Iran may pay for you to be trans, but it comes with a cost — your dignity
Iran funds gender-affirming surgeries. While that may seem progressive, BI's investigation reveals a darker reality behind its transgender policy.
LGBTQ+
A man tried to set up Pakistan's first gay club. He was put in a mental hospital.
Pakistani authorities put a man who tried to set up the country's first gay club in a hospital. Friends told The Telegraph they fear for his safety.
A drag performer was awarded $1.1M after a blogger falsely accused him of exposing himself to minors during a Pride event
A right-wing blogger falsely accused a drag queen of exposing himself to minors at a show. An Idaho jury awarded the performer $1,176,000 in damages.
Target has around 75 Pride items in its collection right now. Here's what changed.
Target has backtracked from recent years when it used to offer a wide assortment of products celebrating the LGBTQ+ community.
Target slashed this year's Pride collection after last year's backlash, leaving some LGBTQ+ insiders feeling alienated
Three designers featured prominently in prior years' Target Pride collections say the brand isn't doing enough for the LGBTQ+ community.
JK Rowling's tweets about a lurid murder story reopened a heated debate about transgender convicts
Author JK Rowling posted about a lurid UK murder, reopening a fierce debate about how society should talk about transgender convicts.
Spain's macho world of bullfighting has its first openly LGBT+ matador — and he hopes to pave the way for others
Mario Alcalde, 31, opened up about his sexuality in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Mundo.
I visited my son in college for the first time and noticed he'd changed. College was helping him become his true self.
Visiting her son at college, he seemed different: he no longer lowered his voice to fit in as an openly gay kid as he'd done at home in the South.
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My body image issues almost ruined my wedding after I couldn't find a ring or suit that fit me
His body image issues were triggered by shopping for a wedding ring and suit. He almost didn't get married. His partner helped him overcome cold feet.
Meet the 6 Miss Universe 2023 contestants who are making the pageant more inclusive
Miss Guatemala, Michelle Cohn, is the first mother to compete in the Miss Universe pageant after organizers amended the rules in 2022.
YouTuber Terrell Grice has built a loyal 2.3 million online following asking celebrities to play a singing game. Here's how he did it.
Musical juggernauts like Kelly Clarkson, Michelle Williams, Cynthia Erivo, and Keke Palmer have all appeared on "The Terrell Show."
I finally came out as gay at 55 years old after 2 marriages with women. Telling my children was surprisingly easy.
Early in the pandemic, he decided to come out to his family. They accepted him easily, but he struggled in the world of gay dating as a 55-year-old.
Last Halloween, I hosted a party and blacked out — it was the last time I drank. This year, I'm hosting a sober Halloween party.
Embracing the alcohol-free life and a sober October: After blacking out last Halloween, they realized they had a problem and went to AA.
My child came out as nonbinary at 6 years old. Here's what I've learned as their parent.
A nonbinary child's parent shares how she's supported her kid even as she feared for their safety and what she's learned from the experience.
A gay Israeli soldier says he's going to fly the LGBTQ+ flag on his tank while fighting Hamas
Yoav Atzmoni told Insider that he jumped at the chance of serving in the Israeli military to defend his rights and fight against Hamas.
My partner and I tried to plan our first sex party. Only one person showed up.
He planned a sex party for 9 people but only one showed up. The threesome with his partner and their guest was a celebration of open relationships.
After transitioning, my straight guy friends started to hit on me. It made me feel like a piece of meat.
After transitioning, her friends started to hit on her. When they did it, she felt gross, but she also felt more like a woman. She describes the two feelings as "twisted."
After a difficult break-up, I decided to stay single and celibate. 2 years later, I now love myself.
She's happier being single. After a difficult breakup, she started doing things independently and decided she was happier alone.
When I came out as transgender, my wife admitted she wasn't attracted to me anymore. Our marriage is over, but we still love each other.
Gabbi Tuft's wife Priscilla helped save the WWE star's life by encouraging her to transition. Their 20-year marriage is over, but they're still close.
I was a closeted lesbian, and my partner was a closeted trans person. We came out together and are still together 6 years later.
In honor of National Coming Out Day, a closeted lesbian felt comfortable coming out after her partner came out as transgender. Being open about their sexuality deepened the couple's bond.
I came out as lesbian after I had two kids. My girlfriend then moved in and has become the perfect coparent.
In honor of National Coming Out Day, a woman explains how she came out as a lesbian and met the love of her life — only after she had two kids.
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I'm a bisexual woman married to a man. People questioning my sexuality caused me to come out queer instead.
A bisexual woman married to a man explains why she now identifies as queer in honor of National Coming Out Day. Marriage doesn't change her sexuality.
I'm friends with all my exes. Whenever I fight with my current girlfriend, I turn to them for advice.
Being friends with your exes isn't terrible. She always reaches back out to her exes after the breakup to rekindle their friendship and gain advice.
I'm falling in love with my hook-up buddy and have no idea what to do about it
I've caught feelings for my hook-up buddy and don't know what to do. It started as casual sex but now our passionate intimacy has me falling in love.
I'm a drag queen at Penn State. My parents disapprove, but I'm determined to keep performing anyway.
A Penn State drag queen explains his parents disapprove of the lifestyle so much that when they found his costumes, they made him throw it all away.
I always hated my breasts, but I can't get top surgery because the surgeon said I'm too fat. I'm enraged.
Some surgeons have BMI requirements for top surgery, making it difficult for someone who is "too fat" to get medical treatment without weight loss.
I'd always been uncomfortable to reject someone during casual sex if I wasn't into it. That's until I was rejected myself.
He would have casual sex with people even if he wasn't interested because he didn't feel comfortable rejecting them.
Move over, drag brunch. This queen is turning to tagging sharks for research.
"Drag-N-Tag," as the event is called, tackles multiple issues at once, and marries Miss Toto's two passions: drag and marine biology.
National Sons Day is a time to celebrate the boys in your life. As a mom to a 9-year-old nonbinary child, I often feel unseen on this day.
The mom of a nonbinary child says gendered "national" days like Sons Day and Daughters Day don't leave room for all parents to celebrate their kids.
I had the most romantic and thoughtful first date with an old high-school friend. It helped me embrace my bisexuality.
She was able to embrace her bisexuality after a lovely date. The romantic night out — which involved painting — helped her come to terms with her sexuality.
I'm a CEO, and I came out as trans at 56 to my employees via email. The reaction was mixed.
When the CEO revealed she's a trans woman, some employees hugged her, while others just stared. It ultimately helped the workplace.
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I met a man in an underground bar who called himself a 'daddy.' I ended up crying in his lap, and he helped heal my childhood trauma.
The writer felt like he was robbed of his childhood because he lived in fear of being outed. When he was 24, he began a relationship with a "daddy."
Before my transition, I was a WWE star, weighed 280 pounds, and had 6% body fat. It took a lot of trial and error to get the feminine body I always wanted.
Gabbi Tuft, a transgender retired WWE star, transformed her body to become a fit, feminine fitness influencer by experimenting with diet and exercise.
I had the perfect romantic date with a dreamy man, but something felt off. That's when I realized I'm a lesbian.
The perfect date with a man helped me know I'm a lesbian. I'm working through my compulsory heterosexuality in therapy now thanks to this experience.
When I started dating a couple, I had the best sex of my life. I'm now more confident, and it has transformed the way I see myself.
Mark Musack is a bisexual man and always felt uncomfortable dating — until he met a couple that allowed him to explore his masculine and feminine sides as a throuple.
My child told me they were neither a boy nor a girl at just 6 years old. I learned exactly what that meant when we went back-to-school clothes shopping.
Alexis Barad was surprised when her nonbinary child didn't want to get dresses for school. Instead, her kid chose a unique wardrobe that fit their gender identity.
When I came out as trans to my mother, she accepted me with open arms. But then she became distant and told me she was grieving the loss of her son.
Tessa Becker was ecstatic that her mother accepted her as a trans woman. But then her mother started to pull back and stopped answering texts.
My sister is afraid I'll tell my nephews I'm gay. She now limits the time I spend with her kids, and it hurts.
The writer came out to his sister when he was a teen, and she accepted him. Years later, she won't let him talk about his queerness with her kids.
As a closeted trans kid, I had a difficult and lonely childhood. I wonder whether life would've been easier if I transitioned as a child.
Jack Ori struggled to make friends and fit in as a kid. He wonders what it would've been like to transition in childhood.
When I dated men, I never wanted kids. Now that I'm in a queer relationship, I suddenly want to be a parent because there are no rules.
The writer feels she now wants a kid because she's with the right person and doesn't have to "play the prescribed role of mom," she said.
I delayed getting my first tattoo because I didn't feel like my body belonged to me. After my gender transition, I fell in love with tattooing my new body.
Summer Tao always wanted a tattoo but felt uncomfortable in her skin. Once she transitioned, she got a semicolon tattoo.
My husband is transgender. Thanks to anti-trans healthcare laws, my family and I had to flee Florida.
Thanks to Florida's anti-trans laws, my family and I were forced to move for our safety and so my transgender husband could access basic healthcare.
I always felt like no woman would love me because I'm a bi man. When I finally met my wife, she helped me accept and love my bisexuality.
Mark Cusack worried he wouldn't ever be loved by a woman because of his bisexuality. Then he learned his future wife found his bi side hot.
I just ended a 3-year, heterosexual relationship, and now, I want to date women. But I'm too scared to start.
Candela Gambuli wants to start dating women, but she's worried she isn't queer enough. She's also scared she'll get performance anxiety during sex.
A woman accusing Spirit Airlines of kicking her off a plane because it wrongly thought she had mpox is taking the airline to court
Jacqueline Nguyen is suing Spirit Airlines, claiming staff made her deplane over fears her eczema was mpox, and that it was anti-gay discrimination.
When I came out as gay, I thought I'd feel accepted and free. But the gay community was not as inclusive as I expected.
The writer felt like gay spaces were too exclusive and limiting. They eventually came out as nonbinary.
I met my partner on a dating site over 20 years ago, so we had to exchange photos in the mail. 2 decades later, we're still in love.
Heath Savage and her partner met more than 20 years ago and built a relationship over the phone. Now they live in Spain.
Malaysian music festival demands The 1975 pay $2.7 million after frontman Matty Healy kissed bandmate onstage: report
Matty Healy and his male bandmate kissed during their July set at Good Vibes Festival in Malaysia, prompting local authorities to shut down the event.
As a gay man, I partied with only queer women for the first time. It changed the way I act in gay spaces.
While at a party with only queer women, the writer realized he could be himself and not focus solely on attracting attention from other gay men.
'Heartstopper's celebration of queer love in teens makes me angry because I never got to experience that as a gay kid
Watching "Heartstopper" angers a gay man because he never experienced queer love as a teen. But he's still glad Netflix represents gay love onscreen.