Top Stories from Advocate.com for 10/06/2023

[View this email in your browser]( Top Stories from [Advocate.com]( [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( [25 Years After Matthew Shepard's Killing, Lesléa Newman Helps Us Make Sense of It]( Like many queer people alive during the 1990s, the thought of [Matthew Shepard]( still makes Lesléa Newman shudder. Shepard, a beautiful, adventurous Wyoming college student, became a symbol after his horrific murder in October 1998, waking up straight America to the scourge of anti-LGBTQ+ violence and the near-constant threat many of us live under. Newman — known by many for her revolutionary 1989 children's book about a queer family, [Heather Has Too Mommies]( — has kept Matt close in the quarter-century since he died. In 2012, she penned a "masterful" collection of poems about Shepard, [October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard](. Eleven years later, and 25 years after Matt's killing, Newman couldn't help but pay a visit to someone who now seems like an old friend. [Read on »]( [6 Sizzling Shots of 'Strange Way of Life' Cast and Director]( [Read on »]( [30+ Celebrities Fight Book Bans By Supporting LGBTQ+ Nonprofit's Online Auction]( [Harvey Guillen, Melissa Etheridge, Latrice Royale, Neil Patrick Harris]The nonprofit group Pride and Less Prejudice is holding its third annual [Banned Together virtual auction between October 5-8](. The organization is looking to raise $15,000 to send more than 1,000 LGBTQ-inclusive books to elementary schools across the country. [Read on »]( [George Santos's Ex-Campaign Treasurer Implicates Congressman and Pleads Guilty to Criminal Charge]( [Nancy Marks and George Santos]Gay Republican U.S. Rep. [George Santos’s]( former campaign treasurer pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony charge related to a case against the New York lawmaker. [Read on »]( [Transgender Man's Decomposing Body Found in Closet of Abusive Ex]( [Decomposing Body of Trans Man Found in Closet of Former Abusive Partner]Puerto Rican transgender man Luis Ángel Diaz Castro was killed in Puerto Rico and has been identified as the 19th transgender, nonbinary, or gender-nonconforming American to die by violence in 2023. [Read on »]( [Tennessee Neo-Nazis Show Up to Support Far-Right Mayoral Candidate]( [Gabrielle Hanson and a far-right extremist]The [Tennessee]( city of [Franklin]( located south of Nashville, is embroiled in a whirlwind of political controversy as white supremacist involvement surfaces in its ongoing mayoral race. [Read on »]( [The Advocate newsletter for Thursday, Oct. 5]( [null]Happy Thursday! We hope you're celebrating Kevin McCarthy's chaotic departure from the speaker's position with our [roundup of the best memes](. Let's get into today's news. [Read on »]( [How Book Bans Are Taking a Toll on Many Authors]( [Kyle Lukoff]By Scottie Andrew, CNN [Read on »]( [What Is EMILY's List, the Group Sen. Laphonza Butler Led?]( [From left: Mauree Turner, Sharice Davids, and Danica Roem]EMILY’s List, the organization formerly headed by the newest U.S. senator, Laphonza Butler, has been supporting pro-choice Democratic women, including many LGBTQ+ ones, for elected office for nearly 40 years. [Read on »]( [Advocate Subscription]( [Advocate Channel]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [Website]( [Email](mailto:newsletters@pridemedia.com) Copyright © 2023 equalpride, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: newsletters@pridemedia.com Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](.