🩺 HRC FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF FIRST EVER NATIONAL IN-HOME HIV TESTING KIT PROGRAM: “The continued prevalence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic requires innovative solutions -- these in-home self-testing kits allow people to find out their result in the privacy of their own home, thereby reducing HIV stigma and fear,” said HRC Director of HIV and Health Equity J. Maurice McCants-Pearsall (@McCantsPearsall, he/him). “This expanded partnership with community-based organizations presents a unique opportunity for the Human Rights Campaign to leverage its extensive reach to propel access to life-saving HIV testing for multiply marginalized communities.” More from HRC.

🍎 THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S EFFORTS TO ADDRESS FOOD INSECURITY WILL HELP LGBTQ+ PEOPLE: Recent changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits program are likely to benefit many LGBTQ+ people, who experience poverty at higher rates than non-LGBTQ+ people and have been particularly vulnerable during the pandemic. More from The American Independent.

GENSLER AND ATHLETE ALLY TEAM UP TO IMAGINE MORE INCLUSIVE LOCKER ROOMS: Gensler and Athlete Ally teamed up to create a vision for a more inclusive locker room. In a letter about the design, the co-authors wrote “non-binary and trans athletes are continuously forced to make decisions on how to use a space that doesn’t align with their identity. Athletes can be at their most vulnerable state in a locker room, a space that may not offer the safety they need and can be excluded from the team dynamics.” More from The Architect’s Newspaper and Gensler.

📍 IN THE STATES

💻 NEW DATA VISUALIZATION TOOL SHOWS JUST HOW BAD THE RECENT EXPLOSION OF TRANSPHOBIC BILLS IS: Software developer Andrew Bales built a tool called Inflection Point that seeks to track every anti-trans bill in the country. More from The Stranger.

📺 GET CULTURED

🤺 THIS OUT PARALYMPIAN REFUSED TO LET A DEGENERATIVE BRAIN DISORDER CRUSH HER ATHLETIC DREAMS: Team USA Paralympic Fencer Terry Hayes (@2FLgals) is set to participate in the 2020 Paralympics in wheelchair fencing. Haynes, an out lesbian, survived a Primary Cerebellar Degeneration that caused her to lose the use of her legs. More from Outsports.

🚣‍♀️ OUT PARA ROWING CHAMPION MORAN SAMUEL NAMED FLAG BEARER FOR ISRAEL IN TOKYO: Moran Samuel (@moran_samuel_paralympic) is already a Paralympic bronze medalist, and now she will be the flagbearer for Team Israel while participating in the Tokyo Paralympic Games. More from Outsports.

🌈 LILY COLE COMES OUT AS QUEER: Doctor Who, Star Wars actress and model Lily Cole opened up about her queer identity in her new book called “Who Cares Wins: How to Protect the Planet You Love.” More from Out.

🌍 GLOBAL EQUALITY

📚 THE PICTURE BOOK FIGHTING BACK AGAINST RUSSIA’S LGBTQ+ PROPAGANDA LAW: A children’s story called Bedtime Not Playtime by Lawrence Schimel, illustrated by Elina Brasliņa, is about families with same-sex parents and has been published in Russia as part of a campaign to have the country’s ‘LGBTQ+ propaganda’ law repealed. More from The Guardian.

THOUSANDS MARCH FOR LGBTQ+ RIGHTS IN ROMANIA AMID PUSH FOR HUNGARY-STYLE “PROPAGANDA” BAN: More from them.

NEW IRAN GOVERNMENT LEAVES COUNTRY’S LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY HOPELESS: More from Washington Blade.

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