Queering the News for the Week of 8/1
Progress in the Caribbean, UK Trans Healthcare Study, and CPB Closing Impacts
I’m doing most of my writing in sunny South Florida, and now that August has come around, we’re in the dregs of summer. The humidity is oppressive, and the sun cuts through your skin. If you’ve never experienced a Florida summer, I envy you.
In the news, we’re seeing much of the same as we have in recent memory. Progress in one country, regression in another. I’m sorry this one is a day late. I was stuck with the Sisyphean task of laundry.
On to the news.
Courts Overturn St. Lucia Anti-Gay Sex Ban
On July 29, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) ended a bill banning gay sex in the Island country of St. Lucia. The court decided parts of the criminal code, specifically targeting “gross indecency” and “buggery,” were inconsistent with the country’s Bill of Rights.
“The Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE) alongside United and Strong, welcome this historic ruling,” ECADE said in a press release. “It comes as a beacon of hope amid recent setbacks, such as disappointments in St. Vincent and the Grenadines as well as Trinidad and Tobago, that have tested our region’s commitment to equality.”
The parts of the criminal code struck down were holdovers from colonial-era prohibitions, and banned anal intercourse between men completely, as well as any act “other than sexual intercourse [...] involving the use of the genital organs for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire,” except between a man and woman in private.
This decision is part of a growing trend in the region. Countries like Antigua and Barbuda (June 2022), Saint Kitts and Nevis (August 2022), and Barbados (December 2022).
“This decision is deeply personal,” Kenita Placide, Executive Director of ECADE and long-time LGBTQ+ advocate in Saint Lucia writes. “… Today’s ruling is not just a win in the courts, it also represents a step towards justice for the many lives lost to violence simply for being themselves. It signals that our Caribbean can and must be a place where all people are free and equal under the law.”
A Year After Banning Puberty Blockers, The U.K. to Study Trans Healthcare
Following guidance from the Cass Review, the United Kingdom temporarily banned puberty blockers for people under 18 in May 2024, later making the ban indefinite until more research is made available. However, the Cass Review was widely disputed, with claims that its methodology was flawed, and decisions made following the guidance would be harmful. Published in April 2024, the Cass Review is a U.K. analysis of research into gender affirming care headed by Dr. Hilary Cass, a pediatrician with no prior experience in trans medicine.
“It undermines the legal competence of both children and adults to access medical treatment and dismisses almost all existing clinical evidence on trans people’s healthcare by applying impossible evidence standards which, if applied to other medicines would invalidate more than three quarters of the existing treatments used in paediatric care which, like puberty blockers, are currently being prescribed off-label,” Keyne Walker said on behalf of the trans support group TransActual UK.
A peer-reviewed journal also found methodological errors in the study.
“We also identified methodological flaws and unsubstantiated claims in the primary research that suggest a double standard in the quality of evidence produced for the Cass report compared to quality appraisal in the systematic reviews,” the study reads.
Now, on July 31, researchers at King’s College London announced plans to follow 3,000 trans minors who have sought treatment from the country’s National Health Service (NHS). They plan to check in with the minors with annual surveys, monitoring things like body image, quality of life, and mental and physical well-being.
“A lack of evidence base allows toxic views [about transgender issues] to be more rampant and more free flowing,” Professor Emily Simonoff, head of child and adolescent psychiatry at King’s College, and lead of the study, said in a statement. “We’re here to provide an evidence base to guide greater knowledge about children and young people and what interventions seem to be most helpful for them.”
The study is supposed to last five years and is slated to begin this fall.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting Helped Fund Queer Shows and Initiatives, Now it’s Shutting Down
Earlier this month, Congress approved the "Big, Beautiful Bill" that slashed funding for CPB by $1.1 billion over the next two years. The CPB shared today that as a result, they would be shutting their doors.
The corporation was responsible for providing funding to NPR and PBS, which were known to fund LGBTQ+ projects such as Intersex Justice, Mother Witt, and Queering the Map.
“Despite the extraordinary efforts of millions of Americans who called, wrote, and petitioned Congress to preserve federal funding for CPB, we now face the difficult reality of closing our operations,” Patricia Harrison, CPB president and CEO, wrote a statement to Variety.
“ATROCIOUS NPR AND PUBLIC BROADCASTING, WHERE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS A YEAR WERE WASTED,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social. “REPUBLICANS HAVE TRIED DOING THIS FOR 40 YEARS, AND FAILED….BUT NO MORE. THIS IS BIG!!!”
The loss in funding puts services like Queering the Map in question. The organization provides a platform to share stories of queer journeys and love, placing markers on a map with small snippets like, “Had top surgery here what a weight off my chest.”
Queering the Map received a $125,000 grant from CPB.
Beyond queer projects, CPB also helps fund NPR and PBS, and helped create widely known programs like NPR’s “All Things Considered” to, historically, “Sesame Street,” “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” and the documentaries of Ken Burns.
CPB is planning to shut down its operations in phases. First, it said that most employee positions will end with the fiscal year on Sept. 30, with a remaining transition team staying in place to finish remaining work, including “ensuring continuity for music rights and royalties that remain essential to the public media system.”
“Public media has been one of the most trusted institutions in American life, providing educational opportunity, emergency alerts, civil discourse, and cultural connection to every corner of the country,” Harrison said. “We are deeply grateful to our partners across the system for their resilience, leadership, and unwavering dedication to serving the American people.”