HEALTH

Banning transgender troops could cost $960 million.

If the U.S. military implements President Donald Trump’s directive to ban transgender people from serving, it would cost the U.S. government about $960 million, according to a report. The study released by the Palm Center estimates the cost to replace the transgender service members would be 114 times more than the $8.4 million to provide them care for gender transition.

DESTINATIONS

Florida’s gay capital raises the Transgender Flag!

Wilton Manors city officials raised the transgender flag recently in a show of solidarity with the minority community after President Donald Trump tweeted his intention to prohibit transgender people from serving in the military. The Commander in Chief’s announcement offended many residents and leaders. “Transgender persons are U.S. citizens who pay taxes, support their communities and currently serve with distinction in the military,” Wilton Manors Mayor Gary Resnick said.

BUSINESS

Young, black, and gay in corporate South Africa.

As the first constitution in the world to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation and thus elevating South Africa to being the fifth country in the world, and to date, the first and only one in Africa to legally recognise same-sex marriage the Constitution of South Africa is a very critical resource in raising gender and sexuality dialogue in Africa. Yet, the conversation seems not hopeful enough and elevated enough as many LGBTQAI+ South Africans endure challenges including homophobic violence, social stigma, HIV/AIDS infections and most recently, a rising trend in corporate homophobia.

DESTINATIONS

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics will welcome the LGBT community

A Japanese nonprofit group said Wednesday it is preparing to set up a hospitality venue welcoming LGBT athletes and fans during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics in an effort to boost diversity at the events. Similar spaces for LGBT athletes and fans called “Pride House” have been created at cities hosting international sporting events since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, but it would be the first such venue to be set up in Japan.

5 THINGS TO KNOW

You’re free to pee in the Lone Star State.

Amid opposition from hundreds of businesses and moderate Republican lawmakers, a Texas measure that would restrict access to bathrooms in schools and public buildings according to the gender on a person’s government-issued ID appears to be dead, according to lawmakers. The state Senate passed SB3 in July by a 20-10 vote, but it was never referred to the House. The House version, HB46, never made it to committee, making passage unlikely before the legislature completes its 30-day special session on Wednesday.

5 THINGS TO KNOW

Indonesia’s growing intolerance of its LGBT community.

Indonesian social media was flooded with images of the 141 men, many shirtless and faces turned away from the cameras, who were detained in a raid on the men-only Atlantis sauna in Jakarta. The incident was slammed by human rights activists worldwide in May, before it quickly faded from the news. Yet it remains one of the most public examples of Indonesia’s growing intolerance of its LGBT community.

HEALTH

Jai Rodriguez’s – HIV within the Latinx community.

Jai Rodriguez’s days as the culture guide on Bravo’s 2003 Emmy-winning show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy are long behind him. Now, the actor continues to build his career in an array of projects including Sharknado 5 (USA), Wisdom of the Crowd(CBS) and a Las Vegas residency with reality star Kendra Wilkinson.