NEW REPORT SPOTLIGHTS NEED FOR MORE LGBTQ-INCLUSIVE LONG-TERM CARE: The 2021 Long-Term Care Equality Index (LEI) from SAGE and the HRC Foundation is a national benchmarking tool that evaluates long-term care communities based on the equity and inclusion of their LGBTQ residents and patients. “The aging industry is still fairly conservative,” said Dan Stewart (he/him), HRC Foundation’s Associate Director, Aging Equality Project. “It’s not necessarily that people weren’t welcoming or not wanting to welcome. But aging service providers are just starting to recognize that LGBTQ people exist.” More from Next Avenue and i Advance Senior Care.

RISING SHARES OF U.S. ADULTS KNOW SOMEONE WHO IS TRANSGENDER OR GOES BY GENDER-NEUTRAL PRONOUNS: A new Pew Research Center survey found that “about four-in-ten Americans (42%) say they know someone who is transgender, up 5 percentage points since 2017. And about a quarter (26%) say they know someone who prefers that others use gender-neutral pronouns such as “they” instead of “he” or “she” when referring to them, up from 18% in 2018, the last time the question was asked.” More from Pew Research Center.

🛶 OPENLY TRANSGENDER OLYMPIC CANOEING JUDGE CHAMPIONS DAUGHTER’S FIGHT FOR GENDER EQUALITY: Kimberly Daniels is making history as an openly transgender woman working as a judge for canoeing events at the Tokyo Olympics. Her daughter is competing for Team Canada at the games and Daniels hopes to use her platform to call attention to the fight for gender equality around the world. More from Reuters.

‘IT PROVES ANYBODY CAN DO IT’: NORTH CAROLINA TRANSGENDER TEEN INSPIRED BY LGBTQ ATHLETES AT 2021 SUMMER GAMES: The Tokyo Olympics have more LGBTQ representation than ever before, and this visibility is inspiring younger generations. “I feel hopeful. If they can make a change in the Olympics, they can make a change in our state because the Olympics is worldwide,” said Madison, a 14-year-old transgender teen from Orange County, N.C. More from ABC11.

📍 IN THE STATES

ATLANTA MAYOR HOSTS JOB FAIR FOR LGBTQ APPLICANTS: Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (@KeishaBottoms) is hosting the second annual LGBTQ Opportunity Fair to help employ Atlanta’s LGBTQ community. More from AJC.

NEW MURAL HONORING LGBTQ ICONS IN PROVIDENCE: Artist Brian Kenny (@briankennny) created a 1,700 square-foot mural in Providence, Rhode Island honoring LGBTQ icons and their experiences. “This part of our community needs the most visibility. If I can celebrate [trans people] as large as possible, that’s what I’ll do,” said Kenny. More from Boston Globe.

📺 GET CULTURED

🥇 MEDAL COUNT HAS TEAM LGBTQ CURRENTLY IN 14TH PLACE AT THE TOKYO OLYMPICS: If LGBTQ athletes competing at the Tokyo Olympics were a team of their own, they would be in 14th place as of yesterday’s medal count, with over 160 out athletes total competing at the Tokyo Games. More from Outsports.

GOSSIP GIRL STAR SAVANNAH SMITH’S CHARACTER IS OUR NEW LESBIAN ICON: Bisexual actress Savannah Smith (@ssavannahsmith) plays a lesbian character, Monet de Haan, in the HBO Max reboot. Smith came out as bisexual in June 2021 and aims to uplift the LGBTQ storylines in the show while playing Monet. More from Out and them.

🏊‍♂️ TONGAN OLYMPIC SWIMMER IS COMPETING FOR A MEDAL AND AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA: Openly LGBTQ Olympic swimmer Amini Fonua opened up about his third Olympic appearance and the “quiet activism” he does to promote acceptance and inclusion in his home country of Tonga. More from NBC News.

🌍 GLOBAL EQUALITY

THESE MOMS JUST BECAME THE FIRST OPENLY LGBTQ COUPLE TO ADOPT IN THE MEXICAN STATE OF JALISCO: Palmira Martínez Gallardo Valdés and Gabriela Flores Castro are the first openly LGBTQ couple to officially adopt a child in the Mexican state of Jalisco. They began the process of formally adopting their child -- 5-year-old Ricardo -- in February of 2021 and were granted approval by a judge in May. The adoption was finally certified July 13, when they received a birth certificate bearing the names of both mothers. More from them and Puerto Vallarta Daily News.

💍 FRANCE’S PROTESTANT CHURCH MARKS FIRST WEDDING OF SAME-SEX PASTORS: More from France24.

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