Zachary Jarrell

Social media platforms: Primary source of anti-LGBTQ+ hatred

LOS ANGELES – With cyberbullying at an all-time high, all states now have laws requiring schools to respond to this type of online harassment. But are those laws working? The escalating mental health crisis amongst queer youth would suggest that no,…

Strength in searching: LA teen artist grapples with early success

PASADENA – At a large apartment complex in Los Angeles’ Studio City neighborhood, Grey DeLisle – also known as Grey Griffin – and her 12-year-old son, Tex, followed a man down a long hallway and into his apartment. It was a cool night in late summer…

Snoop Dogg to headline Cincinnati Music Festival this summer

Snoop Dogg is coming to Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati this summer to headline the Cincinnati Music Festival. The festival announced its line-up Wednesday, revealing the legendary hip hop artist will headline its Saturday show on July 22.…

UC Medical Center ‘heroes’ honored before Super Bowl LVII

Staff members of the University of Cincinnati (UC) Medical Center shared an on-field moment with Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin – who suffered a life-threatening injury during an early-January game against the Cincinnati Bengals – before Super…

Iowa Governor notes ‘parental rights’ at anti-LGBTQ+ town hall

By Robin Opsahl | DES MOINES – Gov. Kim Reynolds and Republican legislators speaking at a “parental rights” event Thursday pledged to pass legislation this session banning LGBTQ materials in schools and policies allowing students to socially…

Frequent social media use may change young teens’ brains

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Before the pandemic, Will Larkins said they spent an “excessive” amount of time on social media. But when COVID-19 hit the U.S. – bringing American life to a screeching halt – Larkins saw their screen time reach new heights.…

Trans company has life-saving, life-changing & affirming products

PHILADELPHIA – When Scout Rose was transitioning in 2003, it was nearly impossible to find the tools they needed. They remember combing through message boards and digging to find transition-related products that yielded mixed results. The trans…

Gay Gen Z Er wants to be Virginia’s youngest state delegate

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Zach Coltrain lives in two worlds. In one, he traverses the serene landscapes of Appalachian State University in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains – studying the use of music as a therapeutic intervention. In the other, he…

For LGBTQ people, Musk’s Twitter is both hateful and essential

SAN FRANCISCO — When Elon Musk – formerly the world’s richest person – bought Twitter, the LGBTQ community immediately voiced concerns over safety and content moderation. In fact, mere hours after the news broke, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the…

American Transgender journalist joins Ukrainian military

WASHINGTON – It was shortly before 1 p.m. on Dec. 9 when Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, a member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s Noman Çelebicihan Battalion, arrived at Le Bon Café, a coffee shop on Second Street, S.E., near the U.S. Capitol. The Las Vegas…

Queer artists discover AI art app uses their art without permission

SUNNYVALE, Calif. – When Paul Richmond, a queer artist, first started to see AI-generated portraits trending on social media, he thought they were “cool” and “interesting.” “I’ve been intrigued by AI [artificial intelligence] for a while, and I’m…

‘Both a joke and completely ineffectual’: UC’s 2075 carbon neutrality goal is well behind other universities

When the University of Cincinnati (UC) announced an update to its Sustainability and Climate Action Plan in 2019, President Neville Pinto touted the school’s efforts combatting climate change – including a Gold STARS rating from the Association for…

Translatinx network helps a resilient community ‘Live Its Truth’

NEW YORK – When Cristina Herrera was 15 years old, she traveled alone from Southern California to the Bronx in pursuit of new life experiences. A native of El Salvador, Cristina thought as a teenager that she was different, but she was unsure about…

Ending HIV-related stigma in the Southern U. S.: Gina’s story

BIRMINGHAM, Al. – Gina Brown has been living with HIV for 27 years and introduces herself as a social worker by training, but an activist by birth. As the Director of Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement at the Southern AIDS Coalition,…

Gay Ukrainian immigrant used social media to find himself

NEW YORK – On the streets of New York City, Artem Bezrukavenko stood next to a bystander with a microphone. “What would be your ideal boyfriend?” he asked the man. But he didn’t answer. Instead, he posed the same question to Bezrukavenko. “My ideal…

26k trans & nonbinary students filled out largest college app in U.S.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Using the largest body of data on the gender identities of incoming college students ever available, a report released Thursday found over 26,000 transgender and nonbinary people filled out the Common App – the largest college…

With debt relief program on hold, early career journalists back to familiar struggle

When the Biden administration first announced it would cancel $10,000 in federal student loans for many borrowers–a move now on hold after a federal judge last week declared it unconstitutional-Erin Woodiel, a photojournalist for the Sioux Falls…

With war in Ukraine, what is the future of Russian and East European studies at UC?

Minutes after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his "special military operation" in Ukraine on Feb. 24, missiles and rockets began to rain down on parts of the country, including its capital Kyiv. Since the war in Ukraine started, Russia has…

Florida rule now effectively bans gender-affirming care for minors

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Florida Board of Medicine and Board of Osteopathic Medicine Joint Rules/Legislative Committee Friday advanced a rule that will effectively ban gender-affirming care for minors in the state. The policy, which would likely block a…

Matt Walsh anti-trans rally: death threats, Proud Boys & extremists

By Mia Gingerich | WASHINGTON – Last Friday, the Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh held a rally in Tennessee against gender-affirming care, a follow-up to his targeted misinformation campaign against Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. Footage from the rally,…