The A.M. READ newsletter is a news tipsheet highlighting LGBTQ+ news and HRC updates. It covers a wide range of topics from breaking news to politics to LGBTQ+ pop culture to sports and everything in between.

THE LATEST TEA

THOUSANDS OF LGBTQ+ LEADERS RELEASE LETTER SUPPORTING VP HARRIS, PLAN NATIONAL CALL: Yesterday, over 1,100 LGBTQ+ celebrities, influencers, and leaders representing millions of people released a letter of support for Vice President Kamala Harris’s bid for the White House. Signers included powerful names like George Takei, Colman Domingo, Senator Tammy Baldwin, and Judy Shepard. The community also announced plans for a nationwide grassroots Out for Harris call tonight at 9:00p ET. HRC President Kelley Robinson said, “The community is sending a message loud and clear: we are united in support of the experienced, tough, pro-equality Vice President Kamala Harris and will do everything it takes to defeat Donald Trump and JD Vance. The hope and energy we are feeling right now is real. We have the opportunity to vote for the future we want. A future with equality and freedom for all. For decades, Vice President Kamala Harris has dedicated her life to working toward this future for America.” Read the full story here.

THE QUEER HISTORY OF THE OLYMPICS: Ever since the men-only naked track races of Ancient Greece, the Olympics have always been a queer affair. While many LGBTQ+ athletes participated in early iterations of the modern Games, they remained closeted while doing so. It wasn’t until 1988 when equestrian Robert Dover became the first out gay man to compete at the Olympics. In the decades since, Opening and Closing ceremonies have showcased ever-increasing displays of camp and pageantry, while Team LGBTQ+ grows year after year. This year, over 140 Olympians identify as LGBTQ+. Learn more here.

SPOTLIGHT STORY

NBC — THERE’S A SCARCITY OF OUT BALLERINAS. QUEER THE BALLET IS TRYING TO CHANGE THAT: Growing up, dancer Adriana Pierce didn’t feel safe to bring her full self into the dance studio as a queer woman. “I regret how I felt in ballet spaces during that time, because I had to leave so much of the best parts of me outside. I don’t think ballet got the best parts of me, and that’s a shame,” said Pierce, the founder and artistic director of Queer the Ballet. The organization, founded in 2020, aims to provide opportunities for queer, trans, and nonbinary dancers and push the strict gender boundaries that have long characterized the ballet world. “Ballet likes to put people in boxes, and gender is a very specific box that ballet likes to define. And it’s women and it’s men, and the women look a certain way, dance a certain way, behave a certain way,” Pierce said. By defying expectations of what dancers can partner together and who can wear pointe shoes and perform certain movements, Pierce’s latest work, “Dream of a Common Language”, lets dancers both figuratively and literally climb “higher and further than they ever have before.” Learn more about the piece and its performers here.