The Puerto Vallarta City Council has approved a new Municipal Development and Governance Plan for 2024–2027 that includes specific policies to protect the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. This marks the first time in the city’s history that such actions have been formally integrated into its municipal planning.
The plan, which serves as the primary guide for public policy, was presented by Mayor Luis Ernesto Munguía González and passed with 15 votes. Munguía noted that the document was the result of extensive citizen input, including neighborhood meetings, specialized forums, and public surveys.
The Vallarta Diversity Network, a local LGBTQ+ advocacy group, was among the organizations that participated in the consultation process. The group submitted a proposal that called for an effective public policy on sexual and gender diversity, which was incorporated into two key sections of the plan.
Key actions highlighted in the plan include the creation of a Municipal Human Rights Program that will feature affirmative actions for people of diverse sexual orientations. It also proposes initiatives to prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression. These measures will be carried out through institutional programs and in partnership with organized civil society groups.
The plan outlines an implementation strategy that includes performance indicators, evaluation methods, and alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Vallarta Diversity Network said the inclusion of these policies is an important step toward establishing public policies that recognize and protect the rights of LGBTQ+ residents. The organization has committed to collaborating on the plan’s implementation, monitoring, and evaluation, emphasizing the need for proper budget allocation and accountability.
Indiana’s Republican lieutenant governor appears interested in attending a service at a hate church that called for murdering LGBTQ+ people.
Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith (R) shared a post from Indianapolis Sure Foundation Baptist Church leader Justin Zhong inviting him to a church service, appearing to approve of the invitation. The repost has since been deleted.
The Sure Foundation Baptist Church made national headlines recently when lay pastor Stephen Falco used slurs and called for murdering gay people during a Men’s Preaching Night.
“There’s nothing good to be proud about being a f*g. You ought to blow yourself in the head in the back of the head. You’re so disgusting,” he said. “Why do I hate sodomites, why do I hate f*gs? Because they attack children, they’re coming after your children, they are attacking them in schools today, and not only schools in public places, and they’re proud about it!”
The sermon was posted to YouTube, which removed the video, but the church’s leadership defended the sermon.
“The Bible is crystal clear that sodomites – homosexuals – deserve the death penalty carried out by a government that actually cares about the law of God,” Zhong said at the time. “I will not apologize for preaching the Word of God. I will not apologize for stating facts. I will not negotiate with terrorists, among whom the LGBTHIV crowd is full of domestic terrorists.”
Beckwith himself has a history of anti-LGBTQ+ extremism. He said in June that LGBTQ+ people in “ancient history and all the way up to today” have a “demonic spirit” associated with the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar.
That same month, he sent an “alert” to his followers on social media that Pride Month is a sign of “Pagan Conquest” that will bring “ritual child sacrifice – with glitter and hashtags.” He claimed that Pride Month is part of a “state-corporate-pagan alliance to reprogram society” that forced people to listen to “Harvey Milk sermons” and support “government-sanctioned grooming.” Grooming is a word for tactics used by child molesters.
When running for lieutenant governor in 2024, he referred to pro-choice voters as “demonic.”
He said that Democrats had the “Jezebel spirit” and “a boldness for immorality” during a podcast interview last year. The host of the podcast said that the Jezebel spirit was “ultimately about control, which is the spirit of witchcraft, as we know. That’s what Jezebel operated in.” Beckwith nodded along.
New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) signed a gender-affirming care ban into law on Friday that bans anyone under 18 from using puberty blockers or hormone treatments for gender transition care.
H.B. 377 – the first of its kind in New England – also prohibits minors from receiving gender-affirming surgery, despite the fact that it is already almost never performed on trans kids under 18.
Starting January 1, 2026, providers are barred from providing hormone care and puberty blockers only “if the performance or administration of the procedure or medication is for the purpose of altering or attempting to alter the appearance of or affirm the minor’s perception of his or her gender or sex, if that perception is inconsistent with the minor’s biological sex.”
The ban does not hold medical providers criminally liable for violations, but rather subjects them to administrative disciplinary action by the state board of medicine. It also allows minors already receiving treatment to continue doing so. Minors and their parents can also sue medical providers for violating the law.
Ayotte also signed a second bill specially preventing minors from having top surgery except for “procedures needed to treat malignancy, injury, infection, or malformation and those needed to reconstruct the breasts after such procedures.”
“Medical decisions made at a young age can carry lifelong consequences,” Ayotte said in a statement, “and these bills represent a balanced, bipartisan effort to protect children.”
Despite Ayotte calling the legislation bipartisan, the bills passed overwhelmingly along party lines. Only two Democrats voted for H.B. 377, and only one voted for the top surgery bill.
While expressing support for the bill, State Sen. Kevin Avard (R) called trans identity a “craze” that “seems almost a cult-like following.”
“I do believe biology speaks volumes,” he said, according to NBC Boston.
Courtney Reed, policy advocate at the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire, called the laws “merciless, cruel, and painful for transgender young people, their families, and their doctors.”
Chris Erchull, senior staff attorney at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, said the legislation “epitomizes extreme government intrusion into the private lives and personal decisions of New Hampshire families.”
“The best way to protect the health and well-being of young transgender people is to ensure they have continued access to necessary, age-appropriate medical care provided by licensed physicians practicing in accordance with established standards of medical care,” he said.
Ayotte signed the bills despite the fact that earlier this Month, she vetoed several anti-LGBTQ+ bills, including an anti-trans bathroom bill, a book-banning bill, and a ban on teachers giving students “get to know you” questionnaires without parental permission. State Republicans lack the two-thirds majority needed in both the House and Senate to override the governor’s vetoes.
The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday rejected the presidential administration’s proposed termination of the CDC’s HIV prevention and surveillance efforts as well as massive proposed funding cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), advancing a measure that would increase the agency’s budget by $400 million.
The White House budget called for slashing NIH funding by $18 billion, a decrease of 40 percent. The committee rejected those cuts and others addressing HIV prevention, treatment and care, advancing the bill with overwhelming bipartisan support on a 26-3 vote.
“This committee has had multiple hearings over the last several months and heard from patients, families and researchers about the importance of NIH funding,” said out Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) in remarks after the vote, The Hill reported. “This committee has, in a bipartisan manner, prioritized NIH and the research it supports to develop life-saving treatments and cures for devastating diseases.”
Earlier this month, both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees rejected the presidential administration’s proposal to eliminate the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS program. While the House proposed maintaining the current $505 million budget, the Senate proposed to increase it by $24 million.
The committee also rejected funding cuts and block grants to states for prevention efforts focused on hepatitis and other STIs.
Senate appropriators preserved those parts of the administration’s budget that had maintained funding addressing HIV and PrEP programs, including $542 million for the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative launched by the president in his first term. The initiative’s funding includes PrEP in community health centers and enhanced HIV prevention and treatment programs.
Most of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program was preserved, as well.
The committee also rejected the administration’s plan to revamp the way the NIH pays universities, medical schools and other research centers.
“To the scientists wondering if there will even be an NIH by the end of this administration: this committee’s resounding message is yes,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the committee’s vice chair.
“Congress has your back — we’re not going to give up the fight against cancer, Alzheimer’s, or rare diseases,” Murray said.
Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, was cautiously optimistic following the committee’s bipartisan rebuke of the president’s funding priorities.
“We are pleased that senators of both parties recognize the critical importance of preventing HIV in the United States and the value of nationwide surveillance, testing, education, and PrEP programs,” he said in a statement.
“The president’s proposed elimination of HIV prevention and surveillance programs, along with on and off staff and grant cuts and delays, have left HIV prevention in disarray. We hope the Senate’s vote of confidence for HIV prevention will start to bring the stability we need so that state and local health departments, other grantees, and staff can get back to doing their work.”
The island nation of Cuba will now allow transgender people to change the gender markers on their government-issued identity cards without having to undergo “bottom surgery,” a legal change long sought by the country’s trans and nonbinary communities.
On July 18, the country’s National Assembly of People’s Power (NAPP) approved a law allowing people to change their gender markers without first requiring a court-approved document proving that applicants had undergone genital affirming surgeries.
This new law is one of several recently approved by the NAPP to update the technology and policies of the nation’s record-keeping system. Cuba’s new Civil Registry code will now recognize unmarried couples’ emotional unions or cohabitation agreements, providing some legal recognition of various domestic partnerships.
In 2008, Cuba became the first Latin American country to provide comprehensive coverage for gender-affirming surgeries and related medical care. However, despite the country having the highest per capita population of medical doctors in the world, years-long U.S. trade embargo against the nation has prevented many doctors from accessing the hormone replacement medications and surgical supplies they need, according to a 2024 report from Teen Vogue.
Additionally, years worth of budget cuts by the Cuban government have forced many medical professionals to leave the island nation in search of higher-paying work abroad. As a result, trans Cubans must self-medicate using hormones purchased on the internet, something that can present risks since patients must then undergo the physical and psychological side effects without medical consultation.
CENESEX, the government-funded LGBTQ+ rights organization, ostensibly schedules trans-related healthcare for citizens. But one trans person told the aforementioned publication that the organization never contacted them back when they tried to schedule such care. CENESEX didn’t respond to the publication’s request for comment, and a security guard at the organization’s office said that CENESEX was closed and was only seeing patients “on an as-needed basis.”
Same-sex marriage is legal in Cuba. It was legalized on September 27, 2022, following a national referendum where a majority of Cubans voted in favor of a new family code that includes the legalization of same-sex marriage. The new family code also included provisions for same-sex adoption and surrogacy.
Although Cuban law currently prohibits “discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, statelessness, or access to education or health care,” the international LGBTQ rights site Alturi.com said, “Nonetheless, societal discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity persists.”
A transgender woman and several friends were harassed and assaulted in Austin, Texas last weekend, and one bystander who stepped in to defend them was hospitalized, in an incident police are investigating as a possible hate crime.
On July 26, the trans woman — who has requested anonymity during the ongoing investigation — and several friends visited Barton Springs, a public swimming hole in Austin’s Zilker Park, as Chron reported Wednesday. During their visit, three men they didn’t know flirted heavily with members of the group, the woman told Chron, but soon began harassing and pointing at her, making remarks about not “support[ing] that lifestyle.”
The three men then reportedly began shoving members of the group and poking the women “near their breasts,” according to a Reddit user who posted about the incident on Monday, claiming to be a friend of one of the victims. At that point, a bystander — identified as Jarod — intervened, and was attacked himself.
“The three men then proceeded to get violent and aggressive, yelling at us and getting in our faces until one of them decided to start swinging and punched Jarod in the jaw, knocking him unconscious,” the anonymous trans woman told Chron. “I quickly ran over to him in an attempt to help Jarod out but was then punched in the face by the assailant in the orange shorts.” The men then shoved another of the women to the ground and left the scene soon after, according to video footage of the incident posted to social media.
The Austin Police Department (APD) released a statement on Tuesday stating that the alleged assault was under investigation and could be declared a hate crime by the city’s Hate Crime Review Committee. “APD remains unwavering in its commitment to fostering a secure and inclusive Austin community,” the department stated. (Community leaders called for APD to be investigated for excessive force in March this year, after videos circulated online that appeared to show officers throwing a trans woman onto the ground during an arrest.)
Austin-area drag performer Brigitte Bandit posted about the assault on Instagram Monday, asking locals for help identifying the attackers. In a follow-up post the next day, Bandit stated that the men had been identified and the information had been shared privately with the victims. “I will not be posting their information without consent of the people involved in the attack,” Bandit wrote, adding, “[l]et’s let them decide which routes they decide [are] best.”
Jarod was treated by EMS personnel at the scene and taken to a hospital, KXAN reported. Per a GoFundMe campaign started by Jarod’s family, he suffered “gashes to his head, a bleeding ear, a broken jaw, and a concussion,” requiring surgery. The fundraiser drew more than $64,000 in donations at time of writing, more than triple its original goal.
“I just wanted to stand up for a nice person that I had just met,” Jarod wrote in a message shared by Bandit on Instagram, “but the outpouring of support from y’all’s community has been overwhelming, so thank you with all of my heart.”
In her comments to Chron, the anonymous trans woman said that she did not know Jarod prior to the assault, but called him “an absolute angel,” saying she was grateful he stepped in.
“I had never known him before that day, but he stood up for me when I was being harassed and he took the most of the assault,” the woman told Chron. “He deserves every penny to help pay for his surgery and his time off work to care of himself and his kid.” The amount of community support she received after the attack, she added, “truly helps my moral and emotional well-being, and makes me believe that this city really is a safe space for people like me.”
It had been months since Alex and Lucy, a trans couple from Arizona, felt safe enough to hold hands in public. They rediscovered that pleasure after moving to Amsterdam this year.
The couple, who did not want to give their last names because of the sensitivity of the subject, decided to leave the United States soon after Donald Trump was re-elected last year.
They arrived in the Netherlands on Jan. 19, the day before Trump was inaugurated and swiftly issued an executive order saying the government would only recognize two sexes — male and female.
“We’re both visibly trans and faced growing discrimination. It ramped up right after the election,” said Lucy, sitting alongside Alex in their De Pijp apartment in Amsterdam’s south.
“It felt like people had taken off their masks — waiting for an excuse to finally say what they wanted. We went from being tolerated to openly despised,” she added.
Alex, who is disabled, feared staying put might also mean losing access to their federal health insurance.
“In the end, it became a matter of life and death,” Alex said.
In his first six months in office, Trump has enacted multiple policies affecting the lives of LGBTQ Americans in areas from healthcare to legal recognition and education.
In the face of this rollback of rights, some LGBTQ people have voted with their feet.
While there is little official data, LGBTQ people and activists told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that many people head to Portugal and Spain, while Costa Rica and Mexico are also popular destinations, alongside France and Thailand.
The Netherlands stands out, though, for its strong legal protections, its record on LGBTQ+ inclusivity, and due to a Dutch–American Friendship Treaty (DAFT) and its affiliated visa.
DAFT — established as a 1956 act of Cold War cooperation — enables U.S. citizens to live and work in the Netherlands if they start a small business investing at least 4,500 euro ($5,200), can secure Dutch housing, and are able to prove they have enough money to live on.
The permit is valid for two years and can be renewed.
“Europe was always on the cards, but the Netherlands had a really high percentage of queer folks, and we knew people here (who) were trans and happy,” said Lucy, who got a DAFT visa.
‘Numbers increasing’
While the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) does not keep statistics on the sexual orientation or gender identity of DAFT applicants, overall applications have increased since 2016, with January 2025 registering the highest number of any single month on record — 80.
“The numbers are increasing. We don’t know why,” said Gerard Spierenburg, IND spokesperson.
Immigration lawyers also report an increase.
“From the day after the election, my inbox began filling up with requests of U.S. citizens wanting to move to the Netherlands,” said lawyer Jonathan Bierback, adding that about a fifth came from the LGBTQ+ community.
Three other lawyers in Amsterdam confirmed the trend in interviews with the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Jack Mercury, a trans adult performer from California, moved to Amsterdam almost a year and a half ago — “literally the moment I knew Trump was going to be re-elected”.
He said the DAFT visa was “one of the few financially accessible visas” for him.
He now lives in west Amsterdam with a partner and two cats.
“The words to describe the U.S. in the last 100 days are uncertainty and fear. For trans people, it’s fear that they’ll lose access to healthcare, rights like housing or the ability to work. And for gay people and lesbians, it’s that they will become the next targets,” Mercury said.
This year, more than 950 anti-trans bills were introduced in U.S. state legislatures, according to the Trans Legislation Tracker, of which 120 have passed, 647 failed, and 186 are still under consideration.
“I feel very lucky. I know many people who cannot afford to move, because they’re not high earners, they are sick, have family or children,” said Mercury.
His friend Topher Gross, a trans hair stylist from New York who has been in Amsterdam for four years, offered housing tips and recommended a lawyer.
“Everyone’s exploring any possible way to get out,” said Gross. “But not everyone can — many trans people of colour can’t afford to leave. It’s terrifying.”
He noted that the climate of fear was exacerbated by deportations under Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
“Basic rights are being stripped away.”
Jess Drucker, an LGBTQ relocation expert with U.S.-based Rainbow Relocation, said many U.S. clients choose to go Dutch.
“People see how quickly rights can erode, with the global rise of right-wing extremism, and want to move somewhere where those rights are more likely to hold,” Drucker said.
“We’ve seen a major increase in requests for consultations. We are absolutely full.”
Because not everyone can afford a DAFT visa, the Dutch NGO LGBT Asylum Support is urging the government to consider asylum options for LGBTQ Americans.
Spokesperson Sandro Kortekaas said about 50 trans Americans had contacted the group since Trump’s inauguration.
In June, the group asked the government to reassess the status of the United States as a safe country for queer asylum seekers. However, Bierback does not expect success as such a shift would be seen “as a provocation towards the U.S.”
Spierenburg from the IND said there had been more asylum applications from the United States this year than last, although the numbers were still low — 33 against 9 in 2024.
Lucy and Alex are grateful for their new life.
“When I came here, I felt more at home than I ever did. I have so much hope,” said Lucy.
But she does worry that a future Dutch administration — a right-wing coalition collapsed in June — could kill off DAFT.
“I’m really concerned that the treaty is going to be damaged by current political agendas. And so I’m doing everything I can to make sure that I stay within the rules. I don’t want to be extradited for any reason.”
In a bid to attract high-value global investors and reduce its reliance on tourism, the Maldives has launched its first-ever investor visa program, allowing foreign nationals to secure long-term residency through investment in premium real estate.
The agreement to establish the program was signed with Henley & Partners during the Maldives–Singapore Business Forum 2025, held on Sentosa Island. It aligns with President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s Vision 2040 strategy to build a resilient and diversified economy.
Real estate at the core of the new residency route
Under the new scheme, investors will be granted long-term residence in return for investment in approved real estate projects. The program will be backed by a strict due diligence process to ensure only reputable and eligible applicants are accepted, with final approvals resting with the Maldivian government.
Henley & Partners, which has designed similar programs globally, will advise the government on policy structure, compliance, and implementation. The firm has facilitated over USD 15 billion in foreign direct investment worldwide.
“The residence by investment program will provide state-of-the-art properties with the utmost privacy and exclusivity,” said Philippe Amarante, Managing Partner and Head of Government Advisory EMEA at Henley & Partners. “As a safe, stable, and peaceful island nation, the Maldives presents the ultimate hedge against geopolitical conflict or global pandemics.”
Government aims for long-term economic impact
Economic Development and Trade Minister Mohamed Saeed said the program aims to position the Maldives not only as a top-tier travel destination but also as a long-term investment hub.
“With this program, we aim to extend that legacy to discerning global investors who see value in our people, our potential, and our future,” said Saeed.
The government expects the initiative to stimulate growth in hospitality, services, and infrastructure, while supporting job creation and financial stability.
Henley & Partners will help finalise the policy framework and real estate listings. The program is expected to launch once regulatory approvals are in place.
A senior Heritage Foundation official and co-author of the far-right Project 2025 agenda has filed a comprehensive public records request targeting more than 70 courses at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, demanding access to teaching materials that reference diversity, race, gender, and LGBTQ+ identities.
According to UNC’s public records portal, Mike Howell, executive director of the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, submitted the request on July 2, asking UNC to turn over syllabi, lecture slides, assignments, and internal communications that include any of 30 flagged terms. Among them: “transgender,” “LGBTQ+,” “cisgender,” “queer,” “intersectionality,” “nonbinary,” “white privilege,” and “restorative justice.” The request spans content shared since Jan. 19, 2025, and directs the university to search platforms such as Canvas, Microsoft Teams, Signal, and Slack.
The courses flagged by the Oversight Project include Gender and Sexuality in Islam, Transnational Black Feminist Thought and Practice, Islam and Sexual Diversity, Race and Gender in the Atlantic World, and Black Families in Social and Contemporary Contexts. Also targeted are courses like Diversity and Inclusion at Work, Diversity in Education, Social Theory and Cultural Diversity, and Gender and Sexuality in Middle Eastern Literature.
Howell cited two executive orders signed by President Donald Trump earlier this year, Executive Orders 14151 and 14173, which condition federal funding on the elimination of DEI-related content. In the request, Howell argued that the records “will shed light on potential inconsistencies between internal practices and public representations made by officials in a matter of substantial national importance.”
Since taking office in January, Trump has aggressively implemented policies that target diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, as well as gender and LGBTQ+ protections. Though he previously distanced himself from Project 2025, calling some of its authors “severe right” and its proposals “seriously extreme,” his administration has moved swiftly to enact many of its recommendations. The nearly 1,000-page blueprint, authored by the Heritage Foundation and allied organizations, calls for the dismantling of DEI programs, bans on transgendermilitary service, elimination of non-discrimination protections, and the closure of the Department of Education. Many of the document’s contributors now hold key posts in federal agencies.
Scholars have long cautioned that excluding race, gender, and sexuality from coursework risks reinforcing bias rather than promoting academic neutrality. The American Psychological Association encourages inclusive curricula that reflect students’ lived experiences. In a 1992 paper, psychologist Susan B. Goldstein noted that even cross-cultural psychology can marginalize women and LGBTQ+ people when it generalizes findings from white, heterosexual men as universal. She urged faculty to treat diversity as central to understanding human behavior, not an elective or ideological add-on. A study in the Harvard Educational Review found that engagement with racially diverse peers enhances students’ critical thinking, academic growth, and civic awareness.
UNC has not yet fulfilled the Oversight Project’s request. A university spokesperson told Inside Higher Ed, which first reported the story, that course materials are “the intellectual property of the preparer” and the university is still determining what, if any, documents will be released.
Chris Petsko, a professor whose course was among those targeted, told Inside Higher Ed he will not comply. He said the request is an intimidation tactic designed to distort academic work and stifle inclusive teaching. On LinkedIn, he advised fellow faculty to review institutional intellectual property policies.
Howell dismissed objections. “Syllabi are public records and belong to the public,” he told Inside Higher Ed. “If a professor is too much of a wimp to let me read his syllabus then he’s in the wrong business.”
Howell has previously drawn scrutiny for hypocrisy. In 2024, The Advocatereported on a 2012 Yelp photo showing Howell smiling beside a friend in drag, despite his vocal condemnations of drag culture and LGBTQ+ rights. When contacted, Howell confirmed the photo’s authenticity and dismissed it as Halloween mischief.
GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis called Howell’s behavior “the definition of hypocrisy” at the time, adding that Project 2025 is a “dangerous, unhinged playbook” that exposes the intent of “anti-LGBTQ extremists hell-bent on destroying democracy.”
fleeredstates.blog 
You must be logged in to post a comment.