LGBTQ+

A new historic marker pays tribute to the former site of Soakie’s, the Black queer bar that once operated out of the basement of an Italian sandwich shop. The nightclub regularly hosted drag performances, and served as a home to the local LGBTQ+ community.

For years, Soakie's in downtown Kansas City was one of the only Black gay bars in the United States. The bar closed in 2004, as development began on the Power & Light District, but a new historical marker remembers its impact.

Bruce Winter, who performed for more than five decades as Melinda Ryder, was a pioneering figure widely credited with helping revive the drag scene in Kansas City. Winter died September 8, at age 70, after a six-month battle with cancer.

Siobhan Kirchstein received a warning — which is the penalty for a first offense under the new Kansas law — for not using the bathroom that matches her gender assigned at birth. So far, the University of Kansas has not received a fine.

The group of trans men are using women’s bathrooms in publicly owned facilities, which is required by Kansas law, to highlight what they say are flaws in the bathroom bill.

The coalition of labor and progressive says it will target Republican lawmakers who helped repeal voter-approved paid sick leave. The money is just a fraction of the eventual total that will be spent to influence the 145 Missouri General Assembly races between both major parties on the November ballot.

Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins says he intends to block state and federal funds from reaching Daniel Boone Regional Library after its Columbia branch read LGBTQ+ picture books aloud. One state lawmaker said the event was wholesome and called the threats "government censorship."

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Tuesday that states can ban transgender athletes from participating in sports. That secures the status of a law in Kansas banning transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports

The Kansas City Council is bringing back its efforts to ban conversion therapy after it repealed a 2019 ordinance last month. Council member Jonathan Duncan discusses how the new proposal restricting "dangerous therapies" is intended to comply with a recent Supreme Court ruling.

Kansas City officials are working on a new way to ban so-called “conversion therapy.” The move comes just weeks after the Kansas City Council repealed a prior ban on the discredited practice because of a Supreme Court ruling against a similar law in Colorado and a lawsuit from the Missouri Attorney General.

Looking for a chaotic murder mystery or a meditative summer beach read with LGBTQ+ characters? Three Kansas City book experts share a range of selections in honor of Pride Month.

An ordinance proposed by Mayor Quinton Lucas and 6th District City Council member Johnathan Duncan would restrict practitioners from receiving payment for practices that increase the risk of suicide and depression. It’s intended to avoid challenges stemming from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling and a lawsuit from the Missouri Attorney General.