Some news items I thought worth your time:
• Gayety: It looks like it’s going to be Madonna vs Taylor Swift in a pop diva showdown at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards. Madonna leads the pack with 11 nominations, closely followed by Taylor Swift, who scored nine. Any bets as to who will take the top awards?
• OUT: Here’s what we know (so far) about the upcoming Season 2 of the queer hockey-centered series Heated Rivalry, including new cast members and characters.
Many of the new cast members of the queer hockey series have been announced, but who are the characters they are playing? Let’s break it down. https://t.co/aBfxhgIwvk
— Out Magazine (@outmagazine) August 17, 2026
• Washington Blade: Russian LGBT Network, an LGBTQ advocacy group in Russia, announced it is shutting down after a court declared it an “extremist” organization. The Russian Supreme Court in 2023 ruled the “international LGBT movement” is an extremist organization (there’s no such “organization”) and banned it.
• PEOPLE: Rosie O’Donnell kicked off her week-long guest-hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live! with a special shoutout to Donald Trump, “Hi! I know you’re watching.”
• The Advocate: As Donald Trump’s war with Iran continues without an end in sight, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was busy hurling an anti-trans slur while campaigning for Republicans at the Iowa State Fair. “At the Department of War, we do training, not tr**nies.”
• Joe.My.God.:The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles has abruptly stopped accepting the professionally-certified form that transgender Ohioans have long used to update the gender marker on their driver’s license or state ID. The Ohio BMV will now only accept an updated birth certificate as proof of gender change.
— JoeMyGod (@joemygod.bsky.social) August 18, 2026 at 1:12 PM
(lead images via Depositphotos)
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