Table of Contents
This week: WorldPride, Scouting America, the Paul Weiss debacle, Lifting a ban on bathhouses, Dan Savage’s “campsite rule”, Perez Hilton, Mary Oliver, Rosie O’Donnell and much more…
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I’m always a little surprised by LGBTQ+ people who put so much hope in the U.S. midterms and “November” to solve our community’s problems. Elections matter, and American elections matter for a disproportionate number of people. But the past few years have shown that our future cannot depend on a single country, a political party, even one that is generally more supportive of LGBTQ+ rights, or one strategy. This week’s Michigan primaries are a reminder that political coalitions are always shifting. Our movement has made its greatest gains not by waiting for politicians to save us, but by organizing, persuading, and changing the culture that politicians eventually follow, something Evan Wolfson reminds us of in a Slate op-ed this week.
This week: WorldPride, Scouting America, the Paul Weiss debacle, Lifting a ban on bathhouses, Dan Savage’s “campsite rule”, Perez Hilton, Mary Oliver, Rosie O’Donnell and much more…
Global News
Germany: Pride Attack Mourning Continues
Berlin is grieving the July 25 van-and-machete attack near its Christopher Street Day celebration that killed a 65-year-old Polish woman and injured 29 others; investigators say the attacker, a German citizen with Lebanese roots, had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State before he was shot dead by police the next day. Hamburg held its own Pride under heightened security on August 1 with the motto “Queer in solidarity, take a stand for a future without fear,“ including a Berlin CSD truck whose riders wore dark clothing in tribute to the victims. See on Euronews.
Netherlands: WorldPride Amsterdam
I received quite many photos over the past few days of people posing with Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten. Their excitement reflects the energy surrounding Amsterdam’s first-ever WorldPride, which marks 25 years since the Netherlands became the first country to legalize marriage equality. The celebrations continue through August 8, culminating in the closing March and concert on Dam Square. The WorldPride Human Rights Conference also opens today (August 5–7) at the Beurs van Berlage, alongside the International Pride Awards (see below). Jetten was among the stars of the Canal Parade on August 1, waving to cheering crowds from one of the 80 boats. See in pictures.DutchReview.
Australia: Counting LGBTQ+ People at Last
For the first time, Australia’s national census, taking place on August 11, will ask people aged 16 and over about their sexual orientation and gender identity—a landmark step toward making LGBTQ+ Australians visible in official statistics. The long-awaited change follows years of advocacy and will help governments better allocate funding for health and social services. It also comes as new research highlights why the data matter: Australians in same-sex relationships face higher rates of premature death, including from suicide, underscoring the lasting impact of stigma and unequal access to care. See here.
Singapore: Plot Targeting LGBTQ+ Students
Singapore authorities have arrested three teenagers in separate alleged extremist cases, including two accused of planning knife attacks targeting LGBTQ+ people after becoming radicalized online. According to officials, one suspect allegedly planned to attack LGBTQ+ students and military cadets, while another reportedly drew inspiration from the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre and intended to livestream an assault on classmates. Authorities say the plots were thwarted after friends, classmates, and teachers reported warning signs. See here.
AIDS 2026: Science Advances, Funding Retreats
The International AIDS Conference in Rio de Janeiro brought together nearly 10,000 researchers, advocates, policymakers, and people living with HIV at a pivotal moment for the global response to the epidemic. While delegates celebrated breakthroughs such as long-acting HIV prevention and treatment, the conference was overshadowed by the devastating impact of U.S. funding cuts. Community leaders from dozens of countries described shuttered clinics, interrupted treatment, and abandoned prevention programs, warning that decades of progress are at risk. As activist and long-term survivor Mark S. King observed from Rio, the conference was as much about resilience and community as it was about the urgent need to prevent politics from reversing one of global health’s greatest success stories.
International: ILGA World Hands Out Pride Awards Mid-Conference
UNDP and ILGA World present this year’s International Pride Awards today during the WorldPride Human Rights Conference, with Deutsche Bank and OUTtv joining as new supporters; the ceremony, hosted by Amrou Al-Khadi, spotlights activists working in hostile environments across the globe. The event is livestreamed globally. Watch the ceremony on YouTube and learn more about this year’s awardees at internationalprideawards.org.
The awardees are South African deputy minister Mmapaseka Steve Letsike, the human rights organisation COC Nederland, long-standing activist Marcela Dimonty from Chile, Ugandan trans pastor Aggie Dennett Harmon, and the disability rights advocate and LGBTIQ+ ally Dr Satendra Singh from India
US News
WNBA’s Sophie Cunningham On Trans People
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham sparked a national firestorm after telling ESPN that banning trans women from women’s sports is “common sense,“ then doubling down that she wants to “protect young girls in a locker room.“ Anti-trans activist Riley Gaines has since taken Cunningham under her wing, calling her “absolutely unshakeable” on Fox News, while pro-trans advocates and some teammates push back on the league to take a public stance. Read more in LGBTQ Nation.
Trans Troops Describe “Rigged” Secret Separation Hearings
Transgender service members say they’re being pushed out through closed-door boards that function, in one advocate’s words, as a “public humiliation ritual,” with troops barred from presenting evidence and decisions reached before hearings even conclude. See in LGBTQ Nation.
James Dale Wins Transparency Battle Over Scouting America
LGBTQ+ activist James Dale has won a Freedom of Information lawsuit forcing the Pentagon to release its agreement with Scouting America. The newly disclosed document confirms the Defense Department pressured the organization to adopt policies based on “biological sex at birth” as a condition of maintaining its military partnership, despite public assurances that transgender youth would remain welcome. For Dale, the victory is about transparency as much as policy: “You don’t get to make a deal in the dark and then control the public narrative,” he said after obtaining the document. Read more here.
New York Moves to Lift AIDS-Era Bathhouse Ban
I did not even know they were banned and vaguely remember once having a membership card at the East Side Club. Two openly gay New York lawmakers, State Senator Erik Bottcher and Assemblymember Tony Simone, have introduced legislation to repeal decades-old AIDS-era restrictions on gay bathhouses, arguing that today’s public health landscape—with PrEP, DoxyPEP, and modern HIV prevention—calls for a new approach. The proposed Public Health Modernization Act would replace the existing ban with a regulatory framework, opening the door to licensed venues. Supporters are already envisioning a large, European-style bathhouse in New York. See here.
Democracy Is Won Beyond the Courtroom
In an essay for Slate, Freedom to Marry founder Evan Wolfson argues that the path to reclaiming American democracy from an increasingly powerful Supreme Court lies not only in the courts, but in sustained citizen activism. Reflecting on the decades-long campaign that culminated in Obergefell v. Hodges, Wolfson writes that marriage equality was secured through a coordinated strategy of litigation, public education, storytelling, organizing, and political engagement that transformed public opinion before it transformed constitutional law. Read more here.
Queering the Boardroom
PRISM Celebrates Four-Year Anniversary
PRISM, the Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors, was founded in June 2022 and officially launched that September in New York City (see here). Four years later, it has grown into the leading global network of LGBTQ+ corporate directors, championing greater board diversity and stronger corporate governance. It will host its 4th Annual PRISM LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors’ Summit on October 26 in New York. The signature event brings together corporate directors, CEOs, investors, board recruiters, and governance experts for a full day of conversations, insights, and networking. Enquire here.
Board Diversity Loses Momentum In The US
Corporate board diversity is slipping. According to a new Spencer Stuart analysis of 488 S&P 500 companies, 72% of new board appointments were diverse in 2021, but that figure has now fallen to 49.3%—down from a record 49.6% in 2024 and marking the lowest level in more than a decade. The report also found that companies are adding fewer new directors than at any point in the past decade. See here.
The Gay Business
Paul Weiss In The News
Paul Weiss built its reputation by defending landmark LGBTQ+ rights cases, including Edith Windsor’s challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, and it still sponsors LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion initiatives. Yet a New York Times investigation alleges that the firm quietly paid its first openly transgender partner, Lex Korberg, $3.5 million to leave after concerns were raised that their visibility might make corporate clients uncomfortable. Korberg, an award-winning lawyer who helped defend abortion access and challenge bans on gender-affirming care, reportedly agreed not to sue or publicly criticize the firm. See here.
Scott Barshay reportedly thought a transgender lawyer would spook clients
The Economics of Birth Control—and LGBTQ+ Equality
What do birth control, LGBTQ+ rights, and the future of the economy have in common? In her new MIT Press book, The Real Domestic Product: How Birth Control Built Equality (and Why the Future of the Economy and the Planet Depends on It), Elizabeth Gregory argues that they are deeply intertwined. She contends that access to contraception, abortion, and the growing acceptance of LGBTQ+ families have expanded economic opportunity by making parenthood more intentional, while the backlash against reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ equality reflects broader pronatalist efforts to preserve traditional labor and care arrangements.
Koppa’s Second Global Inclusive Finance Forum
The Koppa Global Inclusive Finance Forum returns October 29–30 at the Deutsche Bank Center in New York, convening investors, banks, policymakers, and entrepreneurs to move past talk of inclusion toward measurable capital allocation in sectors offering real traction for LGBTQI+ economic participation. Following a successful inaugural 2025 edition, this year’s forum narrows its focus to a handful of strategic sectors.
The Semi-Cultural Desk
The Ethics of Age-Gap Desire
A lively Queerty discussion on age-gap relationships asks whether older gay men should feel guilty about hooking up with much younger adults. The overwhelming consensus: no—provided everyone is a consenting adult, expectations are clear, and the older partner follows Dan Savage’s “campsite rule” of leaving the other person emotionally and physically no worse than they found them. The debate resonated with me as I’m currently reading Edmund White’s The Loves of My Life, whose candid reflections on sex, desire, and aging remind us that these conversations are hardly new. What changes with age, perhaps, is not desire itself, but the responsibility that comes with experience.
But Also Older Gay Men Still Holding Hands
A simple street interview has become an internet sensation after Allen and Tony, a gay couple together for 53 years, shared the secret of their enduring relationship. The two met on a tennis court in 1973 and, throughout the interview, never let go of each other’s hands. Asked what he loves most about his partner, Allen replied, “His good heart—it’s his best organ.” His advice for lasting love was: “Care more about the other person than you do about yourself.” An ambitious agenda. See here.
“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” Slashes Into Theaters
Jane Schoenbrun’s queer horror-comedy, which won the Queer Palm at Cannes, follows a filmmaker fixated on reviving a slasher franchise’s reclusive “final girl” — starring Gillian Anderson and Hannah Einbinder in a psychosexual cat-and-mouse. It opens in US theaters August 7 via Mubi.
DIVA Rounds Up August’s Sapphic Slate
This month’s queer-women film calendar includes Vicky Krieps in the custody drama “Love Me Tender,” Maya Hawke and King Princess in “One Night Only,” and Charli XCX alongside Margaret Cho in “I Want Your Sex” — both UK releases landing August 28. See in DIVA Magazine. In the meantime, I have been watching half-heartedly “Cape Fear” on AppelTV, and there is a lesbian daughter.
Rosie O’Donnell’s Show in New York City
I went to see Rosie O’Donnell’s Common Knowledge on Saturday, so you don’t have to, and I left struck by how personable and disarmingly introspective she is. Kudos to her shrink. The show is less stand-up than intimate conversation, touching on her move to Ireland, her renewed relationship with faith, and, above all, the grounding role her youngest child has played in helping her find balance after years of public turbulence. I spotted Zachary Quinto and Isaac Mizrahi in the theater, and, just minutes into the performance as Rosie described her mom’s death, one audience member abruptly stood up and stormed out, loudly enough to startle the entire theater. Get tickets here.
Coming and Going
Elliot Leonard, LGBTQ+ Philanthropy Co-Founder, Dies at 88
Leonard, co-founder and founding trustee of the Leonard-Litz LGBTQ+ Foundation, died June 6 at his Easton, Connecticut home; the foundation’s giving helped establish the Bridgeport Pride Center and supported LGBTQ+ organizations across the Northeast for decades. Read more in the Washington Blade.
Perez Hilton Hospitalized After Mental Health Crisis
Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton is a controversial figure, but his recent spiral can only inspire compassion. It is also a reminder of the invisible internal battles LGBTQ+ celebrities often face. He was hospitalized after authorities responded to reports of a disturbing TikTok livestream in which he engaged in self-harm. Hilton was taken to a local hospital, where he is receiving medical care. See here.
The Anthony Fauci Conversation
I am thankful nobody gets their hands on MY diary. As Fauci was back in the headlines, the Gays reflected on Fauci’s far longer legacy in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Once a target of Larry Kramer and ACT UP’s fierce criticism, Fauci ultimately forged an unlikely partnership with AIDS activists that helped transform how scientists, regulators, and affected communities worked together—an evolution widely credited with accelerating HIV research and reshaping patient advocacy for generations. So we are still #TeamFauci here. Read more in The Atlantic.
Discovering Mary Oliver, Late but Gratefully
I recently watched this trailer of a PBS documentary about the late poet Mary Oliver and found myself unexpectedly teary-eyed. I also had to admit something: I had never heard of her before. One of America’s most beloved poets, Oliver wrote with extraordinary clarity about nature, love, solitude, and paying attention to the world around us. Better late than never—I’m looking forward to discovering the work of a writer who has clearly meant so much to so many.
The Gay Agenda
August 5: International Pride Awards. UNDP and ILGA World present this year’s global equality honors during the WorldPride Human Rights Conference in Amsterdam, livestreamed globally today.
August 5–7: WorldPride Human Rights Conference, Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam. Sessions on intersex rights, decriminalization strategy, and economic inclusion, with UN, Council of Europe, and ICC officials participating.
August 8: WorldPride Closing March, Amsterdam. The grand finale march and closing concert cap two weeks of programming across the Dutch capital.
September 22: UNGA High-Level General Debate opens, New York. The 81st UN General Assembly session begins, with LGBTQI+ advocates tracking follow-through on the French-led decriminalization resolution.
September 25-27. New York LGBTQ+ Pilgrimage. Outreach, the LGBTQ+ Catholic ministry founded by Jesuit Fr. James Martin, will host a special New York City pilgrimage this autumn, bringing together LGBTQ+ Catholics, their families, and allies for a weekend of Masses, lectures, and visits to sites significant to both LGBTQ+ Catholic history and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The program will conclude with a prayer service at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle. Register here.
October 12–18: World Bank–IMF Annual Meetings, Bangkok. The first Southeast Asia edition in three decades; advocates want the Bank to report on LGBTQ+ workplace-inclusion progress.
Well, that's it for this week. I love August because, despite everyone's best efforts, life has a way of slowing down. For me, that mostly has to do with the twins being at camp and much less laundry, folding, and worrying about meas. New York, meanwhile, seems determined to make up for the quieter pace with almost constant rain. Tonight, though, I'm finally getting to see Oh, Mary!—it had to be rescheduled because Meg Stalter wasn't performing the initial evening. I'm looking forward to ending the week with what everyone tells me is one of Broadway's funniest shows.
