Reports and retorts
Jan. 21 — The Human Rights Campaign’s report on Trump’s first year back in office is a worrying confirmation of what we already know: LGBTQ+ rights are being eroded daily. You can read more about the report below. Thousands across the country participated in school/work walkouts yesterday – the anniversary of Trump’s second inauguration – to protest the ICE crackdown.
A few more headlines:
👏 Trans journalist Erin Reed reports that anti-transgender riders placed in final appropriations bills for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education were successfully stripped from the legislation by Democrats.
💉 CVS Health has belatedly agreed to cover the new HIV prevention drug yeztugo after it was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last summer.
🎥 Applications are currently open for the 2026 Out On Film Filmmaker Fund, which supports emerging and established LGBTQ+ filmmakers with grants of up to $2,500 to help complete films that tell queer stories.
🙄 Transphobic keyboard warriors are losing their collective minds over trans actor Dylan Mulvaney’s casting as Anne Boleyn in the long-running Broadway production, “Six the Musical.” Stay mad.
📜 The Advocate looks back at the history of the Mattachine Society, one of the first gay rights groups, and its lasting legacy.
I’m feeling so sexistential…
Collin
❄️ If you’re planning to venture out this weekend, be sure to keep an eye on the winter weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday. There will likely be closures and cancellations.
💫 Atlanta, the sky is the limit tonight! At 6:30 p.m., over 35 buildings across the city will light up green with Emory Healthcare, kicking off a celebration of innovation. What’s next in medicine is here, and Emory is leading the way. The frontline of care. The forefront of discovery. SPONSOR MESSAGE
HRC warns LGBTQ+ progress faltering as Trump enters second year
📉 As President Donald Trump begins the second year of his second term, LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations say they are shifting into a more aggressive posture — armed with new data that shows how quickly hard-won progress is eroding under the Trump-Vance administration.
The Human Rights Campaign hosted its 2026 Election Strategy Kick-Off meeting last week at the National Press Club in Washington, where leaders shared fresh polling data detailing how Trump’s first year back in office has affected LGBTQ+ Americans — and how pro-equality candidates can respond heading into the midterms.
One of the clearest trends from the survey is a decline in perceived acceptance. The data found that 21.6% of all U.S. adults say acceptance of LGBTQ+ people has declined in the past year. Among LGBTQ+ adults themselves, that number jumps to 29.7%.
➡ Read the full story from Washington Blade here.
RELATED NEWS
🗣️ Columbus, GA’s COLGAY Pride organization blasted the city as its HRC Municipal Equality Index score dropped 14 points. “Once a city recognized for progress in LGBTQ equality, Columbus has seen its score fall from 63 to 49, signaling a troubling regression in inclusive policies and practices,” the statement said.
Ready, Set, AGLOW!
SPONSORED BY FERNBANK MUSEUM
🌟 When the sun sets, the woods come alive at WildWoods: AGLOW.
This after-hours experience combines art, nature and music at Fernbank Museum, featuring scenic trails aglow with light outdoors and nighttime access to museum exhibits inside.
🌙 Select nights through Feb. 28.
Atlanta Pride releases 2025 Impact Report
🏳️🌈 Atlanta Pride has released its 2025 Impact Report, documenting the growth and investments made during the organization’s 55th year.
2025 Atlanta Pride continued to be the largest free Pride festival in the U.S., with over 350,000 attendees and the largest parade in Atlanta with more than 100,000 spectators.
“Our 2025 Atlanta Pride festival and parade reaffirmed that choosing Pride is not a neutral act,” Atlanta Pride Executive Director Chris McCain said. “Choosing Pride is a declaration that we will not be erased, a commitment to not retreat, and a promise to move forward – together.”
➡ Find out more and read the full report here.
‘Prisontown’ explores impact of ICE detention center on Lumpkin, GA
🎭 Lumpkin, GA, a town two-and-a-half hours southwest of Atlanta, is home to less than 1,000 residents – 891 to be exact, according to the 2020 census. It’s also home to the Stewart Detention Center, one of the largest immigration detention centers in the country.
This tiny town is the subject of playwright, actor, and Out of Hand Theater Associate Artistic Director Lee Osorio’s new play, “Prisontown.” Lumpkin is also Osorio’s hometown.
The show follows the “95 percent true story” about a writer who returns to Lumpkin to witness the barbarity of the nation’s immigration crisis and a small town torn by poverty and the prison industry. With the recent deaths of Mexican national Sanchaz Dominguez in ICE custody in Lovejoy, GA, and Renee Good in Minneapolis after being shot by an ICE agent, “Prisontown” is a timely exploration of the impact of anti-immigration sentiments and policies on all of us, immigrants or otherwise.
➡ Read Katie Burkholder’s interview with Osorio.
MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
🎥 Contributor Jim Farmer spoke with iconic director Gus Van Sant about his new film, “Dead Man’s Wire,” now playing.
🏥 Look up, Atlanta! At 6:30 p.m. tonight, more than 35 buildings across the city will light the sky green with Emory Healthcare. A citywide celebration begins because what’s next in medicine is here at Emory. The frontline of care. The forefront of discovery. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Best Bets
👗 Southern Dyke Alliance will host its Closet to Closet clothing swap tonight, Jan. 21, at 7 p.m. at The Supermarket, where Lavender Lens will also be holding Queer Short Film Night.
💻 The National LGBTQ Task Force’s Creating Change 2026 will bring together LGBTQ+ leaders, artists, and organizers from across the country, Jan. 21-2,5 for a virtual festival. Get information at thetaskforce.org/creating-change.
🎭 Out Front Theatre in Atlanta presents Aziza Barnes’ “BLKS” Jan. 29 through Feb. 14. As sharply funny as it is poignant, the play tells the story of three twenty-something New Yorkers hunting for intimacy and purpose in the Big Apple.
➳ Check our Instagram stories @thegeorgiavoice for more events and activities.
