One Richmond-area student’s fight reveals how Virginia’s 2020 reforms often died on arrival. When Lyn Jones transferred to Matoaca High School, just south of Richmond, she noticed something odd. Every girls’ restroom was outfitted with a metal dispenser—mounted to the...
Hate crimes in Virginia rose nearly 50 percent from 2016 to 2017. This year, Attorney General Mark Herring proposed legislation to deal with the problem... but all of the bills died in the General Assembly. Virginia recorded more than 200 hate crimes in 2017 — up nearly 50% from the previous year, according to the latest data from the Virginia...
The Mormon Church has grappled with issues relating to LGBTQ rights for years now, and recently seem to be softening on the issue. Maybe this will help them along. The valedictorian for the top university of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stunned families, faculty, and friends on Friday when he announced he is gay. “I stand...
As if doctor visits didn't give us enough reason to worry as it is. The Trump administration is finalizing details on its plan to grant special religious "rights" to medical professionals who claim a moral objection to providing care to transgender patients, or women seeking an abortion, among others. The new rules would roll back Obama-era...
Max Smith started his leather-working business, Alehoof Leather Company, to bring affordable sex-positive leather items to LGBTQ people in rural areas. Now he's reaching the world through social media. With just a desk to work on and a dresser full of supplies, Max Smith’s bedroom is his workshop. All by hand, Smith cuts out designs from strips...
In three cases, the Supreme Court will rule on whether gay and trans people can be fired for their LGBTQ status -- and we'll learn just how conservative the Trump Supreme Court really is. In potentially troubling news out of Washington, the Supreme Court announced Monday that they will review three cases that concern the LGBTQ community's...
In Critiques For The Culture's first contribution to GayRVA, Taneasha White and Brooke Taylor begin their representation-focused coverage of Richmond-area theatre with a review of all four plays included in TheatreLAB's recent Women's Theatre Festival. Critiques for The Culture is a conversational podcast and radio show (on WRIR and WRWK) that...
When a teenage girl defended herself from boys in a high school bathroom, she was the one who got punished. So can we just go ahead and admit all these "trans bathroom bills" were a farce? Recently an Alaskan teenager had the audacity to do the unthinkable. She used the restroom, and she even did it during school hours like a human being. A group...
In this month's Amazon Trail, Lee Lynch tries, and mostly fails, to understand her wife's natural facility with machines and appliances. It’s a shame, the things they don’t teach us at Butch School. In the Femme Gadgets class, I learned the basics of eyelash brushes and powdering noses and hoop, stud, drop, climber, and jacket earrings. The femme...
The hip hop festival coming to Charlottesville throughout next week hopes to promote an inclusive view of hip hop with a Tuesday night showcase featuring LGBTQ artists. Charlottesville’s third annual Nine Pillars Hip Hop Cultural Fest is happening next week, and for the first time, it will feature an all-LGBTQ performer showcase. “We’re cutting...
