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- NYC Council Member Chi Ossé Files Complaint Against Cop Who Forcefully Arrested Him

- Students Call Out UW for Hosting Turning Point USA Event Days After Killing of Trans Student

- Search for Trans Student Murry Foust Enters Week Two: “How Far Do We Expand the Circle?”

- NYU Langone Criminally Subpoenaed by Federal Court for Trans Youth Care Records

- Russian Photographer Sentenced to Labor Camp for Writing Gay K-Pop Fanfiction

- 19-Year-Old Transgender University of Washington Student Fatally Stabbed

- As Two Trans Candidates Win Scottish Parliament Bids, J.K. Rowling Praises Anti-Trans Loser

- Wisconsin School May Censor Concert Because a Song Is Dedicated to Marsha P. Johnson

- Federal Judge Blocks FTC Probes Into Trans Medical Orgs: “Extensive Evidence of Animus”

- Family Mourns Killing of 29-Year-Old Florida Trans Person “Known by Many Names”

POLITICS | MAY 12, 2026, 5:22 PM EDT | VIEW ON WEBSITE

NYC Council Member Chi Ossé Files Complaint Against Cop Who Forcefully Arrested Him

Video footage of the arrest showed the officer grabbing the council member before and forcing him to the ground.

Instagram / @chiosse

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New York City Council Member Chi Ossé has officially filed a complaint against the New York Police Department officer who was shown throwing him to the ground and arresting him during a demonstration on April 22.

On April 22, Ossé joined a group of demonstrators outside of his constituent Carmella Charrington’s family home in Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy neighborhood to stop what advocates have called a deed theft eviction. NYPD officers arrested Ossé along with other demonstrators for attempting to prevent the planned eviction. Video footage of the arrest posted to social media soon after showed the officer grabbing the 28-year-old council member before and forcing him to the ground to handcuff him.

“Council Member Chi Ossé was just arrested while defending his constituent, Carmella Charrington, from eviction,” the caption for the video, posted to Ossé’s account, reads. “This is the result of deed theft and the ongoing displacement of Black homeowners in Bed-Stuy.”

In the complaint obtained by Politico, Ossé alleges that the officer used excessive force, through which he received a concussion. The Civilian Complaint Review Board that investigates instances of police misconduct confirmed to the outlet that it is reviewing the complaint.

“My rights were violated, but more importantly, my responsibility to my community and constituents demands a fact-finding,” the 36th District Council Member told Politico.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the video of the arrest “incredibly disturbing” at a press conference shortly after Ossé was detained. Other city officials such as City Council Speaker Julie Menin also condemned the arrest.

“When I saw the video, it’s obviously of deep, deep concern,” Menin said during a press conference outside the 79th precinct following the arrest. “He was thrown to the ground, and as you heard from him directly, he sustained some injuries. That is not acceptable. He was peacefully protesting.”

Mamdani announced the launch of the city’s first Deed Theft Prevention Office two days after the incident, meant to protect citizens from having generational family homes stolen through nefarious means like quitclaim scams and fraudulently filed property transfer documents. This act of obtaining a deed through illegal or coercive means, has skyrocketed in recent years, especially among Black and Latinx New Yorkers.

“The theft of a home is the theft of a family’s future,” Mamdani said in a statement announcing the new office. “Deed theft preys on the New Yorkers who can least afford it. Today, we are bringing the full force of city government to bear to stop it – to protect homeowners, defend generational wealth and make clear that this city will not tolerate the exploitation of our communities.”

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/nyc-council-member-chi-osse-files-complaint-against-cop-who-forcefully-arrested-him on May 12, 2026 at 7:53 PM EDT.

NEWS | MAY 12, 2026, 2:37 PM EDT | VIEW ON WEBSITE

Students Call Out UW for Hosting Turning Point USA Event Days After Killing of Trans Student

“A trans student was murdered last night, please cancel this event.”

UNITED STATES - 2012/04/08: USA, Washington State, Seattle, University Of Washington Campus, The Quad With Flowering Cherry Trees In Spring. (Photo by Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images)Wolfgang Kaehler/Getty Images

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This story contains descriptions of fatal violence against a transgender person.

Students at the University of Washington are criticizing the school for continuing to host a Turning Points USA event days after the fatal stabbing of a 19-year-old transgender student.

The event, scheduled for the evening of May 13, is a “Pick Up the Mic” event with Chloe Cole, a right-wing detransitioner who actively opposes access to gender-affirming care. According to an Instagram post from Turning Points USA UW, the event is produced in collaboration with the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, a conservative nonprofit focused on higher education. “Pick Up the Mic” events were popularized by the late TPUSA co-founder Charlie Kirk with a format that invites students on college campuses to debate a featured speaker.

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“Considering your group’s hateful rhetoric surrounding transgender individuals may have contributed to a violent death in our community, I would say postponing or cancelling this event is the only appropriate response,” one commenter wrote under the TPUSA event flyer on Instagram.

“A trans student was murdered last night, please cancel this event,” another commenter wrote.

The University of Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment on student criticism of the TPUSA event.

The victim, whose identity has yet to be released by the University of Washington or Seattle Police Department pending notification of next-of-kin, was found dead on Sunday evening in the laundry room of Nordheim Court, an off-campus student apartment complex that is privately managed but affiliated with the university. Seattle Police Department Detective Eric Muñoz initially said that the victim was “believed to be a 19-year-old transgender female.”

“While investigators have not yet identified a suspect or a motive, I want to recognize that when violence affects a trans person it can be especially worrying to our LGBTQIA+ community members,” UW President Robert J. Jones said in a statement on Monday after the news broke. “Our Division of Student Life is reaching out to students affected and providing support and resources to help them through this very difficult ordeal.”

Following this statement, some students have been pushing back, demanding that the TPUSA event scheduled for Wednesday either be rescheduled or canceled altogether given the group’s embrace of anti-trans rhetoric.

“And yet they keep inviting turning point to campus…?” one student commented under an Instagram post by student newspaper The Daily about Jones’ statement on the homicide.

Amid the shock of a trans young person being murdered in an ostensible liberal enclave like Seattle, a city that is viewed by many as a sanctuary for queer and trans people, students online have criticized the University of Washington for its response to the homicide — and over safety measures in student housing.

A group of students told local Fox affiliate KCPQ that a person who matched the description of the primary suspect in the homicide case broke into their apartment in the same off-campus student apartment complex on April 25. According to the SPD blotter report, authorities are “actively searching for the suspect, believed to be a black male with a beard, 5’6-8” tall, wearing a vest with button up shirt, and blue jeans.” A trio of Nordheim Court roommates told the station that, approximately two weeks ago, they heard glass rattling outside of their first story apartment, initially thinking nothing of it, before coming into the kitchen and discovering a man crawling through their window.

The roommate who allegedly saw the man screamed at him to leave the apartment before running to the back of the apartment to create a barricade in a bedroom. When the University of Washington Police Department responded to the incident, officers found a knife on scene and logged the break-in as a robbery, per KCPQ.

While the students were moved to an apartment on a higher floor for their safety, they told the station that they still don’t live far from the laundry room where the student was murdered.

“There was nothing done about the situation in general,” the student said of SPD and the University of Washington’s response.

This story is still developing.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/uw-students-protest-turning-point-usa-after-trans-student-homicide on May 12, 2026 at 7:53 PM EDT.

NEWS | MAY 12, 2026, 12:56 PM EDT | VIEW ON WEBSITE

Search for Trans Student Murry Foust Enters Week Two: “How Far Do We Expand the Circle?”

The search has so far involved water rescue teams, K-9 units, drones with thermal imaging, and more.

Covington Police Department

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Investigators looking for missing transgender student Murry Foust are considering whether they need to widen the search radius as the case enters its second week.

“We’re still hitting it hard and the next step is: How far do we need to take this and how far do we expand the circle?” David Rader, director of the search-and-rescue organization EquuSearch Midwest told Cincinnati-based NBC affiliate WLWT on Monday.

Foust, a 22-year-old trans man who was set to graduate from Northern Kentucky University this past weekend, was last seen on April 27 walking in Covington’s Latonia neighborhood wearing a yellow backpack. Foust’s phone was left at home and his car was parked a block away from his Latonia apartment. On May 3, as news of the missing persons case began to spread, a friend noted on Facebook that Foust is a “trans man early into his transition and their pronouns are he/they” and encouraged the media to “respect” his identity.

In the intervening time, authorities have asked residents for surveillance camera footage from the Latonia neighborhood. Attempts to locate Faust, led by police and EquuSearch Midwest, have so far deployed water rescue teams, K-9 units, and drones with thermal imaging technology in addition to conventional ground searches.

Per WLWT, the search has included the area where Foust was last seen, portions of Ohio that border northern Kentucky, and boat teams on the Ohio River between Covington and Cincinnati. As of May 11, the search had encompassed four square miles of forest. Police have said they do not suspect foul play.

“Just because you don’t find somebody doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing,” Rader told WLWT. “We’re not giving up.”

NKU held its spring commencement ceremonies this past weekend. Foust is a fine arts major in the school’s College of Arts and Sciences. According to WLWT, Equusearch is planning another search for this coming weekend.

Police have asked anyone who sees Foust to call 911 immediately. Those with tips have been encouraged to call detectives at 859-292-2234 or reach out to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Crime Stoppers at 513-356-3020. Anyone with surveillance footage in the area can email officer Marcus Jordan at marcus.jordan@covingtonky.gov or call the 859 number.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/search-for-trans-student-murry-foust-enters-week-two-search-radius on May 12, 2026 at 7:53 PM EDT.

NEWS | MAY 12, 2026, 10:50 AM EDT | VIEW ON WEBSITE

NYU Langone Criminally Subpoenaed by Federal Court for Trans Youth Care Records

The subpoena demands records of patients under 18 who received gender-affirming care between 2020 and 2026.

Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images

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The U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Texas has subpoenaed NYU Langone Health, one of the largest hospital systems in New York City, for records of patients under 18 who received gender-affirming care from between 2020 and 2026.

The federal subpoena, which patients were alerted to Monday, also demands NYU Langone Health provide the names of healthcare providers who were involved in administering the care to trans youth. NYU Langone Health is one of several hospitals included on the subpoena. It is not yet clear why Ryan Raybould, the Northern District of Texas U.S. Attorney General, is requesting these records through a grand jury.

Because New York state is protected by “shield laws,” a collection of measures meant to protect patients and providers from legal charges from other states for providing/receiving gender-affirming care or abortion services, NYULH officials stated they needed to notify patients of the investigation.

“We understand that these developments may be concerning to our patients, providers and others,” NYULH officials stated in a notice to patients. “Please know that NYU Langone takes the privacy of your protected health information very seriously, and we are evaluating our response to this subpoena.”

According to S. Baum, staff writer for the independent blog Erin in the Morning, which tracks attacks on trans healthcare, this makes NYU Langone the first known hospital system to receive a federal criminal subpoena for providing gender-affirming care.

Hospital systems across the country have been pressured by the Donald Trump administration to cease providing gender-affirming care to youth or risk federal funding since the President took office for the second time in January of last year. In February 2025, New York City advocates and healthcare providers rallied to press NYU Langone to continue providing life-saving care to trans youth such as hormone blockers and hormone replacement therapy. Even so, the hospital system announced it would stop providing gender-affirming care to minors in February 2026, citing the “current regulatory environment.”

“Electing to refuse service to a class of individuals based on their protected status, such as withholding the availability of services from transgender individuals based on their gender identity or their diagnosis of gender dysphoria, while offering such services to cisgender individuals, is discrimination under New York law,” New York state Attorney General Letitia James wrote in a letter to state healthcare providers in 2025.

In the months following NYU Langone and Mount Sinai Hospital systems shuttering their respective trans youth programs, queer and trans advocates have pressed Mayor Zohran Mamdani to live up to campaign promises to increase access to gender-affirming care to trans New Yorkers.

Per the hospital’s statement to patients, any NYU Langone Health patients, former or current, can email their questions regarding the investigation to TYHPSubpoena@nyulangone.org.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/nyu-langone-federal-criminal-subpoena-trans-youth-healthcare on May 12, 2026 at 7:53 PM EDT.

NEWS | MAY 12, 2026, 9:54 AM EDT | VIEW ON WEBSITE

Russian Photographer Sentenced to Labor Camp for Writing Gay K-Pop Fanfiction

Alexandra Kuzyk’s wages will also be garnished by the state.

Sergione Infuso - Corbis/Getty Images

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A Russian court has sentenced photographer Alexandra Kuzyk to 18 months in a labor camp after being convicted of producing “illegal pornography,” according to the state-affiliated tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda-Yekaterinburg.

The pornography in question? A gay fanfiction story based on the South Korean boy band Stray Kids, per Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

The case against Kuzyk began a year ago when a woman reported to police that she had found Kuzyk’s fanfiction, which featured same-sex romance, on her daughter’s device, per the Mirror. Police then raided Kuzyk’s home and seized books and electronics from her, including two laptops, smartphones, CDs, and an iPad.

Kuzyk said that she was not selling or publishing stories at the time, but rather that the fanfiction was hosted on the controversial social media site Telegram. The woman took screenshots of the material and sent them to Roskomnadzor, the Federal service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, per the Mirror.

Aside from 18 months of labor, Kuzyk’s wages will also be garnished 10% by the state, per the Gazeta. According to the Russian newspaper, Kuzyk originally faced a four-year prison sentence before eventually being handed 18 months of labor. Kuzyk admitted guilt in court and said that her writing did not earn her income.

Fanfiction has increasingly drawn the ire of the Russian government since its 2023 expansion of the anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda law, which labeled the LGBTQ+ movement as extremist, per the Gazeta. In 2025, a Russian court fined MangaLIB, the largest Russian-language manga website, over 14 million rubles (about $190,000) for propaganda. Judge Alexandra Anokhina said that the manga was a “cultural threat to national security.” Aside from fining the site, the court also levied fines against individual manga publications, each amounting to about $25,000, per Mediazona.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/russia-lgbtq-fanfiction-kpop-stray-kids-work-camp on May 12, 2026 at 7:53 PM EDT.

NEWS | MAY 11, 2026, 2:37 PM EDT | VIEW ON WEBSITE

19-Year-Old Transgender University of Washington Student Fatally Stabbed

The suspect remains at large.

july7th/Getty Images

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This story contains descriptions of fatal violence against a transgender person.

The Seattle Police Department are searching for a suspect after a 19-year-old University of Washington student was stabbed to death in an off-campus student apartment complex on May 10.

Seattle Police Department Detective Eric Muñoz told NBC News that the victim is “believed to be a 19-year-old transgender female” who was enrolled at the university. The victim has not yet been publicly identified by name. She was found in the housing complex laundry room shortly after 10 p.m. on Sunday night.

The housing complex, Nordheim Court, is privately managed but affiliated with the university, located near an upscale shopping center in Seattle’s U-Village neighborhood. According to NBC News, residents received an official alert from UW to stay inside their homes and lock all windows and doors — an alert that was lifted around 1 a.m. with the acknowledgment that “a death investigation remains ongoing.”

According to SPD detective Eric Muñoz, police and the fire department attempted lifesaving measures but ultimately “pronounced the victim deceased at the scene.”

“Officers are actively searching for the suspect, believed to be a black male with a beard, 5’6-8” tall, wearing a vest with button up shirt, and blue jeans,” Muñoz wrote in a blotter report.

Muñoz noted that the victim would be identified by the medical examiner’s office in “the coming days.” The SPD did not immediately respond to Them’s request for comment.

In a statement, UW Spokesperson Victor Balta said that the victim would not be identified “until the student’s family has been notified, and we will respect their privacy throughout this process.”

“No suspect has been identified and no motive for this crime has been established,” Balta said. “Nordheim Court is operated by Greystar, and the UW is working with Greystar to ensure residents there are receiving support and resources in light of this tragedy.”

In a separate statement, UW President Robert J. Jones expressed condolences to the victim’s family. Jones also acknowledged the victim’s identity and the impact of such cases on queer and trans students. “There are no words that can express the profound loss of a student,” Jones said. “While investigators have not yet identified a suspect or a motive, I want to recognize that when violence affects a trans person it can be especially worrying to our LGBTQIA+ community members. Our Division of Student Life is reaching out to students affected and providing support and resources to help them through this very difficult ordeal.”

This is the seventh known trans person to be violently killed in 2026. In mid-April, 39-year-old transmasculine farmer Luca RedBeard was fatally shot in rural New Mexico. Last week, police in Marion County, Florida opened a homicide investigation into the shooting death of a 29-year-old who went by multiple names and referred to “transitioning” on social media. In Kentucky, an investigation into the disappearance of 22-year-old trans college student Murry Foust remains ongoing.

Police are asking anyone with information about the University of Washington case to call the Violent Crimes Tip Line at 206-233-5000, emphasizing that anonymous tips are accepted.

This story has been updated with comment from the University of Washington. This story is still developing.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/19-year-old-transgender-university-of-washington-student-fatally-stabbed on May 12, 2026 at 7:53 PM EDT.

POLITICS | MAY 11, 2026, 10:25 AM EDT | VIEW ON WEBSITE

As Two Trans Candidates Win Scottish Parliament Bids, J.K. Rowling Praises Anti-Trans Loser

The Harry Potter author is posting through it.

Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images; Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images; Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images

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Misery loves company.

Following the election of two transgender members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has only publicly commented on an anti-trans candidate who lost her race.

On Saturday, May 9, Rowling posted “Hear, hear” to her 13 million followers on X in response to a post praising Dr. Pam Gosal, a Scottish MSP who lost her re-election bid, and who has previously made anti-trans comments. (Gosal said she was “thrilled” when the U.K. Supreme Court ruled in February of last year that trans women are not legally women.)

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The original post praising Gosal, from Scottish writer Susan Dalgety, read, “This is what diversity looks like in power,” mirroring a statement made by Dr. Q Manivannan, one of the two newly-elected trans MSPs.

Per People, Manivannan and Iris Duane were elected to the legislative body on Friday, both as members of the Scottish Green Party. Manivannan will represent Edinburgh and Lothians East electoral region, where Rowling lives, meaning that the author is now represented by a trans politician.

The two new MSPs hit a much cheerier tone following the elections than Rowling did.

“Hope. All we ask for is hope,” Duane wrote on Instagram Stories shortly after her victory, per People.

Manivann, who is a trans Tamil immigrant, told a crowd of onlookers after their victory, “I am to some in this country everything that the hateful despise and I am standing here as your MSP now with care,” as The Independent reported.

The same day that Rowling showed support for Gosal, she also criticized U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer for appointing Harriet Harman, who has expressed support for trans people, as the Adviser on Women and Girls.

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“Bravo, @Keir_Starmer, for getting in an Adviser on Women and Girls who thinks the definition of women and girls includes men and boys,” Rowling wrote on X. “That’ll definitely win back people who believe Labour’s a party for smug, lanyard-wearing, luxury-belief-espousing cultural elitists.”

Though Rowling had been spouted publicly liking transphobic posts on the social media service then known as Twitter as early as 2018, she fully came out as anti-trans in 2020 when she published a 3,800-word screed on her personal website. Since then, she has given beaucoup bucks to the cause, including her own organization focused on funding anti-trans initiatives.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/jk-rowling-q-manivannan-iris-duane-election-anti-trans-candidate on May 12, 2026 at 7:53 PM EDT.

NEWS | MATHEW RODRIGUEZ | MAY 8, 2026, 10:54 AM EDT | VIEW ON WEBSITE

Wisconsin School May Censor Concert Because a Song Is Dedicated to Marsha P. Johnson

One board member referred to Johnson as “a cross-dressing prostitute who threw a brick at a police officer.”

(Photo by Barbara Alper/Getty Images)Barbara Alper/Getty Images

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Band students at a Wisconsin high school are being left on tenterhooks as they wait to find out whether their school will ban a performance dedicated to Marsha P. Johnson.

Students at Watertown High School had planned to perform “A Mother of a Revolution!” as part of a spring concert set for May 18, but must now stand by to see if the school decides whether that song can be played. School officials will decide whether students are allowed to perform the piece at a May 12 school board meeting, per Wisconsin Public Radio.

“A Mother of a Revolution!” is a 2019 piece composed by Omar Thomas, who is gay, in “celebration of the bravery of trans women,” per the composer’s website. In 2019, Thomas also became the first Black composer to win the National Band Association/William D. Revelli Memorial Composition Contest.

“There is no demographic more deserving, and frankly, long overdue for highlighted heroism and bravery,” Thomas writes of Johnson in his introduction to the piece. “The disco vibe in the latter half of the piece is meant to honor club culture, a sacred space held amongst LGBTQ persons in which to love, live, mourn, heal, strategize, connect, disconnect, and dance in defiance of those outside forces who would seek to do LGBTQ persons harm simply for daring to exist and take up space.”

Though the exact outcome of the May 12 meeting remains unknown, the board’s Educational Services Committee tipped its hat this week and indicated that they will likely pull the piece, per WPR.

This comes despite the fact that band director Reid LaDew says he followed the district’s established “controversial issues policy,” which requires teachers to provide “effective notice” to parents in advance of “controversial issues being instructed in the classroom.” (It goes without saying that there should be nothing controversial about a piece of music dedicated to a Black trans woman.)

LaDew did, however, do his due diligence by notifying parents in October that they would start preparing “A Mother of a Revolution!” for the May concert. In the note, obtained by WPR, LaDew wrote, “The purpose behind studying Mother of a Revolution is not to provoke controversy, but to deepen students’ understanding of how music reflects the diverse experiences of humanity.”

He continued, “Engaging with this piece helps foster empathy, cultural awareness, and respect for the stories and struggles that shape our shared history.”

LaDew told WPR that he chose the piece for performance because of its complexity, as it would be a challenge for advanced band students. The piece is meant for a wind ensemble and has no lyrics. Parents were also given an opportunity on the form to opt their child out of performing the song. After three families initially passed on letting their children play the song, eventually only one student was still excluded from the performance.

Committee member Christina DeGrave told WPR that the subject is more appropriate for a history class than band. “When it comes to music, it should be uplifting and celebratory,” DeGrave said. (Mind you, the piece is literally described as a celebration by the composer.)

Despite LaDew following procedure, Board vice president Sam Ouwenell agrees with DeGrave that the piece should be pulled. “Having a controversial issues policy does not preclude certain material from being inappropriate for a public school,” Ouweneel said. “My concern with this piece, in particular, is that it’s described specifically as a celebration of Marsha Johnson, who was a cross-dressing prostitute who threw a brick at a police officer.”

LaDew also questioned why the board was choosing to act on this in May, mere days away from the performance, when he had first notified parents that the song had been chosen in October. According to WPR, the board says they were only made aware of it recently.

DeWayne Roberson, the former band director, who has also served as an adjudicator at state and national music festivals for 40 years, told WPR that the piece is often played at festivals statewide, including the Wisconsin School Music Association Festival. “I believe in a lot of cases, the people who are most concerned about this are concerned out of ignorance and they’re using the rhetoric of today’s politics to make their decisions,” he said.

In 2024, the Watertown School district adopted a more restrictive policy toward trans students that required guardians of minors to be alerted if a student started using pronouns that did not match their gender assigned at birth and that staff would “not be compelled” to use a trans student’s new names and pronouns, even if a parent approves. Students are also banned from using restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity and can only participate in intramural sports and activities that align with their gender assigned at birth.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/omar-thomas-composer-marsha-p-johnson-reference-music-wisconsin on May 12, 2026 at 7:53 PM EDT.

NEWS | MAY 8, 2026, 9:48 AM EDT | VIEW ON WEBSITE

Federal Judge Blocks FTC Probes Into Trans Medical Orgs: “Extensive Evidence of Animus”

Chief Judge James Boasberg said the Trump administration showed “wafer-thin justifications” in targeting WPATH and the Endocrine Society.

Photographer:Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images

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This story originally appeared in The Advocate.

President Donald Trump suffered a pair of legal setbacks Thursday after a federal judge in Washington, D.C., blocked the Federal Trade Commission from enforcing investigative demands against two of the nation’s most influential medical organizations involved in transgender health care guidance.

Chief Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted preliminary injunctions to both the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and the Endocrine Society, temporarily halting FTC investigations that the groups argued were politically motivated and unconstitutional.

The FTC investigations began earlier this year amid the administration’s broader effort to target institutions connected to gender-affirming treatment for trans youth. The agency issued civil investigative demands, or CIDs, seeking years of internal records, communications, financial information, conference materials, and documents related to medical guidance on transgender care.

In separate lawsuits filed in D.C., WPATH and the Endocrine Society accused the administration of weaponizing federal investigative powers to intimidate organizations that support evidence-based medical care for transgender patients.

The complaints argued the FTC was not conducting ordinary consumer protection oversight, but instead attempting to chill scientific debate, suppress protected medical speech, and deter physicians and researchers from participating in discussions about health care for transgender people.

Boasberg appeared deeply skeptical of the administration’s motives in both rulings, repeatedly pointing to what he described as evidence of hostility toward the organizations and their views on clinical standards for gender dysphoria treatment.

In the WPATH ruling, Boasberg wrote that the record “strongly suggests that the CID was issued at least in part because of hostility toward WPATH’s viewpoint and advocacy regarding transgender care.”

The judge explicitly tied that conclusion to the administration’s broader conduct surrounding transgender health care. “This Court’s Opinion in the parallel suit brought by the Endocrine Society details the range and depth of animus displayed by the President and agency leadership toward gender-affirming care,” Boasberg wrote.

He went further, writing that “[t]he circumstantial evidence of animus towards WPATH overlaps significantly with the record in the Endocrine Society’s case,” particularly through what he described as a “pattern of litigation and information demands” alongside “articulated hostility towards proponents of gender-affirming care.”

In one of the ruling’s sharpest passages, Boasberg concluded that “[o]n this preliminary record, with extensive evidence of animus and wafer-thin justifications lacking evidentiary support, it finds that WPATH is likely to demonstrate a causal link between its protected speech and the FTC’s issuance of the CID.”

Boasberg also noted that administration officials had publicly attacked WPATH before the FTC investigation began, including statements accusing the organization of lacking “scientific integrity” and contributing to “blatant harm done to children.”

At another point, the judge wrote that the evidence supported an inference of “viewpoint-based animus” toward WPATH and its advocacy surrounding gender-affirming care.

The court additionally found evidence that the investigation had already chilled protected speech and association. According to the opinion, WPATH leaders testified that they had curtailed educational programming and altered internal communications due to fears of retaliation and disclosure of sensitive member information.

“WPATH welcomes the Court’s decision to grant our request for a preliminary injunction against this unlawful and retaliatory investigative demand by the FTC,” the organization said in a statement to The Advocate late Thursday. “We are hopeful that this preliminary injunction will prevent further harm to the First Amendment rights of WPATH and its members.”

“For more than 50 years, WPATH has been committed to developing guidelines informed by established scientific standards, expert consensus, and patient-centered values,” the organization added. “WPATH’s dedication to this mission and the patient population it serves remains unwavering.”

In the parallel Endocrine Society case, Boasberg similarly warned that the FTC’s actions threatened constitutionally protected scientific discourse and associational rights. He wrote that the record raised “serious concerns that the agency’s investigatory power is being used not to police commercial fraud, but to target disfavored speech and advocacy.”

The judge also emphasized the breadth of the FTC’s demands, which sought years' worth of records related to publications, internal deliberations, and communications involving transgender care recommendations. Boasberg concluded that the organizations had shown evidence of “ongoing self-censorship and withdrawal from protected expressive activity” as a result of the investigations.

The rulings arrive as federal courts increasingly scrutinize whether the administration’s policies targeting transgender people and transgender health care are rooted in evidence or animus.

In Talbott v. United States, the ongoing challenge to the administration’s transgender military ban in D.C. courts, Judge Ana Reyes previously wrote that the policy was “soaked in animus and dripping with pretext.” Reyes also criticized government arguments portraying transgender service members as inherently dishonest or unstable, describing aspects of the administration’s rhetoric as evidence of unadulterated animus.

Boasberg’s rulings are not final decisions on the merits of either case, but they temporarily block the FTC from enforcing the investigative demands while the lawsuits proceed.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/dc-judge-james-boasberg-trump-ftc-trans-healthcare on May 12, 2026 at 7:53 PM EDT.

NEWS | MAY 7, 2026, 1:31 PM EDT | VIEW ON WEBSITE

Family Mourns Killing of 29-Year-Old Florida Trans Person “Known by Many Names”

The victim’s body was found on a dirt road near railroad tracks in Marion County.

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Update 5/12/26: Family of the victim launched a fundraiser on May 10 to cover funeral and memorial costs, shedding further light on how their lost loved one identified.

“Known by many names — Spot, Spotzie, Momma Spotzie, Hailey, and more — he was a wonderful, giving person who touched countless lives,” the GoFundMe, started by Spot’s grandmother Louise Singleton, reads. “As a proud member of the Transgender LGBTQ+ community, he embraced his true self and brought warmth and kindness to everyone he met.”

According to the fundraiser, police are still investigating the homicide. The family are seeking $14,000 in expenses. “Despite facing many challenges, including a developmental disability and the struggle to regain Social Security disability payments, he never let hardship stop him from helping others,” Louise Singleton wrote. “Even though he owned little, he would give anyone the shirt off his back.”

Original Article 5/7/26: Police in Marion County, Florida are investigating the shooting death of a 29-year-old transgender person as a homicide after finding the victim’s body on a dirt road near a set of railroad tracks in the city of Dunnellon on Tuesday.

According to local ABC affiliate WCJB, police identified the victim as Henry Singleton, who on Facebook listed their name as Mommie Spotsie King. On both Facebook and Instagram, the individual also incorporated the name Hailey into their username. The victim’s trans identity was first noted by local website Ocala-News.com.

It is not known exactly how this person identified or what pronouns they preferred, but in one social media post reviewed by Them, the victim self-describes as a “crossdressing sissy that’s transitioning.” While separate identities, there can be overlap between people who crossdress and trans people, especially because crossdressing can be a way for many trans people to explore their gender presentation before coming out.

Ocala-News.com reports that the victim used the term “transitioning” across “multiple social media posts.” The individual’s Instagram profile also includes the line “LGBTQI Community Always.”

When asked about the victim’s identity and other pertinent details, a spokesperson for the Marion County Sheriff’s office told Them, “Right now, I have no information regarding your inquiry. This is still an active case so a lot of details have not been released.”

Experts on such cases say it is critical to accurately identify trans victims of violent crimes in order to aid in clearing investigations, especially given the fact that trans people are often known by different names and presentations depending on social context.

“People called him ‘Spotsy,’” said Stephanie Carver, a neighbor who didn’t know the victim personally told NBC affiliate WESH. In the Facebook comments of one public post mourning the loss, one person refers to the victim as “Henry/Hailey” while another writes, “Fly high Hailey.”

Loved ones are posting tributes on social media as the investigation continues. “Gonna miss you bub,” one friend wrote over a video filmed on a beach.

This is the sixth known trans person to be violently killed in 2026. Earlier this week, reports emerged that a shooting death in New Mexico that occurred in April involved a trans victim, 39-year-old farmer and food justice advocate Luca RedBeard.

Police have asked anyone with information about the Florida case to contact Detective Karla Santana-Palau at (352) 368-3548.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/trans-victim-homicide-central-florida-mommie-spotsy-king on May 12, 2026 at 7:53 PM EDT.

Entertainment

- In This ‘Inspiration Porn’ Excerpt, Ryan O’Connell Wonders Whether the Straights Are OK

- Wrestler Gisele Shaw Becomes “First Doll” to Win an NWA Championship

- Lola Young Is “Back to Women” After Overhearing a Lover’s Secret Phone Call

BOOKS | MAY 11, 2026, 1:51 PM EDT | VIEW ON WEBSITE

In This Inspiration Porn Excerpt, Ryan O’Connell Wonders Whether the Straights Are OK

“Are straights really that miserable?”

In this exclusive excerpt from Special star Ryan O’Connell’s essay collection Inspiration Porn, out May 26 from St. Martin’s Press, the writer, who has been dating fellow author Jonathan Parks-Ramage since 2015, reflects on the ways his friendship with his straight girlfriend Clare evolved after she gave birth to her first child. — Them

In 2022, Hollywood spent millions of dollars to make an admittedly well-done and very good TV show (based on a novel) that pondered the question: Marriage and motherhood, are they worth it? Fleishman Is in Trouble should’ve been retitled Straight People Are in Trouble. The thesis of the show, delivered via voice-over by actress Lizzy Caplan, is ultradepressing. She basically says, “Oh, you don’t want to be married? You regret having kids? Guess what? You just miss being young, and you’ll never be young again so suck it up and deal with it.” Jonathan and I are around the same age as those characters, and we’ve seen our world expand via new friendships, new experiences, and new sexual partners. I’m not recommending open relationships or being childless — the way I do life is not a copy-and-paste job — but I was stunned by this blind acceptance from straights that life gets harder and smaller as you get older. Why does it have to?

I’m aware that this is a massive generalization, and the condition of modern straight couples can’t be encompassed by a single TV show, but watching it left my jaw perma-dropped. Are straights really that miserable?

I asked around. My straight friends replied, “Yes,” but were quick to add caveats. I was in a peculiar place with my girl-friends at the time. Jonathan and I had recently opened up our relationship, and whenever I’d regale them with stories of my sexcapades, I could almost see their minds racing behind their eyes. Would their husbands fuck other women if given the green light? Their relief was palpable after I explained that sex with Jonathan had taken a dip as a consequence of being open. They could barely contain their delight in hearing that there might be flaws in our system. Of course there are! Having a relationship, gay or straight, is a seven-layer dip of nuance. But what I find most disheartening is how resigned people are to their situations. We accept that marriage is “a lot of work” (haha) and can fucking suck and that you sometimes hate your partner and it’s totally normal. But relationships don’t have to be that way. And they shouldn’t. I find it easy to communicate with Jonathan, in part because we’ve never had a model of the so-called ideal relationship shoved down our throats. Straight people have years of conditioning to dismantle.

“I wept on the phone, my wails competing with Clare’s newborn. It was official: I wasn’t going to lose her.”

There are nuggets of truth in what Kyle warned me about when I was twenty-eight. On paper, I lead quite a different existence from my straight girlfriends. There are pieces they do not comprehend and vice versa. Their wedding or pregnancy announcements, while joyous, would all leave me with a speck of dread. Is this the thing that finally kills our friendship? I would survive their wedding, relieved, and then look out on the horizon and see a bunch of babies crawling toward our nights out, group vacations, inside jokes. “Move over, f-slur,” a baby would coo. “She’s mine now.”

Three days after Clare gave birth to her first child, she called me. I was surprised to hear from her so soon. I’m not familiar with postpartum social rules, but I made myself scarce to give her space to bond with the baby. I didn’t want to be a distraction when she had experienced a major life change. What was I going to do? Brag about the orgy I was attending later? My life seemed frivolous next to hers.

When I answered the phone and heard a baby screaming in the background, I thought, Uh-oh. Here we go.

“Babe,” Clare said. “What’s going on with Vanderpump?”

“Huh?”

“Tom and Ariana . . . it’s all over TMZ. How have you not seen this?”

“I have,” I said. Ariana’s boyfriend Tom had been caught cheating with Raquel. Life would never be the same for any of us. “Oh, I just figured you hadn’t, on account of literally having given birth.”

“Are you kidding?” Clare laughed. “All I do is scroll on my phone. There’s nothing to do besides make sure my baby doesn’t die. I have tons of downtime right now.”

My eyes suddenly welled up with tears. “Oh, wow . . .” “Wait, are you that emotional about their breakup?” “No,” I said. “I just — I wasn’t sure we could still do this.”

“Um, talking about these idiots is all I want to do,” Clare said. “Having a baby doesn’t change that.”

I wept on the phone, my wails competing with Clare’s newborn. It was official: I wasn’t going to lose her. In that moment I accepted that my queer superiority and mild heterophobia was masking my fear of being left behind. A new texture had been added to her life, a texture I will never fully understand. I think deep down I experience a recurring anxiety of Have I chosen wisely? My life is fun, flirty, and thriving in my thirties, but what will it look like in my sixties after not buying the heterosexual life insurance known as a family? Will I regret my choices?

I’ll go over to Clare’s and watch her put the kids to bed and after we’ll have Adult Time (talking shit about reality stars and dissecting our existential dread — the two aren’t always connected). I’ll step into her living room, which is filled with toys and music that could be played over a horror movie trailer but is, in fact, made for kids, and her husband, Dylan, will cook dinner while she plays with her sons, and out of nowhere a bath will have been drawn — I don’t know how — and boop, one baby will be sparkling clean and the other kid will be brushing their teeth and the dinner will be fucking delicious.

Inspiration Porn is available for pre-order from St. Martin’s.

From INSPIRATION PORN, by Ryan O’Connell. Copyright © 2026 by the author, and reprinted with permission of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/ryan-oconnell-inspiration-porn-essays-book-excerpt on May 12, 2026 at 7:53 PM EDT.

ENTERTAINMENT | MATHEW RODRIGUEZ | MAY 7, 2026, 10:46 AM EDT | VIEW ON WEBSITE

Wrestler Gisele Shaw Becomes “First Doll” to Win an NWA Championship

Shaw becomes the first trans woman to ever hold a title within the promotion.

National Wrestling Alliance

Gisele Shaw has made history in only a few months.

The wrestler, who goes by the name “The Quintessential Diva” is now the first out trans woman to hold an NWA championship ever, an honor she clinched after defeating Tiffany Nieves for the World Women’s Television Title on “NWA Powerrr” in a match aired last Friday, per Outsports.

Instagram content

Shaw underscored the historic moment on her Instagram account by outlining her accomplishments: “Defeated the longest reigning NWA World Women’s Television Champion,” she wrote with a checkmark, along with, “1st doll to win ANY NWA Championship.”

“The Quintessential Era has begun,” she continued. “Super proud to be THE NEW NWA World Women’s Television Champion and to win it at the prestigious 2026 Crockett Cup was incredible. My name forever etched in NWA wrestling history and cannot wait to keep building a legacy to be remembered for many years to come.”

Instagram content

Nieves even dropped by her comments section to congratulate her opponent.

“Wow,” she wrote, along with a string of complimentary emojis. “Despise you even more.” (She finished off the missive with a smiling devil and some heart eyes.)

Shaw is just the second trans woman to vie for the NWA World Women’s Championship, per Outsports. The first, Saraya Saber, challenged Kenzie Paige for the title in 2024, but ultimately lost.

In 2023, Max the Impaler, who goes by the nickname “The Non-Binary Nightmare,” became the first nonbinary wrestler to win a championship in the NWA. Max won the Women’s Championship by defeating Kenzie Paige. (Side note: Wow, Paige has been part of a lot of LGBTQ+ wrestling history by association!)

Wrestling championships have gotten quite queer this year: In March, Aaron “Evil Gay” Rourke became the first out gay wrestler to hold a solo WWE title.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/gisele-shaw-trans-wrestler-nwa-championship on May 12, 2026 at 7:53 PM EDT.

MUSIC | MAY 7, 2026, 10:25 AM EDT | VIEW ON WEBSITE

Lola Young Is “Back to Women” After Overhearing a Lover’s Secret Phone Call

The singer waxed confessional on Rosalía’s Lux Tour.

Karwai Tang/WireImage

Grammy Award-winning singer Lola Young says she is “back to women” after discovering a shocking fact about a former partner.

The “Messy” singer told the crowd at the May 5 show of Rosalía’s Lux Tour in London’s 02 Arena that, after seeing a man for four months, she discovered he was living a double life. After they had finished doing “the deed,” as Young put it, he told her he had to go downstairs. Because the music had been playing off his phone while connected to a Bluetooth speaker, Young said she heard everything when her lover took the secret call.

“It was getting pretty serious, okay? And I have to confess: I thought I was falling in love, right?” she told the audience of 40,000 people. “He goes downstairs... On the phone, his wife was asking him to bring back nappies for his kids. I heard everything through the speaker, can you believe it?”

Despite her growing stardom, the story is a reminder of what fueled Young’s rise to fame in the first place. The singer blew up on TikTok in the mid-2020s for writing relatable music about making “messy” choices. The singer, who has spoken openly about being queer in the past, told fans she “lost the plot” after the failed relationship and will not be dating men for the foreseeable future.

Young publicly came out on TikTok in May 2025 after a fan commented “no man deserves this,” to which the singer responded, “I like p*ssy as well.” After collapsing on stage at the All Things Go festival in September of last year, she took a five-month hiatus to “work on [herself].” She won her first-ever Grammy for Best New Artist in February this year, just days after returning to live performance following her stint in rehab.

Young has said that she emerged from the experience with new creative energy. “I want to write music people care about,” she told Rolling Stone in a March cover story. “Write music people cry to, laugh to, break up to, fall in love to.”

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/lola-young-cheating-story-back-to-women on May 12, 2026 at 7:53 PM EDT.

Answers & Advice

- "PrEP Belly" Is Not A Thing, According To Public Health Experts

HEALTH | MAY 8, 2026, 4:47 PM EDT | VIEW ON WEBSITE

Public Health Experts Say You Don’t Need to Worry About “PrEP Belly”

This internet discourse on “PrEP belly” is getting out of hand very quickly. Here's what you need to know.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A version of this article first appeared in Out.

This week, much to the dismay of public health experts, the gay side of social media has been obsessed with one hot-button issue: PrEP belly.

Discourse about whether or not PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) — a highly effective medication used to prevent HIV — causes bloating or a little belly has floated through queer parts of X and TikTok, causing quite a stir on social media in the last few weeks.

The term “PrEP belly” seems to have cropped up almost out of nowhere on April 21, when people started commenting on celebrities like DJ John Summit looking like he had “PrEP belly,” people worrying that they have it, and other gay folks scratching their heads and asking X (formerly Twitter) what the term even means.

“WHAT is a PrEP belly,” DJ, influencer, and modern-day club kid Griffin Maxwell Brooks asked on X (formerly Twitter) alongside a crying emoji.

“Great now I’m worried about having prep belly,” another person commented on X, while someone else posted, “PrEP belly cannot be real... y'all must be kidding.”

There are even thin and muscular queer men posting photos of themselves asking if they have “PrEP belly,” and although there are people who are genuinely worried, there are others who are using the viral topic as an excuse to post thirst traps.

But is PrEP belly a real thing you should be worried about? Experts assure us that no, you should not.

Rona Vail, Associate Medical Director of HIV services at Callen-Lorde Community Health Center in New York City, co-authored the existing PrEP guidelines for New York state. Vail tells Them that while PrEP can cause initial side effects like nausea or bloating among new users — much like any form of medication — these are not lasting and should not discourage people from taking the vital HIV prevention medication.

“It is true that a small percent of folks are intolerant to the medications and can have continued side effects, in which case we would switch them to a different form of PrEP,” Vail says. “But someone who is taking oral PrEP and not having side effects will not develop physical changes to the appearance of their ‘belly.’”

These symptoms usually fade away within the first two to four weeks after starting PrEP as your body adjusts, and there is no clinical evidence that suggests PrEP causes long-term damage to your gut health.

“It’s kind of like how some people feel a bit queasy when starting a new vitamin or supplement. Your system needs time to get used to it,” MISTR, a gay-owned and operated telehealth business that provides free online access to PrEP, said on its website.

Someone else on social media pointed out that the whole thing was just supposed to be a joke, but the concept of “PrEP belly” has clearly broken containment and is being taken seriously by some parts of the internet.

“Uhm so this PrEP belly thing was supposed to be an nyc inside joke (particularly among the Manhattan gays),” @geeyanii wrote. “Like it wasnt supposed to be a thesis or a discussion point. It was supposed to be a joke. No science to it, no stigma, just a good old joke.”

Before long, the discourse moved on to people being worried that attributing bloating or a belly to using PrEP was dangerous, considering how life-saving the medication is, especially for gay men who died in huge numbers during the AIDs Crisis of the ‘80s and ‘90s.

“not to be the friend that’s too woke but the whole ‘PrEP belly' thing just sounds like another way to deter gays from taking PrEP, which there’s already a weird stigma attached to it,”  @touchnick wrote on X.

Vail tells Them that her biggest concern is about the detrimental impact this kind of medical misinformation could have on the progress made towards treating and preventing HIV.

“I worry this misinformation will lead people to stop PrEP, or not initiate it in the first place, and cause a back sliding in the achievements we have seen in HIV prevention,” Vail says. “PrEP medications are overall very safe and highly effective when taken as recommended. There are so many options available for PrEP now that we can really adjust to meet the needs of each patient.”

Brooks went back to X on April 23 and posted that being worried about “PrEP belly” makes you “sound like an anti-vaxxer” before making a TikTok video talking about his concern that this discourse could end up harming the gay community.

“I do think we need to be really careful creating stigma around a medication as important as PrEP, specifically in this current age of anti-intellectualism as it regards to medicine,” Brooks said in his video that already has more than 200,000 views.

“Like I think if the Republican Party was able to convince half the country that vaccines cause autism when they don’t, it feels like the distinct possibility that something as simple as like, ‘PrEP makes you a little bit bloated, therefore like kinda chopped’…could end up dissuading some insecure or uninformed little gay boy in a red state where sex ed is basically non existent, from taking PrEP, from taking HIV prevention medication.”

Hopefully, now internet discourse will move on to something more important, like who is the hottest Heated Rivalry star. You know, something that really needs to be discussed.

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/prep-belly-101-according-to-experts on May 12, 2026 at 7:53 PM EDT.

Health

- Gay Travel Blogger Pleads “We’re Not Just Headlines, We’re People” Aboard Hantavirus-Plagued Cruise Ship

HEALTH | MAY 7, 2026, 3:31 PM EDT | VIEW ON WEBSITE

Gay Travel Blogger Pleads “We’re Not Just Headlines, We’re People” Aboard Hantavirus-Plagued Cruise Ship

A Boston-based travel creator says passengers aboard the outbreak-hit vessel are “people with families” as the ship continues toward the Canary Islands. But what is the virus?

AFP via Getty Images; Instagram @jakerosmarin

This story originally appeared in The Advocate.

A gay travel blogger documenting a remote expedition across the Atlantic is now among those quarantined aboard a ship linked to a rare hantavirus outbreak that has killed three passengers and sickened several others.

Jake Rosmarin began documenting his journey across the Atlantic Ocean on April 1, starting in Ushuaia, Argentina, with planned stops in South Georgia Island, Tristan da Cunha, and other faraway destinations throughout his 35-day adventure. The Boston-based content creator, known for his feel-good travel blogging and viral proposal to his fiancé, announced to his followers he would be visiting some of the most remote islands in the world.

But on May 2, nearly 30 days into his journey aboard the Dutch-flagged expedition vessel, the M/V Hondius, local officials reported to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases that a cluster of unknown respiratory illness cases had broken out among passengers. As more passengers fell ill over the several-week journey to Cape Town, South Africa, the outbreak proved to be the rare Andes strain of hantavirus, a rare and potentially deadly respiratory illness spread primarily through aerosolized exposure to rodent droppings. Three passengers have died, and three others with respiratory symptoms have been evacuated to medical care, according to the Associated Press. Authorities have reported eight confirmed cases.

The ship is now en route to the Canary Islands, after spending three days quarantined off the coast of Cape Verde as public health officials devised a strategy for containment and treatment. Rosmarin, who had been documenting the days leading up to the quarantine, posted a written statement to his travel accounts on Instagram and TikTok on Sunday. He later posted a video statement detailing his emotions while still aboard the Dutch-flagged adventure vessel.

“I am currently on board the M/V Hondius, and what’s happening right now is very real for all of us here,” Rosmarin says to the camera as his voice cracks. “We’re not just a story. We’re not just headlines. We’re people. People with families, with lives, with people waiting for us at home.”

Because the situation is still developing, Rosmarin has continued to post updates to dispel misinformation about the vessel. In an updated Wednesday statement, the travel blogger wrote that claims the M/V Hondius was poorly maintained, dirty, or even just a commercial vessel are false, explaining that the 150-person ship is not a traditional cruise ship and follows strict biosecurity protocols due to the extreme Antarctic conditions it regularly travels through.

“Everyone else aboard remains in good spirits,” he wrote in the latest statement. “At the end of the day, we are all just people who want to stay safe and eventually return home to our families.”

The outbreak has prompted questions about hantavirus, how it spreads, and whether it poses a broader public risk.

What is hantavirus?

According to the World Health Organization, hantaviruses are a family of viruses that can cause two syndromes and can be deadly. Usually, people become infected with hantavirus through exposure to mice and rats, especially if they make contact with their droppings, urine, or saliva.

There are several hantavirus strains that cause two distinct syndromes in humans: hantavirus pulmonary syndrome and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. The Guardian reported that lab tests found the strain aboard the M/V Hondius is the Andes strain, which is endemic to Chile and Argentina, is usually carried by long-tailed pygmy rice rats, and causes hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.

Hantavirus has a long incubation period, so HPS symptoms can appear anywhere from one to eight weeks after contact with an infected rodent. Person-to-person transmission of hantavirus is very rare; however, it has been documented with the Andes strain.

Early symptoms of HPS can include fatigue, fever, and muscle aches, especially in large muscle groups such as the shoulders and thighs. Later symptoms, which can develop four to 10 days after the initial phase, may includ abdominal distress, chills, shortness of breath, lungs filling with fluid, and tightness in the chest. According to the WHO, HPS has a fatality rate of up to 50 percent.

During a press conference organized by the Infectious Diseases Society of America on Thursday, Dr. Carlos del Rio, a professor of Global Health and Epidemiology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, said that from an infectious disease perspective, he is not worried about this outbreak becoming a pandemic.

“For the average person in the U.S., this is not a concern,” del Rio said. “I would tell people that I would be more concerned about getting in my car or crossing the street and having an accident than getting hantavirus.”

How does hantavirus spread?

Usually, hantavirus spreads through contact with infected rodents, most often via their droppings, urine, and saliva. Most strains of hantavirus do not spread between humans. While person-to-person infection is possible with the Andes strain of the virus, it usually occurs after prolonged contact with someone infected with hantavirus in the early stages of the disease.

Because Andes strain hantavirus transmits so differently from COVID, leading public health experts say the public should avoid conflating the two, and they say there is no reason to panic.

“When we say close contact (for human-to-human transmission), we mean very close physical contact, whether it's sharing a bunk room or sharing a cabin, providing medical care, for example, (that is) very, very different to COVID and very different to influenza,” Maria Van Kerkhove, World Health Organization (WHO) director of epidemic and pandemic management, told Reuters.

What can I do to protect myself against hantavirus?

Healthcare experts say that while hantavirus is not a concern for the average American, there are important steps people can take to reduce health risks more broadly. According to del Rio, those include staying home when you are sick and contacting healthcare providers if you become sick after a trip.

Additionally, public health experts say maintaining strong public health systems is critical, especially as the Trump administration pushes to cut more global health funding.

“For the average American, my recommendation would be, what you need to do is call your congressperson and say, ‘continue funding CDC, continue funding NIH,’” del Rio said. “By keeping those organizations funded and functional, we’re protecting the health of America.”

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This article was downloaded from https://www.them.us/story/hantavirus-gay-cruise-ship-blogger-symptoms-spread-protection on May 12, 2026 at 7:53 PM EDT.

Table of Contents

Them.: 2026 May 12

News

NYC Council Member Chi Ossé Files Complaint Against Cop Who Forcefully Arrested Him

Students Call Out UW for Hosting Turning Point USA Event Days After Killing of Trans Student

Search for Trans Student Murry Foust Enters Week Two: “How Far Do We Expand the Circle?”

NYU Langone Criminally Subpoenaed by Federal Court for Trans Youth Care Records

Russian Photographer Sentenced to Labor Camp for Writing Gay K-Pop Fanfiction

19-Year-Old Transgender University of Washington Student Fatally Stabbed

As Two Trans Candidates Win Scottish Parliament Bids, J.K. Rowling Praises Anti-Trans Loser

Wisconsin School May Censor Concert Because a Song Is Dedicated to Marsha P. Johnson

Federal Judge Blocks FTC Probes Into Trans Medical Orgs: “Extensive Evidence of Animus”

Family Mourns Killing of 29-Year-Old Florida Trans Person “Known by Many Names”

Entertainment

In This ‘Inspiration Porn’ Excerpt, Ryan O’Connell Wonders Whether the Straights Are OK

Wrestler Gisele Shaw Becomes “First Doll” to Win an NWA Championship

Lola Young Is “Back to Women” After Overhearing a Lover’s Secret Phone Call

Answers & Advice

"PrEP Belly" Is Not A Thing, According To Public Health Experts

Health

Gay Travel Blogger Pleads “We’re Not Just Headlines, We’re People” Aboard Hantavirus-Plagued Cruise Ship