This story was originally published in Virginia Pride Guide 2025. Virginia Pride Festival 2025 is presented with the support of Out RVA, Allianz, Hit Play, Virginia Lottery, CarMax, Bank of America, CoStar Group,...
QUEER RVA
SUBSCRIBE TO THE QUEER RVA NEWSLETTER
more in queer rva
You’ll Never Know If You Don’t Ask
Equality Virginia's new "Ask A Trans Person" panel series seeks to raise trans visibility and highlight transgender Virginians' need for civil rights protections. 87 percent of Americans say they know a gay person, but only 16 percent report knowing a a trans person, according to GLAAD. For this reason, it can be harder for a lot of people to...
Breaking The Silence: LGBTQ Veterans Share Their Truth
This Veterans Day, Diversity Richmond will host an evening of stories from LGBTQ veterans and armed services members, in order to help create a community for current and former service members who are too often isolated. One million LGBTQ military veterans. 80,000 LGBTQ active duty members of our armed services. But between the lingering legacy...
Opinion: We Have A Blue Virginia. What Will We Do With It?
GayRVA Editor-In-Chief Marilyn Drew Necci has an extensive wish list for our new Democratic General Assembly, one that starts with LGBTQ civil rights and goes a lot farther from there. Well, it's finally happened -- no matter how your mom or your Trump-loving former high school classmates feel about it, Virginia has become a blue state. Our...
New Regulation Would Strip Federal Protections for LGBTQ People from All HHS Programs in Favor of ‘Religious Freedom’
The rule is specifically designed to focus on adoption and foster care, but will affect all federally-funded programs under Department of Health and Human Services control, including those dealing with HIV prevention and youth homelessness. A proposed new regulation would strip all protections for LGBTQ people from all programs administered by...
This Just In: Delta Airlines Has Finally Learned That Elton John Is Gay
Delta's in-flight screenings of Rocketman cut almost all LGBTQ content in this biopic of one of the most famously gay celebrities of all time. Can they just let us live already? Delta Airlines is at it again, y’all. In a weird move that feels relatively sudden, Delta has begun to censor recent LGBTQ films that play on its flights. They are...
‘Ex-Gay’ Group Goes To DC To Lobby Against Equality Act
The group of "ex-gay"/"formerly transgender" people, members of CHANGED and Church United, claim LGBTQ people aren't discriminated against, and that conversion therapy isn't being practiced anywhere in the US. A small group of so-called “ex-gay” and “formerly transgender” people are spending time in Washington, D.C. this week to lobby against two...
Hollins University Changes Policy On Transgender Students
The new policy allows students who transition while attending the woman's college to graduate, and makes it easier for transgender women to apply for admission. Roanoke County-based woman's college Hollins University announced Wednesday that changes had been made to the university's Policy On Transgender Issues that would ease some requirements...
Trump Judicial Nominee Cries Over ABA Report Calling Him Biased & Unqualified
The American Bar Association's report said that Lawrence J.C. VanDyke, a Trump nominee for federal court, is "arrogant, lazy," and potentially unfair to LGBTQ people. Lawrence J.C. VanDyke openly wept on Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee as he was confronted with a blistering review from the American Bar Association, which found...
UPDATE: Kenick El To Resign From Virginia Beach Human Rights Commission
Virginia Beach Human Rights Commission member Kenick El called homosexuality "an abomination to the Human Race" and referred to trans women as "men in dresses" in a Facebook post last week, which brought widespread condemnation. UPDATE, October 30: LaKendrick Coburn El, who also goes by Kenick El, announced Friday that he would resign from the...
