Despite the disproportionate number of Trans people, specifically Black Trans women, that are murdered in the United States every year, justice is few and far between. When cis Black and Indigenous women, children and Two-Spirit go missing they barely get media attention. When Black Trans women are murdered and discarded, they are typically misgendered by police and media, their cases are barely investigated and cases go cold. There is no equity in life or justice in death. Tiny spots of lights sometime appear among a blanket of darkness when the precious life of a victim is honored by catching a killer.

It has been less than 3wks since Blaque/OUT reported the death of Persia Conway in Houston, Texas. Today we bring you another devastating loss of Marlow Trottie (as reported by KALB5 Louisiana) in Alexandria, Louisiana.

A woman and her little brother were walking in Southwest Houston and discovered the body of a Trans woman, naked and deceased by the Bray’s Bayou River on Memorial Day. Police reported the victim as being Trans “by their outward appearance.” The cause of death and official identity of the victim have not been released by authorities but Los Angelos advocates and social media posts have indicated that she may be a woman named Persia that had recently relocated from LA to the Houston area.

Blaque/OUT Magazine recently reported the alarming statistic that 7 individuals of the Trans experience had lost their lives to violence in the US in the last 45 days. Terrifyingly, we were mistaken, it was 8. Our investigative team just learned that Lanessa Rodriguez was murdered in a robbery attempt of her Gold and Silver Pawn shop in Fort Pierce, Florida in April.

The first openly gay NBA player, Jason Collins passed away this week after a battle with glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer. He was 47 years old.

Collins played college ball at Stanford and went on to play for 13 seasons in the NBA playing 2001 until his retirement in 2014. Jason played for the Celtics, Nets, Grizzles, Timberwolves, Wizards and Hawks throughout his career.

Blaque/OUT Magazine is a media outlet that our community trusts to bring them the news and people to watch. We don’t engage in gossip but it’s our duty to report on the things affecting our community. When a well-known community serving org accuses a well-known community figure of harm- that’s a story we can’t ignore. Currently social media is buzzing about what may or may not be happening with @thedominiquemorgan .

This week’s news out of California, Tennessee and Kansas as legislation continues to challenge Trans rights.

Maybe the most notable win was Zohran Mamdani, who was convincingly elected as the next Mayor of New York City over defamed ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo, NYC royalty from a dynasty of NYC royalty. Cuomo had been on the receiving end of sexual assault accusations but even that rarely matters amongst the white, wealthy and powerful. NYC is the nation’s deepest melting pot but also deeply segregated with very little access to wealth amongst most of its residents. Mamdani, a millennial, Muslim, Ugandan immigrant was everything Trump and a post-9/11 NYC rejected. He self describes as a Democratic Socialist, was outspoken in his support of the working class of the city, immigrants, Muslims, and Trans folks. He chased the youth vote showing up at clubs, concerts, working social media and getting out in the streets to meet the people. He made commercials in the languages (literally and figuratively) of his constituents airing ads in spanish, different Arabic languages and featuring the stories of Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. Instead of trying to make himself “look more American” he made his campaign sound like what America actually looks like. He appealed to the young, immigrant, Black and working class that they say don’t and won’t vote. And then they did. He appealed to the wealthy that actually are willing to give more to do more for those that have less. The Robin Hood of Queens, living in a rent-stabilized apartment while teaching at Columbia- got over 1 MILLION VOTES and over 2 million New Yorkers showed up to make sure their voices were heard which is unheard of in an off year election. The most since 1969- nearly 60 years ago. On Wednesday, congratulations, celebrations and tearful gratitude poured in all over social media from all over the country. From middle-America to the middle of Florida, Mamdani’s win was a flash of light in what have felt like very very dark days in this country.

Orlando, FL - On June 30th, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) issued a memo to municipalities, banning street art containing social, political, or ideological messages on roads, shoulders, intersections, and sidewalks. They cited safety concerns for the aggressive stance and went on to threaten withholding state funding from cities that didn’t immediately comply. The directive targets public art like Pride crosswalks that appear throughout the state and the "Black History Matters" street mural found outside of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museumin St. Petersburg, FL.

Since, several cities including West Palm Beach, Boynton Beach and Tallahassee, have started willingly removing the art while the cities of Delray Beach, Miami Beach, Key West and St. Petersburg, FL seem poised to fight back. In a subsequent letter from the State, several of those cities were told to remove the Art by a deadline of Sept 3rd and if they did not, FDOT would come in without further communication to remove the artwork “by any appropriate method”, the expense of which would be charged back to the municipality.

In stunning news, the City of Orlando woke today to learn that the State of Florida had come in overnight on Wednesday under the cloak of darkness and removed the rainbow cross walk that stretched across Orange Ave, the street that sits directly in front of Pulse Nightclub where 49 innocent victims lost their lives in a mass shooting on June 12, 2016. The city of Orlando, it’s Mayor, several elected officials and countless community members condemned the act and began immediately filling the then blank crosswalk spaces in with color chalk.

0:05: Sam Nordquist

1:05 Trans Passport Ban Reversal

2:34 Tennessee Gender-Affirming Care SCOTUS decision

Trans Military Ban 05.08.25

According to a proposed budget document obtained by the Washington Post, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is planning to eliminate the national LGBTQ youth 988 crisis lifeline at the end of September.