🩺 MODERNA STARTS HUMAN TRIALS FOR ITS REVOLUTIONARY HIV VACCINE THIS WEEK: This week, Moderna will begin human trials for its first of its kind HIV vaccine that uses messenger RNA (mRNA), an approach that Moderna used in its effective COVID-19 vaccine. The clinical trials are set to begin on Thursday and will end around spring 2023. They will involve 56 HIV-negative participants aged 18 to 56. The participants will be given one or two forms of mRNA that cause the body to form defenses against HIV infection. More from LGBTQ Nation and them.

📚 THIS TINY LGBTQ+ BOOKSTORE IS AN LGBTQ+ HAVEN IN SMALL-TOWN MISSISSIPPI: Violet Valley is not only a bookstore, but it’s also one of the only LGBTQ+ havens in the state of Mississippi. The store’s owner Jaime Harker (@jaimeharker) created the space so “people who maybe don’t feel welcome have a place to come and do something ordinary, like pick a book.” More from VICE.

🏅 AT LEAST 22 OUT LGBTQ+ PARALYMPIANS ARE PARTICIPATING IN TOKYO, A RECORD NUMBER: There will be a record-breaking total of at least 22 openly LGBTQ+ athletes participating in the Tokyo Summer Paralympic Games. The number is almost double that from the Rio Games. More from Outsports and them.

SAN FRANCISCO TO UNVEIL A MEMORIAL DEDICATED TO THE LGBTQ+ LATINX VICTIMS OF THE PULSE NIGHTCLUB SHOOTING: More from Al Día and them.

📺 GET CULTURED

🍼 PETE AND CHASTEN BUTTIGIEG ANNOUNCE THEY ARE NOW PARENTS: Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) and his husband, Chasten Glezman Buttigieg (@Chasten), have welcomed a child, the transportation secretary announced on his personal Twitter account. More from NPR, Out, USA Today and HRC.

🍼 WNBA STAR & OLYMPIAN BREANNA STEWART, WIFE MARTA XARGAY CASADEMONT WELCOME FIRST BABY, DAUGHTER RUBY: Tokyo gold medalist Breanna Stewart (@breannastewart) and her wife Marta Xargay Casademont (@martaxargay) welcomed their first daughter Ruby in early August. More from People, them and USA Today.

🌈 MAE WHITMAN COMES OUT AS PANSEXUAL: Actress Mae Whitman (@maebirdwing) came out as pansexual in a tweet about the importance of LGBTQ+ representation in the media. More from Out, ABC News and People.

🌍 GLOBAL EQUALITY

THE DIRE PLIGHT OF LGBTQ+ AFGHAN REFUGEES: The advancement of the Taliban and the toppling of the Afghanistan government has led to displacement for women, children and LGBTQ+ people, the latter of which is subject to the penal code for being LGBTQ+ in Afghanistan. More from Advocate.

🍁 ASSOCIATION FOR NEW CANADIANS WORKING TO CREATE WELCOMING SPACE FOR LGBTQ+ REFUGEES IN NEWFOUNDLAND LABRADOR PROVINCE: More from CBC.

🩸 NORTHERN IRELAND RULE CHANGE ALLOWING BLOOD DONATIONS FROM SOME GAY AND BI+ MEN SET TO TAKE EFFECT: Men who have been in a same-sex relationship with one partner for more than three months will be able to donate in a move that will result in an increase in eligible blood donors, the Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service said. More from The Belfast Telegraph.

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