentes exists, right? His followers go on my social media, and either call me a Jew or a homo all day long. But I’m proud of it. I’m proud that I was the first who didn’t conceal the fact that he’s gay, and still got elected by a constituency of Republicans in a landslide victory.”

It is important to note that Santos is the first openly LGBTQ non-incumbent Republican to be elected to Congress, not the first openly LGBTQ Republican to win an office. Santos won his seat with 53% of his district’s vote while his opponent, Robert Zimmerman, got 46%.

Santos spoke on his experience as a gay man, echoing other LGB Republicans who have distanced themselves from transgender rights.

“This is very controversial for me, but I don’t loop my issues in with the trans community issues. I’m a gay man. I’m gender conforming. I’m he/him/sir.”

He continued, saying all he can speak on is his experience as a gay man, which doesn’t inherently lend him to being a champion for transgender rights, unlike many other LGB elected officials have done.

“I’ve never walked in the shoes of a trans person, so I can’t speak for them.” Santos framed his stance on gender-affirming care carefully: “I believe those people deserve the right to treatment, and that’s fair. I don’t believe in a mass agenda of pushing children towards that. I think we need to have a sensible conversation of, let’s allow kids to get to a certain age, right? Let’s allow adults to make those decisions, not children…for permanent decisions like hormone blockers and puberty blockers…that should be with adults.”

This is despite general medical consensus that views gender-affirming care as medically necessary, appropriate, and potentially life-saving for trans youth. The American Medical Association, the largest medical association in the country, opposes state laws that interfere with or ban gender-affirming care, calling such actions harmful and contrary to medical evidence.

Prison experience

Santos also spoke explicitly about what he says are dehumanizing conditions at FCI Fairton, something that has given him a new passion following his release from the facility.

“It’s punitive and dehumanizing,” he said when describing the situation he was in.

“Black mold bubbling all over the ceiling. Rat infestations… Listeria and ringworm outbreaks. Expired food… Underwear with skid marks… either wear that or don’t wear underwear.”

He continued, emphasizing the dehumanizing treatment he says he received, and hoping it will lead to prison reform.

“Solitary confinement for 41 days. Three showers a week. One 15-minute phone call every 30 days. [The warden] an absolute vicious human being. … We need to rehabilitate people. Just make it humane.”

Santos hinted at a future in media and activism, particularly related to prison reform, signaling that while he has stepped away from public office, he may still seek to influence policy and public discourse.

Despite his dramatic fall from political grace, Santos remains unapologetically in the public eye. From allegations of fraud to his prison experience and ongoing controversies, he presents a portrait of a man both shaped by — and defiant of — the consequences of his actions. Whether the public views him as a cautionary tale, a redeemed figure, or something in between, Santos’s story continues to provoke debate about accountability, ambition, and the limits of political power in America.

Last Thursday, Los Angeles County’s Commission on Human Relations (LACCHR) released its 2024 Hate Crime Report, which analyzes data compiled from over 100 reporting groups, including local law enforcement agencies, educational institutions, and community-based organizations like the TransLatin@ Coalition. In its 45-year history of compiling these reports, the LACCHR recorded an “unprecedented” amount of hate crimes in this most recent analysis.

The report states that there were 102 anti-transgender crimes, “the largest number ever documented in this report.” 95% of these reported incidents were violent. 

Part of the reason for this increase in reported crimes is the expanding outreach LACCHR is trying to create with partner organizations, ensuring that queer community members feel increasingly safe in reporting crimes that have been committed against them. These “grassroots efforts” have proven invaluable in building community trust, according to Dr. Monica Lomeli, who leads the production of LACCHR’s annual hate crime report. 

“For the LGBTQ community, [there’s] a history of not being heard, not being believed or being misgendered,” Lomeli told the Blade. “I remember us working with a lot of different law enforcement agencies [and] victims would tell us: ‘They keep misgendering me. They don’t believe me. They keep having me make different reports.” 

Lomeli stresses that, for those who feel unsafe reporting hate crimes to law enforcement agents, there are other options. One of these pathways is the commission’s community-centered initiative and reporting system, LA vs Hate, which allows people to report hate crimes and access resources like multilingual reporting guides. There is also 211 LA, a program funded by the commission that provides free, confidential support in 140 languages.

The report is instrumental to the formation of initiatives focused on queer safety and is also a resource to various LGBTQ+ organizations as they track violence committed against their community members. But the collection of this data has not been smooth, especially in this current administration. 

Lomeli explained that, earlier this year, the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) reached out to various human rights organizations, including the LACCHR, and was aiming to gain access to and shut down the commission’s hate crime database. “There was an attempt to bring down our data,” said Lomeli, who described these attempts as an infringement on the general public’s ability to access the report’s findings.

Moving forward, the commission’s Network Against Hate Crime, which hosts quarterly meetings with leaders from law enforcement agencies, advocacy groups, educational institutions, and social services providers, will hold a briefing on the report and discuss collaborative solutions to support community members. 

Lomeli hopes to bring LGBTQ+ issues to the “forefront” of one of these upcoming meetings, given the high number of hate crimes committed against queer community members that were highlighted in the report. LA vs Hate will also continue to host campaigns, marketing efforts, and awareness events to promote the equitable treatment and safe existence of queer and other marginalized Angelinos.

The LGBTQ+ Victory Institute on Saturday inducted California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and West Hollywood Vice Mayor John Heilman into its LGBTQ+ Political Hall of Fame.

The inductions took place during the Victory Institute’s annual International LGBTQ+ Leaders Conference in D.C.

U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, San Leandro Councilmember Victor Aguilar Jr., are among those who attended the conference. Evan Low, the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute’s president, served in the California State Assembly from 2014-2024.

Former state Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins, former Assembly Speaker John Pérez, former state Sen. Christine Kehoe, former Palm Springs Mayor Ron Oden, Harvey Milk, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors who was the state’s first openly gay elected official, and José Sarria, who ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1961, have also been inducted.

The LGBTQ supportive Williams Institute, an arm of the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law, released a report last month citing multiple research studies conducted over the past 25 years showing past and “ongoing” mistreatment of LGBTQ people by law enforcement throughout the United States.

“Findings show that LGBTQ communities – particularly LGBTQ people of color, youth, and transgender and gender nonconforming individuals – have faced profiling, entrapment, discrimination, harassment, and violence from law enforcement for decades, and this mistreatment continues to be widespread,” according to a Williams Institute statement.

“Experiences of police mistreatment may discourage LGBTQ people from reporting crimes or engaging with law enforcement,” Joshua Arrayales, the report’s lead author and Williams Institute Law Fellow said in the statement.

“Reporting crimes is essential for accurate crime statistics, property allocation of crime prevention resources, and support services that address the unique needs of LGBTQ survivors,” he said.

The 59-page report cites the findings of two dozen or more studies and surveys of LGBTQ people’s interaction with police and law agencies for the past 25 years through 2024 conducted by various organizations, including the ACLU, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, the Williams Institute, and local government agencies.

But the report does not provide a breakdown of where police abuse against LGBTQ people occurred by specific police departments or locations. Instead it provides survey research findings of large groups of LGBTQ people who responded to a survey in different  locations of the U.S.

Among other things, those surveys have found “LGBTQ people are more likely than non-LGBTQ people to report being stopped by police, searched by police, arrested, and falsely accused of an offense,” the Williams Institute statement accompanying the report says. “LGBTQ people also report substantial rates of verbal harassment, physical harassment, sexual harassment, and assault,” it says.

The report itself cites surveys of LGBTQ people’s interactions with police in D.C., Baltimore, and Virginia but does not give specific cases or identify specific police departments or agencies.   

“A 2022 study based on interviews with 19 Black transgender women from Baltimore and Washington, D.C. identified a theme of re-victimization while seeking help from police,” the report says. “One participant noted that male officers asked what she did to cause her own abuse,” according to the report.

“Other participants expressed that when a knowledgeable officer was present, such as an LGBTQ+ liaison, they felt more inclined to reach out for help,” it says. 

The report also states, “A 2024 study based on interviews with 44 transgender people in Virginia documented two instances of transgender women being pulled over for broken tail lights and then being mistreated once officers discovered they were transgender based on their IDs.” The report does not reveal the specific location in Virginia where this took place.

Other locations the report cites data on anti-LGBTQ conduct by police include New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Palo Alto, Newark, N.J., and Austin and San Antonio in Texas.

The full report can be accessed at williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu. 

On Monday, the federal administration did not honor World AIDS Day, for the first time since the international awareness day was created in 1988. In addition to significant funding cuts to organizations focusing on HIV preventative treatment and care, the government’s halting of this commemoration perpetuates a dismissive system of inaction against LGBTQ+ people. 

And yet, over 50 community members filled the empty spaces of West Hollywood’s AIDS monument yesterday evening, waiting in the night chill as city officials delivered impassioned statements and writers from APLA Health read personal pieces that centered a grief and love for those lost to the epidemic.

Before the readings began last night, West Hollywood vice mayor John Heilman asked for residents to join him in a righteous rage against administrative apathy. “I want to ask us all to reflect for just a moment about all of the people we lost…I want us to reflect and get angry,” said Heilman. “We have a fucking president who won’t even recognize World AIDS Day.” 

Irwin Rappaport, board chair for STORIES: the AIDS monument, echoed this immense disappointment. “Many of us here tonight lived through the 1980s, so we know what that’s like,” Rappaport said. “We also know that because of that neglect, because of that lack of caring from the federal government, we have to care for one another — and we know how to do that. When we don’t have recognition from others, we know how important it is to preserve our own history, to tell our own stories.” 

Through heavy silence, five writers from APLA Health’s writers group stood tall before a podium and shared intimate writings they created about the epidemic and its personal impact on them. The collective was established in 1989 to provide an inclusive, expressive space for HIV-positive writers and allies to work on their writing and learn how to share their stories.

Writer Brian Sonia Wallace, who served as West Hollywood’s poet laureate from 2020 to 2023, has been working with the writers group for the last four years to help them hone and refine their narrative voices as they share their heaviest grief and the depths of their love for the people they lost to HIV and AIDS. 

Hank Henderson, one of these writers, read from a diary entry from November 29, 1991. His voice, clear and strong, wavered as he shared about the death of his dear friend Richard. In a piece filled with lush, rich detail, painted clearly with a strong and loving voice, Henderson recounted a memory with Richard during the latter’s last years. 

“The Santa Barbara sky is clear blue forever today…Yesterday came and went like a half-remembered dream between snooze alarms,” Henderson recited. “Last year, we walked to the beach. We spent hours there, played frisbee ourselves, brought the dog. Richard even yelled out 30-minute tanning turnover alarms. Yesterday, he took tiny, labored steps back to the car, used my shoulder to keep himself from falling over. Nobody said anything. We just pretend it’s normal.” 

Another writer, Austin Nation, shared the story of being told he was HIV-positive at 26 years old. As a young nurse, he remembered the shock of seeing “young, beautiful men” arriving at the hospital covered in “purple, blotchy sores.” When he received his own test results, a paralyzing terror washed over his body. An incredulity followed the fear: why was this happening to him? “I got this thing for what?” Nation spoke. ”For having fun? For making love? And now it’s gonna cost me my life?” 

But as he stood before the crowd, now 63 years old, he was met with applause and joy as he stated and repeated: “I’m still here. I’m still here.” The writers, in their grief and loss, have come to a place where they are able to share these stories, empowered and held. “In a world that writes off people with stories like mine,” Nation said. “It’s a hell of a good day to be alive.” 

Kristie Song is a California Local News Fellow placed with the Los Angeles Blade. The California Local News Fellowship is a state-funded initiative to support and strengthen local news reporting. Learn more about it at fellowships.journalism.berkeley.edu/cafellows.

This past Trans Awareness Week, 10 heads of diverse religious traditions issued a statement proclaiming that transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people are worthy of love, support, and protection. Led by Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, representatives from the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, the Union for Reform Judaism, the Presbyterian Church, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), The Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ, and Reconstructing Judaism called out the violent and systemic persecution of trans, nonbinary, intersex, and queer people–proclaiming that their faith and their humanity urged them to affirm that trans, intersex, and quere people are “sacred” and “holy.”

Their statement comes at a critical time. Over the past three months, Trump and his Cabinet’s anti-trans rhetoric has only intensified, with a report released late September by journalist Ken Klippenstein in which national security officers leaked that the FBI is planning to classify trans people as “extremists.” By classifying trans people as “Nihilistic Violent Extremists,” far-right groups would have more “political (and media) cover,” as Abby Monteil reports for them, for anti-trans violence and legislation. 

While the news is terrifying, it’s not unprecedented – the fight against trans rights and classification of trans people as violent extremists was included in Project 2025, and in the past several weeks, far-right leaders’ transphobic campaign has expanded: boycotting Netflix to pressure the platform to remove trans characters, leveraging anti-trans attack ads in the Virginia governor’s race and banning professors from acknowledging that trans people exist. In fact last month, two Republican members of Congress called for the institutionalization of trans people. 

It seems that the government shutdown was predicated, at least partially, on Trump’s own anti-trans policies that were attached as riders in the appropriations bill. 

It’s a dangerous escalation of transphobic violence that the Human Rights Campaign has classified as an epidemic. According to an Everytown for Gun Safety report published in 2020, the number of trans people murdered in the U.S. almost doubled between 2017 and 2021. According to data released by the Gun Safety report from February 2024, 34 percent of gun homicides of trans, nonbinary, and gender expansive people remain unsolved. 

As Tori Cooper, Director of Community Engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative for the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, this violence serves a purpose. “The hate towards transgender and gender expansive community members is fueled by disinformation, rhetoric and ideology that treats our community as political pawns ignoring the fact that we reserve the opportunity to live our lives full without fear of harm or death,” Cooper said.

The faith leaders came out in this statement to affirm that it is their spiritual and human imperative to call out this escalating violence and protect trans, nonbinary, intersex, and queer people. The leaders acknowledge that historically and today, religion is used as a weapon of hate to degrade and deny the human dignity of LGBTQ+ peoples. The Supreme Court is hearing Chiles v. Salazar, a case about the constitutionality of a Colorado ban of conversion therapy for minors, with the majority of conversion therapy practices being faith based. And despite the Supreme Court declining to hear a case challenging the constitutionality of same-sex marriage conferred in Obergefell v. Hodges, efforts to end marriage equality remain ongoing with Katy Faust’s End Obergefell movement. 

“During a time when our country is placing their lives under increasingly serious threat,” the statement reads, “there is a disgraceful misconception that all people of faith do not affirm the full spectrum of gender – a great many of us do. Let it be known instead that our beloveds are created in the image of God – Holy and whole.”

The faith leaders argue that commendation of LGBTQ peoples and religiously motivated efforts to deny their dignity and rights is not the belief of all faith communities, and far-right Christian nationalist communities and others who uphold homophobia and seek to exact it writ large in the United States do not speak for all faith leaders. 

This is a critical piece of the statement and builds on historical precedence. During the 1980s AIDS crisis, when far-right Christian leaders like Jerry Falwell, one of the founders of the Moral Majority, stated that HIV was “God’s punishment” for LGBTQ+ people and indicative of a broader moral decline in America, affirming faith communities came out to affirm the dignity and divinity of queer people. As funeral homes and churches refused to prepare the dead and bury them, some faith communities stepped up to say that these homophobic leaders do not speak on behalf of all people of faith. 

In 1985, the United Church of Christ General Synod urged its member congregations to claim and declare themselves “Open and Affirming,” in order to express their welcome and support for LGBTQ+ people, and two years later, the Church of the Brethren issued a statement titled “A Call to Compassion” where conference members urged member congregations to speak out boldly against discrimination, provide direct care to people with HIV/AIDS, and actively educate themselves and others to stop the spread of fear and prejudice surrounding the disease.

Just one year later, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Council issued a statement, “AIDS and Church’s Ministry of Caring,” which outlined the ways in which welcoming, ministering to and advocating on behalf of people with HIV/AIDS is critical to their mission. Even the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, which earlier this month banned gender-affirming care at Catholic hospitals, issued a statement in 1987 calling discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS “unjust and immoral,” and denouncing the label of “innocent” or “guilty” patients.

Thus, the faith leaders’ statement this past week builds on a rich history of faith communities fighting the stigma that far-right faith groups perpetuate about LGBTQ+ people and committing to action. What sets this latest statement apart is its decidedly interfaith heart, which speaks to the history of the Pride Interfaith Service in Washington, DC that was first started by a group of faith leaders and lay people who gathered at the AIDS Memorial quilt. 

As the statement reads, “Our scriptures vary, but they share a common conviction. As we make justice our aim we must give voice to those who are silenced. Our shared values, held across many faiths, teach us that we are all children of God and that we must cultivate a discipline of hope, especially in difficult times. As such, we raise our voices in solidarity to unequivocally proclaim the holiness of transgener, nonbinary, and intersex people, as well as the recognition of the entire spectrum of gender identity and expression.”

The statement ended by arguing that they need to call out the violence they are witnessing. Their silence, they argue, would be in compliance and reinforce the idea that homophobic religious leaders and lay people speak on behalf of all people of faith. Their statement is not only words, however, it is a written promise affirming the dignity and holiness of queer people but also to protect them in the face of increasing violence and persecution. 

“When people of faith and conscience stay silent in the face of oppression, we are all made less whole. When people of faith and conscience speak out against that which violates the sacred in its own name, we have the power to stay the hand of sin. Transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people are vulnerable today,” the statement concluded. 

“Our faiths, our theologies, and our practices of prophetic witness call on us to say with one voice to transgender people among us: ‘You are holy. You are sacred. We love you. We support you, and we will protect you.’”

Since 1988, LGBTQ+ communities have come together on Dec. 1st to commemorate queer siblings and allies lost to the AIDS epidemic. This year’s World AIDS Day follows the theme “Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response” and highlights the substantial funding cuts to research, health services, and community initiatives that have prioritized the safety of people with HIV and AIDS. The theme challenges people to think about “radical” ways to organize together and ensure that those who are impacted are able to access the care, treatment, and awareness that they need.

Beginning today, the City of West Hollywood is kicking off programming to recognize the historical transformation that local queer communities experienced during the AIDS epidemic. A panel from the AIDS Memorial Quilt will be available for viewing at the City’s Council Chambers at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard through Monday, Dec. 15th. 

Known as the largest community arts project in history, the Quilt is a powerful memorialization of loved ones who died during the epidemic. Each panel of the Quilt contains a story of remembrance, immortalizing a life cut short during the crisis. The project currently contains over 50,000 panels dedicated to over 110,000 people, all woven together in a 54-ton tapestry piece.

If you’re visiting the panel today, there will be an additional gathering opportunity tonight at the West Hollywood Park for STORIES: the AIDS Monument. From 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., members from the HIV-positive writers collective APLA Health Writers Group will present intimate readings that reflect on their experiences. Community members will be allowed time to wander through the monument and also preview the new Herb Ritts: Allies & Icons exhibition at ONE Gallery after the program. The art show includes striking black and white portraits of activists who stood in alliance with those most impacted during the AIDS epidemic. 

Additionally, fresh flowers will be placed on the bronze plaques that line the City’s AIDS Memorial Walk. During the AIDS epidemic, West Hollywood was at the center of a rampant grief and loss that juxtaposed vibrant programming and efforts that boosted healing and fought against stigma and violence. It continues to be a vibrant space that houses various organizations and memorial spots that continue to uphold the revolutionary history and advocacy work that has continued since the epidemic’s beginnings.

Today, West Hollywood is in the process of executing its HIV Zero Strategic Plan, an initiative that began in 2015. Its goals include: expanding healthcare access for people living with HIV and AIDS, reducing the rate of infections, lessening health disparities and inequities for those impacted, and slowing the disease’s progress from advancing to AIDS.

According to West Hollywood mayor Chelsea Byers at a recent Cityhood event, the initiative carries forth the City’s “bold vision” and commitment to ensuring marginalized community members living with HIV do not face the life-threatening discrimination and health barriers that their elders experienced.

To learn more about the City’s programming, read here.

Kristie Song is a California Local News Fellow placed with the Los Angeles Blade. The California Local News Fellowship is a state-funded initiative to support and strengthen local news reporting. Learn more about it at fellowships.journalism.berkeley.edu/cafellows.

On Nov. 29th, 1984, West Hollywood was incorporated as an independent City, making its sovereignty official and solidifying it further as a sanctuary for LGBTQ+ community members, their stories, and their freedoms. Inspired by other prominent gay neighborhoods like New York’s West Village and San Francisco’s Castro District, West Hollywood was established by local queer advocates and residents. Their first city council was made up of a majority gay governing body — the first in the world, according to the West Hollywood History Center.

This political legacy, and the city’s vibrant and proudly queer history, continues to be preserved. On Monday’s celebratory event, West Hollywood mayor Chelsea Byers announced that the City’s current council “continues to be a majority-LGBTQ+ body,” holding tightly onto a “spirit” that reflects, prioritizes, and fights for Los Angeles’ queer community. 

West Hollywood has been through various transformations, cocooning and revitalizing itself through the country’s evolving political and cultural upheavals. It has long been home to a ravishing nightlife that celebrates LGBTQ+ expression, and was a focal point for queer-led liberation and activism in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Trailblazers like Morris Kight led the first gay pride march through West Hollywood’s streets in 1970 and opened the Los Angeles LGBT Center to nourish the City’s robust and blossoming queer communities.

Today, West Hollywood continues to be the place where queer organizers and residents plant roots. Earlier this month, STORIES: the AIDS monument opened up in the City’s park after over a decade of work, shining a light on the legacies of gay activists, artists, historians, and community members who fought to survive as anti-gay stigma led to the erasure of their rights and lives. 

As waves of anti-LGBTQ+ hate and violence continue to surge through the country, West Hollywood elected officials aim to continue doing the critical work that began decades before them: the work that protects the ability of queer residents to advocate for themselves, to live with protections and dignity, and to relish in joy. Mayor Byers is inspired by the resilience of the community members who stood together to establish this independent City in 1984. “The people who lived here…wanted a city with strong protections for renters, with progressive policies, and with a local government that would actually reflect and protect the people who call this place home,” said Byers, at the Nov. 24th celebration.

Over 40 years later, these needs have not changed. The way forward? Remembering and fighting for that initial promise and hope. “We are a chorus. We are a tapestry,” said Byers. “We are the product of thousands of people who, for more than four decades, have dared to say: We can build something better here.”

Kristie Song is a California Local News Fellow placed with the Los Angeles Blade. The California Local News Fellowship is a state-funded initiative to support and strengthen local news reporting. Learn more about it at fellowships.journalism.berkeley.edu/cafellows.