News

Trump’s vow to invoke national emergency powers and use military force for mass deportations roils LA

Fearing loss of constitutional rights, executive overreach, and military involvement in civil law enforcement, immigration community scrambles

Published

1 year ago

November 21, 2024

Troy Masters

Donald Trump has made clear his intention to begin mass deportations immediately upon taking office on January 20, 2025, a promise he made repeatedly during his 2024 presidential campaign.

“On Day 1, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out,” he declared during a rally at Madison Square Garden in the final days of the presidential race. “I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered, and we will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail, then kick them the hell out of our country as fast as possible.”

This week, for the first time, Trump vowed to invoke national emergency powers to execute this plan and, particularly troubling, will use the Armed Services to do so.

National emergency declarations have long been used by U.S. presidents to access extraordinary powers, often bypassing congressional oversight. The National Emergencies Act (NEA) of 1976 was designed to prevent unchecked executive authority, but its provisions have failed to effectively curb presidential overreach. While the act sets guidelines for declaring national emergencies, presidents have frequently invoked this power to justify wide-ranging actions, from military interventions (abroad) to surveillance programs (domestically and abroad).

For example, in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, President George W. Bush invoked national emergency powers to pass the Patriot Act, which allowed for sweeping surveillance and counterterrorism measures with minimal congressional oversight. This precedent establishes a concerning foundation for Trump’s proposed use of emergency powers in the realm of immigration enforcement.

Trump’s pledge to invoke emergency powers to detain, round up, and deport over 11 million undocumented immigrants would result in a domestic military operation of unprecedented scale.

He vows to build “vast holding facilities that would function as staging centers” for immigrants as their cases progressed and they waited to be flown to other countries. While large-scale deportation efforts have been attempted in the past—most recently President Eisenhower’s “Operation Wetback” in the 1950s, which deported 1.1 million people—today’s proposed numbers are far greater. Even the Obama administration, which deported 1.8 million people during its tenure, faced significant legal and logistical hurdles that made large-scale deportations difficult to carry out quickly and without consequence.

Many hurdles exist.

Legal challenges are almost certain to engulf Trump’s administration should it pursue such a plan. These challenges will include key issues such as whether the president can lawfully bypass Congress to enforce mass deportations. There will also be significant legal disputes surrounding the treatment of detained immigrants, particularly their Due Process rights under the U.S. Constitution.

The 2018 Supreme Court case Jennings v Rodriguez, reaffirmed that due process protections apply to all individuals on U.S. soil, regardless of immigration status, guaranteeing them rights such as bond hearings and access to counsel.

Any attempt to bypass these rights would invite immediate and substantial legal challenges, further complicating Trump’s efforts.

In addition to these legal complexities, the logistical challenges of executing such a massive operation would be immense. Deporting millions of individuals would require extensive resources for transportation, housing, medical care, and sustenance. Some estimate the price tag could exceed $300 billion dollars.

The U.S. government would need to significantly expand detention facilities and infrastructure to accommodate such a large influx of detainees.

Historical attempts to increase detention capacity, such as the family detention centers under Obama, faced severe criticism for overcrowding, inhumane conditions and the violation of human rights.

Legal objections are likely to arise concerning the use of armed military personnel in civilian spaces. Deploying military forces for domestic law enforcement operations could violate the Posse Comitatus Act, which restricts the use of military personnel in civilian law enforcement activities. Previous efforts to militarize U.S. immigration enforcement—such as the use of the National Guard at the U.S.-Mexico border—faced constitutional challenges and public backlash.

If Trump proceeds with using the military for mass deportations, it would almost certainly prompt immediate legal challenges based on this law.

Trump has long expressed disdain for the traditional system of checks and balances, viewing even basic constitutional arguments as an obstacle to his leadership.

He has shown that he will not hesitate to bypass Congress and other governmental processes for key appointments. For example, during his first term, Trump repeatedly sought to circumvent the Senate confirmation process, such as with his appointments to the Department of Justice and Health and Human Services, where he clashed with Senate Democrats over key nominations.

Trump is not shy about his broader desire to centralize power within the executive branch, diminishing the role of both the legislative and judicial branches. His antagonism toward agencies like the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council—which he has accused of undermining his administration—further underscores his aim to weaken institutional checks on executive power. If unchecked, we could see a presidency where unilateral decisions by the executive become the norm, with minimal oversight from Congress or the courts.

Already, Trump has signaled his intent to appoint loyalists to key agencies, many of which he clashed with or feels have hindered his agenda. Examples include his controversial Pentagon appointments, as well as his selection of Director of National Intelligence and Health and Human Services leaders, who have been seen as part of his push to exert more control over agencies he perceives as obstructionist or hostile. He has already assigned a Border Czar, Tom Homan, who separated thousands of families at the border during Trump’s first term; that policy resulted in children never again being found.

Seizing emergency powers would allow Trump to bypass some, but not all, political and legal barriers to implementing his deportation plan.

To make it more feasible, he would likely need to suspend aspects of Due Process protections, militarize public spaces and bypass rules surrounding the detention of individuals without adequate hearings or access to credible legal counsel. This would create a system where any individual could be detained, processed and deported with no actual regard for constitutional protections.

In short, a frustrated Trump—empowered by a Republican-majority Congress and a potentially willing DOJ and Supreme Court—might attempt to suspend the constitution.

This is not without precedent.

Over 120,000 people of Japanese descent were interned in camps throught out the US during World War II, including 20,000 at Los Angeles County’s Santa Anita Assembly Center. (Photo: PBS)

In 1862, President Lincoln issued Presidential Proclamation 94 which suspended the writ of habeas corpus. (Photo from National Archives education division)

During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus to suppress dissent, and during World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s internment of Japanese Americans involved the suspension of their constitutional rights in the name of national security.

While these actions were taken during times of war, they set dangerous precedents for the suspension of civil liberties in the face of perceived national crises. Trump has called the immigration an ‘invasion’ and has referred to migrants and their protectors as the ‘enemy within.’

Though few are publicly contemplating this possibility, we must acknowledge that we are on a trajectory toward some form of civil rights suspension, and certainly, we are witnessing a potential for widespread executive overreach.

At the local level, cities and states have vowed to resist Trump’s immigration plans.

The Los Angeles City Council has declared itself a Sanctuary City, and Mayor Karen Bass has pledged that no city resources or personnel will support deportation efforts.

Similarly, Governor Gavin Newsom of California has made declarations on behalf of the state.

However, these measures do not prevent the federal government from taking action on the ground.

In fact, Trump and Congress have the authority to terminate federal funding to uncooperative states and local governments.

In 2021, for example, California received over $150 billion in federal funding, which could be withheld as political leverage at every turn to force compliance with federal immigration policies.

Most immigration rights advocates, attorneys and others want to point out that there is every reason to remain hopeful and that Due Process rights, good judges and justice minded citizens will work to protect most people from unjust treatment and deportation.

However, it’s not clear what Due Process or advocacy might look like if Trump militarizes the process and suspends the Constitution.

There are currently several immigration violations that could lead to the deportation of individuals attempting to remain in the U.S. and people who entered the country without authorization are often a focus of immigration enforcement, particularly under the Trump administration.

However, the specifics of deportation policies can vary and it’s important to note that many individuals who entered the U.S. improperly have remained in the country for years, blending into communities.

Some of these individuals have applied for asylum or are in the process of adjusting their status through other legal avenues, such as family-based petitions or employment-based green card applications.

The process for detaining and deporting these individuals can depend on several factors, including whether they have a criminal record, whether they are in removal proceedings or their current legal status.

Ally Bolour, a well-known immigration attorney based in Los Angeles, says he has faith in Due Process but is “concerned that the process may become much more restrictive and that due process may be minimal and not applied fairly.”

Bolour has since 1996 worked with individuals facing deportation and specializes in cases involving people who have entered the U.S. without authorization and those seeking asylum.

“Sensitivity to the queer minority is going to be minimal,” under Trump’s immigration system, he says.. “They won’t care. It’s literally a fact that, if you are a gay person fleeing the Islamic Republic, you’re fleeing because they’re gonna hang you. Credible fear. But after January 20, as I see it,chances of a gay Iranian being able to and pass the credible fear becomes more difficult than it is today.”

Los Angeles Blade spoke with Bolour about 23 year old Jesus, one of the more than 200,000 LGBTQ immigrants who have made their way to California in the past few years.

His immigration situation as an asylum seeker today illustrates the impact a growing maze of intentional legal and bureaucratic hurdles has on immigrants’ ability to advance their cases.

Jesus made his way to the U.S. seeking refuge from the violence and instability that defined his life in Venezuela.

Born in Caracas, Jesus’ childhood was marked by the unraveling of his family’s middle-class life as Venezuela descended into political and economic chaos. His father, once a government worker loyal to Hugo Chávez, witnessed the system’s collapse from within. He refused to comply with orders from high-ranking officials like Diosdado Cabello, resulting in the family’s swift downfall.

Jesus’ early years were defined by loss, as their possessions and status vanished, leaving them targets of a ruthless government.

Venezuela’s economic collapse, particularly between 2013 and 2023, created unimaginable hardship. Hyperinflation and a crumbling economy made basic necessities unattainable, and survival became a daily struggle. But for Jesus, being gay in a country that became increasingly hostile to LGBTQ people added another layer of peril.

“In Venezuela, being gay isn’t just a social challenge—it’s a potential death sentence,” he explains, recalling countless friends lost to violence or suicide. The societal rejection and threats, he says, were constant.

Faced with this brutal reality, Jesus made the decision to flee Venezuela. “It wasn’t impulsive; it was a matter of survival” he says. Part of a larger wave of over 7 million Venezuelans fleeing the country, Jesus traveled to Mexico City, then to Tijuana, before crossing the U.S. border on foot near San Diego. He chose to surrender to U.S. border authorities, a decision that led to his detention across various facilities in the Southwestern and Southeastern U.S.

During his six months in detention, Jesus faced COVID-19, potential deportation, and constant uncertainty. Yet, even in these grim circumstances, he found a sense of community among other LGBTQ detainees. “We watched out for each other,” he recalls. Eventually, a friend bailed him out.

Today, Jesus works and lives in California, grateful for his newfound safety but now facing the prospect of having his American journey crushed by Donald Trump.

Jesus mingles in the crowd at a recent Washington DC Pride celebration. (Photo by Los Angeles Blade)

Because he crossed the U.S. border illegally, his designation remains “Entered Without Inspection” (EWI)—a status that may pose a significant threat to his ability to remain in the country.

Trump’s immigration round up plan appears to target individuals with EWI status no matter how long they have been in the country or where they are in the process of becoming a visa holder (witness his determination to remove even American-born adult children of elderly immigrants in this status).

In an effort to strengthen Jesus’ case, his attorney has suggested a bold and complicated strategy: leave the U.S. and re-enter through legal channels.

Attorney Bolour says he would advise against this strategy for someone like Jesus.

“For those with pending asylum applications and an expired TPS, it is very difficult to obtain Advanced Parole,” he says. “There are significant risks involved.” He recommends that people in this situation “do not travel until they have some form of approved status, such as TPS.”

Bolour notes that “every case is different” and it is imperative that people “consult with counsel before making any firm decisions.”

In the case of Jesus, if he was able to wipe the EWI status from his record, it might help him avoid the First Country Rule.

This rule mandates asylum seekers apply for asylum in the first country they reach after fleeing their home country, and for Jesus, that country was Mexico. If he were able to reset his immigration record, this rule might potentially no longer apply to him.

However, his ability to exit the US and reenter is made risky because his Temporary Protected Status , which had allowed him to stay in the U.S. without fear of deportation, expired in March 2024. Since then, he has been waiting for his renewal application to be processed.

TPS was set for automatic renewal but the system has conveniently failed to renew status for thousands of people.

Without a valid TPS, Jesus cannot legally leave the U.S., as doing so would trigger an automatic ban on his re-entry.

To leave the country legally, he would need to apply for Advanced Parole, a document that permits individuals to travel abroad temporarily without risking their legal status.

But obtaining Advanced Parole is no simple feat. The application process can take months and even if expedited, there is no guarantee of timely approval. It’s impossible, however, without an active TPS.

The intersection of expired TPS, bureaucratic delays and the looming threat of U.S. military lead deportation and harsh immigration policies leaves Jesus in a state of perpetual uncertainty.

Bolour says everyone “must be prepared for the worst possible outcome: a systematic erosion of civil rights, aggressive federal action, and a significant legal, human rights, and constitutional crisis.”

To that end, Bolour says the most important thing any person facing immigration challenges should have, is a plan:

Remain Calm:
- Stay calm and do not physically resist. Immigration agents have the authority to detain you, but resisting can lead to additional charges or complications.
- NOTE: If agents appear at your door with a warrant for your arrest, do not let them in unless the warrant has been signed by a judge.
Know Your Rights:
- You have the right to remain silent and not answer questions about your immigration status. You also have the right to ask for a lawyer. Remember, anything you say can be used against you in the future.
Request to Contact an Attorney:
- Ask to speak with an immigration attorney immediately. You have the right to legal counsel, and an attorney can guide you through the process and ensure your rights are protected.
Do Not Sign Any Documents Without Legal Advice:
- Do not sign anything without understanding what it means. Immigration officials may ask you to sign forms or waivers, which could impact your case. Consult with an attorney before signing any documents.
Provide Only Basic Information:
- Only provide your name, address, and date of birth. Avoid answering other questions or providing more personal information without a lawyer present.
Limit Social Media posts:
- Do not post private information or photos and restrict your interactions to known participants. If your page is public, set to friends only and do not share your location.
Document the Detention:
- If possible, have a trusted friend or family member document your detention, including the time, location, and agents involved. This information can be important for legal proceedings or for advocacy groups that may assist in your case.
Exercise Your Right to Make a Phone Call:
- You have the right to make a phone call to family, friends, or your attorney. Immigration authorities should allow you to call a lawyer, though this may vary by location.
Request a Hearing:
- You have the right to request a hearing in front of an immigration judge. Your attorney can help you with this process and inform you of any options for contesting your detention.
Avoid Talking About Your Case:
- Do not discuss your case with other detainees, as it may be used against you. Stick to speaking with your lawyer or trusted individuals.
Stay in Contact with Support Networks:
- Keep your family, friends, and advocacy organizations informed about your situation so they can assist with legal or practical needs during the detention process.
Create an emergency notification group:
- If you are detained or face any urgent situation, inform a trusted core group of family and friends who can collaborate to assist you.

By following such steps, Bolour says, you can help ensure that your legal rights are respected and that you have the best chance of navigating the immigration detention process effectively.

“It is affecting my health and I don’t know what my real options are,” says Jesus. “They keep adding rules and conditions and slowing my ability to keep the case up to date. It’s like a game of musical chairs where you run out of time to get to the right place before Trump stops the music.”

“But,” adds Jesus, “I am not going to give up. I can’t. Even though I don’t know what’s next.”

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Arts & Entertainment

2026 Best of LGBTQ LA Finalist Voting

Voting is open through March 6, 2026!

Published

50 minutes ago

February 24, 2026

Staff reports

The 2026 Los Angeles Blade Best of LGBTQ LA Awards are here! You submitted your nominations—now it’s time to vote for the finalists. Voting is open through March 6, 2026.

Among some of your favorite categories are Best Drag Performer, Local Influencer of the Year, Best Happy Hour, Go-Go of the Year, Activist of the Year, Public Official of the Year, Best Non-Profit, Best Bartender, Best DJ, Best Local Podcast, and so many more!

Winners will be revealed at the Best of LGBTQ LA celebration on Thursday, March 26 at The Abbey. Stay tuned for more party details coming soon!

Vote using the form below or by clicking HERE.

Here are this year’s nominees!

Best Drag Performer

Cake Moss
Charles Galin King
Kyra Jete
Laylah Amor
Misty Violet

Best Drag Show

Bring It To Brunch at Mattie’s
Brunch Service at The Abbey
Hamburger Marys West Hollywood
Las Reinas at Mickys
Rocc-ettes at Mattie’s

Local Influencer of the Year

Charles Hernandez (CnoteLA)
Curly Vasquez
Justin Martindale
Lucas Dell
Rose Montoya
Victoria Pousada Kreindler

Best LGBTQ Bar

Gym Bar
Kiso Los Angeles
Mattie’s Weho
Or Bar
The Abbey

Best Happy Hour

33 Taps
Fiesta Cantina
Hi-Tops
Mickys
Motherlode
The Abbey

Go-Go of the Year

Daniel Mooney
Gabriel Gonzalez
Jay Nova
Prince Joshua
Steven Dehler
Victoria Shaw

Best Restaurant

Bottega Louie
Hamburger Mary’s
La Boheme
Pura Vita
WeHo Bistro

Best Radio or TV Station

CHANNEL Q
KTLA
LatiNation
Out TV
REVRY

Best Cannabis Retailer/Lounge

Artist Tree Lounge
Elevate
Green Qween
Med Men
The Woods WeHo

Best LGBTQ Owned Business

Fan Girl Cafe
Green Qween
JJLA
Lucky Break PR
MISTR
Wildfang

Best LGBTQ Social Group

Dark Circle Film Society
Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles
NLGJA Los Angeles
Outloud Sports
Unique Woman’s Coalition
WeHo Dodgeball

Best House of Worship

Congregation Kol Ami
Founders Metropolitan Community Church Los Angeles
Hollywood Boulevard Episcopal
Hollywood United Methodist
InVision Church Los Angeles

Activist of the Year

Bamby Salcedo
Cory Allen
Joshua Marin-Mora
Liliana Perez
Maebe A. Girl
Rose Montoya

Public Official of the Year

CA State Treasurer Fiona Ma
Chelsea Byers
John Erickson
Lindsey Horvath
Maebe A. Girl

Best Local Pro Sports Team

Angel City FC
LA Chargers
LA Dodgers
LA Lakers
LA Rams
LA Sparks
Los Angeles FC

Local Ally of the Year

Abbe Land
Jessica Steinman
Kevin De Nicolo
Lindsey Horvath
Senator Lena Gonzalez

Best Doctor/Medical Provider

AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Better U
Dr. Eric Chaghouri
LA LGBT Center
St. John’s Wellness
UCLA CARE Center

Most LGBTQ-Friendly Workplace

AIDS Healthcare Foundation
City of West Hollywood
JJLA
Los Angeles LGBT Center
Lucky Break PR
Revry

Non-Profit of the Year

AJ Socal
Equality California
Los Angeles LGBT Center
OutAthletes
Project Angel Food
Trans Lifeline

Best Local Actor

Annie Reznik
Jason Caceres
Michael Scott Montgomery
Nhut Le
Shaan Dasani
Trevor Dow

Best Local Theatre

Celebration Theatre
Center Theatre Group
Geffen Playhouse
International City Theatre
LA Opera
Pasadena Playhouse

Local Musical Artist of the Year

Prince Joshua
Robert Rene
Ross Alan
San Cha
Tom Goss

Best LGBTQ Event

Dinah Shore
GLAAD Awards
LA Opera Pride Night
MISTR’s National PrEP Day
Outloud Music Festival at Weho Pride
Pride Night by Hyperion LA

Best Regional Pride

DTLA Proud
Hermosa Beach
Long Beach Pride
Palm Springs Pride
WeHo Pride

Best Promoter of the Year

Andres Rigal
Ash Rodriguez
Beau Byron
Joshua Flores
Paul Nicholls

LGBTQ Professional of the Year

Cory Allen
Erik Braverman
Kathleen Rawson
Liliana Perez
Michael Ferrera
Tristan Schukraft

Best Bartender

Alex Satoshi DiDio
Danny Hernandez
Manny De Cielo
Matt Stratman
Michael Susi
Michael Vega

Best DJ

Boy Apocalypse
DJ Les Ortiz
DJ SRO
Lord Izac
Simon Harrison

Best Local LGBTQ Podcast

BabyGay
No Matter What Club
No Matter What Recovery
On The Rocks
Sloppy Seconds Podcast
Very Delta

Best Salon/Spa

Bautis LA
Folklore Salon & Barber
Project Q
Shorty’s Barber Shop
The Massage Company WEHO

Best Music Venue

The Disney Concert Hall
The Hollywood Bowl
The Roxy Theatre
The Troubadour
The Wiltern

Best Fitness/Workout Spot

Barry’s WEHO
Equinox on Sunset
Gold’s Gym
John Reed Fitness
LA Fitness, Hollywood

Best Hotel

Andaz
Edition Hotel
Hotel Ziggy
Kimpton La Peer Hotel
SoHo House

Books

New book profiles LGBTQ+ Ukrainians, documents war experiences

Tuesday marks four years since Russia attacked Ukraine

Published

3 hours ago

February 24, 2026

Michael K. Lavers

Artur Ozerov, a drag queen who performs as AuRa and works for the Kyiv City Military Administration, prepares to perform at a nightclub in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Dec. 10, 2022. Ozeroy is among the LGBTQ+ Ukrainians profiled in J. Lester Feder's new book, 'The Queer Face of War: Portraits and Stories from Ukraine' (Photo by J. Lester Feder, courtesy of Outright International)

Journalist J. Lester Feder’s new book profiles LGBTQ+ Ukrainians and their experiences during Russia’s war against their country.

Feder for “The Queer Face of War: Portraits and Stories from Ukraine” interviewed and photographed LGBTQ+ Ukrainians in Kyiv, the country’s capital, and in other cities. They include Olena Hloba, the co-founder of Tergo, a support group for parents and friends of LGBTQ+ Ukrainians, who fled her home in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha shortly after Russia launched its war on Feb. 24, 2022.

Russian soldiers killed civilians as they withdrew from Bucha. Videos and photographs that emerged from the Kyiv suburb showed dead bodies with their hands tied behind their back and other signs of torture.

**Olena Hloba** (Photo by J. Lester Feder, courtesy of Outright International)

Olena Shevchenko, chair of Insight, a Ukrainian LGBTQ+ rights group, wrote the book’s forward.

**Olena Shevchenko**, leader of Insight, poses for a portrait, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 8, 2025. (Washington Blade photo by Caroline Gutman)

The book also profiles Viktor Pylypenko, a gay man who the Ukrainian military assigned to the 72nd Mechanized Black Cossack Brigade after the war began. Feder writes Pylypenko’s unit “was deployed to some of the fiercest and most important battles of the war.”

“The brigade was pivotal to beating Russian forces back from Kyiv in their initial attempt to take the capital, helping them liberate territory near Kharkiv and defending the front lines in Donbas,” wrote Feder.

Pylypenko spent two years fighting “on Ukraine’s most dangerous battlefields, serving primarily as a medic.”

“At times he felt he was living in a horror movie, watching tank shells tear his fellow soldiers apart before his eyes,” wrote Feder. “He held many men as they took their final breaths. Of the roughly one hundred who entered the unit with him, only six remained when he was discharged in 2024. He didn’t leave by choice: he went home to take care of his father, who had suffered a stroke.”

Feder notes one of Pylypenko’s former commanders attacked him online when he came out. Pylypenko said another commander defended him.

Feder also profiled Diana and Oleksii Polukhin, two residents of Kherson, a port city in southern Ukraine that is near the mouth of the Dnieper River.

Ukrainian forces regained control of Kherson in November 2022, nine months after Russia occupied it.

Diana, a cigarette vender, and Polukhin told Feder that Russian forces demanded they disclose the names of other LGBTQ+ Ukrainians in Kherson. Russian forces also tortured Diana and Polukhin while in their custody.

Polukhim is the first LGBTQ+ victim of Russian persecution to report their case to Ukrainian prosecutors.

**Oleksii Polukhin** (Photo by J. Lester Feder)

Feder, who is of Ukrainian descent, first visited Ukraine in 2013 when he wrote for BuzzFeed.

He was Outright International’s Senior Fellow for Emergency Research from 2021-2023. Feder last traveled to Ukraine in December 2024.

Feder spoke about his book at Politics and Prose at the Wharf in Southwest D.C. on Feb. 6. The Los Angeles Blade spoke with Feder on Feb. 20.

Feder told the Blade he began to work on the book when he was at Outright International and working with humanitarian groups on how to better serve LGBTQ+ Ukrainians. Feder said military service requirements, a lack of access to hormone therapy and documents that accurately reflect a person’s gender identity and LGBTQ+-friendly shelters are among the myriad challenges that LGBTQ+ Ukrainians have faced since the war began.

“All of these were components of a queer experience of war that was not well documented, and we had never seen in one place, especially with photos,” he told the Blade. “I felt really called to do that, not only because of what was happening in Ukraine, but also as a way to bring to the surface issues that we’d had seen in Iraq and Syria and Afghanistan.”

**J. Lester Feder** (Photo by J. Lester Feder)

Feder also spoke with the Blade about the war’s geopolitical implications.

Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2013 signed a law that bans the “promotion of homosexuality” to minors.

The 2014 Winter Olympics took place in Sochi, a Russian resort city on the Black Sea. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine a few weeks after the games ended.

Russia’s anti-LGBTQ+ crackdown has continued over the last decade.

The Russian Supreme Court in 2023 ruled the “international LGBT movement” is an extremist organization and banned it. The Russian Justice Ministry last month designated ILGA World, a global LGBTQ+ and intersex rights group, as an “undesirable” organization.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has sought to align itself with Europe.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after a 2021 meeting with then-President Joe Biden at the White House said his country would continue to fight discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. (Zelenskyy’s relationship with the U.S. has grown more tense since the Trump-Vance administration took office.) Zelenskyy in 2022 publicly backed civil partnerships for same-sex couples.

Then-Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova in 2023 applauded Kyiv Pride and other LGBTQ+ and intersex rights groups in her country when she spoke at a photo exhibit at Ukraine House in D.C. that highlighted LGBTQ+ and intersex soldiers. Then-Kyiv Pride Executive Director Lenny Emson, who Feder profiles in his book, was among those who attended the event.

“Thank you for everything you do in Kyiv, and thank you for everything that you do in order to fight the discrimination that still is somewhere in Ukraine,” said Markarova. “Not everything is perfect yet, but you know, I think we are moving in the right direction. And we together will not only fight the external enemy, but also will see equality.”

Feder in response to the Blade’s question about why he decided to write his book said he “didn’t feel” the “significance of Russia’s war against Ukraine” for LGBTQ+ people around the world “was fully understood.”

“This was an opportunity to tell that big story,” he said.

“The crackdown on LGBT rights inside Russia was essentially a laboratory for a strategy of attacking democratic values by attacking queer rights and it was one as Ukraine was getting closet to Europe back in 2013, 2014,” he added. “It was a strategy they were using as part of their foreign policy, and it was one they were using not only in Ukraine over the past decade, but around the world.”

Feder said Republicans are using “that same strategy to attack queer people, to attack democracy itself.”

“I felt like it was important that Americans understand that history,” he said.

California

Experts discuss pathways forward as anti-trans violence continues to rise

On Thursday, Feb. 19, the Williams Institute invited a panel of local experts to discuss the rise in anti-trans hate crimes, and ways communities can seek refuge and support.

Published

3 hours ago

February 24, 2026

Kristie Song

(Blade photo by Michael Key)

During a recent webinar hosted by the Williams Institute, a local LGBTQ+ policy think tank, several policy experts, law scholars, and advocates gathered online to discuss violence against transgender people in California as well as potential solutions to navigate the year ahead.

Here are important updates gathered from the session. These expand on an earlier Blade article about the increase in reported hate crimes and incidents against trans people since 2013.

What we’re familiar with: trans people face higher rates of victimization and violence

llan H. Meyer, the Williams Distinguished Senior Scholar of Public Policy at the Williams Institute, utilized data collected by the 2022-2023 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) and the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey (USTS) to re-solidify the lived experiences of trans Angelenos and Californians.

The reality is: transgender, gender expansive, and intersex (TGI) communities face much higher rates of violence compared to cis people who are not queer-identifying.

Out of the 9,146 Californian respondents who participated in the national USTS, 19% of those surveyed reported that they received threats of violence. 38% reported facing verbal harassment, and 42% experienced online harassment. Overall, nearly 60% of the TGI people surveyed experienced some form of violence, threatening behavior, or harassment.

And for Black and brown trans women, whose experiences of transphobia may also coincide with misogynoir, racism, and anti-immigration rhetoric, they are at an even greater risk when it comes to experiencing violence and harassment.

Why is there an increase in violence against trans people?

When the webinar’s moderator, Senior Scholar of Public Policy Ayden Scheim, posed this question, Meyer pointed to the political “scapegoating” of trans people in the U.S. Under the current administration, there is a proliferation and mobilization of anti-LGBTQ+ hate that is especially rooted in anti-trans bias.

The higher numbers in recent data can also be explained by increased training for police when it comes to investigating and reporting anti-trans hate crimes and incidents. This could also be because more people are willing to report the violence they face.

Historically, though, TGI people report higher rates of distrust when it comes to seeking support from the police, so they often underreport the violence they experience. While researchers are working hard to collect a more “complete record” and a full portrait of anti-trans hate and violence, there are factors that can limit this work.

“Not everybody reports, not everybody who reports is assessed to actually be a hate crime, and not everybody who is assessed to be an actual hate crime is actually reported upward so that it gets into the data,” Meyer explained, detailing the difficulties researchers can face when trying to piece together a more “complete record” and full portrait of anti-trans hate and violence.

There is a “gap between legal protection and lived safety.”

Much of the distrust trans people experience when it comes to police and officials is a product of systems that have proven to be hostile towards trans people. “I feel like that tells us something that’s really important. Violence is not some random act…It is a pattern. It is structural. It interacts with social perceptions and economic vulnerability,” said Pamuela Halliwell, the Director of Behavioral Health Services at the San Diego LGBT Community Center.

Halliwell described her work as existing at the crossroads between behavioral health, community practice, and research, allowing her intimate insight into the tedious, chronic “hypervigilance” many trans people begin to embody as they face increased fear and stress from the threat of violence.

“It looks like people are being removed from their homes. It looks like fear, shame,” Halliwell described. “It looks like discrimination that feels overwhelming and contributes to a host of other mental health symptoms that become overwhelming and damaging. It looks like housing instability. It looks like communities are carrying communicative stress.”

While acknowledging that California has some of the strongest legal frameworks for trans people, Halliwell explained that there is a gap between stronger protections and the still prominent and tangible violence trans people face. She pointed towards a need for accessible survivor-centered reporting systems, making sure people know that these resources are available and ensuring that data collection and analysis moving forward really centers people across all gender identities.

How do we address our “structural vulnerability” and lean into different avenues of care?

Alec Watts, Assistant Deputy Director of Research and Policy at the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), explained that the department conducts extensive outreach to make sure communities and organizations are empowered with inclusive education. Part of this includes attending events as well as hosting trainings to educate people about civil rights protections, human trafficking, housing, and hate violence.

There are also direct ways members of the public can make their voice heard.

File a complaint

Watts explained that people are encouraged to file a complaint with the CRD directly if they believe their rights were violated. The department is in charge of investigating thousands of these complaints, and can provide mediation and, potentially, help file lawsuits in court on behalf of victims.

Consult in the CRD’s Community Conflict Resolution Unit

These are free, confidential resolution services intended to help community members when people are experiencing fear, conflict, or tension. Members of this unit can help facilitate discussion after an incident occurs, provide educational materials, and can assist schools in mediating tension between students, adults, or both.

Seek anonymous support through the California vs Hate hotline

The CRD operates the non-emergency reporting hotline for anyone in the state who has experienced or witnessed a hate crime or incident. But Watts stresses that this is more than just a reporting hotline — once you make a report, you are connected with a trauma-informed care coordinator who can connect you with legal, financial, mental health, or mediation resources. Services are free and available, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, or immigration status. Reports can be made at the website or on the phone, at 8338-NO-HATE.

“Our psyche cannot function in survival mode forever,” Halliwell said, pointing to a sustained fear that trans people navigate the world with. As severe and real as these fears are, Halliwell also clarified that TGI communities are not solely defined by harm. “The data [also] reflects a community that continues to show up, build networks, create chosen families, and demand better systems…It also highlights where intervention is possible. Structural vulnerability can be addressed, prevention is possible, and community care is real and expanding.”

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.

Mexico

US Embassy in Mexico issues shelter in place order for Puerto Vallarta

Mexican soldiers killed powerful cartel leader on Sunday

Published

2 days ago

February 22, 2026

Michael K. Lavers

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, in 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

Editor’s note: This article has been updated.

The U.S. Embassy in Mexico on Sunday urged Americans in the resort city of Puerto Vallarta to shelter in place after Mexican authorities killed a powerful cartel leader.

The Washington Post reported Mexican soldiers on Sunday killed Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, the head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel known as “El Mencho,” in Tapalpa, a town south of Guadalajara, the capital of Mexico’s Jalisco state.

Puerto Vallarta is in Jalisco, but is roughly five hours away from Tapalpa.

Local media reports indicate cartel members in response to Oseguera’s killing have set fire to cars and buses in Puerto Vallarta and elsewhere in Jalisco and in other cities across Mexico. The U.S. Embassy’s shelter in place directive also includes Baja California and Quintana Roo states and parts of Guanajuato, Guerrero, Michoacán, Oaxaca, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas states.

The Mexican border cities of Tijuana and Tecate are in Baja California. The resort cities of Cancún, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, and Cozumel are located in Quintana Roo in the Yucatán Peninsula.

Security Alert – Update: Ongoing Security Operations – U.S. Mission Mexico (February 22, 2026)

Locations: Widespread, including Jalisco State (including Puerto Vallarta, Chapala, and Guadalajara), Baja California State (including Tijuana, Tecate, and Ensenada), Quintana Roo… pic.twitter.com/vwxfOSF6iJ

— Embajada de EE.UU. en México (@USEmbassyMEX) February 22, 2026

“While no airports have been closed, roadblocks have impacted airline operations, with some domestic and international flights cancelled in both Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta,” reads the advisory. “All taxis and ride shares are suspended in Puerto Vallarta. Some businesses have suspended operations.”

Mantamar Beach Club in Puerto Vallarta’s Zona Romántica, an area in which several gay bars, hotels, and nightclubs are located, is among the businesses that closed on Sunday.

“Due to circumstances beyond our control and road blockages currently affecting the city of Puerto Vallarta, Mantamar Beach Club will remain closed today,” said Mantamar Beach Club on its Facebook page. “This decision has been made in order to prioritize the safety and mobility of our guests, staff, and visitors.”

Giovanni Rocco, a member of the board of directors of the Capital Pride Alliance the group that organizes D.C.’s Pride events, and his partner were in their Airbnb near Zona Romántica at around 10:30 a.m. local time (8:30 a.m. PT) when a friend texted them and asked if they were “okay.” They went up to the roof of their building and saw “fires all across the city.”

“The day’s been pretty wild,” Rocco told the Washington Blade during a FaceTime interview that took place shortly after 7 p.m. local time (5 p.m. PT.) “[We] did not expect to wake up to fires and explosions and gunfire across the city.”

Rocco said he and his partner saw fires from cars that had been set ablaze from their building. Rocco said at one point he saw one of the “big pharmacies here that was set on fire,” but he was uncertain whether someone deliberately set it on fire or whether a car in flames did.

Here’s a look at Puerto Vallarta today. We woke up to find smoke rising from different parts of Zona Romántica. As the afternoon went on, we started to hear more explosions and gunfire. About an hour and a half ago, a Navy helicopter circled the area for a few minutes. pic.twitter.com/T9vwlzdnq3

— Giovanni Rocco (@GRoccooo) February 23, 2026

“We’ve been in our building the entire day — entire in our unit or up on the rooftop to check things out, but we’ve been following that local and State Department guidance and sheltering in place,” Rocco told the Blade.

He said it was “a beautiful week, wonderful weather, sunny. It’s been in the 70s all week. It’s just perfect weather.” Rocco told the Blade that he and his partner on Saturday had dinner on the beach before they went to a couple of bars.

“Everything was fine and normal and great,” he said. “To wake up to this reality, it (definitely) shook (us) up a bit.”

Rocco and his partner had been scheduled to fly back to D.C. on Monday, but their fight was cancelled. The embassy on Tuesday lifted its shelter in place order.

“Public transportation and businesses continue to return to normal operations following a law enforcement operation that took place on Feb. 22,” said the embassy on X. “U.S. citizens are no longer urged to shelter in place.”

National

LGBTQ+ activists mourn the Rev. Jesse Jackson

Prominent civil rights leader died on Tuesday at 84

Published

7 days ago

February 17, 2026

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson in 1983. (Washington Blade archive photo by Jim Marks)

LGBTQ+ rights advocates have joined the nation’s civil rights leaders in reflecting on the life and work of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the famed U.S. civil rights leader whose family announced passed away on Feb. 17 at the age of 84.

Known as a follower and associate of African American civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Jackson emerged in the 1960s as a leading civil rights advocate for the Black community and other minorities for decades throughout the U.S., including in Washington.

In a less known aspect of Jackson’s involvement in politics, following his campaigns for U.S. president in 1984 and 1988, Jackson won election in 1990 as the District of Columbia’s shadow senator, a ceremonial position created to lobby Congress for D.C. statehood.

Jackson, who at that time had a home in D.C., received strong support from D.C. voters, including LGBTQ+ voters who became aware of Jackson’s support for LGBTQ+ issues. He served just one six-year term as the city’s shadow senator before choosing not to run again.

An early supporter of marriage equality, Jackson was among the prominent speakers at the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. Jackson joined other speakers at a rally on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol.

During his run for president in 1988 the D.C. Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, an LGBTQ+ group that has since been renamed the Capital Stonewall Democrats, endorsed Jackson for president ahead of the city’s Democratic presidential primary.

“The fight for justice requires courage, hope, and a relentlessness that will not be denied. Rev. Jesse Jackson embodied that fight every day,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy organization.

“From disrupting political systems and building people power to helping this country imagine a freer future for all of us, Rev. Jackson was a force,” Robinson said in a statement. “His historic presidential campaigns paved the way for generations of Black leaders to imagine ourselves in rooms we were once told were closed to us.”

Robinson added, “Reverand Jackson also stood up when it mattered; when it wasn’t easy and when it wasn’t popular. His support for marriage equality and for LGBTQ+ people affirmed a simple, powerful truth: our liberation is bound together.”

She also pointed to Jackson’s support for efforts to repeal California’s Proposition 8, a 2008 referendum passed by voters to ban same-sex marriage in the state.

“Marriage is based on love and commitment, not on sexual orientation. I support the right for any person to marry the person of their choosing,” Robinson quoted Jackson as saying in support of efforts that succeeded in overturning the California marriage ban.

The national organization PFLAG, which represents parents, friends, and allies of the LGBTQ+ community, released a statement from its president, Brian K. Bond, citing Jackson’s longstanding support for the LGBTQ+ community.

“Today, as we learn of the passing of Rev. Jesse Jackson, we mourn the loss of a giant among us,” Bond said in the statement. “When many refused to acknowledge the existence and struggles of LGBTQ+ people, Rev. Jackson saw us, affirmed us, and demanded equality inclusively,” Bond said. “In his address to the Democratic National Convention in 1984, Rev. Jackson named us specifically as part of the fabric of the American Quilt,” Bond says in his statement.

The statement adds, “He has shown up for and marched with the LGBTQ+ movement through the AIDS crisis, marriage equality, and ever after. Rev. Jackson’s leadership and allyship for LGBTQ+ people will be felt profoundly by his PFLAG family. We will continue to honor his legacy as we continue to strive to achieve justice and equality for all.”

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, citing Jackson’s role as a D.C. shadow senator, said for many in the country, Jackson “was the first person they heard make the case for D.C. statehood. The first person they heard say: it’s the right thing to do.”

Bowser added, “In 1988, he said that we were at a crossroads, and he posed this question: Shall we expand, be inclusive, find unity and power; or suffer division and impotence? It is a question as relevant today as when he asked it,” the mayor said, “And in Rev. Jackson’s name and memory, we must continue fighting for the answer we know our nation deserves.”

D.C. Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) said she was honored to have worked with Jackson during his tenure as D.C. shadow senator and throughout his years as a civil rights advocate.

“From the front lines of the civil rights movement to national campaigns that expanded the political imagination of this country, Jesse Jackson lifted up the voices of those too often unheard,” Norton said in a statement. “He turned protest into progress and transformed moral conviction into political action”

According to Norton, “His work-built bridges across race, class, and geography, helping redefine what inclusive democracy could look like in America.”

Los Angeles

Nikko LaMere’s photo exhibit “JOY!” documents the euphoria of Black queer nightlife

Now available to view at the LA LGBT Center, “JOY!” is a raw preservation of Black queer nightlife, fantasy and self-discovery.

Published

7 days ago

February 17, 2026

Kristie Song

Local photographer and visual artist Nikko LaMere is the voice behind LA LGBT Center's new photo exhibit celebrating Black queer nightlife. (Photo by Kristie Song)

It’s 2018, inside queer dance party Ostbahnhof, and the floor is packed with a sweaty, hypnotic energy as people groove to the sexy, lush soundscapes of techno and deep house. Photographer and visual artist Nikko Lamere rushes to grab their disposable camera, accidentally spilling some of their whiskey ginger on someone, and snaps a couple of shots of their friends: immortalizing their uninhibited joy and movement forever.

Eight years later, these photos LaMere captured across various local queer dance parties comprise their newest and largest photo exhibition yet: “JOY!” Displayed at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, “JOY!” is a raw documentation of Black queer nightlife, fantasy, and euphoria. It includes two of LaMere’s major bodies of work and follows the artist’s queer journey and creative evolution.

*On Friday, Feb. 13, community members gathered for the opening of “JOY!,” an eight-year project documenting raw, Black queer joy at the club. (Photo by Kristie Song)*

The exhibit’s opening on Feb. 13 is one of two events in the Center’s “Highly Favored” programming series that uplifts Black queer liberation every February. The next event comes this Saturday, and is a celebratory dance party akin to the ones documented in LaMere’s photos.

Prior to this exhibit, LaMere was most known for their saturated and stylized editorial work with contemporary music phenoms like Doja Cat, SZA, Latto, Billie Eilish and Kehlani. Propelled at a young age into flashy spaces with modern-day tastemakers and legends, LaMere sought refuge in photography throughout their adolescence. Their fascination with the camera began in elementary school while growing up in Culver City, when their grandmother gifted them a Nickelodeon-themed camera to take photos with.

Their eye and talent were reinforced with praise, and this love for the craft grew from curiosity to solace in high school. Bullied for being gay and femme, LaMere sought refuge at the library, where they first discovered the technicolor, surreal work of visionary photographer David LaChapelle. This became a direct pathway for LaMere’s own career: one that, though successful and fulfilling in its own way, led to a need for change.

For so long, the camera was a means to fulfill someone else’s vision. Now, LaMere began to use it as a tool for connection and raw documentation. In 2018, they didn’t set out to create what is now their “In the Night” photo series; they were simply trying to explore their own queer journey, and preserve the friendships and environments that made them feel comfortable in their own skin.

That vulnerable process of “becoming” is one they hadn’t touched upon in their previous work. For the first time, they couldn’t carefully and methodically create the shot; whatever they snapped was based purely on instinct, a fleeting moment of true and embodied tenderness, ecstasy, and freedom.

“To have this body of work shot all in black-and-white, for it to be so gay and Black — it feels really affirming,” LaMere said. “These are the most raw images and things I could create. There’s no Photoshop. There’s no retouching. It’s literally straight from the camera. It just is. I think part of joy is being able to just be, and that’s what these images are.”

*LaMere’s “Queer Fantasy” project features intimate portraits and video interviews with local queer people. (Blade photo by Kristie Song)*

“JOY!” also includes LaMere’s work, “Queer Fantasy,” a collection of 40 black-and-white film portraits and interviews with local queer performers, artists, and everyday people. This newer project grew from the core of “In the Night,” and is another intentional project focused on highlighting the beauty and individuality of queer Angelenos. Each person is asked: “What is your queer fantasy?,” illustrating that queer fantasy is not only a transformative kind of rebirth: it is a process built by radical efforts to cultivate joy, success, and safety in the face of violence and discrimination.

For LaMere, “JOY!” is about this process and the moments of self-discovery found on the dance floor, where you can really feel tethered to the person you’re becoming while “the world is burning around you.” While speaking with LaMere, I am grounded by the words of DJ, artist and organizer Darryl DeAngelo Terrell.

“Here, in this space we as black people [are] forced to find liberation in our own bodies, it’s in us, deeper than melanin, and it is activated by bodily acts,” Terrell writes. “We Move* in ways that others can not fathom to understand. Through these acts, we find the most beautiful yet temporary forms of true freedom; we find joy, peace in these acts.”

“JOY!” is available to the public on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. More information about the exhibit and “Highly Favored” can be found here. This Saturday’s queer dance party will also honor special guests Hailie Sahar, a starlet on the revolutionary FX show Pose, as well as filmmaker and ballroom culture documentarian Elegance Bratton.

Los Angeles

A new “queer summer camp” cycling event rises from the legacy of AIDS/LifeCycle

The LA LGBT Center will host its first ever “Center Ride Out,” a 3-day community cycling adventure from Los Angeles to San Diego.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 13, 2026

Kristie Song

Joe Hollendoner, the CEO of LA LGBT Center, spoke to the Blade about the significance of the first-ever Center Ride Out. (Photo by Jordyn Doyel)

On April 24, 500 cyclists will meet at Elysian Park before dawn, stretching and preparing for a 110-mile ride through urban scenery and rolling hills. They will be part of the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s inaugural “Center Ride Out,” a 3-day journey that takes riders through Los Angeles and Temecula, reeling to a stop at the San Diego LGBT Community Center.

The cycling adventure is a rejuvenating, communal queer experience that taps into the importance of shared joy and advocacy in the fight to defend LGBTQ+ rights. Its roots are sacred for many queer elders: Center Ride Out rises from the legacy of the cherished AIDS/Life Cycle (ALC), a seven-day cycling adventure from San Francisco to L.A. that formed in 1994 and ended with its last ride in 2025.

In its 31-year run, ALC riders raised over $300 million for HIV and AIDS resources, services, and awareness. This year, Center Ride Out provides a new, exciting extension of this important event, allowing cyclers to raise funds in support of the LA LGBT Center, The San Diego LGBT Community Center, and the LGBTQ Community Center of the Desert.

This support is crucial as LGBTQ+ organizations face a new crisis: widespread defunding. In the last fiscal year, the LA LGBT Center lost $9 million in federal support, according to its CEO Joe Hollendoner. The funding raised by Center Ride Out’s participants will help offset this loss and keep the organization’s various programs and services, from gender affirming care and HIV prevention resources to LGBTQ+ senior and youth support, afloat. “We anticipate further divestment in our work by the Trump administration, [so Center Ride Out] allows people to align their own personal passions with our mission in a broader way,” Hollendoner told the Blade.

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A post shared by Center Ride Out (@centerrideout)

Altogether, Center Ride Out participants will cover nearly 200 miles of ground together. At the end of the first 110-mile day from L.A. to Temecula, where riders will get to look at historic landmarks and embark on a museum lunch stop together, the day culminates at campgrounds at Lake Skinner.

Here, riders can take a full rest day at their lakeside camp, where it will exude queer summer camp vibes. There will be massage and medical services, arts and crafts activities, dance parties, and time to relax and connect with the community. “Folks [can] build relationships, have some fun, and feel safe. That’s a feeling a lot of people [need] right now, especially our trans and nonbinary siblings,” Hollendoner said.

Day 3 ends with an 87-mile downhill, coastal ride through the town of Rainbow in northern San Diego County, before ending with a celebratory bash at the San Diego LGBT Community Center.

Hollendoner rode ALC five times while it was active and is excited to be part of this new legacy from its very beginning. “I’ve heard our community elders talk about how powerful it was to be at the start of AIDS/LifeCycle, and the idea that I can be here at the start of Center Ride Out, an event that I hope will go for three decades or longer…It feels really exciting to me,” Hollendoner said.

For newcomers and experienced cyclists alike, Center Ride Out aims to provide an accessible experience: paring down the initial weeklong ALC ride to three days. To take part, cyclists are expected to raise $2,500 by April 10. For those who may struggle to reach this minimum, staff members have established a community fund.

The community fund will also provide scholarships for BIPOC, trans, women, and femme participants — historically underrepresented communities at ALC — as well as microgrants for BIPOC and trans-led teams to encourage a diverse range of cyclists.

Come April, scores of queer cyclists will get to experience this adventure together: one that is both storied and fresh in its purpose, lineage, and joyful expression of queer togetherness. “Center Ride Out is providing an exciting opportunity for people to not only fight back and be in community with one another, but to build resiliency and be surrounded by people who share values around liberation,” Hollendoner said.

To learn how to register, donate to or volunteer for Center Ride Out, more information can be found here. The three-day adventure takes place from April 24 to April 26.

Los Angeles

Stonewall Young Democrats bounces back from “quiet year” with Hero Awards

Published

2 weeks ago

February 11, 2026

Kristie Song

On Saturday, Feb. 7, the Stonewall Young Democrats (SYD), an organization that mobilizes and fosters community for young, LGBTQ+ people, hosted its “Hero Awards” ceremony at Beaches West Hollywood. Under luminous pink light, vibrant crowds of community members showed up to support and celebrate people and organizations spearheading LGBTQ+ visibility, change, and livelihood across L.A. County. Political figures filled the venue wall to wall, including LA Mayor Karen Bass, West Hollywood Mayor John Heilman, West Hollywood Council Member John Erickson, and California Assemblymember Rick Zbur.

*LA Mayor Karen Bass / Photo credit: RobFlo*

Several local advocates and politicians were honored for their queer advocacy and leadership, including City of Los Angeles LGBTQ+ community affairs liaison Carla Ibarra, L.A. Democratic Party Chair Mark Ramos, Congressman Mark Takano, and L.A. County LGBTQ Commission Chair Sydney Rogers. The Los Angeles Blade was also recognized with an Impact Award.

Los Angeles Blade publisher Alexander Rodriguez accepted the award. In his acceptance speech, Rodriguez shared, “We report on and share the struggles of our queer community. We also get to see the resilience and strength our community has, even in the face of adversity. We see firsthand the importance of the Stonewall Young Democrats and the amazing network of people they have put together, as seen here today.”

*LA Blade Publisher Alexander Rodriguez accepts the Impact Award / Photo credit: RobFlo*

The Stonewall Young Democrats formed in 2004, immortalizing the 1969 Stonewall riots in its name. The decision to carry the legacies of early gay rights movements is poignant: queer resistance and their enduring battle against political and social marginalization and violence are seared into the organization’s core.

SYD’s President Kanin Pruter is keeping this link to the past alive; it’s a reminder of the interconnectedness of the queer community. “Our history is there for a reason,” Pruter told the Blade. “Without lesbians during the AIDS crisis, we would not be where we are today. And our movement was started by Black trans women.”

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A post shared by Stonewall Young Democrats (@stonewallydems)

This recent Hero Awards marks SYD’s revitalization. After a relatively quiet year, its board is excited to grow its organization, recruit diverse and eager LGBTQ+ folks, and create fruitful opportunities for everyone in the organization to develop their political advocacy and organizing skills.

*LA Blade’s Impact Award / Photo by LA Blade*

Most importantly, Pruter hopes that SYD can be a safe, inclusive, and accessible space for any LGBTQ+ person who has felt outcast before. “In a loving and joking way, we’re an island of misfit toys,” Pruter said, who is intentional about creating environments where queer folks who have experienced trauma, isolation, and exclusionary social politics can fit in and belong.

“I want folks to be open, vulnerable and leave any preconceived notions at the door. We come in here [and] we are who we are. We respect each other’s identity, and we’re here to foster a culture where everyone feels welcome.”

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A post shared by CADEM LGBTQ Caucus (@cademlgbtqcaucus)

Pruter encourages young LGBTQ+ people who are interested in getting involved in SYD, to contact him and learn more about the organization. More information can be found here.

Philippines

Philippines Supreme Court rules same-sex couples can co-own property

Advocacy group celebrated landmark decision

Published

2 weeks ago

February 10, 2026

Michael K. Lavers

(Bigstock photo)

The Philippines Supreme Court in a landmark ruling said same-sex couples can co-own property under the country’s Family Code.

The Philippine News Agency on Tuesday notes the court issued its ruling in the case of two women who bought a house in Quezon City, a suburb of Manila, the Filipino capital, before they broke up.

The two women, according to the Philippine News Agency, “agreed to sell the property” after they ended their relationship, “and the registered owner — the respondent — signed a document acknowledging that the other partner paid for half of the purchase and renovations.” The Philippine News Agency notes “the registered owner” later “refused to sell the property and withdrew her earlier acknowledgment of co-ownership, prompting the other partner to file a complaint.”

A Regional Trial Court and the Philippines Court of Appeals ruled against the plaintiff.

The Supreme Court in a 14-page ruling it issued on Feb. 5 overturned the decisions. The Supreme Court published its decision on Tuesday.

“Considering that there is co-ownership between petitioner and respondent, then each co-owner may demand at any time the partition of the thing owned in common, insofar as her share is concerned,” said the Supreme Court in its ruling, according to the Philippine News Agency. “Having rightful interest over the subject property, petitioner has the right to demand the division of the subject property.”

The predominantly Catholic country’s Family Code defines marriage as “a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman entered into in accordance with law for the establishment of conjugal and family life.” It also states in Article 148 that “in cases of cohabitation” outside of marriage, “only the properties acquired by both of the parties through their actual joint contribution of money, property, or industry shall be owned by them in common in proportion to their respective contributions.”

“In the absence of proof to the contrary, their contributions and corresponding shares are presumed to be equal,” it reads.

The BBC reported the Supreme Court ruling states this provision “applies to all forms of co-habitation,” regardless of the couple’s gender. A Supreme Court press release indicates the decision notes lawmakers and the Filipino government “must address same-sex couples’ rights, as courts alone cannot resolve all related policy concerns.”

“This court does not have the monopoly to assure the freedom and rights of homosexual couples,” it reads. “With the political, moral, and cultural questions that surround the issue concerning the rights of same-sex couples, political departments, especially the Congress must be involved to quest for solutions, which balance interests while maintaining fealty to fundamental freedoms.”

LGBT Pilipinas, a Filipino advocacy group, welcomed the ruling.

“This ruling marks a monumental step forward in the legal recognition of LGBTQ+ families and relationships in the country,” it said in a statement.

LGBT Pilipinas added the ruling “lays a crucial legal foundation for broader recognition of same-sex relationships and strengthens the push for comprehensive anti-discrimination protections.”

“This is a win not only for the LGBTQ+ community, but for fairness and justice in Philippine society as a whole,” said the group.

New York

Pride flag removed from Stonewall Monument as Trump targets LGBTQ landmarks

The new NPS policy targets Pride flags amid consistent efforts from the Trump administration to minimize LGBTQ history

Published

2 weeks ago

February 10, 2026

Joe Reberkenny

(Photo courtesy of the National Park Service)

A rainbow Pride flag flying at the Stonewall National Monument in New York was removed at the direction of Trump administration officials at the National Park Service, according to a source familiar with the matter who spoke to the Blade on condition of anonymity.

The source said the move had been in the works for weeks and is part of ongoing efforts by the Trump-Vance administration to erase LGBTQ identity from federally controlled landmarks.

In response to the Blade’s request for information about the new flag policy, the National Park Service provided the following statement:

“Current Department of the Interior policy provides that the National Park Service may only fly the U.S. flag, Department of the Interior flags, and the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action flag on flagpoles and public display points. The policy allows limited exceptions, permitting non-agency flags when they serve an official purpose. These include historical context or reenactments, current military branch flags, flags of federally recognized tribal nations affiliated with a park, flags at sites co-managed with other federal, state, or municipal partners, flags required for international park designations, and flags displayed under agreements with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for Naturalization ceremonies.”

The statement also included official guidance on the display of non-agency flags issued by Trump-appointed National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron.

The Blade reached out to other organizations to confirm the status of the Pride flag last week, including the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center, the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, and the National Parks Conservation Association. None were able to provide details about whether the flag was still flying at that time but it has since been removed.

This action aligns with other moves targeting and erasing LGBTQ history. In September, the Blade reported that three organizations originally slated to receive more than $1.25 million from the National Park Service’s Underrepresented Communities Grant Program would no longer receive funding: In Washington, D.C., the Preservation League had been awarded $75,000 to document LGBTQ+ historic resources. In Providence, R.I., the Preservation Society was slated for $74,692 to conduct an LGBTQ+ survey and prepare a National Register nomination. And in New York, the Fund for the City of New York, Inc., had been awarded $32,000 to nominate the residence of Bayard Rustin — the iconic civil rights and LGBTQ activist — as a National Historic Landmark.