The Best Queer News of 2024!
Though this newsletter started in the fall, I've been actively tracking Good Queer News since the spring and there has been A LOT!!
Hello and happy new year, cherished reader. I wanted to start your year off with a joyful recap (in addition to my writing earlier this week about starting your year off with a smile and a laugh through an “anti resolution”).
Most of the 2024 recaps I've seen so far have the air of gloom-and-doom "this year was bad, and next year will be even worse!” and while yes, there have been and will be many significant challenges facing our community, there have also been many major, minor, and medium-sized victories worth celebrating.
I want to lead with what I feel is the most critical: You are likely seeing many posts and articles talking about how this was a “record breaking year” for anti trans bills. In part, this is true, but it was also a record-breaking year for defeating anti trans bills!
Yes, more bills were proposed than ever before, and this year, WE DEFEATED 93 PERCENT OF THEM. This is just over half of what was passed last year.
Of the 7% of bills that passed, many were subsequently blocked in court while others are still being actively litigated. Others have technically passed but are struggling with enforcement, such as Utah’s bathroom ban and Virginia’s forced outing policy.
I talk more about these resistances and defeats in one of my first editions of GQN:
It is absolutely crucial that we go into the next four years with an understanding of the tremendous power, strength, and knowledge we have as a community. The game is not over, the fight is not lost. While many mainstream media outlets or nonprofits aiming for last-minute fundraising targets paint a bleak picture of the future, we need to internalize that when we fight, we win.
Some of the other political victories we’ve seen this year:
Every single anti-trans ballot measure in California, Arizona, and Colorado failed to get enough signatures to make the ballot! I love to see transphobes wasting their time and money!
More than 1,000 LGBTQ+ candidates ran for office this year, and we saw victories for Queer officials in 40 states! It appears that roughly 80% of out LGBTQ+ candidates who made it to the general election won their races. Nothing about us without us! (Source: NBC, 11/8/24)
For a far more complete list of legislative and court victories, I highly recommend checking out Erin Reed’s recap of victories for trans folks this year!
Other stories that brought me hope this year:
Trans people found several opportunities to be celebrated in new spotlights this year, from the gender diverse contestants at Tonga’s Miss Galaxy pageant to Alex Consani winning model of the year, to the heart-filled and empathy building “Will and Harper”.
The seventh person EVER has been cured of HIV!!
In the United Kingdom, Trans teenage activists camped outside the Department for Education. The activists, which are part of the Trans Kids Deserve Better action network, are occupying space to make a statement, raise their visibility, and demand better treatment for trans students.
30 years ago, a methodist minister wrote one of the most influential anti gay texts. Now, he has apologized and come out in support of LGBTQ+ people. His perspective seems to have fully shifted, and he is hoping to help others do the same.
Joe Biden made history on World AIDS Day last Sunday by being the first president to display panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt on the White House’s South Lawn. Biden and others mentioned the quilt in their speeches to commemorate the occasion. While this might seem small, take a moment to recognize the gravity this moment holds in our history. Would the leaders of ACT UP ever have believed a president would display their quilt on the White House Lawn?
This one’s personal, but this year I published my book, “My Child is Trans, Now What? A Joy-Centered Approach to Support”, which has already sold over 5,000 copies. While I’m personally thrilled by this, I’m also awestruck to recognize that there is a world in which 5,000 families (or more when you factor in book lending + libraries) are trying their absolute best to support their trans family members with as much love as possible. I’m so grateful I get to help build this world for so many trans kids.
As I’ve said in many an article before: the overall theme of these victories is that the world is trending up, no matter how much far-right political figures or those using their faith as a weapon may try to fight it. In the past year, I can’t begin to quantify the changes I’ve seen as an on-the-ground activist.
In particular in my work with parents, families, and allies to queer folks, I’ve seen a meteoric rise in attendance at PFLAG meetings, folks reaching out to me on day one wanting to do right by their kids. I’ve visited so many tiny towns in rural areas and red states and places that others have written off and found bastions of love, support, and curiosity. We still have a long way to go, but I promise we are moving towards a better world.
Stories that brought me joy this year:
7/26 - Nashville bakery gives trans customers gender-affirming surgery care packages
8/31 - A new gay bar opened in the small town of Waterloo, Iowa, reminding us that joy, togetherness, and celebration of the queer community is not limited to big cities or blue states!
10/3 - A group of trans women were tired of being excluded from athletics, so they started their own basketball league in New York City. Introducing the Basketdolls.
Note: This is just a curated list of some of my favorite stories, but in my notes app I have an absolute treasure trove collected over many months. If you would benefit from receiving the entire list, reply to this email or send me a message on substack and I’ll drop you the whole thing!
Some gratitude for you all
As I said in my first newsletter and will continue to say ad infinitum: The best queer news is the news we make. By seeking out the joy and victories around us, finding new ways to take care of each other, and learning what it looks like to fight back against those who seek to erase us, we build good queer news everywhere we look.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for helping me build this project beyond my wildest expectations already, and for showing me that I’m not alone in wanting to build a life, a movement, and a future grounded in joy.
I have tremendous love and gratitude for each and every one of you, whether you’re brand new or you’ve been here since the beginning, whether you are a free or paid subscriber, whether you read one newsletter a month or you forward every email to everyone you know. THANK YOU!!
One last note on the paid subscriptions: If you own a copy of my book, comment or send me a picture and I will gift your account a free upgrade for 3 months (or send a gift subscription for 3 months to someone of your choosing!). If you send me a picture of the book and a review on Goodreads or Amazon (these make a HUGE difference for authors), I’ll give you an upgrade for 6 months!
Paid subscriptions will never be required, and I don’t intend to put any good news behind a paywall. With the support you all have given me already, I have the flexibility to devote more time and resources to longer narrative pieces and interviews, so paid subscribers can expect to get some cool new stuff from me that will be available later for free subscribers.
Okay, that’s all from me, folks!
I hope your new year is off to a peaceful start and you’ve made some time for rest, reflection, community, and maybe even an anti-resolution. Whatever this year brings, we’ll be in it together.
With all the love in my heart,
Ben
A gay bar in Waterloo, IA!! That’s where my partner lives!! That’s where I’m moving to!!
I just want to thank you for writing this. While it feels like the world is crashing around us, your post was like finding an oasis of hope in a desert of despair! As a transfem who is transitioning, thank you so much!!! I can't thank you enough!!!