What “Red, White & Royal Blue” Gets Right About Being Queer in Politics — And What It Doesn’t

“I am the First Son of the United States, and I’m bisexual. History will remember us.”

Casey McQuiston’s debut romance novel “Red, White & Royal Blue” has recently been adapted into an Amazon Prime movie, bringing the love story between the American First Son and the Prince of England to the big screen. The film is a winding tale of controversy and copulation, but ends happily with Alex Claremont-Diaz (played by Taylor Zakhar Perez) and Henry Windsor (played by Nicholas Galitzine) stepping into Alex’s childhood home to start the next chapter of their lives together.

Good News Amongst the Bad: Recent Pro-Trans Legislation

In the past year or so, there has been a scourge of discriminatory legislation targeting the entire Queer community, transgender individuals in particular. Bills have been introduced in state legislatures that attack freedom of expression, access to gender-affirming care, education, and visibility for the transgender and broader Queer community. These laws are an astonishing and frightening violation of basic human rights and speak to a worrying rise in widespread anti-transgender intolerance. Essentially, conservative politicians are trying to write Queer and trans people out of existence.

Title IX Updates Offer Contradictory Policy Toward Transgender Athletes

The ACLU is currently tracking 467 anti-LGBTQ bills among 45 state legislators at the time of publication. On April 13, the U.S. Department of Education (referred to as The Department) published its proposed updates to Title IX regulations entitled “Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance: Sex-Related Eligibility Criteria for Male and Female Athletic Teams.”

Transgender Bill of Rights Introduced to Congress

On March 31, 2023 (this year’s Trans Day of Visibility), Representative Pramila Jayapal and Senator Edward J. Markey introduced the “Transgender Bill of Rights” in Congress. The resolution would broadly ensure equal access to services and public accommodations for trans and nonbinary people, recognize their right to bodily autonomy and ethical healthcare, promote their safety, and enforce their civil rights.

Roe v. Wade: What’s Next?

Roe v. Wade was overturned on June 24, 2022 reversing 49 years of legal precedent in the U.S.. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has made it clear he does not plan to stop there, and gay marriage could be next up to take a massive political hit. 

The Realities of (Mis)Representation

This article was originally published in our Winter 2022 Volume 1 zine “Queer Rage, Resistance, & Renaissance.“ We’re constantly told as queer people that representation matters. There is this pervasive narrative sold to us that seeing our faces in high…

In Light of Florida Bill 1557: An Analysis of Isn’t That Bisexual? (Fall 2013)

*This article is a modern analysis of the themes and content of “Isn’t That Bisexual?“ (Fall 2013), the eighth installment of our From The Archive series.* The fact that misunderstandings regarding pansexuality presented in “Isn’t That Bisexual?” still persist today indicates…

Unions Are An Emerging Political Battleground

Photo by Zoë Collins (She/Her) In the face of an increasingly polarized racial and political landscape, some commentators have carefully noted that Democrats are at a crossroads in terms of their party’s approach to white appeasement politics, where the party’s…

“Don’t Say Gay”: The Would-Be Impact of Florida’s HB 1577

Two days ago, on Thursday, February 24th, the Florida House of Representatives passed a bill by a 69-47 vote aiming to limit discussions of sexuality and gender identity in classrooms. The official name of the bill is HB 1577, the…