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Sapphira Cristál brings her 'Expansive' voice to San Francisco

The classically trained bass-baritone and Drag Race runner-up makes her debut today at the Transgender District and Opera Parallèle's annual showcase of trans and non-binary classical artists.

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Lead Stories

Arts & Entertainment

Dolly Parton, Country Music Icon and Longtime LGBTQ+ Ally, Dies at 80

Arts & Entertainment

Parton died Tuesday in Nashville, her family announced. She had publicly supported marriage equality and defended transgender people over the course of her decades-long career.

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Arts & Entertainment

33 Photos of Fun and Festivities With San Francisco’s Transgender District

Two nights in San Francisco close out California's Transgender History Month: an opera showcase at the Strand and an all-Black drag party in SOMA, both marking the 1966 uprising that started it all.

Read more →

Politics & Policy

Jaelynn Scott is on track to become Washington's first openly trans legislator

Politics & Policy

She leads the Lavender Rights Project and took more than 88 percent of the primary in Seattle's 37th District. POLISH spoke with her about community, safety, and why she won't run on identity alone.

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Politics & Policy

News

Politics & Policy

Jaelynn Scott is on track to become Washington's first openly trans legislator

Politics & Policy

She leads the Lavender Rights Project and took more than 88 percent of the primary in Seattle's 37th District. POLISH spoke with her about community, safety, and why she won't run on identity alone.

Read more →

Politics & Policy

Movement & Organizing

Last call for Rochester's gay bars — or is it?

Movement & Organizing

Queer bars are closing across the country. In an Upstate New York city, one community is grieving the loss of two legacy spaces and betting on what comes next.

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Movement & Organizing

Politics & Policy

Pentagon officials invoked the Avignon Papacy to threaten the pope

Politics & Policy

Senior U.S. defense officials used a 14th-century reference to papal captivity to pressure the Vatican's ambassador in a closed-door meeting. Vatican officials say the encounter led Pope Leo XIV to cancel his planned U.S. visit.

Read more →

Politics & Policy

Dr. Butch Ware is flexing his muscles for politics

Politics & Policy

The Green Party candidate Dr. Butch Ware wants to take fitness back from the far right, one rep at a time.

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Politics & Policy

Donald Trump fires Pam Bondi as U.S. Attorney General

Politics & Policy

Several outlets have confirmed that Trump’s Attorney General was fired on Thursday.

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Politics & Policy

Movement & Organizing

The country woke up to Kansas. Merrique Jenson never slept.

Movement & Organizing

As the only executive director running a trans organization across three deeply red states, Merrique Jenson isn't interested in your outrage. She's interested in your resources, your platform, and you

Read more →

Movement & Organizing

Culture + Lifestyle

Sapphira Cristál brings her 'Expansive' voice to San Francisco

The classically trained bass-baritone and Drag Race runner-up makes her debut today at the Transgender District and Opera Parallèle's annual showcase of trans and non-binary classical artists.

Read more →

Arts & Entertainment

Dolly Parton, Country Music Icon and Longtime LGBTQ+ Ally, Dies at 80

Arts & Entertainment

Parton died Tuesday in Nashville, her family announced. She had publicly supported marriage equality and defended transgender people over the course of her decades-long career.

Read more →

Arts & Entertainment

Trans Love, Noir, and “Zaire”

Arts & Entertainment

Filmmaker Iman DuPree shot their debut feature under military occupation in Washington, and set two rules that changed how a Black trans woman gets to move on screen.

Read more →

Arts & Entertainment

The drag queen rewriting opera on her terms

Arts & Entertainment

Créatine Price on names, refusing to shrink, and building her own table

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Arts & Entertainment

"Less proving. More knowing.": Monroe Alise on craft, community, and coming into her own

Arts & Entertainment

The actor and "I'm Clockable" Queen returned as Isis for the final season of The Chi, and arrives at a version of herself she doesn't yet have words for.

Read more →

Arts & Entertainment

"After all, art is political": Catching up with Johnny Montanez

Arts & Entertainment

The creator on getting banned from Meta, losing his cousin, finding his sexuality, and why he stopped pretending content was a side hustle.

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Arts & Entertainment

Support trans stories!

Consider a Tax-Deductible one-time donation or become a monthly supporter, starting at just $5 per month.

Support Black Trans & Queer Stories

Tax-deductible donations in support of POLISH Media are made through our fiscal sponsor, W.A.V.E. Women Inc. — an organization dedicated to creating safe, supportive, and empowering resources for the transgender community. Donations processed through W.A.V.E. Women Inc. are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Trans + Queer Joy

33 Photos of Fun and Festivities With San Francisco’s Transgender District

Two nights in San Francisco close out California's Transgender History Month: an opera showcase at the Strand and an all-Black drag party in SOMA, both marking the 1966 uprising that started it all.

Read more →

Wins & Milestones

“You can't hate yourself into loving yourself”: Dr. JonPaul on the cost of not conforming

Wins & Milestones

Dr. JonPaul on honors, the doors that still won't open, and refusing to conform in a landscape that increasingly demands it.

Read more →

Wins & Milestones

The crown, the crown haters, and the sisterhood zhané dawlingz wiley found anyway

Wins & Milestones

Zhané Dawlingz Wiley won Miss Continental on her first try, faced online harassment for it, and came out the other side with sisters instead of rivals.

Read more →

Wins & Milestones

Community & Kinship

"We keep us safe. We set us free": How one small town in Upstate New York proves community was always the point

Community & Kinship

In the Finger Lakes, queer visibility is personal. And this year, it's fully in community hands.

Read more →

Community & Kinship

Beyond Day of Visibility: How Transgender District's Breonna McCree is building hope and empowerment

Community & Kinship

As Co-Executive Director of the Transgender District in San Francisco, the world’s first legally recognized district, Breonna McCree has spent her career building the kind of infrastructure that visibility rhetoric consistently promises and rarely delivers.

Read more →

Community & Kinship

The House that built itself: Jahnell Butler on ballroom, motherhood, and legacy

Community & Kinship

Jahnell Butler–Mother Chanel, director of trans services, and one of ballroom’s living legends–on legacy, chosen family, and what it means to show up for your children.

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Community & Kinship

Health

Access & Advocacy

This Artist Turned His HIV Diagnosis Into an Anthem

Access & Advocacy

Singer-songwriter Tony Enos talks his new album, reclaiming his poz-aversary, and why the Diana Ross classic that raised him became the record's title track.

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Access & Advocacy

David Archuleta: "It's Beautiful to Be a Sexual Human Being"

Access & Advocacy

The American Idol alum on coming out, unlearning shame, and why he's talking about PrEP in the communities that need it most.

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Access & Advocacy

No, the AMA did not reverse its stance on trans healthcare

Access & Advocacy

Weeks of media confusion about the American Medical Association's stance on gender-affirming care obscured something simple: the policy never changed.

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Access & Advocacy

Opinion

Personal Essays

The Montage of Queer Becoming

Personal Essays

In this personal essay, Christopher Connor reflects on spending decades in the margins of drag spaces before he understood they were his field sites, his family, and his salvation.

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Personal Essays

Commentary

When your own community treats your assault like gossip

Commentary

Opinion: From my assault to the murders of Black women across the country – trivialization is the weapon, and solidarity is the only answer.

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Commentary

Nobody’s business: In defense of EJ Johnson’s right to want what EJ wants

Commentary

Opinion: The discourse around EJ Johnson’s dating life isn’t about EJ. It never was.

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Commentary

Desired in Private. Erased in Public.

Commentary

Opinion: Trans people are the most searched and the most legislated against. That is not a coincidence.

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Commentary

From Commentary to Consequence: The ‘DL Whisperer,’ Ts Madison, and Stochastic Terrorism

Commentary

Opinion: When repeated demonization meets algorithmic amplification, online harassment becomes structural — and Black trans women are too often its proving ground.

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Commentary

POLISH with Marie-Adélina

I've lost count of my crying. But I found the women who taught me to get back up

A rough year, a fabulous apartment, and what a couch full of romcoms taught me about grief, growth, and the women who came before me.

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I Haven't Outgrown My Friends. I've Outgrown Performing for Them.

On trans sisterhood, self-sabotage, and the quiet revolution of choosing dinner over the dive bar.

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The best Mother's Day gift I ever got was her finally seeing me.

On chosen mothers, blood mothers, and the long road between the girl I was and the woman she finally sees.

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A Black king survived an unkind world. So did I.

On family, history, and why telling stories that refuse to be forgotten is the only work that's ever made sense.

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Now on POLISH

ONE HISTORIC DAY. TWO STAGES. TRANS PRIDE ALL DAY. 🏳️&zwj;⚧️🔥🌺

September 5th belongs to us!

We’re making history at Rochester’s first-ever Trans Pride Fest—bringing trans and gender-expansive talent, community, visibility, and

Once upon a time, a young @sapphiracristal came to Rochester, New York, to study composition at Eastman School of Music. But the thing that turned a composition major into a performer wasn’t a conservatory. It was a night at Tilt, watching a Bl

Tim Curry has died at 80.

The actor, best known for originating Dr. Frank-N-Furter in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” passed away Tuesday night at his Los Angeles home, according to TMZ. No foul play is suspected. Curry had lived with

BREAKING: Dolly Parton, Country music icon and humanitarian, died today at her home in Nashville, according to ABC News. She was 80.

60 years ago, trans and queer folks fought back at Compton’s Cafeteria, three years before Stonewall, and the world remembered it last.

This weekend, the @transgenderdistrict isn’t letting that history sit quietly. Aug 27: Expansive Show

Have questions?
take a look at our fAQ.

The classically trained bass-baritone and Drag Race runner-up makes her debut today at the Transgender District and Opera Parallèle's annual showcase of trans and non-binary classical artists.

Search the Site

The Latest

Parton died Tuesday in Nashville, her family announced. She had publicly supported marriage equality and defended transgender people over the course of her decades-long career.

Two nights in San Francisco close out California's Transgender History Month: an opera showcase at the Strand and an all-Black drag party in SOMA, both marking the 1966 uprising that started it all.

She leads the Lavender Rights Project and took more than 88 percent of the primary in Seattle's 37th District. POLISH spoke with her about community, safety, and why she won't run on identity alone.

News

She leads the Lavender Rights Project and took more than 88 percent of the primary in Seattle's 37th District. POLISH spoke with her about community, safety, and why she won't run on identity alone.

Queer bars are closing across the country. In an Upstate New York city, one community is grieving the loss of two legacy spaces and betting on what comes next.

Senior U.S. defense officials used a 14th-century reference to papal captivity to pressure the Vatican's ambassador in a closed-door meeting. Vatican officials say the encounter led Pope Leo XIV to cancel his planned U.S. visit.

The Green Party candidate Dr. Butch Ware wants to take fitness back from the far right, one rep at a time.

Several outlets have confirmed that Trump’s Attorney General was fired on Thursday.

As the only executive director running a trans organization across three deeply red states, Merrique Jenson isn't interested in your outrage. She's interested in your resources, your platform, and you

Culture + Lifestyle

The classically trained bass-baritone and Drag Race runner-up makes her debut today at the Transgender District and Opera Parallèle's annual showcase of trans and non-binary classical artists.

Parton died Tuesday in Nashville, her family announced. She had publicly supported marriage equality and defended transgender people over the course of her decades-long career.

Filmmaker Iman DuPree shot their debut feature under military occupation in Washington, and set two rules that changed how a Black trans woman gets to move on screen.

Créatine Price on names, refusing to shrink, and building her own table

The actor and "I'm Clockable" Queen returned as Isis for the final season of The Chi, and arrives at a version of herself she doesn't yet have words for.

The creator on getting banned from Meta, losing his cousin, finding his sexuality, and why he stopped pretending content was a side hustle.

Support trans stories!

Consider a Tax-Deductible one-time donation or become a monthly supporter, starting at just $5 per month.

Trans + Queer Joy

Two nights in San Francisco close out California's Transgender History Month: an opera showcase at the Strand and an all-Black drag party in SOMA, both marking the 1966 uprising that started it all.

Dr. JonPaul on honors, the doors that still won't open, and refusing to conform in a landscape that increasingly demands it.

Zhané Dawlingz Wiley won Miss Continental on her first try, faced online harassment for it, and came out the other side with sisters instead of rivals.

In the Finger Lakes, queer visibility is personal. And this year, it's fully in community hands.

As Co-Executive Director of the Transgender District in San Francisco, the world’s first legally recognized district, Breonna McCree has spent her career building the kind of infrastructure that visibility rhetoric consistently promises and rarely delivers.

Jahnell Butler–Mother Chanel, director of trans services, and one of ballroom’s living legends–on legacy, chosen family, and what it means to show up for your children.

Health

Singer-songwriter Tony Enos talks his new album, reclaiming his poz-aversary, and why the Diana Ross classic that raised him became the record's title track.

The American Idol alum on coming out, unlearning shame, and why he's talking about PrEP in the communities that need it most.

Weeks of media confusion about the American Medical Association's stance on gender-affirming care obscured something simple: the policy never changed.

Opinion

In this personal essay, Christopher Connor reflects on spending decades in the margins of drag spaces before he understood they were his field sites, his family, and his salvation.

Opinion: From my assault to the murders of Black women across the country – trivialization is the weapon, and solidarity is the only answer.

Opinion: The discourse around EJ Johnson’s dating life isn’t about EJ. It never was.

Opinion: Trans people are the most searched and the most legislated against. That is not a coincidence.

Opinion: When repeated demonization meets algorithmic amplification, online harassment becomes structural — and Black trans women are too often its proving ground.

POLISH with Marie-Adélina

A rough year, a fabulous apartment, and what a couch full of romcoms taught me about grief, growth, and the women who came before me.

On trans sisterhood, self-sabotage, and the quiet revolution of choosing dinner over the dive bar.

On chosen mothers, blood mothers, and the long road between the girl I was and the woman she finally sees.

On family, history, and why telling stories that refuse to be forgotten is the only work that's ever made sense.

Now on POLISH

Have questions? take a look at our fAQ.

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