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

GOV WALZ: DEMS MUST CONTINUE TO STAND UP FOR TRANS RIGHTS. In an interview with The Independent, Minnesota Governor and former Democratic V.P. nominee Tim Walz stood firm in his support for the transgender community and argued that Democrats would be making a “mistake” by abandoning them. “We need to tell people your cost of eggs, your health care being denied, your homeowner’s insurance, your lack of getting warning on tornadoes coming has nothing to do with someone's gender,” Walz said. He added, “We can protect LGBTQ rights and basic human rights at the same time, we can make sure that we hold drug companies accountable for high prices.” Walz’s comments come as many Democratic governors–including Maine Gov. Janet Mills, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, and Illinois Gov. JB Prtizker–forcefully push back against Trump’s attacks on trans people.  

HRC’S ‘DANIEL REALLY SUITS YOU’ ACCEPTED TO TRIBECA X FILM FESTIVAL: ‘Daniel Really Suits You,’ a powerful video documenting the coming of age of Daniel Trujillo, a trans teenager in Arizona, has been selected for the 2025 Tribeca X Film Festival. The film was selected alongside campaigns from major brands across the country and is described by Tribeca as “a testament to the evolving art and influence of brand storytelling.” The film festival will take place June 9-10 at Spring Studios in New York City. Watch ‘Daniel Really Suits You’ here.

A MEMORIAL TO LGBTQ+ VICTIMS OF THE NAZI REGIME UNVEILED IN PARIS: A memorial statue designed by French artist Jean-Luc Verna for the LGBTQ+ victims of the Nazi regime was unveiled in Paris last Saturday. It is estimated that the Nazi regime deported between 5,000 and 15,000 LGBTQ+ people throughout Europe during World War II. Decades later, the LGBTQ+ community is still under political attack, navigating right wing attempts to roll-back rights. “We didn’t know, unfortunately, that this monument would be inaugurated at one of the worst moments we’re going through right now,” said Deputy mayor of Paris Jean-Luc Roméro. “We’ve never experienced such setback in the United States, with what’s happening to trans people.” The statue hopes to bring much needed awareness for the long ignored LGBTQ+ victims of the Nazi regime and motivate others to join the fight against anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination. Read more about the memorial and its unveiling here. 

SPOTLIGHT STORY

WASHINGTON BLADE — CRACKDOWN ON GLOBAL LGBTQ+ RIGHTS OVERSHADOWS IDAHOBIT CELEBRATION: International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT) is celebrated on May 17 and aims to raise awareness of LGBT rights violations and commemorate the World Health Organization's decision in 1990 to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder. However, efforts to erase LGBTQ+ rights continue to gain traction globally, especially in the United States where the current administration has explicitly attacked the transgender and nonbinary communities through a number of executive orders. Amongst the many harmful actions was the decision to suspend most foreign aid which forced several LGBTQ rights groups and HIV/AIDS service organizations in several African countries that received U.S. funding to shutter operations. “This Pride season is different. From funding cuts and escalating violence to increases in anti-LGBTIQ legislation, the global backlash against our movement is growing,” said Outright International, a global advocacy group. Read the full story here.