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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/giants\">San Francisco Giants\u003c/a> players sparked a culture war storm on social media this week after three pitchers were issued warnings by Major League Baseball for wearing Bible verses on the team’s themed Pride Month caps on Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California state Sen. Scott Wiener shot back at conservative leaders who claimed the league discriminated against the players for their faith Tuesday, saying that MLB’s blanket policies don’t have a “homophobia exemption.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This isn’t an issue of religious freedom,” Wiener said in a \u003ca href=\"https://sd11.senate.ca.gov/news/senator-wiener-maga-homophobic-backlash-against-major-league-baseball\">statement\u003c/a>. “People have a right to whatever religious beliefs they want — even if those beliefs dehumanize other people — but they don’t have a right to hijack their employer to promote those hateful beliefs at a job-related event.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The controversy stems from the team’s series opener against the Chicago Cubs on June 12 at Oracle Park, when the team held a themed celebration in honor of Pride. Giants players donned special caps for the game that featured the team’s “SF” logo in a rainbow colorway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pitchers Landen Roupp, J.T. Brubaker and Ryan Walker wrote variations of “Gen 9:12-16,” referring to an Old Testament passage about rainbows symbolizing a “covenant between God and every living creature,” on their Pride Night caps. Sam Hentges, another pitcher, wore the team’s classic black and orange cap instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The protest earned a verbal warning from MLB, which said the players’ actions violated league policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087960\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087960\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/SFGiantsGetty2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/SFGiantsGetty2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/SFGiantsGetty2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/SFGiantsGetty2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bryce Eldridge #8 and Ryan Walker #74 of the San Francisco Giants prepare for the game against the Chicago Cubs at Oracle Park on June 13, 2026, in San Francisco, California. \u003ccite>(Andy Kuno/San Francisco Giants via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Writing of any kind, with any message, is prohibited per Major League Baseball’s Uniform Regulations, which provides in part that, ‘[a] Player may not write, attach, affix, embroider or otherwise display nicknames or messages on apparel or playing equipment,” the league said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7364268/2026/06/15/sf-giants-pride-night-caps-bible-verses-mlb-warning/\">widely reported statement\u003c/a> Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MLB said the players were told not to wear the written-on hats in future games, but that the action was not disciplinary and “had absolutely nothing to do with the content of the message.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We respect players’ right to free expression … We have given the same warning numerous times in the past to players for messages such as ‘Dad,’ ‘Happy Mother’s Day, I Love Mom’ and names of family members,” the statement said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After reports that the players had been chastised, Vice President JD Vance weighed in on the social media platform,\u003ca href=\"https://x.com/jdvance/status/2066922921046544396?s=46\"> X\u003c/a>, saying: “Trump won, we don’t have to do this anymore.”[aside postID=news_12086888 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250629-SFPrideParade-30-BL.jpg']Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley also \u003ca href=\"https://www.hawley.senate.gov/hawley-demands-answers-from-mlb-for-penalizing-christian-players/\">sent a letter\u003c/a> to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, demanding an explanation for the league’s “apparent pattern of discriminating against Christians while promoting left-wing ideologies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Quoting the Bible? That’s now an employment offense? You’ve got to be kidding me. God bless these players. MLB has some explaining to do,” Hawley said on social media.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener fired back at the conservative leaders, writing in \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/Scott_Wiener/status/2066934161773126091\">response to Vance\u003c/a>: “In San Francisco, unlike in the White House, we treat LGBTQ people as full human beings & we think bigotry is bad. Perhaps go back into your cave for a minute to chill out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He alleged that the backlash was meant to bully MLB out of enforcing its policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also called on the Giants to take action over the players’ protest, saying their response was inconsistent with longstanding support for the LGBTQ+ community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.mlb.com/giants/community/diversity\">In 1994\u003c/a>, the Giants were the first professional sports team to host an HIV/AIDS awareness game — now an annual event. 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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The controversy stems from the team’s series opener against the Chicago Cubs on June 12 at Oracle Park, when the team held a themed celebration in honor of Pride. Giants players donned special caps for the game that featured the team’s “SF” logo in a rainbow colorway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pitchers Landen Roupp, J.T. Brubaker and Ryan Walker wrote variations of “Gen 9:12-16,” referring to an Old Testament passage about rainbows symbolizing a “covenant between God and every living creature,” on their Pride Night caps. Sam Hentges, another pitcher, wore the team’s classic black and orange cap instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The protest earned a verbal warning from MLB, which said the players’ actions violated league policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087960\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087960\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/SFGiantsGetty2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/SFGiantsGetty2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/SFGiantsGetty2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/SFGiantsGetty2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bryce Eldridge #8 and Ryan Walker #74 of the San Francisco Giants prepare for the game against the Chicago Cubs at Oracle Park on June 13, 2026, in San Francisco, California. \u003ccite>(Andy Kuno/San Francisco Giants via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Writing of any kind, with any message, is prohibited per Major League Baseball’s Uniform Regulations, which provides in part that, ‘[a] Player may not write, attach, affix, embroider or otherwise display nicknames or messages on apparel or playing equipment,” the league said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7364268/2026/06/15/sf-giants-pride-night-caps-bible-verses-mlb-warning/\">widely reported statement\u003c/a> Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MLB said the players were told not to wear the written-on hats in future games, but that the action was not disciplinary and “had absolutely nothing to do with the content of the message.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We respect players’ right to free expression … We have given the same warning numerous times in the past to players for messages such as ‘Dad,’ ‘Happy Mother’s Day, I Love Mom’ and names of family members,” the statement said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After reports that the players had been chastised, Vice President JD Vance weighed in on the social media platform,\u003ca href=\"https://x.com/jdvance/status/2066922921046544396?s=46\"> X\u003c/a>, saying: “Trump won, we don’t have to do this anymore.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003cem>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Did The Sims make you gay?” is a long-running joke among Sims players. For millions, \u003cem>The Sims\u003c/em> has been more than a video game — it’s been a place to experiment, tell stories, and explore identity. Long before LGBTQ representation became common in mainstream games, \u003cem>The Sims\u003c/em> allowed same-sex relationships, helping create a devoted queer fan base that reshaped what players expected from virtual worlds.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>In this episode, Morgan Sung talks with \u003cem>The Sims 4\u003c/em> senior designer Jessica Croft and Electronic Arts’ senior game design director Loel Phelps about the game’s unlikely emergence as one of the most queer-inclusive franchises in gaming. They explore the legendary story of how same-sex romance accidentally made it into the original game, the challenges of translating sexuality and gender into game systems, why so many LGBTQ players discovered their own identities in \u003cem>The Sims\u003c/em> long before they felt safe doing so in real life — and why some players are worried about where the game might be headed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-megaphone wp-block-embed-megaphone\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC3392561231\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guest: \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>Jessica Croft, senior designer and lead designer at EA on The Sims 4\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Loel Phelps, senior game design director at Maxis\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Further Reading/Listening:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-kiss-that-changed-video-games\">The Kiss That Changed Video Games\u003c/a> — Simon Parkin, \u003cem>The New Yorker\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pcgamer.com/unearthed-the-sims-design-docs-show-the-debate-over-same-sex-relationships/\">Unearthed The Sims design docs show the internal debate over same-sex relationships\u003c/a> — Steven Messner, \u003cem>PC Gamer\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi-HWyh0Ybk\">Did The Sims make you gay? – a video essay.\u003c/a> — Alexander Avila, \u003cem>YouTube\u003c/em> \u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://bricksmagazine.co.uk/2020/08/27/the-sims-knew-i-was-queer-before-i-did/\">The Sims Knew I Was Queer Before I Did \u003c/a>— Megan Elliot,\u003cem>BRICKS Magazine\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/games/2022/feb/22/gay-weddings-for-russia-how-the-sims-became-a-battleground-for-the-lgbtq-community\">Gay weddings for Russia: How The Sims became a battleground for the LGBTQ+ community \u003c/a>— Tom Regan, \u003cem>The Guardian\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://frvr.com/blog/news/the-sims-designer-says-that-the-series-diversity-is-critical-especially-at-times-like-now/\">The Sims designer says that the series’ diversity is “critical, especially at times like now” as the games must recognise “the fundamental truths of our humanity” to stay successful \u003c/a>— Lewis White, \u003cem>FIVR\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Want to give us feedback on the show? Shoot us an email at \u003ca href=\"mailto:CloseAllTabs@KQED.org\">CloseAllTabs@KQED.org\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Follow us on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/closealltabspod/\">Instagram\u003c/a> and\u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@closealltabs\">\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@closealltabs\">TikTok\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cem>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/em>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Do you like these deep dives? Whether you call yourself a tabby or a tab head or part of the tab hive, if you’re a fan of Close All Tabs, it would be so, so helpful if you could rate and review the show on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or wherever you’re listening to us. Under our watch, every tab in the land will be closed. Eventually. I mean, I have like 15 open right now. Okay, let’s get to the show.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>So the other day, I got out of bed and I did my normal morning chores. Fed the chickens, watered my crops, and checked in on my sweet baby cow plant. He ate one of my friends last week, so I’m keeping him on a really strict feeding schedule so he doesn’t try it again. I kissed my wife goodbye before she left for her job as an undertaker, and then I started getting ready for my job as a Grim Reaper. I just got promoted to Soul Slayer, which is a pretty big deal. Lots of responsibility there. But, just as I was about to leave, the gnomes started spawning around my house again. They went around breaking all my stuff, and when I tried to stop them, they had the audacity to strike me with lightning. Just another typical day in The Sims.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This franchise has been wildly popular since the first Sims game came out 26 years ago. It’s like a virtual dollhouse. You control these dolls, called Sims, and help them fulfill goals, manage their needs, and interact with their world. I love it. For the last 14 years, my sister and I have shared an account just to play this game. And together, We’ve logged more than 6,000 hours in The Sims 4 alone. I’m kind of scared to check where we clocked in on The Sims 3. The game is constantly evolving and adapting to whatever the current culture is. And in addition to some very silly gameplay, The Sims has become this oasis for diversity and representation. In queer spaces, Sims players, also known as Simmers, love to ask each other this question. Did The Sims make you gay? Why is that, you may ask?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> Because it made a lot of people gay\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Jessica Croft is a senior designer for The Sims 4. She’s had a hand in designing some of the features that make the game so unique, like the sexual orientation system. More on that later. The Sims is iconic because of its freedom. It lets players experience the game however they want. That freedom has given rise to a few distinct types of simmers. You might be a builder. Spending hours constructing and decorating complex architectural marvels. Maybe you’re a storyteller who plays the game like an eternal personal soap opera, or a completionist trying to get every possible achievement in the game. And at some point in their life, every Simmer has been a chaos agent, setting things on fire, ruining in-game relationships, even removing the ladder from their Sim’s pool so they get stuck and drown. You know. Playing God.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> I would say it’s, to me, a storytelling tool. So you’re playing this game about everyday life, and in that game, you’re gonna have stories emerge around the characters you play. But I think ultimately, to try and characterize The Sims as one thing, kind of does it an injustice because it’s so many things to so many people.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> There are so many ways to play this game, but for a lot of players, including myself, The Sims provided this safe little sandbox to figure out who they were.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> I think the fact that Sims is about crafting characters that might literally look, act, and have the same life you do has led a lot of folks to exploring who they are through The Sims. And I think it seems like a small thing, it’s just a game, like what’s the big deal? I figured out who I was through seeing myself in media because it let me know that who I am is okay.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> A few years ago, Jessica led the Sims sexual orientation update. It was huge both for players and for the games industry overall. It allowed players to set specific parameters for who their Sims were attracted to and what kind of relationships they were interested in. But for years before this update ever rolled out, the game had already attracted a dedicated queer player base. In fact, same-sex relationships were possible from the very beginning when The Sims 1 launched in 2000. Jessica says this decision shifted the whole industry.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> Back then it was pretty rare to have same-sex relationships in the game. And you saw more and more and more coming at that moment until where you are now where it’s actually pretty unusual I would say for a game where you create a character and embody that character to not have the option to have a same-sex relationship.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And since those early days, The Sims has grown into the symbol of LGBTQ representation, getting more inclusive with every update. In other words, it’s gotten more gay. Today, The Sims is arguably the most explicitly queer mainstream game ever made. So how did we get here? We’re diving into a topic I love yapping about, The Sims. From the game’s origin story, to the character lore, to the technical snafus involved in coding sexuality, we’re opening a bunch of tabs on how this game became an oasis for LGBTQ representation, and why some players are worried that might change. So, a gay history of The Sims. Ready?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This is Close All Tabs. I’m Morgan Sung, tech journalist and your chronically online friend, here to open as many browser tabs as it takes to help you understand how the digital world affects our real lives. Let’s get into it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Okay, let’s open our first tab. The Sims Gay Origin Story. The Sims is the brainchild of Will Wright, co-founder of the legendary game studio, Maxis, and creator of SimCity, SimEarth, and other beloved titles. This story starts in 1991, when Will and his family lost everything in the deadly Oakland Berkeley firestorm. In the aftermath, he and his wife began rebuilding, assessing what they needed and what it actually took to make a home. He had an idea for a life simulator, one that was totally open-ended. Where players start from scratch. Here he is speaking to KQED’s Snap Judgment for an upcoming episode that dives even deeper into this origin story.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Will Wright: \u003c/strong>The goal is meant to be for the player to choose. So you can play The Sims and say, “Okay, I want my Sims to be super happy,” or “I want them to be top of their career,” or they have the biggest mansion with the most friends or the most babies, whatever. What I’d rather produce is present a series of possible goals. And I think that’s much more meaningful. And it makes it more about you. So, you know, you’re actually pursuing a goal that means something to you and you’re the one kind of measuring your progress.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> It was a revolutionary idea in gaming at the time, but it had trouble gaining traction. The game had been stuck in development hell since the early 90s. The studio behind the game, Maxis, had been acquired by EA, Electronic Arts, while The Sims was still in development. And it was during this time that the first decisions around sexuality were being made. Will wanted to include same-sex relationships in the game because it was supposed to reflect real life. But it came on the heels of a major scandal in another Maxis game, the 1996 flight simulator, SimCopter.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of SimCopter review from YouTube]: \u003c/strong>A bunch of dudes wearing Speedos that start kissing each other loudly. Not only that, but you can jump out and start making out with them yourself.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This was a joke programmed into the game by one of the developers, which could be triggered when a player met certain criteria. That developer was later fired for including it. So when it came to The Sims a few years later, the team was understandably worried about backlash. And after a lot of back and forth,\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> The team had decided that they weren’t going to do same-sex relationships in the original Sims game.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Jessica was a teenager at the time. She was not working on the game back then. But the lore of the game’s origin has been passed down through generations of developers. That’s because the queer legacy of The Sims, and everything it’s come to mean to LGBTQ players, started with a mistake.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> The dev who was coding the game was new to the team, and I guess he didn’t get the memo, or didn’t read the design doc, couldn’t be me.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That programmer was Patrick Barrett, and according to an interview he did with The New Yorker in 2014, he did read the design document. Just the wrong version. Here’s what happened. It was the late 90s. Soon after Patrick joined the team, the game’s lead programmer went on vacation. Someone handed Patrick the design documents that outlined how all social interactions between characters in the game should be coded. But… He was given a version of the document from before the team decided to exclude gay relationships. So, Patrick wrote up the code for Sim conversations, arguments, and romance. And in Patrick’s version, romances between Sims of the same gender were allowed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>No one mentioned it. E3 was coming up, the hottest, most prestigious games industry convention of its time. And this was supposed to be the Sims big debut. Patrick was asked to put together a gameplay demo, which highlighted these different scripted scenarios for The Sims. One of them was a wedding. There were so many Sims attending that Patrick didn’t have time to script all of their interactions. That meant some of the characters would act autonomously.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> They put everything together, shipped it off, and then at the trade show in front of a gigantic crowd and like one of the biggest trade shows for our industry, in front everybody, two female Sims kissed each other and everyone just went nuts. Like, it was one of those things where the cat was totally out of the bag. There was such buzz coming out of that moment that it had to be part of the game from that point on. And even though we got there by accident, I’m not picky. I’m glad it happened at all. And from that moment, The Sims kind of became the tip of the spear.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This blunder at a trade show 27 years ago set something in motion that is still reverberating today. But considering how foundational the story is to Sims lore, I wanted to verify it. Is there anything backing up this story? Consider this our first side quest, tracking down the receipts. This much I can say. There’s no footage of this legendary kiss happening. While working on this episode, I spent days scrubbing through archived forums, interviews with Will Wright, and B-roll from news broadcasts covering the Sims demo. There is a lot of coverage of E3 in 1999.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of Lauren Fielder for GameSpot TV from YouTube]: \u003c/strong>Here we are! We’re on the floor of the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California, with a special edition of GameSpot TV.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Some news reports have a sentence or two about The Sims, like a Washington Post write-up that called it, “a quiet little game,” and, “a surprise hit.” But there’s barely any coverage with details about The Sims demo. What I did manage to dig up is from a German DVD showcasing PC games that debuted at E3.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of DVD demo in German from YouTube]: \u003c/strong>[Speaking German]\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The part mentioning the Sims is just 22 seconds long. The fabled kiss does not appear. So I scrubbed through, no joke, hours of show footage from that year’s convention. This is the pre-vlogging era. I’m talking shaky camcorder clips, unedited, capturing these little snippets of what gaming was like in 1999.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of E3 convention in 1999 from YouTube]: \u003c/strong>You can be a master if you try! Pokemon! The adventure begins with the TV show…\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> These scenes were lost to time until someone found the tapes, digitized them, and then uploaded them to YouTube decades later. I found a brief flash of the Sims booth in one video, but the camera holder didn’t bother to focus on the screen. On the internet, there’s no mention of this groundbreaking lesbian kiss until 2014, when The New Yorker published the interview with Patrick Barrett. We tried reaching out to the programmer through multiple contact methods, but didn’t get a response. I even friended him on Facebook. But, crickets. Maybe one day, someone will uncover and digitize the grainy camcorder footage of the kiss that changed it all.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>What we do have is confirmation of an internal struggle at Maxis over whether to include same-sex relationships at all. In 2019, another programmer, Don Hopkins, released the design documents from 1998, months before that infamous E3 game demo. He criticized the prototype’s strictly enforced heterosexuality. In one version, trying to initiate a kiss with a Sim of the same gender would actually result in the Sim getting slapped. Here’s a note that Don left in the document.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Dramatic reading of Don’s comment by Chris Egusa]: \u003c/strong>We are going to be expected to do better than that after the SimCopter fiasco and the lip service that Maxis publicly gave in response about not being anti-gay. And anyone offended by that needs to grow up and get a life. And hopefully our game will help them in that quest.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The Sims debuted at E3 months later. Gay romance and all. The full game was released the next year.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> So it’s, it’s 2000, young Jessica is 16. Uh, and I’m reading my PC Mag, because we had physical media back then. And I see this article about this new game, The Sims, and it is not like anything else I’ve ever seen. It’s this quirky little game where instead of like, being a warrior, a wizard, or like flying spaceships, you’re just living a life. And to me I’m like, “How could that possibly be fun?” is my first thought. And then my second thought, “I’m kind of curious.” I want to see why people think this is fun. And I load up, I play it, and it just opened up this whole new space for me. And I’m like, “Huh, this is actually really interesting playing a game about just the everyday life of a character.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The Sims was a hit. Critics praised it for the character customization, the totally unique gameplay, and the storytelling. For a lot of players, the best part was that they could be gay in the game.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> I think like, so often when you talk about representation, the first of something, the first time you see a same-sex couple in like a major production, the first time you see a trans character in a major like piece of media, that really signals to everyone else that like, “Hey, you know, we can explore these spaces and we can tell these authentic stories and represent folks that are not represented,” and largely, it’s gonna be fine.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> There were limits. Like, straight Sims could get married, but gay Sims couldn’t. Okay. But, it was 26 years ago. And as cultural norms evolved, so did the game. But video games function based on defined rules. So, how do you fit something as nuanced as sexuality into lines of code? How does introducing human concepts of gender into a game alter non-human characters? And how did these updates affect the beloved Simmer tradition of woohoo-ing the Grim Reaper? (Woohoo-ing, by the way, is the Sims version of sex). We’re opening a tab on that in just a minute. But first, we wanted to remind you that Close All Tabs depends on listeners like you to keep us going. You can support us by becoming a member at donate dot kqed dot org slash podcast. Okay, after the break: more on the gay history of The Sims. Welcome back. Let’s open another tab: a Gay History of the Sims.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> The game, like, it didn’t say queer or not queer. It was, I was interacting and I chose to kiss a man and the game would be like, “Okay.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Lowell Phelps is a senior game design director at EA, and he’s worked on The Sims for over 15 years. He calls himself “a shepherd of ideas,” for the game. He spends a lot of time researching human psychology and how it can be applied to game design. But for many years before that, he was a college student living in a dorm with five other guys when The Sims 1 came out. How his life turned out today didn’t even seem like a possibility back then.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> I have a husband, I have child, like this is kind of my culture, even though I hadn’t really explored any of that growing up, but I could with The Sims.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Sexuality didn’t necessarily exist in The Sims 1. None of the characters had any sexual preference. If they had a high enough relationship score with the player, it would unlock romantic interactions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> Everybody was just default pansexual, right? And that was really fascinating to kind of see how the game chose not to make a choice for me, but waited for me to make that choice and drive the direction of these stories. Like being able to woohoo and kiss and just have dates with other characters in ways that maybe you wouldn’t feel comfortable doing in public.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Same-sex couples couldn’t get married like straight Sims couples, but if they moved in together, the game treated them as if they were married anyway. The Sims 2 came out in 2004 and introduced gender preference to the game. It was a weighted system, hidden from players but shifted based on player choices. Think of a scale, tipping one way or the other depending on romantic interactions. So, if a female Sim flirted with a female character, they’d both develop a preference for women, and then autonomously flirt with other female Sims. And then those Sims would autonomously flirt with other female Sims, shifting their preferences. In other words, in The Sims 2, being gay was contagious. And although none of the pre-made characters were explicitly LGBTQ, there were a few that were coded to be queer.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> I found Sims 2 versions where we’d told stories about queer couples, um, and it was in the text and maybe how we set some of the parameters. I didn’t realize that until I started digging into the actual history. Um, and I kind of learned that the team has started, not started, but has always included the things that allow gender expression to happen in whatever way we felt comfortable, the person setting it up felt comfortable. So you’ll see it in descriptions, you’ll it in stories of the characters.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The game also allowed Sims to formally propose to each other and plan weddings, regardless of gender. Players would have to buy a special in-game wedding object: a floral arch. When they clicked on it, if they were in a straight relationship, a bubble would pop up that said, “Get married,” triggering a cutscene where the two Sims would exchange rings and cry.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of Sims 2 wedding in Simlish from YouTube]: \u003c/strong>[Speaking Simlish]\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> It was basically the same thing for same-sex couples — but their bubble would say, “Join Union.” Today, that does seem pretty discriminatory. But back then, most states didn’t even offer domestic partnerships or civil unions for same-sex couples. The fact that you could have an in-game gay wedding at all was a pretty big deal.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> Gay marriage was not a acceptable thing at the time, it was not legally approved. And just being able to have those joined unions, being able actually to have a situation where I can take the stories I’m playing out and have a lesbian couple and a gay couple and have the feeling that they are a family, they’re a collective.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And, I’m not gonna lie, as a kid, I used to stay up late on YouTube watching videos of gay weddings in The Sims 2 on the family computer. The scenes were always set to very on-the-nose music, like Katy Perry’s, “I Kissed a Girl,” or the theme song from The L Word. But as a queer preteen, the videos were eye-opening.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> And The Sims, because of that first kiss, right? From the moment that happened, it felt like both the players and the creators, like the teams that are working on this product, felt a little bit of freedom to do what we needed to do to just express as many versions of life as we could.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> When The Sims 3 came out in 2009, the United States was at a real inflection point for marriage equality. Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that established marriage as a fundamental right for same-sex couples, was still years away. So you could get gay married in The Sims 3, but none of the game’s pre-made characters were officially gay. Pre-made Sims are fully fleshed out characters with backstories and relationships and skills and homes — already established by developers. But, just because characters weren’t explicitly gay doesn’t mean that they didn’t exist. The game included several characters that were heavily implied to be LGBTQ. Like, a household of two women were labeled “roommates,” but they sleep in two beds pushed together in their pre-made house. Or, two guys labeled “best friends” who lived with their adopted daughter who has both of their last names.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> We create characters that live in the world and have stories that they should be pre-built with. And those stories start by applying their preferences, their traits, their aspirations and their wants. And those tools give us a lot of control to say, “What is this initial starting story that the player might be jumping into if they play with a household that already exists?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The year before The Sims 3 release, Prop 8 passed in California, banning same-sex marriage. A federal court later struck it down, and in June 2013, California Governor Jerry Brown ordered county clerks to resume issuing marriage licenses for gay couples. Which is where we get this meme of then-Attorney General Kamala Harris.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of Kamala Harris from X]: \u003c/strong>You must start marriages immediately. You must start the marriages immediately.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Later that year, The Sims 3 released an expansion pack called Roaring Heights, and with it, the first explicitly LGBTQ characters.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> So the Roaring Heights couple, the Dylan and Audrey, was really the first time I think we’d actually put a lesbian couple in a world as an actual family with the correct settings that said, “Hey, we are married, we’re a couple.” And that felt pretty transformative. So, right around the time that Prop 8 got overturned is kind of when we started introducing that as an actual element in the game, so players could experience it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> At that point, the next game in the series, The Sims 4, was already in the works. It was released in 2014, and this was the version that really transformed what it means to be represented in games, beyond who can woohoo and marry. In The Sims 4, the team tackled a new frontier: gender. Time for a new tab. Can a cat be non-binary? Two years after The Sims 4 release, the game underwent a major character customization overhaul. So, when you start a new game, you have the option to play as a pre-made household, or customize one yourself. That part is called Create-A-Sim.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> We started with male/female as the default for base game and we realized that just wasn’t good enough, right? We wanted to be able to allow, again, better representation, more nuance into the choice. So we quickly realized that thinking about maybe masculine or feminine expression is how we wanna actually tackle this.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The Sims 4 offers a series of gender-related choices for players to choose from. They can choose whether their Sim has a masculine frame or a feminine frame. And from there, choose whether they prefer masculine clothing or feminine clothing. It actually went further than just appearance. The game is rated T for Teen. Sims never get naked, unless you’re playing with a spicy mod. Wicked Whims players, you know who you are. But for the official game… That limitation, not showing body parts, got the development team to think about gender and expression beyond what’s assigned at birth.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> Different clothing preferences, regardless of what my physical appearance actually is. Being able to set whether I can get pregnant or not, or I stand up at the toilet instead of sitting down. It’s not about labeling. It’s about thinking about what is the behavior that’s happening and letting players choose what portion of that behavior is important to them. That’s why peeing standing up or using the toilet standing up is the approach instead of saying, “I have a specific body part,” right? That’s less important. It’s about the behavior.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This new framing of gender led to the first canonically trans character, the spellcaster Morgyn Ember, who can’t get pregnant, can’t other Sims pregnant, has a masculine frame, and wears feminine clothing. Some players tried to romance Morgyn and were confused about their gender. In 2022, Morgyn’s pronouns were updated to they/them. It was part of a bigger game update that allowed players to set unique pronouns for their Sims. Updating a game like this, which has versions in many different languages, was actually pretty complicated. Only English versions of the game have customizable pronouns, which has been disappointing to some players. Here’s Jessica Croft again.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> The pronouns update was something that I think was very important to our community, especially obviously non-binary folks within our community. The difficulty there is just simply, language itself is not fully aligned on how to handle things like pronouns. They are heavily gendered and in a way where if you don’t study those things at all you might not realize it’s not just about translating a pronoun, it things like adjectives, articles, even past tense verbs are gendered in these places. And then further, some languages do have gender-neutral words, but they are restricted for objects. So, there’s a certain thing where it’s like, if we use that kind of language, does it cause additional problems?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And it’s a cliché saying, but perfect is the enemy of good. We wanted to get something out there that did a lot of good work, that represented a lot folks and made people feel seen, um, as soon as we could. And I think it’s one of those things where if you wait until you get the perfect version of something, where you solve all the problems, where we figure out how to do pronouns in every language, you might never release that thing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This game has been out for 12 years now, and in that time, there have been dozens of additional packs — extra contents that includes new worlds, new features, and new pre-made characters. Every time it gets updated, it affects years of pre-existing game content.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> The Sims is a little bit weird. We have robots and we have skeletons and we have lots of other things that maybe you can ask yourself, “Do they have gender? Should they have gender?” Cats and dogs, when we did the non-binary update… You can make a cat and a dog non-binary, that’s okay. So really it comes down to character by character and thinking about is it important for this character to have an identity?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> I think at one point we had non-binary horses in the horse pack, which, I’m sure those players were like, “Well, you should have just kept that,” and like, maybe, but it was definitely unintentional. When you work with a game like The Sims that’s just layers and layers of systems sitting on top of each other, you get these knock-on effects of some choices you make that are occasionally hilarious.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> After the pronoun update, the Sims 4 unveiled its crown jewel for character customization: a giant overhaul of in-game sexual orientation. Jessica was actually leading the design for an expansion pack all about high school. The development team had been working on fine-tuning Sim sexuality, and Jessica pitched releasing that update with a high school expansion. Why there?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> It’s a pack about high school that… It’s about being a teenager, it’s about figuring out who you are. That’s where, in real life a lot of folks do figure out who they are and start exploring questions of their sexuality. So it felt like the right place to do it and the team just rallied around that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And, like with a gender update, this wasn’t a simple matter of slapping on some labels and letting players pick one. It had to be functional in gameplay.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> The space is so nuanced, the definitions folks have for certain words can differ, in ways where painting with a broad brush on what these labels mean can become incredibly divisive. That was one of the things that we discovered really quickly, working with GLAAD and It Gets Better, that fact. So eventually, we got to a spot where we didn’t use labels. It’s just strictly defining the characteristics of who you’re attracted to and the types of things that you’re into, to craft what is effectively a sexual orientation without the label.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> So instead of picking from a menu of words like: “lesbian,” “gay,” “bi,” “asexual,” players just pick the genders they’re attracted to and whether they’re interested in romantic relationships and woohoo-ing. They also don’t have to make a decision. There’s an option for exploring. Jessica said this was also important to include because figuring it out is also a part of real life sexuality. However, players cannot opt out of this aspect of the game entirely. There’s no way to default set all Sims to be straight. When the update first came out, Jessica wrote this in a blog post.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> I think something along the lines of, “While we generally give players the option to toggle off certain gameplay elements, LGBTQIA+ identities are a fact of life, and not just a toggle you can switch on and off.” I stand by that statement. I frankly don’t care if you don’t like certain people. You can’t just turn them off, right? In real life or in a game. And I think it’s important to stand on business there. We want to commit to our vision for diversity and representation within The Sims, and that’s not a thing you get to just turn off.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The Sims has come so far since the accidental sapphic kiss 27 years ago. It’s way more inclusive, but far from perfect. Despite the expanded framing of gender, the whole system still operates within a binary.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> When The Sims was originally engineered, in its very core, like, structural bones, there’s a gender binary. And that next step is like, how do we break this game out of this gender binary? It’s a tricky thing. It would require like this foundational rework of like, so many systems. If at some point we’re able to do an update to, to fully break the game out this gender binary like, foundation it has, that would be so meaningful. It would open up a lot of gameplay, too. Again, it’s immensely tricky. It’s like, a thing that would require really re-engineering a good chunk of the foundation of the game to make happen.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> There have been some workarounds though. Loel talked about this recent feature that he really loves.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> So, one of my favorite things that we have added were binders and chest, uh… top surgery scars. Um, and those… Sorry, I get a little emotional talking about it. So my husband is trans. Being able to create his character before that transition after he came out, and have a screenshot of our family, my husband, my daughter, and me just in a space was really impactful. So while it didn’t physically bind the chest, just being able to put on a binder is a step in that transition of his story was really impactful. There’s so many different ways in which people live and have transitions. If I can give one little thing to any player that lets them tell those stories, it’s really important. And those little updates just make such an impact on being able to both represent yourself and feel like yourself in this digital world.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> I’ve been playing The Sims for over half my life, and created so many different lives within the game. I still think about one of my first playthroughs. It was The Sims 3. I moved my Sim to a tropical island, fell in love with a mermaid, and we settled down on a houseboat together. At 13, being openly gay seemed just as fantastical as proposing to a mermaid. The whimsical queer life I built in that save file unfortunately came to an end —when my kitchen caught fire, with my Sims still in it, and instead of helping, my mermaid wife got stuck on a random floor tile and died of dehydration. The whole house boat went down. It was devastating. So, I started another save, and then another, and then probably a couple hundred more. And today, being openly gay isn’t that absurd at all. There’s a reason queer people make up such a large portion of The Sims player base. We reached out to Simmers to hear what this game has meant to them over the years. Here’s what they had to say.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Plumbella: \u003c/strong>Will be the first Simmer to hold my hands up and say I was a bit too interested in making my Sims kiss Sims of the same sex. And I think that for a lot of queer people, they will also be able to trace their own gameplay in The Sims back and have a lot of things suddenly make sense.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Owen McHall: \u003c/strong>The Sims was the first game I ever played where I could make the player character trans.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Stephen Works (SpringSims): \u003c/strong>It felt more like home… It felt like my safe space where I could be who I want, how I want without any fear of judgment. As a queer Black male, I was able to recreate myself authentically from my skin tone to my hair type, to the clothing options. There were so many stories that I have told and created and shaped that I knew it was like, “This is where I wanna be for the rest of my life.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mivyard:\u003c/strong> For me, as a queer kid growing up in a Christian school, I definitely felt like I had to be quiet about who I was and I didn’t see a lot of role models at school. And so, having The Sims as a tool for exploration and expression really helped me find a sense of belonging and it helped me feel confident, and proud of who I was.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tonya (Gryphi): \u003c/strong>If I could have two girls kiss and fall in love in this game, then maybe it was okay in real life as well.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Plumbella: \u003c/strong>Being able to fall in with whoever you wanted might have been an oversight of the developers, it might have an accident that they forgot to write in the code. It’s ended up that in a time where it wasn’t really okay to be anything outside of the norm, The Sims has been a beacon of inclusivity, and that’s just grown over the years.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This game has come to mean so much to so many queer players. It’s made such huge strides for LGBTQ inclusion — meaningful representation, without feeling like some kind of corporate pandering. But today, a lot of those players are really, deeply concerned about the future of The Sims. Late last year, Electronic Arts confirmed that the entire brand and its catalog, including The Sims, had been sold to private investors, a cohort that includes Jared Kushner’s firm, Affinity Partners, and Saudi Arabia’s Sovereign Wealth Fund.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kayla Sims (LilSimsie): \u003c/strong>It’s also a $55 billion deal, which is completely unprecedented. I mean, it’s hard to even, like, fathom the scale of that, but that actually is more than the entire music industry combined.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Kayla Sims, better known online as LilSimsie, is one of the the creators speaking out about this deal.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kayla Sims (LilSimsie): \u003c/strong>And there’s a lot of concerns about censorship within The Sims, I think also, because of those new owners that do not have a great track record with human rights. They actually have a direct track record of criminalizing LGBTQ+ expression. And so a lot queer players of The Sims are really, really worried about those new owners for that reason, too.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> So, we’re extending our deep dive. We have a few more tabs on what this deal really entails, how players are responding, and what The Sims team says about the future of the game. I’m gonna leave these tabs open for now. Come back next week for the second half of the story. And, if you’re dying for more before then, stick around after the credits for some bonus content.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Close All Tabs is a production of KQED Studios and is reported and hosted by me, Morgan Sung. This episode was produced by Maya Cueva with production help from Francesca Fenzi. It was edited by Chris Egusa, who also composed our theme song and credits music, and did the dramatic reading for this episode.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Close All Tabs team also includes editor Chris Hambrick and audio engineer Brendan Willard. Additional music by APM. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts and Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco, Northern California Local.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This episode’s keyboard sounds were submitted by Alex Tran, and recorded on his white Epomaker Hi75 keyboard with Fogruaden red samurai keycaps and gateron milky yellow pro V2 switches.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Special thanks to the Simmers who contributed voice notes for this episode: Plumbella, Owen McHall, SpringSims, Mivyard, and Griphy. And thank you to John Fecile, senior producer for KQED’s Snap Judgment, for the tape of his interview with Will Wright. Thanks for listening!\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I remember when the update for, I think it was maybe High School Years, when the sexuality update first came out, people were upset that the Grim Reaper was now asexual. They just really wanted to bang the Grim Reaper.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> Yeah, and I mean, in Life and Death, we went back and made Grim woohoo-able again. Players have a fascination with our special characters… And at some point, the ownership of the thing becomes the person’s and not the dev team’s. Yeah, so yeah, Grim is an interesting case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Did The Sims make you gay?” is a long-running joke among Sims players. For millions, \u003cem>The Sims\u003c/em> has been more than a video game — it’s been a place to experiment, tell stories, and explore identity. Long before LGBTQ representation became common in mainstream games, \u003cem>The Sims\u003c/em> allowed same-sex relationships, helping create a devoted queer fan base that reshaped what players expected from virtual worlds.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>In this episode, Morgan Sung talks with \u003cem>The Sims 4\u003c/em> senior designer Jessica Croft and Electronic Arts’ senior game design director Loel Phelps about the game’s unlikely emergence as one of the most queer-inclusive franchises in gaming. They explore the legendary story of how same-sex romance accidentally made it into the original game, the challenges of translating sexuality and gender into game systems, why so many LGBTQ players discovered their own identities in \u003cem>The Sims\u003c/em> long before they felt safe doing so in real life — and why some players are worried about where the game might be headed.\u003c/p>\n",
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"The Kiss That Changed Video Games — Simon Parkin, The New Yorker",
"Unearthed The Sims design docs show the internal debate over same-sex relationships — Steven Messner, PC Gamer",
"Did The Sims make you gay? – a video essay. — Alexander Avila, YouTube ",
"The Sims Knew I Was Queer Before I Did — Megan Elliot,BRICKS Magazine",
"Gay weddings for Russia: How The Sims became a battleground for the LGBTQ+ community — Tom Regan, The Guardian",
"The Sims designer says that the series’ diversity is “critical, especially at times like now” as the games must recognise “the fundamental truths of our humanity” to stay successful — Lewis White, FIVR"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-kiss-that-changed-video-games\">The Kiss That Changed Video Games\u003c/a> — Simon Parkin, \u003cem>The New Yorker\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-kiss-that-changed-video-games\">The Kiss That Changed Video Games\u003c/a> — Simon Parkin, \u003cem>The New Yorker\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pcgamer.com/unearthed-the-sims-design-docs-show-the-debate-over-same-sex-relationships/\">Unearthed The Sims design docs show the internal debate over same-sex relationships\u003c/a> — Steven Messner, \u003cem>PC Gamer\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pcgamer.com/unearthed-the-sims-design-docs-show-the-debate-over-same-sex-relationships/\">Unearthed The Sims design docs show the internal debate over same-sex relationships\u003c/a> — Steven Messner, \u003cem>PC Gamer\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi-HWyh0Ybk\">Did The Sims make you gay? – a video essay.\u003c/a> — Alexander Avila, \u003cem>YouTube\u003c/em> \u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi-HWyh0Ybk\">Did The Sims make you gay? – a video essay.\u003c/a> — Alexander Avila, \u003cem>YouTube\u003c/em> \u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://bricksmagazine.co.uk/2020/08/27/the-sims-knew-i-was-queer-before-i-did/\">The Sims Knew I Was Queer Before I Did \u003c/a>— Megan Elliot,\u003cem>BRICKS Magazine\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://bricksmagazine.co.uk/2020/08/27/the-sims-knew-i-was-queer-before-i-did/\">The Sims Knew I Was Queer Before I Did \u003c/a>— Megan Elliot,\u003cem>BRICKS Magazine\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/games/2022/feb/22/gay-weddings-for-russia-how-the-sims-became-a-battleground-for-the-lgbtq-community\">Gay weddings for Russia: How The Sims became a battleground for the LGBTQ+ community \u003c/a>— Tom Regan, \u003cem>The Guardian\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/games/2022/feb/22/gay-weddings-for-russia-how-the-sims-became-a-battleground-for-the-lgbtq-community\">Gay weddings for Russia: How The Sims became a battleground for the LGBTQ+ community \u003c/a>— Tom Regan, \u003cem>The Guardian\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://frvr.com/blog/news/the-sims-designer-says-that-the-series-diversity-is-critical-especially-at-times-like-now/\">The Sims designer says that the series’ diversity is “critical, especially at times like now” as the games must recognise “the fundamental truths of our humanity” to stay successful \u003c/a>— Lewis White, \u003cem>FIVR\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://frvr.com/blog/news/the-sims-designer-says-that-the-series-diversity-is-critical-especially-at-times-like-now/\">The Sims designer says that the series’ diversity is “critical, especially at times like now” as the games must recognise “the fundamental truths of our humanity” to stay successful \u003c/a>— Lewis White, \u003cem>FIVR\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Want to give us feedback on the show? Shoot us an email at \u003ca href=\"mailto:CloseAllTabs@KQED.org\">CloseAllTabs@KQED.org\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Want to give us feedback on the show? Shoot us an email at \u003ca href=\"mailto:CloseAllTabs@KQED.org\">CloseAllTabs@KQED.org\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Follow us on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/closealltabspod/\">Instagram\u003c/a> and\u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@closealltabs\">\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@closealltabs\">TikTok\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Follow us on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/closealltabspod/\">Instagram\u003c/a> and\u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@closealltabs\">\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@closealltabs\">TikTok\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n"
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cem>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/em>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cem>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/em>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Do you like these deep dives? Whether you call yourself a tabby or a tab head or part of the tab hive, if you’re a fan of Close All Tabs, it would be so, so helpful if you could rate and review the show on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or wherever you’re listening to us. Under our watch, every tab in the land will be closed. Eventually. I mean, I have like 15 open right now. Okay, let’s get to the show.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Do you like these deep dives? Whether you call yourself a tabby or a tab head or part of the tab hive, if you’re a fan of Close All Tabs, it would be so, so helpful if you could rate and review the show on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or wherever you’re listening to us. Under our watch, every tab in the land will be closed. Eventually. I mean, I have like 15 open right now. Okay, let’s get to the show.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>So the other day, I got out of bed and I did my normal morning chores. Fed the chickens, watered my crops, and checked in on my sweet baby cow plant. He ate one of my friends last week, so I’m keeping him on a really strict feeding schedule so he doesn’t try it again. I kissed my wife goodbye before she left for her job as an undertaker, and then I started getting ready for my job as a Grim Reaper. I just got promoted to Soul Slayer, which is a pretty big deal. Lots of responsibility there. But, just as I was about to leave, the gnomes started spawning around my house again. They went around breaking all my stuff, and when I tried to stop them, they had the audacity to strike me with lightning. Just another typical day in The Sims.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>So the other day, I got out of bed and I did my normal morning chores. Fed the chickens, watered my crops, and checked in on my sweet baby cow plant. He ate one of my friends last week, so I’m keeping him on a really strict feeding schedule so he doesn’t try it again. I kissed my wife goodbye before she left for her job as an undertaker, and then I started getting ready for my job as a Grim Reaper. I just got promoted to Soul Slayer, which is a pretty big deal. Lots of responsibility there. But, just as I was about to leave, the gnomes started spawning around my house again. They went around breaking all my stuff, and when I tried to stop them, they had the audacity to strike me with lightning. Just another typical day in The Sims.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This franchise has been wildly popular since the first Sims game came out 26 years ago. It’s like a virtual dollhouse. You control these dolls, called Sims, and help them fulfill goals, manage their needs, and interact with their world. I love it. For the last 14 years, my sister and I have shared an account just to play this game. And together, We’ve logged more than 6,000 hours in The Sims 4 alone. I’m kind of scared to check where we clocked in on The Sims 3. The game is constantly evolving and adapting to whatever the current culture is. And in addition to some very silly gameplay, The Sims has become this oasis for diversity and representation. In queer spaces, Sims players, also known as Simmers, love to ask each other this question. Did The Sims make you gay? Why is that, you may ask?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This franchise has been wildly popular since the first Sims game came out 26 years ago. It’s like a virtual dollhouse. You control these dolls, called Sims, and help them fulfill goals, manage their needs, and interact with their world. I love it. For the last 14 years, my sister and I have shared an account just to play this game. And together, We’ve logged more than 6,000 hours in The Sims 4 alone. I’m kind of scared to check where we clocked in on The Sims 3. The game is constantly evolving and adapting to whatever the current culture is. And in addition to some very silly gameplay, The Sims has become this oasis for diversity and representation. In queer spaces, Sims players, also known as Simmers, love to ask each other this question. Did The Sims make you gay? Why is that, you may ask?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> Because it made a lot of people gay\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> Because it made a lot of people gay\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Jessica Croft is a senior designer for The Sims 4. She’s had a hand in designing some of the features that make the game so unique, like the sexual orientation system. More on that later. The Sims is iconic because of its freedom. It lets players experience the game however they want. That freedom has given rise to a few distinct types of simmers. You might be a builder. Spending hours constructing and decorating complex architectural marvels. Maybe you’re a storyteller who plays the game like an eternal personal soap opera, or a completionist trying to get every possible achievement in the game. And at some point in their life, every Simmer has been a chaos agent, setting things on fire, ruining in-game relationships, even removing the ladder from their Sim’s pool so they get stuck and drown. You know. Playing God.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Jessica Croft is a senior designer for The Sims 4. She’s had a hand in designing some of the features that make the game so unique, like the sexual orientation system. More on that later. The Sims is iconic because of its freedom. It lets players experience the game however they want. That freedom has given rise to a few distinct types of simmers. You might be a builder. Spending hours constructing and decorating complex architectural marvels. Maybe you’re a storyteller who plays the game like an eternal personal soap opera, or a completionist trying to get every possible achievement in the game. And at some point in their life, every Simmer has been a chaos agent, setting things on fire, ruining in-game relationships, even removing the ladder from their Sim’s pool so they get stuck and drown. You know. Playing God.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> I would say it’s, to me, a storytelling tool. So you’re playing this game about everyday life, and in that game, you’re gonna have stories emerge around the characters you play. But I think ultimately, to try and characterize The Sims as one thing, kind of does it an injustice because it’s so many things to so many people.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> I would say it’s, to me, a storytelling tool. So you’re playing this game about everyday life, and in that game, you’re gonna have stories emerge around the characters you play. But I think ultimately, to try and characterize The Sims as one thing, kind of does it an injustice because it’s so many things to so many people.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> There are so many ways to play this game, but for a lot of players, including myself, The Sims provided this safe little sandbox to figure out who they were.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> There are so many ways to play this game, but for a lot of players, including myself, The Sims provided this safe little sandbox to figure out who they were.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> I think the fact that Sims is about crafting characters that might literally look, act, and have the same life you do has led a lot of folks to exploring who they are through The Sims. And I think it seems like a small thing, it’s just a game, like what’s the big deal? I figured out who I was through seeing myself in media because it let me know that who I am is okay.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> I think the fact that Sims is about crafting characters that might literally look, act, and have the same life you do has led a lot of folks to exploring who they are through The Sims. And I think it seems like a small thing, it’s just a game, like what’s the big deal? I figured out who I was through seeing myself in media because it let me know that who I am is okay.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> A few years ago, Jessica led the Sims sexual orientation update. It was huge both for players and for the games industry overall. It allowed players to set specific parameters for who their Sims were attracted to and what kind of relationships they were interested in. But for years before this update ever rolled out, the game had already attracted a dedicated queer player base. In fact, same-sex relationships were possible from the very beginning when The Sims 1 launched in 2000. Jessica says this decision shifted the whole industry.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> A few years ago, Jessica led the Sims sexual orientation update. It was huge both for players and for the games industry overall. It allowed players to set specific parameters for who their Sims were attracted to and what kind of relationships they were interested in. But for years before this update ever rolled out, the game had already attracted a dedicated queer player base. In fact, same-sex relationships were possible from the very beginning when The Sims 1 launched in 2000. Jessica says this decision shifted the whole industry.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> Back then it was pretty rare to have same-sex relationships in the game. And you saw more and more and more coming at that moment until where you are now where it’s actually pretty unusual I would say for a game where you create a character and embody that character to not have the option to have a same-sex relationship.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> Back then it was pretty rare to have same-sex relationships in the game. And you saw more and more and more coming at that moment until where you are now where it’s actually pretty unusual I would say for a game where you create a character and embody that character to not have the option to have a same-sex relationship.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And since those early days, The Sims has grown into the symbol of LGBTQ representation, getting more inclusive with every update. In other words, it’s gotten more gay. Today, The Sims is arguably the most explicitly queer mainstream game ever made. So how did we get here? We’re diving into a topic I love yapping about, The Sims. From the game’s origin story, to the character lore, to the technical snafus involved in coding sexuality, we’re opening a bunch of tabs on how this game became an oasis for LGBTQ representation, and why some players are worried that might change. So, a gay history of The Sims. Ready?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And since those early days, The Sims has grown into the symbol of LGBTQ representation, getting more inclusive with every update. In other words, it’s gotten more gay. Today, The Sims is arguably the most explicitly queer mainstream game ever made. So how did we get here? We’re diving into a topic I love yapping about, The Sims. From the game’s origin story, to the character lore, to the technical snafus involved in coding sexuality, we’re opening a bunch of tabs on how this game became an oasis for LGBTQ representation, and why some players are worried that might change. So, a gay history of The Sims. Ready?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This is Close All Tabs. I’m Morgan Sung, tech journalist and your chronically online friend, here to open as many browser tabs as it takes to help you understand how the digital world affects our real lives. Let’s get into it.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This is Close All Tabs. I’m Morgan Sung, tech journalist and your chronically online friend, here to open as many browser tabs as it takes to help you understand how the digital world affects our real lives. Let’s get into it.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Okay, let’s open our first tab. The Sims Gay Origin Story. The Sims is the brainchild of Will Wright, co-founder of the legendary game studio, Maxis, and creator of SimCity, SimEarth, and other beloved titles. This story starts in 1991, when Will and his family lost everything in the deadly Oakland Berkeley firestorm. In the aftermath, he and his wife began rebuilding, assessing what they needed and what it actually took to make a home. He had an idea for a life simulator, one that was totally open-ended. Where players start from scratch. Here he is speaking to KQED’s Snap Judgment for an upcoming episode that dives even deeper into this origin story.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Okay, let’s open our first tab. The Sims Gay Origin Story. The Sims is the brainchild of Will Wright, co-founder of the legendary game studio, Maxis, and creator of SimCity, SimEarth, and other beloved titles. This story starts in 1991, when Will and his family lost everything in the deadly Oakland Berkeley firestorm. In the aftermath, he and his wife began rebuilding, assessing what they needed and what it actually took to make a home. He had an idea for a life simulator, one that was totally open-ended. Where players start from scratch. Here he is speaking to KQED’s Snap Judgment for an upcoming episode that dives even deeper into this origin story.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Will Wright: \u003c/strong>The goal is meant to be for the player to choose. So you can play The Sims and say, “Okay, I want my Sims to be super happy,” or “I want them to be top of their career,” or they have the biggest mansion with the most friends or the most babies, whatever. What I’d rather produce is present a series of possible goals. And I think that’s much more meaningful. And it makes it more about you. So, you know, you’re actually pursuing a goal that means something to you and you’re the one kind of measuring your progress.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Will Wright: \u003c/strong>The goal is meant to be for the player to choose. So you can play The Sims and say, “Okay, I want my Sims to be super happy,” or “I want them to be top of their career,” or they have the biggest mansion with the most friends or the most babies, whatever. What I’d rather produce is present a series of possible goals. And I think that’s much more meaningful. And it makes it more about you. So, you know, you’re actually pursuing a goal that means something to you and you’re the one kind of measuring your progress.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> It was a revolutionary idea in gaming at the time, but it had trouble gaining traction. The game had been stuck in development hell since the early 90s. The studio behind the game, Maxis, had been acquired by EA, Electronic Arts, while The Sims was still in development. And it was during this time that the first decisions around sexuality were being made. Will wanted to include same-sex relationships in the game because it was supposed to reflect real life. But it came on the heels of a major scandal in another Maxis game, the 1996 flight simulator, SimCopter.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> It was a revolutionary idea in gaming at the time, but it had trouble gaining traction. The game had been stuck in development hell since the early 90s. The studio behind the game, Maxis, had been acquired by EA, Electronic Arts, while The Sims was still in development. And it was during this time that the first decisions around sexuality were being made. Will wanted to include same-sex relationships in the game because it was supposed to reflect real life. But it came on the heels of a major scandal in another Maxis game, the 1996 flight simulator, SimCopter.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of SimCopter review from YouTube]: \u003c/strong>A bunch of dudes wearing Speedos that start kissing each other loudly. Not only that, but you can jump out and start making out with them yourself.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of SimCopter review from YouTube]: \u003c/strong>A bunch of dudes wearing Speedos that start kissing each other loudly. Not only that, but you can jump out and start making out with them yourself.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This was a joke programmed into the game by one of the developers, which could be triggered when a player met certain criteria. That developer was later fired for including it. So when it came to The Sims a few years later, the team was understandably worried about backlash. And after a lot of back and forth,\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This was a joke programmed into the game by one of the developers, which could be triggered when a player met certain criteria. That developer was later fired for including it. So when it came to The Sims a few years later, the team was understandably worried about backlash. And after a lot of back and forth,\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> The team had decided that they weren’t going to do same-sex relationships in the original Sims game.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Jessica was a teenager at the time. She was not working on the game back then. But the lore of the game’s origin has been passed down through generations of developers. That’s because the queer legacy of The Sims, and everything it’s come to mean to LGBTQ players, started with a mistake.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Jessica was a teenager at the time. She was not working on the game back then. But the lore of the game’s origin has been passed down through generations of developers. That’s because the queer legacy of The Sims, and everything it’s come to mean to LGBTQ players, started with a mistake.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> The dev who was coding the game was new to the team, and I guess he didn’t get the memo, or didn’t read the design doc, couldn’t be me.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> The dev who was coding the game was new to the team, and I guess he didn’t get the memo, or didn’t read the design doc, couldn’t be me.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That programmer was Patrick Barrett, and according to an interview he did with The New Yorker in 2014, he did read the design document. Just the wrong version. Here’s what happened. It was the late 90s. Soon after Patrick joined the team, the game’s lead programmer went on vacation. Someone handed Patrick the design documents that outlined how all social interactions between characters in the game should be coded. But… He was given a version of the document from before the team decided to exclude gay relationships. So, Patrick wrote up the code for Sim conversations, arguments, and romance. And in Patrick’s version, romances between Sims of the same gender were allowed.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That programmer was Patrick Barrett, and according to an interview he did with The New Yorker in 2014, he did read the design document. Just the wrong version. Here’s what happened. It was the late 90s. Soon after Patrick joined the team, the game’s lead programmer went on vacation. Someone handed Patrick the design documents that outlined how all social interactions between characters in the game should be coded. But… He was given a version of the document from before the team decided to exclude gay relationships. So, Patrick wrote up the code for Sim conversations, arguments, and romance. And in Patrick’s version, romances between Sims of the same gender were allowed.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>No one mentioned it. E3 was coming up, the hottest, most prestigious games industry convention of its time. And this was supposed to be the Sims big debut. Patrick was asked to put together a gameplay demo, which highlighted these different scripted scenarios for The Sims. One of them was a wedding. There were so many Sims attending that Patrick didn’t have time to script all of their interactions. That meant some of the characters would act autonomously.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>No one mentioned it. E3 was coming up, the hottest, most prestigious games industry convention of its time. And this was supposed to be the Sims big debut. Patrick was asked to put together a gameplay demo, which highlighted these different scripted scenarios for The Sims. One of them was a wedding. There were so many Sims attending that Patrick didn’t have time to script all of their interactions. That meant some of the characters would act autonomously.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> They put everything together, shipped it off, and then at the trade show in front of a gigantic crowd and like one of the biggest trade shows for our industry, in front everybody, two female Sims kissed each other and everyone just went nuts. Like, it was one of those things where the cat was totally out of the bag. There was such buzz coming out of that moment that it had to be part of the game from that point on. And even though we got there by accident, I’m not picky. I’m glad it happened at all. And from that moment, The Sims kind of became the tip of the spear.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> They put everything together, shipped it off, and then at the trade show in front of a gigantic crowd and like one of the biggest trade shows for our industry, in front everybody, two female Sims kissed each other and everyone just went nuts. Like, it was one of those things where the cat was totally out of the bag. There was such buzz coming out of that moment that it had to be part of the game from that point on. And even though we got there by accident, I’m not picky. I’m glad it happened at all. And from that moment, The Sims kind of became the tip of the spear.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This blunder at a trade show 27 years ago set something in motion that is still reverberating today. But considering how foundational the story is to Sims lore, I wanted to verify it. Is there anything backing up this story? Consider this our first side quest, tracking down the receipts. This much I can say. There’s no footage of this legendary kiss happening. While working on this episode, I spent days scrubbing through archived forums, interviews with Will Wright, and B-roll from news broadcasts covering the Sims demo. There is a lot of coverage of E3 in 1999.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This blunder at a trade show 27 years ago set something in motion that is still reverberating today. But considering how foundational the story is to Sims lore, I wanted to verify it. Is there anything backing up this story? Consider this our first side quest, tracking down the receipts. This much I can say. There’s no footage of this legendary kiss happening. While working on this episode, I spent days scrubbing through archived forums, interviews with Will Wright, and B-roll from news broadcasts covering the Sims demo. There is a lot of coverage of E3 in 1999.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of Lauren Fielder for GameSpot TV from YouTube]: \u003c/strong>Here we are! We’re on the floor of the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California, with a special edition of GameSpot TV.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of Lauren Fielder for GameSpot TV from YouTube]: \u003c/strong>Here we are! We’re on the floor of the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California, with a special edition of GameSpot TV.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Some news reports have a sentence or two about The Sims, like a Washington Post write-up that called it, “a quiet little game,” and, “a surprise hit.” But there’s barely any coverage with details about The Sims demo. What I did manage to dig up is from a German DVD showcasing PC games that debuted at E3.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Some news reports have a sentence or two about The Sims, like a Washington Post write-up that called it, “a quiet little game,” and, “a surprise hit.” But there’s barely any coverage with details about The Sims demo. What I did manage to dig up is from a German DVD showcasing PC games that debuted at E3.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of DVD demo in German from YouTube]: \u003c/strong>[Speaking German]\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of DVD demo in German from YouTube]: \u003c/strong>[Speaking German]\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The part mentioning the Sims is just 22 seconds long. The fabled kiss does not appear. So I scrubbed through, no joke, hours of show footage from that year’s convention. This is the pre-vlogging era. I’m talking shaky camcorder clips, unedited, capturing these little snippets of what gaming was like in 1999.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The part mentioning the Sims is just 22 seconds long. The fabled kiss does not appear. So I scrubbed through, no joke, hours of show footage from that year’s convention. This is the pre-vlogging era. I’m talking shaky camcorder clips, unedited, capturing these little snippets of what gaming was like in 1999.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of E3 convention in 1999 from YouTube]: \u003c/strong>You can be a master if you try! Pokemon! The adventure begins with the TV show…\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of E3 convention in 1999 from YouTube]: \u003c/strong>You can be a master if you try! Pokemon! The adventure begins with the TV show…\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> These scenes were lost to time until someone found the tapes, digitized them, and then uploaded them to YouTube decades later. I found a brief flash of the Sims booth in one video, but the camera holder didn’t bother to focus on the screen. On the internet, there’s no mention of this groundbreaking lesbian kiss until 2014, when The New Yorker published the interview with Patrick Barrett. We tried reaching out to the programmer through multiple contact methods, but didn’t get a response. I even friended him on Facebook. But, crickets. Maybe one day, someone will uncover and digitize the grainy camcorder footage of the kiss that changed it all.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> These scenes were lost to time until someone found the tapes, digitized them, and then uploaded them to YouTube decades later. I found a brief flash of the Sims booth in one video, but the camera holder didn’t bother to focus on the screen. On the internet, there’s no mention of this groundbreaking lesbian kiss until 2014, when The New Yorker published the interview with Patrick Barrett. We tried reaching out to the programmer through multiple contact methods, but didn’t get a response. I even friended him on Facebook. But, crickets. Maybe one day, someone will uncover and digitize the grainy camcorder footage of the kiss that changed it all.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>What we do have is confirmation of an internal struggle at Maxis over whether to include same-sex relationships at all. In 2019, another programmer, Don Hopkins, released the design documents from 1998, months before that infamous E3 game demo. He criticized the prototype’s strictly enforced heterosexuality. In one version, trying to initiate a kiss with a Sim of the same gender would actually result in the Sim getting slapped. Here’s a note that Don left in the document.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>What we do have is confirmation of an internal struggle at Maxis over whether to include same-sex relationships at all. In 2019, another programmer, Don Hopkins, released the design documents from 1998, months before that infamous E3 game demo. He criticized the prototype’s strictly enforced heterosexuality. In one version, trying to initiate a kiss with a Sim of the same gender would actually result in the Sim getting slapped. Here’s a note that Don left in the document.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Dramatic reading of Don’s comment by Chris Egusa]: \u003c/strong>We are going to be expected to do better than that after the SimCopter fiasco and the lip service that Maxis publicly gave in response about not being anti-gay. And anyone offended by that needs to grow up and get a life. And hopefully our game will help them in that quest.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Dramatic reading of Don’s comment by Chris Egusa]: \u003c/strong>We are going to be expected to do better than that after the SimCopter fiasco and the lip service that Maxis publicly gave in response about not being anti-gay. And anyone offended by that needs to grow up and get a life. And hopefully our game will help them in that quest.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The Sims debuted at E3 months later. Gay romance and all. The full game was released the next year.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The Sims debuted at E3 months later. Gay romance and all. The full game was released the next year.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> So it’s, it’s 2000, young Jessica is 16. Uh, and I’m reading my PC Mag, because we had physical media back then. And I see this article about this new game, The Sims, and it is not like anything else I’ve ever seen. It’s this quirky little game where instead of like, being a warrior, a wizard, or like flying spaceships, you’re just living a life. And to me I’m like, “How could that possibly be fun?” is my first thought. And then my second thought, “I’m kind of curious.” I want to see why people think this is fun. And I load up, I play it, and it just opened up this whole new space for me. And I’m like, “Huh, this is actually really interesting playing a game about just the everyday life of a character.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> So it’s, it’s 2000, young Jessica is 16. Uh, and I’m reading my PC Mag, because we had physical media back then. And I see this article about this new game, The Sims, and it is not like anything else I’ve ever seen. It’s this quirky little game where instead of like, being a warrior, a wizard, or like flying spaceships, you’re just living a life. And to me I’m like, “How could that possibly be fun?” is my first thought. And then my second thought, “I’m kind of curious.” I want to see why people think this is fun. And I load up, I play it, and it just opened up this whole new space for me. And I’m like, “Huh, this is actually really interesting playing a game about just the everyday life of a character.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The Sims was a hit. Critics praised it for the character customization, the totally unique gameplay, and the storytelling. For a lot of players, the best part was that they could be gay in the game.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The Sims was a hit. Critics praised it for the character customization, the totally unique gameplay, and the storytelling. For a lot of players, the best part was that they could be gay in the game.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> I think like, so often when you talk about representation, the first of something, the first time you see a same-sex couple in like a major production, the first time you see a trans character in a major like piece of media, that really signals to everyone else that like, “Hey, you know, we can explore these spaces and we can tell these authentic stories and represent folks that are not represented,” and largely, it’s gonna be fine.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> I think like, so often when you talk about representation, the first of something, the first time you see a same-sex couple in like a major production, the first time you see a trans character in a major like piece of media, that really signals to everyone else that like, “Hey, you know, we can explore these spaces and we can tell these authentic stories and represent folks that are not represented,” and largely, it’s gonna be fine.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> There were limits. Like, straight Sims could get married, but gay Sims couldn’t. Okay. But, it was 26 years ago. And as cultural norms evolved, so did the game. But video games function based on defined rules. So, how do you fit something as nuanced as sexuality into lines of code? How does introducing human concepts of gender into a game alter non-human characters? And how did these updates affect the beloved Simmer tradition of woohoo-ing the Grim Reaper? (Woohoo-ing, by the way, is the Sims version of sex). We’re opening a tab on that in just a minute. But first, we wanted to remind you that Close All Tabs depends on listeners like you to keep us going. You can support us by becoming a member at donate dot kqed dot org slash podcast. Okay, after the break: more on the gay history of The Sims. Welcome back. Let’s open another tab: a Gay History of the Sims.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> There were limits. Like, straight Sims could get married, but gay Sims couldn’t. Okay. But, it was 26 years ago. And as cultural norms evolved, so did the game. But video games function based on defined rules. So, how do you fit something as nuanced as sexuality into lines of code? How does introducing human concepts of gender into a game alter non-human characters? And how did these updates affect the beloved Simmer tradition of woohoo-ing the Grim Reaper? (Woohoo-ing, by the way, is the Sims version of sex). We’re opening a tab on that in just a minute. But first, we wanted to remind you that Close All Tabs depends on listeners like you to keep us going. You can support us by becoming a member at donate dot kqed dot org slash podcast. Okay, after the break: more on the gay history of The Sims. Welcome back. Let’s open another tab: a Gay History of the Sims.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> The game, like, it didn’t say queer or not queer. It was, I was interacting and I chose to kiss a man and the game would be like, “Okay.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> The game, like, it didn’t say queer or not queer. It was, I was interacting and I chose to kiss a man and the game would be like, “Okay.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Lowell Phelps is a senior game design director at EA, and he’s worked on The Sims for over 15 years. He calls himself “a shepherd of ideas,” for the game. He spends a lot of time researching human psychology and how it can be applied to game design. But for many years before that, he was a college student living in a dorm with five other guys when The Sims 1 came out. How his life turned out today didn’t even seem like a possibility back then.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Lowell Phelps is a senior game design director at EA, and he’s worked on The Sims for over 15 years. He calls himself “a shepherd of ideas,” for the game. He spends a lot of time researching human psychology and how it can be applied to game design. But for many years before that, he was a college student living in a dorm with five other guys when The Sims 1 came out. How his life turned out today didn’t even seem like a possibility back then.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> I have a husband, I have child, like this is kind of my culture, even though I hadn’t really explored any of that growing up, but I could with The Sims.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> I have a husband, I have child, like this is kind of my culture, even though I hadn’t really explored any of that growing up, but I could with The Sims.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Sexuality didn’t necessarily exist in The Sims 1. None of the characters had any sexual preference. If they had a high enough relationship score with the player, it would unlock romantic interactions.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Sexuality didn’t necessarily exist in The Sims 1. None of the characters had any sexual preference. If they had a high enough relationship score with the player, it would unlock romantic interactions.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> Everybody was just default pansexual, right? And that was really fascinating to kind of see how the game chose not to make a choice for me, but waited for me to make that choice and drive the direction of these stories. Like being able to woohoo and kiss and just have dates with other characters in ways that maybe you wouldn’t feel comfortable doing in public.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> Everybody was just default pansexual, right? And that was really fascinating to kind of see how the game chose not to make a choice for me, but waited for me to make that choice and drive the direction of these stories. Like being able to woohoo and kiss and just have dates with other characters in ways that maybe you wouldn’t feel comfortable doing in public.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Same-sex couples couldn’t get married like straight Sims couples, but if they moved in together, the game treated them as if they were married anyway. The Sims 2 came out in 2004 and introduced gender preference to the game. It was a weighted system, hidden from players but shifted based on player choices. Think of a scale, tipping one way or the other depending on romantic interactions. So, if a female Sim flirted with a female character, they’d both develop a preference for women, and then autonomously flirt with other female Sims. And then those Sims would autonomously flirt with other female Sims, shifting their preferences. In other words, in The Sims 2, being gay was contagious. And although none of the pre-made characters were explicitly LGBTQ, there were a few that were coded to be queer.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Same-sex couples couldn’t get married like straight Sims couples, but if they moved in together, the game treated them as if they were married anyway. The Sims 2 came out in 2004 and introduced gender preference to the game. It was a weighted system, hidden from players but shifted based on player choices. Think of a scale, tipping one way or the other depending on romantic interactions. So, if a female Sim flirted with a female character, they’d both develop a preference for women, and then autonomously flirt with other female Sims. And then those Sims would autonomously flirt with other female Sims, shifting their preferences. In other words, in The Sims 2, being gay was contagious. And although none of the pre-made characters were explicitly LGBTQ, there were a few that were coded to be queer.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> I found Sims 2 versions where we’d told stories about queer couples, um, and it was in the text and maybe how we set some of the parameters. I didn’t realize that until I started digging into the actual history. Um, and I kind of learned that the team has started, not started, but has always included the things that allow gender expression to happen in whatever way we felt comfortable, the person setting it up felt comfortable. So you’ll see it in descriptions, you’ll it in stories of the characters.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> I found Sims 2 versions where we’d told stories about queer couples, um, and it was in the text and maybe how we set some of the parameters. I didn’t realize that until I started digging into the actual history. Um, and I kind of learned that the team has started, not started, but has always included the things that allow gender expression to happen in whatever way we felt comfortable, the person setting it up felt comfortable. So you’ll see it in descriptions, you’ll it in stories of the characters.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The game also allowed Sims to formally propose to each other and plan weddings, regardless of gender. Players would have to buy a special in-game wedding object: a floral arch. When they clicked on it, if they were in a straight relationship, a bubble would pop up that said, “Get married,” triggering a cutscene where the two Sims would exchange rings and cry.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The game also allowed Sims to formally propose to each other and plan weddings, regardless of gender. Players would have to buy a special in-game wedding object: a floral arch. When they clicked on it, if they were in a straight relationship, a bubble would pop up that said, “Get married,” triggering a cutscene where the two Sims would exchange rings and cry.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of Sims 2 wedding in Simlish from YouTube]: \u003c/strong>[Speaking Simlish]\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of Sims 2 wedding in Simlish from YouTube]: \u003c/strong>[Speaking Simlish]\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> It was basically the same thing for same-sex couples — but their bubble would say, “Join Union.” Today, that does seem pretty discriminatory. But back then, most states didn’t even offer domestic partnerships or civil unions for same-sex couples. The fact that you could have an in-game gay wedding at all was a pretty big deal.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> It was basically the same thing for same-sex couples — but their bubble would say, “Join Union.” Today, that does seem pretty discriminatory. But back then, most states didn’t even offer domestic partnerships or civil unions for same-sex couples. The fact that you could have an in-game gay wedding at all was a pretty big deal.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> Gay marriage was not a acceptable thing at the time, it was not legally approved. And just being able to have those joined unions, being able actually to have a situation where I can take the stories I’m playing out and have a lesbian couple and a gay couple and have the feeling that they are a family, they’re a collective.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> Gay marriage was not a acceptable thing at the time, it was not legally approved. And just being able to have those joined unions, being able actually to have a situation where I can take the stories I’m playing out and have a lesbian couple and a gay couple and have the feeling that they are a family, they’re a collective.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And, I’m not gonna lie, as a kid, I used to stay up late on YouTube watching videos of gay weddings in The Sims 2 on the family computer. The scenes were always set to very on-the-nose music, like Katy Perry’s, “I Kissed a Girl,” or the theme song from The L Word. But as a queer preteen, the videos were eye-opening.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And, I’m not gonna lie, as a kid, I used to stay up late on YouTube watching videos of gay weddings in The Sims 2 on the family computer. The scenes were always set to very on-the-nose music, like Katy Perry’s, “I Kissed a Girl,” or the theme song from The L Word. But as a queer preteen, the videos were eye-opening.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> And The Sims, because of that first kiss, right? From the moment that happened, it felt like both the players and the creators, like the teams that are working on this product, felt a little bit of freedom to do what we needed to do to just express as many versions of life as we could.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> And The Sims, because of that first kiss, right? From the moment that happened, it felt like both the players and the creators, like the teams that are working on this product, felt a little bit of freedom to do what we needed to do to just express as many versions of life as we could.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> When The Sims 3 came out in 2009, the United States was at a real inflection point for marriage equality. Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that established marriage as a fundamental right for same-sex couples, was still years away. So you could get gay married in The Sims 3, but none of the game’s pre-made characters were officially gay. Pre-made Sims are fully fleshed out characters with backstories and relationships and skills and homes — already established by developers. But, just because characters weren’t explicitly gay doesn’t mean that they didn’t exist. The game included several characters that were heavily implied to be LGBTQ. Like, a household of two women were labeled “roommates,” but they sleep in two beds pushed together in their pre-made house. Or, two guys labeled “best friends” who lived with their adopted daughter who has both of their last names.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> When The Sims 3 came out in 2009, the United States was at a real inflection point for marriage equality. Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that established marriage as a fundamental right for same-sex couples, was still years away. So you could get gay married in The Sims 3, but none of the game’s pre-made characters were officially gay. Pre-made Sims are fully fleshed out characters with backstories and relationships and skills and homes — already established by developers. But, just because characters weren’t explicitly gay doesn’t mean that they didn’t exist. The game included several characters that were heavily implied to be LGBTQ. Like, a household of two women were labeled “roommates,” but they sleep in two beds pushed together in their pre-made house. Or, two guys labeled “best friends” who lived with their adopted daughter who has both of their last names.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> We create characters that live in the world and have stories that they should be pre-built with. And those stories start by applying their preferences, their traits, their aspirations and their wants. And those tools give us a lot of control to say, “What is this initial starting story that the player might be jumping into if they play with a household that already exists?”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> We create characters that live in the world and have stories that they should be pre-built with. And those stories start by applying their preferences, their traits, their aspirations and their wants. And those tools give us a lot of control to say, “What is this initial starting story that the player might be jumping into if they play with a household that already exists?”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The year before The Sims 3 release, Prop 8 passed in California, banning same-sex marriage. A federal court later struck it down, and in June 2013, California Governor Jerry Brown ordered county clerks to resume issuing marriage licenses for gay couples. Which is where we get this meme of then-Attorney General Kamala Harris.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The year before The Sims 3 release, Prop 8 passed in California, banning same-sex marriage. A federal court later struck it down, and in June 2013, California Governor Jerry Brown ordered county clerks to resume issuing marriage licenses for gay couples. Which is where we get this meme of then-Attorney General Kamala Harris.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of Kamala Harris from X]: \u003c/strong>You must start marriages immediately. You must start the marriages immediately.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of Kamala Harris from X]: \u003c/strong>You must start marriages immediately. You must start the marriages immediately.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Later that year, The Sims 3 released an expansion pack called Roaring Heights, and with it, the first explicitly LGBTQ characters.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Later that year, The Sims 3 released an expansion pack called Roaring Heights, and with it, the first explicitly LGBTQ characters.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> So the Roaring Heights couple, the Dylan and Audrey, was really the first time I think we’d actually put a lesbian couple in a world as an actual family with the correct settings that said, “Hey, we are married, we’re a couple.” And that felt pretty transformative. So, right around the time that Prop 8 got overturned is kind of when we started introducing that as an actual element in the game, so players could experience it.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> So the Roaring Heights couple, the Dylan and Audrey, was really the first time I think we’d actually put a lesbian couple in a world as an actual family with the correct settings that said, “Hey, we are married, we’re a couple.” And that felt pretty transformative. So, right around the time that Prop 8 got overturned is kind of when we started introducing that as an actual element in the game, so players could experience it.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> At that point, the next game in the series, The Sims 4, was already in the works. It was released in 2014, and this was the version that really transformed what it means to be represented in games, beyond who can woohoo and marry. In The Sims 4, the team tackled a new frontier: gender. Time for a new tab. Can a cat be non-binary? Two years after The Sims 4 release, the game underwent a major character customization overhaul. So, when you start a new game, you have the option to play as a pre-made household, or customize one yourself. That part is called Create-A-Sim.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> At that point, the next game in the series, The Sims 4, was already in the works. It was released in 2014, and this was the version that really transformed what it means to be represented in games, beyond who can woohoo and marry. In The Sims 4, the team tackled a new frontier: gender. Time for a new tab. Can a cat be non-binary? Two years after The Sims 4 release, the game underwent a major character customization overhaul. So, when you start a new game, you have the option to play as a pre-made household, or customize one yourself. That part is called Create-A-Sim.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> We started with male/female as the default for base game and we realized that just wasn’t good enough, right? We wanted to be able to allow, again, better representation, more nuance into the choice. So we quickly realized that thinking about maybe masculine or feminine expression is how we wanna actually tackle this.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> We started with male/female as the default for base game and we realized that just wasn’t good enough, right? We wanted to be able to allow, again, better representation, more nuance into the choice. So we quickly realized that thinking about maybe masculine or feminine expression is how we wanna actually tackle this.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The Sims 4 offers a series of gender-related choices for players to choose from. They can choose whether their Sim has a masculine frame or a feminine frame. And from there, choose whether they prefer masculine clothing or feminine clothing. It actually went further than just appearance. The game is rated T for Teen. Sims never get naked, unless you’re playing with a spicy mod. Wicked Whims players, you know who you are. But for the official game… That limitation, not showing body parts, got the development team to think about gender and expression beyond what’s assigned at birth.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The Sims 4 offers a series of gender-related choices for players to choose from. They can choose whether their Sim has a masculine frame or a feminine frame. And from there, choose whether they prefer masculine clothing or feminine clothing. It actually went further than just appearance. The game is rated T for Teen. Sims never get naked, unless you’re playing with a spicy mod. Wicked Whims players, you know who you are. But for the official game… That limitation, not showing body parts, got the development team to think about gender and expression beyond what’s assigned at birth.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> Different clothing preferences, regardless of what my physical appearance actually is. Being able to set whether I can get pregnant or not, or I stand up at the toilet instead of sitting down. It’s not about labeling. It’s about thinking about what is the behavior that’s happening and letting players choose what portion of that behavior is important to them. That’s why peeing standing up or using the toilet standing up is the approach instead of saying, “I have a specific body part,” right? That’s less important. It’s about the behavior.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> Different clothing preferences, regardless of what my physical appearance actually is. Being able to set whether I can get pregnant or not, or I stand up at the toilet instead of sitting down. It’s not about labeling. It’s about thinking about what is the behavior that’s happening and letting players choose what portion of that behavior is important to them. That’s why peeing standing up or using the toilet standing up is the approach instead of saying, “I have a specific body part,” right? That’s less important. It’s about the behavior.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This new framing of gender led to the first canonically trans character, the spellcaster Morgyn Ember, who can’t get pregnant, can’t other Sims pregnant, has a masculine frame, and wears feminine clothing. Some players tried to romance Morgyn and were confused about their gender. In 2022, Morgyn’s pronouns were updated to they/them. It was part of a bigger game update that allowed players to set unique pronouns for their Sims. Updating a game like this, which has versions in many different languages, was actually pretty complicated. Only English versions of the game have customizable pronouns, which has been disappointing to some players. Here’s Jessica Croft again.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This new framing of gender led to the first canonically trans character, the spellcaster Morgyn Ember, who can’t get pregnant, can’t other Sims pregnant, has a masculine frame, and wears feminine clothing. Some players tried to romance Morgyn and were confused about their gender. In 2022, Morgyn’s pronouns were updated to they/them. It was part of a bigger game update that allowed players to set unique pronouns for their Sims. Updating a game like this, which has versions in many different languages, was actually pretty complicated. Only English versions of the game have customizable pronouns, which has been disappointing to some players. Here’s Jessica Croft again.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> The pronouns update was something that I think was very important to our community, especially obviously non-binary folks within our community. The difficulty there is just simply, language itself is not fully aligned on how to handle things like pronouns. They are heavily gendered and in a way where if you don’t study those things at all you might not realize it’s not just about translating a pronoun, it things like adjectives, articles, even past tense verbs are gendered in these places. And then further, some languages do have gender-neutral words, but they are restricted for objects. So, there’s a certain thing where it’s like, if we use that kind of language, does it cause additional problems?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> The pronouns update was something that I think was very important to our community, especially obviously non-binary folks within our community. The difficulty there is just simply, language itself is not fully aligned on how to handle things like pronouns. They are heavily gendered and in a way where if you don’t study those things at all you might not realize it’s not just about translating a pronoun, it things like adjectives, articles, even past tense verbs are gendered in these places. And then further, some languages do have gender-neutral words, but they are restricted for objects. So, there’s a certain thing where it’s like, if we use that kind of language, does it cause additional problems?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And it’s a cliché saying, but perfect is the enemy of good. We wanted to get something out there that did a lot of good work, that represented a lot folks and made people feel seen, um, as soon as we could. And I think it’s one of those things where if you wait until you get the perfect version of something, where you solve all the problems, where we figure out how to do pronouns in every language, you might never release that thing.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>And it’s a cliché saying, but perfect is the enemy of good. We wanted to get something out there that did a lot of good work, that represented a lot folks and made people feel seen, um, as soon as we could. And I think it’s one of those things where if you wait until you get the perfect version of something, where you solve all the problems, where we figure out how to do pronouns in every language, you might never release that thing.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This game has been out for 12 years now, and in that time, there have been dozens of additional packs — extra contents that includes new worlds, new features, and new pre-made characters. Every time it gets updated, it affects years of pre-existing game content.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This game has been out for 12 years now, and in that time, there have been dozens of additional packs — extra contents that includes new worlds, new features, and new pre-made characters. Every time it gets updated, it affects years of pre-existing game content.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> The Sims is a little bit weird. We have robots and we have skeletons and we have lots of other things that maybe you can ask yourself, “Do they have gender? Should they have gender?” Cats and dogs, when we did the non-binary update… You can make a cat and a dog non-binary, that’s okay. So really it comes down to character by character and thinking about is it important for this character to have an identity?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> The Sims is a little bit weird. We have robots and we have skeletons and we have lots of other things that maybe you can ask yourself, “Do they have gender? Should they have gender?” Cats and dogs, when we did the non-binary update… You can make a cat and a dog non-binary, that’s okay. So really it comes down to character by character and thinking about is it important for this character to have an identity?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> I think at one point we had non-binary horses in the horse pack, which, I’m sure those players were like, “Well, you should have just kept that,” and like, maybe, but it was definitely unintentional. When you work with a game like The Sims that’s just layers and layers of systems sitting on top of each other, you get these knock-on effects of some choices you make that are occasionally hilarious.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> I think at one point we had non-binary horses in the horse pack, which, I’m sure those players were like, “Well, you should have just kept that,” and like, maybe, but it was definitely unintentional. When you work with a game like The Sims that’s just layers and layers of systems sitting on top of each other, you get these knock-on effects of some choices you make that are occasionally hilarious.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> After the pronoun update, the Sims 4 unveiled its crown jewel for character customization: a giant overhaul of in-game sexual orientation. Jessica was actually leading the design for an expansion pack all about high school. The development team had been working on fine-tuning Sim sexuality, and Jessica pitched releasing that update with a high school expansion. Why there?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> After the pronoun update, the Sims 4 unveiled its crown jewel for character customization: a giant overhaul of in-game sexual orientation. Jessica was actually leading the design for an expansion pack all about high school. The development team had been working on fine-tuning Sim sexuality, and Jessica pitched releasing that update with a high school expansion. Why there?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> It’s a pack about high school that… It’s about being a teenager, it’s about figuring out who you are. That’s where, in real life a lot of folks do figure out who they are and start exploring questions of their sexuality. So it felt like the right place to do it and the team just rallied around that.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> It’s a pack about high school that… It’s about being a teenager, it’s about figuring out who you are. That’s where, in real life a lot of folks do figure out who they are and start exploring questions of their sexuality. So it felt like the right place to do it and the team just rallied around that.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And, like with a gender update, this wasn’t a simple matter of slapping on some labels and letting players pick one. It had to be functional in gameplay.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And, like with a gender update, this wasn’t a simple matter of slapping on some labels and letting players pick one. It had to be functional in gameplay.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> The space is so nuanced, the definitions folks have for certain words can differ, in ways where painting with a broad brush on what these labels mean can become incredibly divisive. That was one of the things that we discovered really quickly, working with GLAAD and It Gets Better, that fact. So eventually, we got to a spot where we didn’t use labels. It’s just strictly defining the characteristics of who you’re attracted to and the types of things that you’re into, to craft what is effectively a sexual orientation without the label.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> The space is so nuanced, the definitions folks have for certain words can differ, in ways where painting with a broad brush on what these labels mean can become incredibly divisive. That was one of the things that we discovered really quickly, working with GLAAD and It Gets Better, that fact. So eventually, we got to a spot where we didn’t use labels. It’s just strictly defining the characteristics of who you’re attracted to and the types of things that you’re into, to craft what is effectively a sexual orientation without the label.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> So instead of picking from a menu of words like: “lesbian,” “gay,” “bi,” “asexual,” players just pick the genders they’re attracted to and whether they’re interested in romantic relationships and woohoo-ing. They also don’t have to make a decision. There’s an option for exploring. Jessica said this was also important to include because figuring it out is also a part of real life sexuality. However, players cannot opt out of this aspect of the game entirely. There’s no way to default set all Sims to be straight. When the update first came out, Jessica wrote this in a blog post.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> So instead of picking from a menu of words like: “lesbian,” “gay,” “bi,” “asexual,” players just pick the genders they’re attracted to and whether they’re interested in romantic relationships and woohoo-ing. They also don’t have to make a decision. There’s an option for exploring. Jessica said this was also important to include because figuring it out is also a part of real life sexuality. However, players cannot opt out of this aspect of the game entirely. There’s no way to default set all Sims to be straight. When the update first came out, Jessica wrote this in a blog post.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> I think something along the lines of, “While we generally give players the option to toggle off certain gameplay elements, LGBTQIA+ identities are a fact of life, and not just a toggle you can switch on and off.” I stand by that statement. I frankly don’t care if you don’t like certain people. You can’t just turn them off, right? In real life or in a game. And I think it’s important to stand on business there. We want to commit to our vision for diversity and representation within The Sims, and that’s not a thing you get to just turn off.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> I think something along the lines of, “While we generally give players the option to toggle off certain gameplay elements, LGBTQIA+ identities are a fact of life, and not just a toggle you can switch on and off.” I stand by that statement. I frankly don’t care if you don’t like certain people. You can’t just turn them off, right? In real life or in a game. And I think it’s important to stand on business there. We want to commit to our vision for diversity and representation within The Sims, and that’s not a thing you get to just turn off.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The Sims has come so far since the accidental sapphic kiss 27 years ago. It’s way more inclusive, but far from perfect. Despite the expanded framing of gender, the whole system still operates within a binary.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The Sims has come so far since the accidental sapphic kiss 27 years ago. It’s way more inclusive, but far from perfect. Despite the expanded framing of gender, the whole system still operates within a binary.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> When The Sims was originally engineered, in its very core, like, structural bones, there’s a gender binary. And that next step is like, how do we break this game out of this gender binary? It’s a tricky thing. It would require like this foundational rework of like, so many systems. If at some point we’re able to do an update to, to fully break the game out this gender binary like, foundation it has, that would be so meaningful. It would open up a lot of gameplay, too. Again, it’s immensely tricky. It’s like, a thing that would require really re-engineering a good chunk of the foundation of the game to make happen.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> When The Sims was originally engineered, in its very core, like, structural bones, there’s a gender binary. And that next step is like, how do we break this game out of this gender binary? It’s a tricky thing. It would require like this foundational rework of like, so many systems. If at some point we’re able to do an update to, to fully break the game out this gender binary like, foundation it has, that would be so meaningful. It would open up a lot of gameplay, too. Again, it’s immensely tricky. It’s like, a thing that would require really re-engineering a good chunk of the foundation of the game to make happen.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> There have been some workarounds though. Loel talked about this recent feature that he really loves.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> There have been some workarounds though. Loel talked about this recent feature that he really loves.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> So, one of my favorite things that we have added were binders and chest, uh… top surgery scars. Um, and those… Sorry, I get a little emotional talking about it. So my husband is trans. Being able to create his character before that transition after he came out, and have a screenshot of our family, my husband, my daughter, and me just in a space was really impactful. So while it didn’t physically bind the chest, just being able to put on a binder is a step in that transition of his story was really impactful. There’s so many different ways in which people live and have transitions. If I can give one little thing to any player that lets them tell those stories, it’s really important. And those little updates just make such an impact on being able to both represent yourself and feel like yourself in this digital world.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> So, one of my favorite things that we have added were binders and chest, uh… top surgery scars. Um, and those… Sorry, I get a little emotional talking about it. So my husband is trans. Being able to create his character before that transition after he came out, and have a screenshot of our family, my husband, my daughter, and me just in a space was really impactful. So while it didn’t physically bind the chest, just being able to put on a binder is a step in that transition of his story was really impactful. There’s so many different ways in which people live and have transitions. If I can give one little thing to any player that lets them tell those stories, it’s really important. And those little updates just make such an impact on being able to both represent yourself and feel like yourself in this digital world.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> I’ve been playing The Sims for over half my life, and created so many different lives within the game. I still think about one of my first playthroughs. It was The Sims 3. I moved my Sim to a tropical island, fell in love with a mermaid, and we settled down on a houseboat together. At 13, being openly gay seemed just as fantastical as proposing to a mermaid. The whimsical queer life I built in that save file unfortunately came to an end —when my kitchen caught fire, with my Sims still in it, and instead of helping, my mermaid wife got stuck on a random floor tile and died of dehydration. The whole house boat went down. It was devastating. So, I started another save, and then another, and then probably a couple hundred more. And today, being openly gay isn’t that absurd at all. There’s a reason queer people make up such a large portion of The Sims player base. We reached out to Simmers to hear what this game has meant to them over the years. Here’s what they had to say.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> I’ve been playing The Sims for over half my life, and created so many different lives within the game. I still think about one of my first playthroughs. It was The Sims 3. I moved my Sim to a tropical island, fell in love with a mermaid, and we settled down on a houseboat together. At 13, being openly gay seemed just as fantastical as proposing to a mermaid. The whimsical queer life I built in that save file unfortunately came to an end —when my kitchen caught fire, with my Sims still in it, and instead of helping, my mermaid wife got stuck on a random floor tile and died of dehydration. The whole house boat went down. It was devastating. So, I started another save, and then another, and then probably a couple hundred more. And today, being openly gay isn’t that absurd at all. There’s a reason queer people make up such a large portion of The Sims player base. We reached out to Simmers to hear what this game has meant to them over the years. Here’s what they had to say.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Plumbella: \u003c/strong>Will be the first Simmer to hold my hands up and say I was a bit too interested in making my Sims kiss Sims of the same sex. And I think that for a lot of queer people, they will also be able to trace their own gameplay in The Sims back and have a lot of things suddenly make sense.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Plumbella: \u003c/strong>Will be the first Simmer to hold my hands up and say I was a bit too interested in making my Sims kiss Sims of the same sex. And I think that for a lot of queer people, they will also be able to trace their own gameplay in The Sims back and have a lot of things suddenly make sense.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Owen McHall: \u003c/strong>The Sims was the first game I ever played where I could make the player character trans.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Owen McHall: \u003c/strong>The Sims was the first game I ever played where I could make the player character trans.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Stephen Works (SpringSims): \u003c/strong>It felt more like home… It felt like my safe space where I could be who I want, how I want without any fear of judgment. As a queer Black male, I was able to recreate myself authentically from my skin tone to my hair type, to the clothing options. There were so many stories that I have told and created and shaped that I knew it was like, “This is where I wanna be for the rest of my life.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Stephen Works (SpringSims): \u003c/strong>It felt more like home… It felt like my safe space where I could be who I want, how I want without any fear of judgment. As a queer Black male, I was able to recreate myself authentically from my skin tone to my hair type, to the clothing options. There were so many stories that I have told and created and shaped that I knew it was like, “This is where I wanna be for the rest of my life.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mivyard:\u003c/strong> For me, as a queer kid growing up in a Christian school, I definitely felt like I had to be quiet about who I was and I didn’t see a lot of role models at school. And so, having The Sims as a tool for exploration and expression really helped me find a sense of belonging and it helped me feel confident, and proud of who I was.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mivyard:\u003c/strong> For me, as a queer kid growing up in a Christian school, I definitely felt like I had to be quiet about who I was and I didn’t see a lot of role models at school. And so, having The Sims as a tool for exploration and expression really helped me find a sense of belonging and it helped me feel confident, and proud of who I was.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tonya (Gryphi): \u003c/strong>If I could have two girls kiss and fall in love in this game, then maybe it was okay in real life as well.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tonya (Gryphi): \u003c/strong>If I could have two girls kiss and fall in love in this game, then maybe it was okay in real life as well.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Plumbella: \u003c/strong>Being able to fall in with whoever you wanted might have been an oversight of the developers, it might have an accident that they forgot to write in the code. It’s ended up that in a time where it wasn’t really okay to be anything outside of the norm, The Sims has been a beacon of inclusivity, and that’s just grown over the years.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Plumbella: \u003c/strong>Being able to fall in with whoever you wanted might have been an oversight of the developers, it might have an accident that they forgot to write in the code. It’s ended up that in a time where it wasn’t really okay to be anything outside of the norm, The Sims has been a beacon of inclusivity, and that’s just grown over the years.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This game has come to mean so much to so many queer players. It’s made such huge strides for LGBTQ inclusion — meaningful representation, without feeling like some kind of corporate pandering. But today, a lot of those players are really, deeply concerned about the future of The Sims. Late last year, Electronic Arts confirmed that the entire brand and its catalog, including The Sims, had been sold to private investors, a cohort that includes Jared Kushner’s firm, Affinity Partners, and Saudi Arabia’s Sovereign Wealth Fund.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This game has come to mean so much to so many queer players. It’s made such huge strides for LGBTQ inclusion — meaningful representation, without feeling like some kind of corporate pandering. But today, a lot of those players are really, deeply concerned about the future of The Sims. Late last year, Electronic Arts confirmed that the entire brand and its catalog, including The Sims, had been sold to private investors, a cohort that includes Jared Kushner’s firm, Affinity Partners, and Saudi Arabia’s Sovereign Wealth Fund.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kayla Sims (LilSimsie): \u003c/strong>It’s also a $55 billion deal, which is completely unprecedented. I mean, it’s hard to even, like, fathom the scale of that, but that actually is more than the entire music industry combined.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kayla Sims (LilSimsie): \u003c/strong>It’s also a $55 billion deal, which is completely unprecedented. I mean, it’s hard to even, like, fathom the scale of that, but that actually is more than the entire music industry combined.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Kayla Sims, better known online as LilSimsie, is one of the the creators speaking out about this deal.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Kayla Sims, better known online as LilSimsie, is one of the the creators speaking out about this deal.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kayla Sims (LilSimsie): \u003c/strong>And there’s a lot of concerns about censorship within The Sims, I think also, because of those new owners that do not have a great track record with human rights. They actually have a direct track record of criminalizing LGBTQ+ expression. And so a lot queer players of The Sims are really, really worried about those new owners for that reason, too.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kayla Sims (LilSimsie): \u003c/strong>And there’s a lot of concerns about censorship within The Sims, I think also, because of those new owners that do not have a great track record with human rights. They actually have a direct track record of criminalizing LGBTQ+ expression. And so a lot queer players of The Sims are really, really worried about those new owners for that reason, too.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> So, we’re extending our deep dive. We have a few more tabs on what this deal really entails, how players are responding, and what The Sims team says about the future of the game. I’m gonna leave these tabs open for now. Come back next week for the second half of the story. And, if you’re dying for more before then, stick around after the credits for some bonus content.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> So, we’re extending our deep dive. We have a few more tabs on what this deal really entails, how players are responding, and what The Sims team says about the future of the game. I’m gonna leave these tabs open for now. Come back next week for the second half of the story. And, if you’re dying for more before then, stick around after the credits for some bonus content.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Close All Tabs is a production of KQED Studios and is reported and hosted by me, Morgan Sung. This episode was produced by Maya Cueva with production help from Francesca Fenzi. It was edited by Chris Egusa, who also composed our theme song and credits music, and did the dramatic reading for this episode.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Close All Tabs is a production of KQED Studios and is reported and hosted by me, Morgan Sung. This episode was produced by Maya Cueva with production help from Francesca Fenzi. It was edited by Chris Egusa, who also composed our theme song and credits music, and did the dramatic reading for this episode.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Close All Tabs team also includes editor Chris Hambrick and audio engineer Brendan Willard. Additional music by APM. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts and Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco, Northern California Local.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The Close All Tabs team also includes editor Chris Hambrick and audio engineer Brendan Willard. Additional music by APM. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts and Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco, Northern California Local.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This episode’s keyboard sounds were submitted by Alex Tran, and recorded on his white Epomaker Hi75 keyboard with Fogruaden red samurai keycaps and gateron milky yellow pro V2 switches.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>This episode’s keyboard sounds were submitted by Alex Tran, and recorded on his white Epomaker Hi75 keyboard with Fogruaden red samurai keycaps and gateron milky yellow pro V2 switches.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Special thanks to the Simmers who contributed voice notes for this episode: Plumbella, Owen McHall, SpringSims, Mivyard, and Griphy. And thank you to John Fecile, senior producer for KQED’s Snap Judgment, for the tape of his interview with Will Wright. Thanks for listening!\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Special thanks to the Simmers who contributed voice notes for this episode: Plumbella, Owen McHall, SpringSims, Mivyard, and Griphy. And thank you to John Fecile, senior producer for KQED’s Snap Judgment, for the tape of his interview with Will Wright. Thanks for listening!\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>I remember when the update for, I think it was maybe High School Years, when the sexuality update first came out, people were upset that the Grim Reaper was now asexual. They just really wanted to bang the Grim Reaper.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>I remember when the update for, I think it was maybe High School Years, when the sexuality update first came out, people were upset that the Grim Reaper was now asexual. They just really wanted to bang the Grim Reaper.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> Yeah, and I mean, in Life and Death, we went back and made Grim woohoo-able again. Players have a fascination with our special characters… And at some point, the ownership of the thing becomes the person’s and not the dev team’s. Yeah, so yeah, Grim is an interesting case.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> Yeah, and I mean, in Life and Death, we went back and made Grim woohoo-able again. Players have a fascination with our special characters… And at some point, the ownership of the thing becomes the person’s and not the dev team’s. Yeah, so yeah, Grim is an interesting case.\u003c/p>\n"
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003cem>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Did The Sims make you gay?” is a long-running joke among Sims players. For millions, \u003cem>The Sims\u003c/em> has been more than a video game — it’s been a place to experiment, tell stories, and explore identity. Long before LGBTQ representation became common in mainstream games, \u003cem>The Sims\u003c/em> allowed same-sex relationships, helping create a devoted queer fan base that reshaped what players expected from virtual worlds.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>In this episode, Morgan Sung talks with \u003cem>The Sims 4\u003c/em> senior designer Jessica Croft and Electronic Arts’ senior game design director Loel Phelps about the game’s unlikely emergence as one of the most queer-inclusive franchises in gaming. They explore the legendary story of how same-sex romance accidentally made it into the original game, the challenges of translating sexuality and gender into game systems, why so many LGBTQ players discovered their own identities in \u003cem>The Sims\u003c/em> long before they felt safe doing so in real life — and why some players are worried about where the game might be headed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-megaphone wp-block-embed-megaphone\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC3392561231\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guest: \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>Jessica Croft, senior designer and lead designer at EA on The Sims 4\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>Loel Phelps, senior game design director at Maxis\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Further Reading/Listening:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-kiss-that-changed-video-games\">The Kiss That Changed Video Games\u003c/a> — Simon Parkin, \u003cem>The New Yorker\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pcgamer.com/unearthed-the-sims-design-docs-show-the-debate-over-same-sex-relationships/\">Unearthed The Sims design docs show the internal debate over same-sex relationships\u003c/a> — Steven Messner, \u003cem>PC Gamer\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi-HWyh0Ybk\">Did The Sims make you gay? – a video essay.\u003c/a> — Alexander Avila, \u003cem>YouTube\u003c/em> \u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://bricksmagazine.co.uk/2020/08/27/the-sims-knew-i-was-queer-before-i-did/\">The Sims Knew I Was Queer Before I Did \u003c/a>— Megan Elliot,\u003cem>BRICKS Magazine\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/games/2022/feb/22/gay-weddings-for-russia-how-the-sims-became-a-battleground-for-the-lgbtq-community\">Gay weddings for Russia: How The Sims became a battleground for the LGBTQ+ community \u003c/a>— Tom Regan, \u003cem>The Guardian\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://frvr.com/blog/news/the-sims-designer-says-that-the-series-diversity-is-critical-especially-at-times-like-now/\">The Sims designer says that the series’ diversity is “critical, especially at times like now” as the games must recognise “the fundamental truths of our humanity” to stay successful \u003c/a>— Lewis White, \u003cem>FIVR\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Want to give us feedback on the show? Shoot us an email at \u003ca href=\"mailto:CloseAllTabs@KQED.org\">CloseAllTabs@KQED.org\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Follow us on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/closealltabspod/\">Instagram\u003c/a> and\u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@closealltabs\">\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@closealltabs\">TikTok\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cem>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/em>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Do you like these deep dives? Whether you call yourself a tabby or a tab head or part of the tab hive, if you’re a fan of Close All Tabs, it would be so, so helpful if you could rate and review the show on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or wherever you’re listening to us. Under our watch, every tab in the land will be closed. Eventually. I mean, I have like 15 open right now. Okay, let’s get to the show.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>So the other day, I got out of bed and I did my normal morning chores. Fed the chickens, watered my crops, and checked in on my sweet baby cow plant. He ate one of my friends last week, so I’m keeping him on a really strict feeding schedule so he doesn’t try it again. I kissed my wife goodbye before she left for her job as an undertaker, and then I started getting ready for my job as a Grim Reaper. I just got promoted to Soul Slayer, which is a pretty big deal. Lots of responsibility there. But, just as I was about to leave, the gnomes started spawning around my house again. They went around breaking all my stuff, and when I tried to stop them, they had the audacity to strike me with lightning. Just another typical day in The Sims.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This franchise has been wildly popular since the first Sims game came out 26 years ago. It’s like a virtual dollhouse. You control these dolls, called Sims, and help them fulfill goals, manage their needs, and interact with their world. I love it. For the last 14 years, my sister and I have shared an account just to play this game. And together, We’ve logged more than 6,000 hours in The Sims 4 alone. I’m kind of scared to check where we clocked in on The Sims 3. The game is constantly evolving and adapting to whatever the current culture is. And in addition to some very silly gameplay, The Sims has become this oasis for diversity and representation. In queer spaces, Sims players, also known as Simmers, love to ask each other this question. Did The Sims make you gay? Why is that, you may ask?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> Because it made a lot of people gay\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Jessica Croft is a senior designer for The Sims 4. She’s had a hand in designing some of the features that make the game so unique, like the sexual orientation system. More on that later. The Sims is iconic because of its freedom. It lets players experience the game however they want. That freedom has given rise to a few distinct types of simmers. You might be a builder. Spending hours constructing and decorating complex architectural marvels. Maybe you’re a storyteller who plays the game like an eternal personal soap opera, or a completionist trying to get every possible achievement in the game. And at some point in their life, every Simmer has been a chaos agent, setting things on fire, ruining in-game relationships, even removing the ladder from their Sim’s pool so they get stuck and drown. You know. Playing God.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> I would say it’s, to me, a storytelling tool. So you’re playing this game about everyday life, and in that game, you’re gonna have stories emerge around the characters you play. But I think ultimately, to try and characterize The Sims as one thing, kind of does it an injustice because it’s so many things to so many people.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> There are so many ways to play this game, but for a lot of players, including myself, The Sims provided this safe little sandbox to figure out who they were.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> I think the fact that Sims is about crafting characters that might literally look, act, and have the same life you do has led a lot of folks to exploring who they are through The Sims. And I think it seems like a small thing, it’s just a game, like what’s the big deal? I figured out who I was through seeing myself in media because it let me know that who I am is okay.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> A few years ago, Jessica led the Sims sexual orientation update. It was huge both for players and for the games industry overall. It allowed players to set specific parameters for who their Sims were attracted to and what kind of relationships they were interested in. But for years before this update ever rolled out, the game had already attracted a dedicated queer player base. In fact, same-sex relationships were possible from the very beginning when The Sims 1 launched in 2000. Jessica says this decision shifted the whole industry.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> Back then it was pretty rare to have same-sex relationships in the game. And you saw more and more and more coming at that moment until where you are now where it’s actually pretty unusual I would say for a game where you create a character and embody that character to not have the option to have a same-sex relationship.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And since those early days, The Sims has grown into the symbol of LGBTQ representation, getting more inclusive with every update. In other words, it’s gotten more gay. Today, The Sims is arguably the most explicitly queer mainstream game ever made. So how did we get here? We’re diving into a topic I love yapping about, The Sims. From the game’s origin story, to the character lore, to the technical snafus involved in coding sexuality, we’re opening a bunch of tabs on how this game became an oasis for LGBTQ representation, and why some players are worried that might change. So, a gay history of The Sims. Ready?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This is Close All Tabs. I’m Morgan Sung, tech journalist and your chronically online friend, here to open as many browser tabs as it takes to help you understand how the digital world affects our real lives. Let’s get into it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Okay, let’s open our first tab. The Sims Gay Origin Story. The Sims is the brainchild of Will Wright, co-founder of the legendary game studio, Maxis, and creator of SimCity, SimEarth, and other beloved titles. This story starts in 1991, when Will and his family lost everything in the deadly Oakland Berkeley firestorm. In the aftermath, he and his wife began rebuilding, assessing what they needed and what it actually took to make a home. He had an idea for a life simulator, one that was totally open-ended. Where players start from scratch. Here he is speaking to KQED’s Snap Judgment for an upcoming episode that dives even deeper into this origin story.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Will Wright: \u003c/strong>The goal is meant to be for the player to choose. So you can play The Sims and say, “Okay, I want my Sims to be super happy,” or “I want them to be top of their career,” or they have the biggest mansion with the most friends or the most babies, whatever. What I’d rather produce is present a series of possible goals. And I think that’s much more meaningful. And it makes it more about you. So, you know, you’re actually pursuing a goal that means something to you and you’re the one kind of measuring your progress.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> It was a revolutionary idea in gaming at the time, but it had trouble gaining traction. The game had been stuck in development hell since the early 90s. The studio behind the game, Maxis, had been acquired by EA, Electronic Arts, while The Sims was still in development. And it was during this time that the first decisions around sexuality were being made. Will wanted to include same-sex relationships in the game because it was supposed to reflect real life. But it came on the heels of a major scandal in another Maxis game, the 1996 flight simulator, SimCopter.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of SimCopter review from YouTube]: \u003c/strong>A bunch of dudes wearing Speedos that start kissing each other loudly. Not only that, but you can jump out and start making out with them yourself.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This was a joke programmed into the game by one of the developers, which could be triggered when a player met certain criteria. That developer was later fired for including it. So when it came to The Sims a few years later, the team was understandably worried about backlash. And after a lot of back and forth,\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> The team had decided that they weren’t going to do same-sex relationships in the original Sims game.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Jessica was a teenager at the time. She was not working on the game back then. But the lore of the game’s origin has been passed down through generations of developers. That’s because the queer legacy of The Sims, and everything it’s come to mean to LGBTQ players, started with a mistake.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> The dev who was coding the game was new to the team, and I guess he didn’t get the memo, or didn’t read the design doc, couldn’t be me.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That programmer was Patrick Barrett, and according to an interview he did with The New Yorker in 2014, he did read the design document. Just the wrong version. Here’s what happened. It was the late 90s. Soon after Patrick joined the team, the game’s lead programmer went on vacation. Someone handed Patrick the design documents that outlined how all social interactions between characters in the game should be coded. But… He was given a version of the document from before the team decided to exclude gay relationships. So, Patrick wrote up the code for Sim conversations, arguments, and romance. And in Patrick’s version, romances between Sims of the same gender were allowed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>No one mentioned it. E3 was coming up, the hottest, most prestigious games industry convention of its time. And this was supposed to be the Sims big debut. Patrick was asked to put together a gameplay demo, which highlighted these different scripted scenarios for The Sims. One of them was a wedding. There were so many Sims attending that Patrick didn’t have time to script all of their interactions. That meant some of the characters would act autonomously.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> They put everything together, shipped it off, and then at the trade show in front of a gigantic crowd and like one of the biggest trade shows for our industry, in front everybody, two female Sims kissed each other and everyone just went nuts. Like, it was one of those things where the cat was totally out of the bag. There was such buzz coming out of that moment that it had to be part of the game from that point on. And even though we got there by accident, I’m not picky. I’m glad it happened at all. And from that moment, The Sims kind of became the tip of the spear.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This blunder at a trade show 27 years ago set something in motion that is still reverberating today. But considering how foundational the story is to Sims lore, I wanted to verify it. Is there anything backing up this story? Consider this our first side quest, tracking down the receipts. This much I can say. There’s no footage of this legendary kiss happening. While working on this episode, I spent days scrubbing through archived forums, interviews with Will Wright, and B-roll from news broadcasts covering the Sims demo. There is a lot of coverage of E3 in 1999.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of Lauren Fielder for GameSpot TV from YouTube]: \u003c/strong>Here we are! We’re on the floor of the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California, with a special edition of GameSpot TV.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Some news reports have a sentence or two about The Sims, like a Washington Post write-up that called it, “a quiet little game,” and, “a surprise hit.” But there’s barely any coverage with details about The Sims demo. What I did manage to dig up is from a German DVD showcasing PC games that debuted at E3.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of DVD demo in German from YouTube]: \u003c/strong>[Speaking German]\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The part mentioning the Sims is just 22 seconds long. The fabled kiss does not appear. So I scrubbed through, no joke, hours of show footage from that year’s convention. This is the pre-vlogging era. I’m talking shaky camcorder clips, unedited, capturing these little snippets of what gaming was like in 1999.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of E3 convention in 1999 from YouTube]: \u003c/strong>You can be a master if you try! Pokemon! The adventure begins with the TV show…\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> These scenes were lost to time until someone found the tapes, digitized them, and then uploaded them to YouTube decades later. I found a brief flash of the Sims booth in one video, but the camera holder didn’t bother to focus on the screen. On the internet, there’s no mention of this groundbreaking lesbian kiss until 2014, when The New Yorker published the interview with Patrick Barrett. We tried reaching out to the programmer through multiple contact methods, but didn’t get a response. I even friended him on Facebook. But, crickets. Maybe one day, someone will uncover and digitize the grainy camcorder footage of the kiss that changed it all.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>What we do have is confirmation of an internal struggle at Maxis over whether to include same-sex relationships at all. In 2019, another programmer, Don Hopkins, released the design documents from 1998, months before that infamous E3 game demo. He criticized the prototype’s strictly enforced heterosexuality. In one version, trying to initiate a kiss with a Sim of the same gender would actually result in the Sim getting slapped. Here’s a note that Don left in the document.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Dramatic reading of Don’s comment by Chris Egusa]: \u003c/strong>We are going to be expected to do better than that after the SimCopter fiasco and the lip service that Maxis publicly gave in response about not being anti-gay. And anyone offended by that needs to grow up and get a life. And hopefully our game will help them in that quest.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The Sims debuted at E3 months later. Gay romance and all. The full game was released the next year.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> So it’s, it’s 2000, young Jessica is 16. Uh, and I’m reading my PC Mag, because we had physical media back then. And I see this article about this new game, The Sims, and it is not like anything else I’ve ever seen. It’s this quirky little game where instead of like, being a warrior, a wizard, or like flying spaceships, you’re just living a life. And to me I’m like, “How could that possibly be fun?” is my first thought. And then my second thought, “I’m kind of curious.” I want to see why people think this is fun. And I load up, I play it, and it just opened up this whole new space for me. And I’m like, “Huh, this is actually really interesting playing a game about just the everyday life of a character.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The Sims was a hit. Critics praised it for the character customization, the totally unique gameplay, and the storytelling. For a lot of players, the best part was that they could be gay in the game.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> I think like, so often when you talk about representation, the first of something, the first time you see a same-sex couple in like a major production, the first time you see a trans character in a major like piece of media, that really signals to everyone else that like, “Hey, you know, we can explore these spaces and we can tell these authentic stories and represent folks that are not represented,” and largely, it’s gonna be fine.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> There were limits. Like, straight Sims could get married, but gay Sims couldn’t. Okay. But, it was 26 years ago. And as cultural norms evolved, so did the game. But video games function based on defined rules. So, how do you fit something as nuanced as sexuality into lines of code? How does introducing human concepts of gender into a game alter non-human characters? And how did these updates affect the beloved Simmer tradition of woohoo-ing the Grim Reaper? (Woohoo-ing, by the way, is the Sims version of sex). We’re opening a tab on that in just a minute. But first, we wanted to remind you that Close All Tabs depends on listeners like you to keep us going. You can support us by becoming a member at donate dot kqed dot org slash podcast. Okay, after the break: more on the gay history of The Sims. Welcome back. Let’s open another tab: a Gay History of the Sims.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> The game, like, it didn’t say queer or not queer. It was, I was interacting and I chose to kiss a man and the game would be like, “Okay.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Lowell Phelps is a senior game design director at EA, and he’s worked on The Sims for over 15 years. He calls himself “a shepherd of ideas,” for the game. He spends a lot of time researching human psychology and how it can be applied to game design. But for many years before that, he was a college student living in a dorm with five other guys when The Sims 1 came out. How his life turned out today didn’t even seem like a possibility back then.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> I have a husband, I have child, like this is kind of my culture, even though I hadn’t really explored any of that growing up, but I could with The Sims.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Sexuality didn’t necessarily exist in The Sims 1. None of the characters had any sexual preference. If they had a high enough relationship score with the player, it would unlock romantic interactions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> Everybody was just default pansexual, right? And that was really fascinating to kind of see how the game chose not to make a choice for me, but waited for me to make that choice and drive the direction of these stories. Like being able to woohoo and kiss and just have dates with other characters in ways that maybe you wouldn’t feel comfortable doing in public.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Same-sex couples couldn’t get married like straight Sims couples, but if they moved in together, the game treated them as if they were married anyway. The Sims 2 came out in 2004 and introduced gender preference to the game. It was a weighted system, hidden from players but shifted based on player choices. Think of a scale, tipping one way or the other depending on romantic interactions. So, if a female Sim flirted with a female character, they’d both develop a preference for women, and then autonomously flirt with other female Sims. And then those Sims would autonomously flirt with other female Sims, shifting their preferences. In other words, in The Sims 2, being gay was contagious. And although none of the pre-made characters were explicitly LGBTQ, there were a few that were coded to be queer.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> I found Sims 2 versions where we’d told stories about queer couples, um, and it was in the text and maybe how we set some of the parameters. I didn’t realize that until I started digging into the actual history. Um, and I kind of learned that the team has started, not started, but has always included the things that allow gender expression to happen in whatever way we felt comfortable, the person setting it up felt comfortable. So you’ll see it in descriptions, you’ll it in stories of the characters.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The game also allowed Sims to formally propose to each other and plan weddings, regardless of gender. Players would have to buy a special in-game wedding object: a floral arch. When they clicked on it, if they were in a straight relationship, a bubble would pop up that said, “Get married,” triggering a cutscene where the two Sims would exchange rings and cry.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of Sims 2 wedding in Simlish from YouTube]: \u003c/strong>[Speaking Simlish]\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> It was basically the same thing for same-sex couples — but their bubble would say, “Join Union.” Today, that does seem pretty discriminatory. But back then, most states didn’t even offer domestic partnerships or civil unions for same-sex couples. The fact that you could have an in-game gay wedding at all was a pretty big deal.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> Gay marriage was not a acceptable thing at the time, it was not legally approved. And just being able to have those joined unions, being able actually to have a situation where I can take the stories I’m playing out and have a lesbian couple and a gay couple and have the feeling that they are a family, they’re a collective.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And, I’m not gonna lie, as a kid, I used to stay up late on YouTube watching videos of gay weddings in The Sims 2 on the family computer. The scenes were always set to very on-the-nose music, like Katy Perry’s, “I Kissed a Girl,” or the theme song from The L Word. But as a queer preteen, the videos were eye-opening.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> And The Sims, because of that first kiss, right? From the moment that happened, it felt like both the players and the creators, like the teams that are working on this product, felt a little bit of freedom to do what we needed to do to just express as many versions of life as we could.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> When The Sims 3 came out in 2009, the United States was at a real inflection point for marriage equality. Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that established marriage as a fundamental right for same-sex couples, was still years away. So you could get gay married in The Sims 3, but none of the game’s pre-made characters were officially gay. Pre-made Sims are fully fleshed out characters with backstories and relationships and skills and homes — already established by developers. But, just because characters weren’t explicitly gay doesn’t mean that they didn’t exist. The game included several characters that were heavily implied to be LGBTQ. Like, a household of two women were labeled “roommates,” but they sleep in two beds pushed together in their pre-made house. Or, two guys labeled “best friends” who lived with their adopted daughter who has both of their last names.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> We create characters that live in the world and have stories that they should be pre-built with. And those stories start by applying their preferences, their traits, their aspirations and their wants. And those tools give us a lot of control to say, “What is this initial starting story that the player might be jumping into if they play with a household that already exists?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The year before The Sims 3 release, Prop 8 passed in California, banning same-sex marriage. A federal court later struck it down, and in June 2013, California Governor Jerry Brown ordered county clerks to resume issuing marriage licenses for gay couples. Which is where we get this meme of then-Attorney General Kamala Harris.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip of Kamala Harris from X]: \u003c/strong>You must start marriages immediately. You must start the marriages immediately.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Later that year, The Sims 3 released an expansion pack called Roaring Heights, and with it, the first explicitly LGBTQ characters.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> So the Roaring Heights couple, the Dylan and Audrey, was really the first time I think we’d actually put a lesbian couple in a world as an actual family with the correct settings that said, “Hey, we are married, we’re a couple.” And that felt pretty transformative. So, right around the time that Prop 8 got overturned is kind of when we started introducing that as an actual element in the game, so players could experience it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> At that point, the next game in the series, The Sims 4, was already in the works. It was released in 2014, and this was the version that really transformed what it means to be represented in games, beyond who can woohoo and marry. In The Sims 4, the team tackled a new frontier: gender. Time for a new tab. Can a cat be non-binary? Two years after The Sims 4 release, the game underwent a major character customization overhaul. So, when you start a new game, you have the option to play as a pre-made household, or customize one yourself. That part is called Create-A-Sim.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> We started with male/female as the default for base game and we realized that just wasn’t good enough, right? We wanted to be able to allow, again, better representation, more nuance into the choice. So we quickly realized that thinking about maybe masculine or feminine expression is how we wanna actually tackle this.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The Sims 4 offers a series of gender-related choices for players to choose from. They can choose whether their Sim has a masculine frame or a feminine frame. And from there, choose whether they prefer masculine clothing or feminine clothing. It actually went further than just appearance. The game is rated T for Teen. Sims never get naked, unless you’re playing with a spicy mod. Wicked Whims players, you know who you are. But for the official game… That limitation, not showing body parts, got the development team to think about gender and expression beyond what’s assigned at birth.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> Different clothing preferences, regardless of what my physical appearance actually is. Being able to set whether I can get pregnant or not, or I stand up at the toilet instead of sitting down. It’s not about labeling. It’s about thinking about what is the behavior that’s happening and letting players choose what portion of that behavior is important to them. That’s why peeing standing up or using the toilet standing up is the approach instead of saying, “I have a specific body part,” right? That’s less important. It’s about the behavior.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This new framing of gender led to the first canonically trans character, the spellcaster Morgyn Ember, who can’t get pregnant, can’t other Sims pregnant, has a masculine frame, and wears feminine clothing. Some players tried to romance Morgyn and were confused about their gender. In 2022, Morgyn’s pronouns were updated to they/them. It was part of a bigger game update that allowed players to set unique pronouns for their Sims. Updating a game like this, which has versions in many different languages, was actually pretty complicated. Only English versions of the game have customizable pronouns, which has been disappointing to some players. Here’s Jessica Croft again.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> The pronouns update was something that I think was very important to our community, especially obviously non-binary folks within our community. The difficulty there is just simply, language itself is not fully aligned on how to handle things like pronouns. They are heavily gendered and in a way where if you don’t study those things at all you might not realize it’s not just about translating a pronoun, it things like adjectives, articles, even past tense verbs are gendered in these places. And then further, some languages do have gender-neutral words, but they are restricted for objects. So, there’s a certain thing where it’s like, if we use that kind of language, does it cause additional problems?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And it’s a cliché saying, but perfect is the enemy of good. We wanted to get something out there that did a lot of good work, that represented a lot folks and made people feel seen, um, as soon as we could. And I think it’s one of those things where if you wait until you get the perfect version of something, where you solve all the problems, where we figure out how to do pronouns in every language, you might never release that thing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This game has been out for 12 years now, and in that time, there have been dozens of additional packs — extra contents that includes new worlds, new features, and new pre-made characters. Every time it gets updated, it affects years of pre-existing game content.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> The Sims is a little bit weird. We have robots and we have skeletons and we have lots of other things that maybe you can ask yourself, “Do they have gender? Should they have gender?” Cats and dogs, when we did the non-binary update… You can make a cat and a dog non-binary, that’s okay. So really it comes down to character by character and thinking about is it important for this character to have an identity?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> I think at one point we had non-binary horses in the horse pack, which, I’m sure those players were like, “Well, you should have just kept that,” and like, maybe, but it was definitely unintentional. When you work with a game like The Sims that’s just layers and layers of systems sitting on top of each other, you get these knock-on effects of some choices you make that are occasionally hilarious.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> After the pronoun update, the Sims 4 unveiled its crown jewel for character customization: a giant overhaul of in-game sexual orientation. Jessica was actually leading the design for an expansion pack all about high school. The development team had been working on fine-tuning Sim sexuality, and Jessica pitched releasing that update with a high school expansion. Why there?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> It’s a pack about high school that… It’s about being a teenager, it’s about figuring out who you are. That’s where, in real life a lot of folks do figure out who they are and start exploring questions of their sexuality. So it felt like the right place to do it and the team just rallied around that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And, like with a gender update, this wasn’t a simple matter of slapping on some labels and letting players pick one. It had to be functional in gameplay.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> The space is so nuanced, the definitions folks have for certain words can differ, in ways where painting with a broad brush on what these labels mean can become incredibly divisive. That was one of the things that we discovered really quickly, working with GLAAD and It Gets Better, that fact. So eventually, we got to a spot where we didn’t use labels. It’s just strictly defining the characteristics of who you’re attracted to and the types of things that you’re into, to craft what is effectively a sexual orientation without the label.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> So instead of picking from a menu of words like: “lesbian,” “gay,” “bi,” “asexual,” players just pick the genders they’re attracted to and whether they’re interested in romantic relationships and woohoo-ing. They also don’t have to make a decision. There’s an option for exploring. Jessica said this was also important to include because figuring it out is also a part of real life sexuality. However, players cannot opt out of this aspect of the game entirely. There’s no way to default set all Sims to be straight. When the update first came out, Jessica wrote this in a blog post.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> I think something along the lines of, “While we generally give players the option to toggle off certain gameplay elements, LGBTQIA+ identities are a fact of life, and not just a toggle you can switch on and off.” I stand by that statement. I frankly don’t care if you don’t like certain people. You can’t just turn them off, right? In real life or in a game. And I think it’s important to stand on business there. We want to commit to our vision for diversity and representation within The Sims, and that’s not a thing you get to just turn off.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The Sims has come so far since the accidental sapphic kiss 27 years ago. It’s way more inclusive, but far from perfect. Despite the expanded framing of gender, the whole system still operates within a binary.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jessica Croft:\u003c/strong> When The Sims was originally engineered, in its very core, like, structural bones, there’s a gender binary. And that next step is like, how do we break this game out of this gender binary? It’s a tricky thing. It would require like this foundational rework of like, so many systems. If at some point we’re able to do an update to, to fully break the game out this gender binary like, foundation it has, that would be so meaningful. It would open up a lot of gameplay, too. Again, it’s immensely tricky. It’s like, a thing that would require really re-engineering a good chunk of the foundation of the game to make happen.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> There have been some workarounds though. Loel talked about this recent feature that he really loves.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> So, one of my favorite things that we have added were binders and chest, uh… top surgery scars. Um, and those… Sorry, I get a little emotional talking about it. So my husband is trans. Being able to create his character before that transition after he came out, and have a screenshot of our family, my husband, my daughter, and me just in a space was really impactful. So while it didn’t physically bind the chest, just being able to put on a binder is a step in that transition of his story was really impactful. There’s so many different ways in which people live and have transitions. If I can give one little thing to any player that lets them tell those stories, it’s really important. And those little updates just make such an impact on being able to both represent yourself and feel like yourself in this digital world.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> I’ve been playing The Sims for over half my life, and created so many different lives within the game. I still think about one of my first playthroughs. It was The Sims 3. I moved my Sim to a tropical island, fell in love with a mermaid, and we settled down on a houseboat together. At 13, being openly gay seemed just as fantastical as proposing to a mermaid. The whimsical queer life I built in that save file unfortunately came to an end —when my kitchen caught fire, with my Sims still in it, and instead of helping, my mermaid wife got stuck on a random floor tile and died of dehydration. The whole house boat went down. It was devastating. So, I started another save, and then another, and then probably a couple hundred more. And today, being openly gay isn’t that absurd at all. There’s a reason queer people make up such a large portion of The Sims player base. We reached out to Simmers to hear what this game has meant to them over the years. Here’s what they had to say.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Plumbella: \u003c/strong>Will be the first Simmer to hold my hands up and say I was a bit too interested in making my Sims kiss Sims of the same sex. And I think that for a lot of queer people, they will also be able to trace their own gameplay in The Sims back and have a lot of things suddenly make sense.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Owen McHall: \u003c/strong>The Sims was the first game I ever played where I could make the player character trans.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Stephen Works (SpringSims): \u003c/strong>It felt more like home… It felt like my safe space where I could be who I want, how I want without any fear of judgment. As a queer Black male, I was able to recreate myself authentically from my skin tone to my hair type, to the clothing options. There were so many stories that I have told and created and shaped that I knew it was like, “This is where I wanna be for the rest of my life.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mivyard:\u003c/strong> For me, as a queer kid growing up in a Christian school, I definitely felt like I had to be quiet about who I was and I didn’t see a lot of role models at school. And so, having The Sims as a tool for exploration and expression really helped me find a sense of belonging and it helped me feel confident, and proud of who I was.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tonya (Gryphi): \u003c/strong>If I could have two girls kiss and fall in love in this game, then maybe it was okay in real life as well.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Plumbella: \u003c/strong>Being able to fall in with whoever you wanted might have been an oversight of the developers, it might have an accident that they forgot to write in the code. It’s ended up that in a time where it wasn’t really okay to be anything outside of the norm, The Sims has been a beacon of inclusivity, and that’s just grown over the years.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This game has come to mean so much to so many queer players. It’s made such huge strides for LGBTQ inclusion — meaningful representation, without feeling like some kind of corporate pandering. But today, a lot of those players are really, deeply concerned about the future of The Sims. Late last year, Electronic Arts confirmed that the entire brand and its catalog, including The Sims, had been sold to private investors, a cohort that includes Jared Kushner’s firm, Affinity Partners, and Saudi Arabia’s Sovereign Wealth Fund.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kayla Sims (LilSimsie): \u003c/strong>It’s also a $55 billion deal, which is completely unprecedented. I mean, it’s hard to even, like, fathom the scale of that, but that actually is more than the entire music industry combined.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Kayla Sims, better known online as LilSimsie, is one of the the creators speaking out about this deal.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kayla Sims (LilSimsie): \u003c/strong>And there’s a lot of concerns about censorship within The Sims, I think also, because of those new owners that do not have a great track record with human rights. They actually have a direct track record of criminalizing LGBTQ+ expression. And so a lot queer players of The Sims are really, really worried about those new owners for that reason, too.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> So, we’re extending our deep dive. We have a few more tabs on what this deal really entails, how players are responding, and what The Sims team says about the future of the game. I’m gonna leave these tabs open for now. Come back next week for the second half of the story. And, if you’re dying for more before then, stick around after the credits for some bonus content.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Close All Tabs is a production of KQED Studios and is reported and hosted by me, Morgan Sung. This episode was produced by Maya Cueva with production help from Francesca Fenzi. It was edited by Chris Egusa, who also composed our theme song and credits music, and did the dramatic reading for this episode.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Close All Tabs team also includes editor Chris Hambrick and audio engineer Brendan Willard. Additional music by APM. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts and Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco, Northern California Local.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This episode’s keyboard sounds were submitted by Alex Tran, and recorded on his white Epomaker Hi75 keyboard with Fogruaden red samurai keycaps and gateron milky yellow pro V2 switches.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Special thanks to the Simmers who contributed voice notes for this episode: Plumbella, Owen McHall, SpringSims, Mivyard, and Griphy. And thank you to John Fecile, senior producer for KQED’s Snap Judgment, for the tape of his interview with Will Wright. Thanks for listening!\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I remember when the update for, I think it was maybe High School Years, when the sexuality update first came out, people were upset that the Grim Reaper was now asexual. They just really wanted to bang the Grim Reaper.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Loel Phelps:\u003c/strong> Yeah, and I mean, in Life and Death, we went back and made Grim woohoo-able again. Players have a fascination with our special characters… And at some point, the ownership of the thing becomes the person’s and not the dev team’s. Yeah, so yeah, Grim is an interesting case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>"
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"content": "\u003cp>Celebrations for Pride Month are happening all June long. And if you’re even a little bit outdoorsy, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12043590/pride-2025-outdoor-meetups-lgbtq-hiking-bay-area#FindcommunitythroughBranchingOutAdventures\">there’s no shortage of groups \u003c/a>leading hikes, birding adventures and even surfing celebrations around the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The outdoors, it belongs to everybody,” said Ryan McCauley, spokesperson for the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, which hosts yearly Pride events with community groups like Branching Out Adventures to “make sure we have equitable access to our preserves,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, the district is hosting its \u003ca href=\"https://volunteer.openspace.org/need/detail/?need_id=1260152\">own habitat restoration volunteer event\u003c/a> on June 26 at the Sierra Azul Preserve’s Cathedral Oaks, which was \u003ca href=\"https://www.numulosgatos.org/uncovering-untold-stories-feedback/the-boys\">home to a South Bay couple\u003c/a>, Frank Ingerson and George Dennison, who created a haven there for the queer community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They were both big artists and invited artists from across the country to their home,” McCauley said. “So the specific space has a lot of history as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if you don’t typically consider yourself the outdoorsy type, summer is nonetheless a great time to get outside in the Bay Area, McCauley said — when the birds and other wildlife are particularly active.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to: \u003ca href=\"#MoreoutdoorsPrideeventsintheBayAreathisJune\">More outdoors Pride events in the Bay Area this June\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>One group taking full advantage of the summer weather’s possibilities for creating community is \u003ca href=\"https://trailheadgays.com/\">Trailhead Gays. \u003c/a>Founded by Gio Orantes, the group is a gathering space for gay men interested in exploring the outdoors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Orantes’s collective organizes free events all year round, including hikes, camping, backpacking and other trips, but for Pride month this year, they’re hosting \u003ca href=\"https://trailheadgays.com/experiences/3979f231-e9ba-44ed-8d12-ee483b9e8f38\">a hike around Angel Island\u003c/a> on June 21 and \u003ca href=\"https://trailheadgays.com/experiences/7f3fad5c-f33d-40e2-b76f-64e7a30ffd29\">a daytime campout in Dolores Park\u003c/a> on June 28.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087487\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087487\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Trailhead-Gays-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Trailhead-Gays-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Trailhead-Gays-1-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Trailhead-Gays-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Members of Trailhead Gays gather under redwoods for their monthly outdoors-oriented adventures. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Gio Orantes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Orantes, who is originally from Guatemala, said he came out as gay 17 years ago, just three days after moving to San Francisco: “It’s a beautiful city, and with the sense of community, it just felt like the right moment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After becoming more interested in the outdoors as an alternative to the party scene, Orantes took up sports, joining local leagues and organizing hikes with friends every month. At first, it started with just a few friends, but more and more kept joining. “And suddenly it was like, 50 people hiking,” Orantes said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the participants don’t have cars, so everyone started carpooling — which sealed the deal on building community, he said.[aside postID=news_12043590 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/SEASACHI-SWITCH-QUEERSURF-JUNE-7-2025-_23-scaled-e1749590375194.jpg']“Sometimes you are driving for an hour or two hours with people you have never met,” he said. “So it helps us to start creating those friendships and start getting people to connect and get a lot more social and make new friends.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, word about Trailhead Gays has spread throughout the San Francisco LGBTQ+ community, especially among those new to the city. Online interest through Instagram has also resulted in the group’s more unique events, like their upcoming \u003ca href=\"https://trailheadgays.com/experiences/840e3042-0deb-4926-a8d7-5827fcffdb18\">New Year’s camping trip to Death Valley\u003c/a>, attracting people from across the country. Now, he’s hoping to expand the website to serve as a community portal, powered entirely by donations, and even introduce a housing page for those seeking rentals, World Cup watch parties and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While “San Francisco is so gay in a sense,” Orantes said, there is still “a lot of isolation between gay men.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said organizing Trailhead Gays felt more urgent than ever last year, when a friend died by suicide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The kind of events the group organizes offer “a moment under the sun with people like them,” Orantes said. “A lot of people come for different reasons, and they keep coming, at the core, I think, because they want to be with their community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087492\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087492\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Trailhead-Gays-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Trailhead-Gays-3.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Trailhead-Gays-3-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Trailhead-Gays-3-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Members of Trailhead Gays gather for their monthly outdoors-oriented adventures. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Gio Orantes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Orantes himself has only grown more and more proud of his identity, with the green stripe on the Pride flag, \u003ca href=\"https://www.hrc.org/resources/lgbtq-pride-flags\">which represents nature\u003c/a>, serving as his inspiration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[I went] from feeling ‘unnatural’ being gay to now fully embracing myself as a gay man, and understanding that it’s part of nature as well,” he said. “Nature itself just gave me a new outlook on life and a place where I feel like I belong.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Knowing he would probably still be in the closet if he were in Guatemala, “it also feels good to give back to San Francisco,” Orantes said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyone interested in joining Trailhead Gays can \u003ca href=\"https://trailheadgays.com/members\">register online for free.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"MoreoutdoorsPrideeventsintheBayAreathisJune\">\u003c/a>More outdoor Bay Area Pride events this month\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://events.humanitix.com/en-plein-air-queer-art-class-at-antonelli-pond\">\u003cstrong>Queer Art Workshop\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>June 13 @ 9:30 a.m., hosted by Branching Out Adventures\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Visit Antonelli Pond in Santa Cruz for a workshop on queer art and capturing landscape with artist Taylor Seamount. All skill levels welcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://scvbirdalliance.org/event-calendar/field-trip-birding-with-pride-at-ulistac-santa-clara\">\u003cstrong>Birding with Pride\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>June 20 @ 8 a.m., hosted by the Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A leisurely 2-mile visit to Ulistac Natural Area showcases the diversity and resilience of nature in the heart of the Santa Clara Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://sfhiking.com/event-6682718\">\u003cstrong>Queer History Walking Tour\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>June 20 @ 9:45 a.m., hosted by San Francisco Hiking Club\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 5.5-mile hike starting from the Ferry Building brings hikers back in time for a guided walking tour of San Francisco’s queer history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Celebrations for Pride Month are happening all June long. And if you’re even a little bit outdoorsy, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12043590/pride-2025-outdoor-meetups-lgbtq-hiking-bay-area#FindcommunitythroughBranchingOutAdventures\">there’s no shortage of groups \u003c/a>leading hikes, birding adventures and even surfing celebrations around the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The outdoors, it belongs to everybody,” said Ryan McCauley, spokesperson for the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, which hosts yearly Pride events with community groups like Branching Out Adventures to “make sure we have equitable access to our preserves,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, the district is hosting its \u003ca href=\"https://volunteer.openspace.org/need/detail/?need_id=1260152\">own habitat restoration volunteer event\u003c/a> on June 26 at the Sierra Azul Preserve’s Cathedral Oaks, which was \u003ca href=\"https://www.numulosgatos.org/uncovering-untold-stories-feedback/the-boys\">home to a South Bay couple\u003c/a>, Frank Ingerson and George Dennison, who created a haven there for the queer community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They were both big artists and invited artists from across the country to their home,” McCauley said. “So the specific space has a lot of history as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if you don’t typically consider yourself the outdoorsy type, summer is nonetheless a great time to get outside in the Bay Area, McCauley said — when the birds and other wildlife are particularly active.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to: \u003ca href=\"#MoreoutdoorsPrideeventsintheBayAreathisJune\">More outdoors Pride events in the Bay Area this June\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>One group taking full advantage of the summer weather’s possibilities for creating community is \u003ca href=\"https://trailheadgays.com/\">Trailhead Gays. \u003c/a>Founded by Gio Orantes, the group is a gathering space for gay men interested in exploring the outdoors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Orantes’s collective organizes free events all year round, including hikes, camping, backpacking and other trips, but for Pride month this year, they’re hosting \u003ca href=\"https://trailheadgays.com/experiences/3979f231-e9ba-44ed-8d12-ee483b9e8f38\">a hike around Angel Island\u003c/a> on June 21 and \u003ca href=\"https://trailheadgays.com/experiences/7f3fad5c-f33d-40e2-b76f-64e7a30ffd29\">a daytime campout in Dolores Park\u003c/a> on June 28.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087487\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087487\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Trailhead-Gays-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Trailhead-Gays-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Trailhead-Gays-1-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Trailhead-Gays-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Members of Trailhead Gays gather under redwoods for their monthly outdoors-oriented adventures. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Gio Orantes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Orantes, who is originally from Guatemala, said he came out as gay 17 years ago, just three days after moving to San Francisco: “It’s a beautiful city, and with the sense of community, it just felt like the right moment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After becoming more interested in the outdoors as an alternative to the party scene, Orantes took up sports, joining local leagues and organizing hikes with friends every month. At first, it started with just a few friends, but more and more kept joining. “And suddenly it was like, 50 people hiking,” Orantes said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the participants don’t have cars, so everyone started carpooling — which sealed the deal on building community, he said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Sometimes you are driving for an hour or two hours with people you have never met,” he said. “So it helps us to start creating those friendships and start getting people to connect and get a lot more social and make new friends.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, word about Trailhead Gays has spread throughout the San Francisco LGBTQ+ community, especially among those new to the city. Online interest through Instagram has also resulted in the group’s more unique events, like their upcoming \u003ca href=\"https://trailheadgays.com/experiences/840e3042-0deb-4926-a8d7-5827fcffdb18\">New Year’s camping trip to Death Valley\u003c/a>, attracting people from across the country. Now, he’s hoping to expand the website to serve as a community portal, powered entirely by donations, and even introduce a housing page for those seeking rentals, World Cup watch parties and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While “San Francisco is so gay in a sense,” Orantes said, there is still “a lot of isolation between gay men.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said organizing Trailhead Gays felt more urgent than ever last year, when a friend died by suicide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The kind of events the group organizes offer “a moment under the sun with people like them,” Orantes said. “A lot of people come for different reasons, and they keep coming, at the core, I think, because they want to be with their community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087492\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087492\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Trailhead-Gays-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Trailhead-Gays-3.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Trailhead-Gays-3-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Trailhead-Gays-3-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Members of Trailhead Gays gather for their monthly outdoors-oriented adventures. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Gio Orantes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Orantes himself has only grown more and more proud of his identity, with the green stripe on the Pride flag, \u003ca href=\"https://www.hrc.org/resources/lgbtq-pride-flags\">which represents nature\u003c/a>, serving as his inspiration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[I went] from feeling ‘unnatural’ being gay to now fully embracing myself as a gay man, and understanding that it’s part of nature as well,” he said. “Nature itself just gave me a new outlook on life and a place where I feel like I belong.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Knowing he would probably still be in the closet if he were in Guatemala, “it also feels good to give back to San Francisco,” Orantes said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyone interested in joining Trailhead Gays can \u003ca href=\"https://trailheadgays.com/members\">register online for free.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"MoreoutdoorsPrideeventsintheBayAreathisJune\">\u003c/a>More outdoor Bay Area Pride events this month\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://events.humanitix.com/en-plein-air-queer-art-class-at-antonelli-pond\">\u003cstrong>Queer Art Workshop\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>June 13 @ 9:30 a.m., hosted by Branching Out Adventures\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Visit Antonelli Pond in Santa Cruz for a workshop on queer art and capturing landscape with artist Taylor Seamount. All skill levels welcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://scvbirdalliance.org/event-calendar/field-trip-birding-with-pride-at-ulistac-santa-clara\">\u003cstrong>Birding with Pride\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>June 20 @ 8 a.m., hosted by the Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A leisurely 2-mile visit to Ulistac Natural Area showcases the diversity and resilience of nature in the heart of the Santa Clara Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://sfhiking.com/event-6682718\">\u003cstrong>Queer History Walking Tour\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>June 20 @ 9:45 a.m., hosted by San Francisco Hiking Club\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 5.5-mile hike starting from the Ferry Building brings hikers back in time for a guided walking tour of San Francisco’s queer history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Conservative school board president Sonja Shaw, a Trump-aligned Republican known for her role in the high-profile battle over \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069570/california-advocates-fearful-as-supreme-court-weighs-bans-of-trans-student-athletes\">transgender athletes in school sports\u003c/a>, has advanced to the November runoff to serve as California’s next \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/educationnews\">state superintendent\u003c/a> of public instruction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shaw, president of the Chino Valley Unified School Board, will likely face Richard Barrera, the San Diego school board president, who garnered the largest portion of a splintered Democratic vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel honored and inspired,” Barrera told KQED on Wednesday. “I’m energized, and I think we’re going to carry this coalition that has a positive unifying vision for what public schools can be in our state … to victory in November.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shaw, who has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/california\">amassed 24.8% of votes\u003c/a> in early reporting on Wednesday, rose to notoriety in 2023 after she ousted the current superintendent, Tony Thurmond, from a school board meeting in the Inland Empire. Thurmond said \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/TonyThurmond/status/1682240216491520000\">on social media\u003c/a> that students had invited him to speak in opposition to a proposed policy that would force schools to inform parents if their child identified as transgender, mirroring failed statewide legislation, before the Chino Valley School Board heckled and forcibly removed him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shaw and Barrera were among 10 candidates in the race for the job of overseeing the state’s 10,000 public schools as they grapple with funding cuts, higher costs and the challenges of AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shaw has built her campaign around the culture war issue of transgender rights in schools — particularly opposing transgender girls’ participation on athletic teams that match their gender identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12086065\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12086065 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Sonja-Shaw-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Sonja-Shaw-Getty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Sonja-Shaw-Getty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Sonja-Shaw-Getty-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, left, and California state superintendent candidate Sonja Shaw are seen during a news conference and protest against the participation of a transgender athlete in the 106th California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State Track & Field Championships outside Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis, California, on May 29, 2026. \u003ccite>(Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Your daughters are in locker rooms with boys all across California,” she \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/realSonjaShaw/status/2060535081199174039\">said\u003c/a> at a press conference days before the election at the California Interscholastic Federation’s Track and Field championships, where \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12084083/california-quietly-brings-back-controversial-scoring-policy-for-trans-student-athletes\">transgender athlete AB Hernandez\u003c/a> won two state titles. CIF reinstituted a pilot policy launched ahead of the competition that allows an additional girl to compete and medal in any event that includes a transgender athlete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When are you going to stand up and say no? … Fix it at the ballot box,” Shaw continued, standing alongside Trump-endorsed gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shaw told KQED on Wednesday that her victory sends a clear message: “Parents and people all throughout California have had enough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Barrera, who’s been endorsed by the California Teachers Association and Thurmond, is likely to pick up most of the votes from a slew of Democratic opponents. He currently sits comfortably ahead of the pack with 18.9% of the votes.[aside label=\"Live 2026 Election Results\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/california/governor,Learn about the results of the California Governor Election' hero=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/80/2026/04/Aside-California-Governor-2026-Primary-Election-1200x1200@2x.png]Barrera has been a school board member in San Diego since 2008 and served as board president during San Diego Unified’s rise as one of the\u003ca href=\"https://www.sandiegounified.org/about/newscenter/all_news/2024NAEP\"> top-performing urban districts\u003c/a> in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barrett Snider, an education lobbyist with Capitol Advisors, said he expects the school board president to pick up supporters from educator Wendy Castaneda Leal, Los Angeles Community College District board member Nichelle Henderson and multiple statewide lawmakers, who garnered between 8% and 10% of the vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Shaw] got the most because she was really the only prominent conservative running in that race. And then you had just a large bench of sort of blue candidates,” he told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snider said that CTA has a long track record of successfully ushering candidates into the state superintendent’s seat. He expects that now that Barrera is presumed to advance to the general election, the union will ramp up opposition to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to move the Department of Education under his control — changing the nature of the superintendent role.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Newsom’s 2026-27 budget, which suggested overhauling California’s education governance system, the state superintendent would mostly serve as an independent advocate for the state’s public education system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barrera called the plan to move the Department of Education under the governor’s office “undemocratic.” The state Senate rejected Newsom’s proposal in their version of the budget, and the Assembly has proposed handling the potential restructuring through different legislation. Newsom terms out this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12086202\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12086202 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Richard-Barerra-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Richard-Barerra-Getty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Richard-Barerra-Getty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Richard-Barerra-Getty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Diego Unified Board Member Richard Barrera speaks during a press conference to announce a bill that adds COVID-19 vaccines to California’s list of required inoculations for attending K-12 schools at Arleta High School on Jan. 24, 2022, in Los Angeles, California. \u003ccite>(Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Arne Johnson, an advocate with the Bay Area-based transgender rights group Rainbow Family Action, said he wasn’t surprised to see Shaw advance to the general election, but worries that she’ll continue to have a platform for “stunts” and “politically motivated heat” toward transgender children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She’ll get trounced in the general election,” he said. “It’s just more funding and more time for her to cause damage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barrera said he respects that Shaw — as a school board president — brings a local perspective to the race.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What I don’t respect is that she chooses to use her platform and influence to divide her community, and to single out groups of students,” he said. “It’s two very different visions of what California public schools can be. And I’m confident that in the general election, Californians are going to side with a positive unifying vision.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Conservative school board president Sonja Shaw, a Trump-aligned Republican known for her role in the high-profile battle over \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069570/california-advocates-fearful-as-supreme-court-weighs-bans-of-trans-student-athletes\">transgender athletes in school sports\u003c/a>, has advanced to the November runoff to serve as California’s next \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/educationnews\">state superintendent\u003c/a> of public instruction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shaw, president of the Chino Valley Unified School Board, will likely face Richard Barrera, the San Diego school board president, who garnered the largest portion of a splintered Democratic vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel honored and inspired,” Barrera told KQED on Wednesday. “I’m energized, and I think we’re going to carry this coalition that has a positive unifying vision for what public schools can be in our state … to victory in November.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shaw, who has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/california\">amassed 24.8% of votes\u003c/a> in early reporting on Wednesday, rose to notoriety in 2023 after she ousted the current superintendent, Tony Thurmond, from a school board meeting in the Inland Empire. Thurmond said \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/TonyThurmond/status/1682240216491520000\">on social media\u003c/a> that students had invited him to speak in opposition to a proposed policy that would force schools to inform parents if their child identified as transgender, mirroring failed statewide legislation, before the Chino Valley School Board heckled and forcibly removed him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shaw and Barrera were among 10 candidates in the race for the job of overseeing the state’s 10,000 public schools as they grapple with funding cuts, higher costs and the challenges of AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shaw has built her campaign around the culture war issue of transgender rights in schools — particularly opposing transgender girls’ participation on athletic teams that match their gender identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12086065\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12086065 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Sonja-Shaw-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Sonja-Shaw-Getty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Sonja-Shaw-Getty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Sonja-Shaw-Getty-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, left, and California state superintendent candidate Sonja Shaw are seen during a news conference and protest against the participation of a transgender athlete in the 106th California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State Track & Field Championships outside Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis, California, on May 29, 2026. \u003ccite>(Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Your daughters are in locker rooms with boys all across California,” she \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/realSonjaShaw/status/2060535081199174039\">said\u003c/a> at a press conference days before the election at the California Interscholastic Federation’s Track and Field championships, where \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12084083/california-quietly-brings-back-controversial-scoring-policy-for-trans-student-athletes\">transgender athlete AB Hernandez\u003c/a> won two state titles. CIF reinstituted a pilot policy launched ahead of the competition that allows an additional girl to compete and medal in any event that includes a transgender athlete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When are you going to stand up and say no? … Fix it at the ballot box,” Shaw continued, standing alongside Trump-endorsed gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shaw told KQED on Wednesday that her victory sends a clear message: “Parents and people all throughout California have had enough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Barrera, who’s been endorsed by the California Teachers Association and Thurmond, is likely to pick up most of the votes from a slew of Democratic opponents. He currently sits comfortably ahead of the pack with 18.9% of the votes.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Barrera has been a school board member in San Diego since 2008 and served as board president during San Diego Unified’s rise as one of the\u003ca href=\"https://www.sandiegounified.org/about/newscenter/all_news/2024NAEP\"> top-performing urban districts\u003c/a> in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barrett Snider, an education lobbyist with Capitol Advisors, said he expects the school board president to pick up supporters from educator Wendy Castaneda Leal, Los Angeles Community College District board member Nichelle Henderson and multiple statewide lawmakers, who garnered between 8% and 10% of the vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Shaw] got the most because she was really the only prominent conservative running in that race. And then you had just a large bench of sort of blue candidates,” he told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snider said that CTA has a long track record of successfully ushering candidates into the state superintendent’s seat. He expects that now that Barrera is presumed to advance to the general election, the union will ramp up opposition to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to move the Department of Education under his control — changing the nature of the superintendent role.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Newsom’s 2026-27 budget, which suggested overhauling California’s education governance system, the state superintendent would mostly serve as an independent advocate for the state’s public education system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barrera called the plan to move the Department of Education under the governor’s office “undemocratic.” The state Senate rejected Newsom’s proposal in their version of the budget, and the Assembly has proposed handling the potential restructuring through different legislation. Newsom terms out this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12086202\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12086202 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Richard-Barerra-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Richard-Barerra-Getty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Richard-Barerra-Getty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Richard-Barerra-Getty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Diego Unified Board Member Richard Barrera speaks during a press conference to announce a bill that adds COVID-19 vaccines to California’s list of required inoculations for attending K-12 schools at Arleta High School on Jan. 24, 2022, in Los Angeles, California. \u003ccite>(Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Arne Johnson, an advocate with the Bay Area-based transgender rights group Rainbow Family Action, said he wasn’t surprised to see Shaw advance to the general election, but worries that she’ll continue to have a platform for “stunts” and “politically motivated heat” toward transgender children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She’ll get trounced in the general election,” he said. “It’s just more funding and more time for her to cause damage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barrera said he respects that Shaw — as a school board president — brings a local perspective to the race.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What I don’t respect is that she chooses to use her platform and influence to divide her community, and to single out groups of students,” he said. “It’s two very different visions of what California public schools can be. And I’m confident that in the general election, Californians are going to side with a positive unifying vision.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "california-lgbtq-youth-build-safe-spaces-in-rural-san-benito-county",
"title": "California LGBTQ+ Youth Build Safe Spaces in Rural San Benito County",
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"headTitle": "California LGBTQ+ Youth Build Safe Spaces in Rural San Benito County | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was produced jointly by \u003ca href=\"https://benitolink.com/\">BenitoLink\u003c/a> and CatchLight as part of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.catchlight.io/mental-health\">mental health visual desk\u003c/a>\u003c/em>. \u003cem>\u003cstrong>Jessica Parga\u003c/strong> wrote and photographed for BenitoLink/CatchLight, with illustrations by \u003cstrong>Brea Spencer\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a winter evening, four friends meet to catch up at a local park. Among them is Gael Barba-Solis, a student who created one of the area’s only LGBTQ+ support spaces. They talk about their Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, their classes and teachers, and rehash old stories. They often walk around this spot in their town as it is one of the few areas they like to meet up outside of school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barba-Solis, 17, identifies as a trans man and pansexual, someone who is attracted to others regardless of their gender or sex. He said he feels very fluid when it comes to gender expression and started exploring his gender identity in middle school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As time went on, as I continued being called ‘she,’ being called my dead name, I didn’t like it,” Barba-Solis said. “I thought I was okay with it, but it eventually just sort of created like almost this pit in my stomach whenever I was called it. It was putting me in a dark place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The road was messy. He said he felt overwhelmed with thoughts of his identity and would spend nights in tears. Accepting himself, he said, felt like the easy part.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He shared that his closest friends, Haiden Dizon, Mae Pung and David, who wished to not include his last name to protect his privacy, have been there for him whenever he needed them and have been like a family. He said his older sister, who’s also in the LGBTQ+ community, was the first person in his family to use his preferred name and pronouns. Through her, he found the confidence to start a trans club at his high school, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082937\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082937\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Founder and President Gael Barba-Solis leads a Mariposa Club meeting at Hollister High School on Jan. 14, 2026. Barba-Solis started the club during his sophomore year of high school to build a transgender community. Students now meet every Wednesday during lunch to discuss trans issues, safe spaces and related topics.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Barba-Solis said he created the Mariposa Club to support transgender teens at Hollister High School and give them the safe space he didn’t feel he always had. Club meetings focus on education, with topics ranging from how to safely use a chest binder (made for flattening the chest for a more masculine appearance) to LGBTQ+-friendly cities for after graduation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now it’s like I have breathing room. I can actually be who I am,” Barba-Solis said. “I have friends who support me and who are there for me, as well as my parents and my sister.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2024, California approved behavioral health reform through \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/BHT/Pages/FAQ-Prop1.aspx\">Prop 1\u003c/a>. It consists of two parts: the Behavioral Health Services Act and the commitment of $6.4 billion to fund mental health services through the Behavioral Health Bond. BHSA replaces the Mental Health Services Act of 2004 and focuses on substance use disorders, mental illness and housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Benito County will receive funding from Prop. 1 dispersed through multiple agencies, including to Youth Recovery Connections and directly to the county’s Behavioral Health Department. While planning continues, LGBTQ+ youth in the county work to build their own safe spaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082938\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082938\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH03-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Haiden Dizon carries Mae Pung’s backpack as they walk to a local Dollar Tree after school in Hollister, Calif., on March 10, 2026. Pung said she was diagnosed with depression around seventh grade, but since meeting Dizon a few years ago, she feels her symptoms have become more manageable.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When it comes to LGBTQ+ awareness and support, San Benito County is lacking compared to nearby areas, said Maxx D’Elia, a trans man who has worked in mental health supporting students in the county.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I worked with kids where they’d say ‘I want to be a boy because I want to date girls,’ And I’m like, ‘Well, you don’t have to be a boy to date a girl. You could date a girl and be a girl,” said D’Elia. “I think that’s where a lot more education needs to come in. I would also want these kids to know that it’s okay to slow down as well and take that time to just figure it out. There’s no rush. We’re all just figuring out life one day at a time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From 2018-2024, the county’s Behavioral Health Department funded San Benito+, a safe space for the queer community to gather at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sanbenitocountyca.gov/departments/behavioral-health/esperanza-center\">Esperanza Center\u003c/a> in downtown Hollister.[aside postID=news_12061805 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/IMG_1204-scaled.jpg']“There’s a lot of issues that pop up for this population that may need some specialized care, and usually it’s not addressed quickly and efficiently enough,” Interim Behavioral Health Director Rachel White said regarding the San Benito+ program. “And there’s consequences to that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2024, the program was shut down because of a lack of involvement. White said she recognizes that the program missed the mark and that it was just not reaching its community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Losing San Benito+ was a true setback in our little community and we currently lack quality gender and sexuality affirming care in this area,” D’Elia wrote in an email in May 2025. “That’s not to say it doesn’t exist, but it’s so far and few between. If you head over to Gilroy and Morgan Hill, they only have an LGBTQ support group that runs twice a month in Gilroy and twice a month in Morgan Hill at the libraries which are run by the LGBTQ Youth Space.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>D’Elia, who worked at San Benito+ with a handful of other part-time employees, said the program would do better with a full-time leader that could put in time to build outreach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Benito County Behavioral Health is working to get feedback from youth on what they need for future resources and, depending on those responses, possibly integrate the queer community’s needs into a Transitional Age Youth program, White said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Behavioral Health created a \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyrZUJkWOlW0pRDZG1DKwJyun7H36u_KaFm3C9NjiQvSWtUA/viewform\">public survey\u003c/a> to gather input on a possible youth space. It closes on May 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082950\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082950\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/JPARGA-EDIT31-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/JPARGA-EDIT31-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/JPARGA-EDIT31-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/JPARGA-EDIT31-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A cyclist passes the Esperanza Center in Hollister, Calif., on April 21, 2026. From about 2018 to 2024, the San Benito County Behavioral Health Department funded San Benito+, a safe space for the queer community to gather at the downtown center.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Benito County Behavioral Health has been allocated an average of $4.5 million annually from BHSA under Prop. 1, which goes into effect July 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, Youth Recovery Connections (YRC), a local organization, was approved for funding through Prop 1 and the Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program bond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>YRC does prevention work focused on substance use and mental health. According to YRC Executive Director Michael Salinas, the group is now working on opening a second site in Hollister with expanded services to include treatment delivered by counselors and clinicians—the only place in the county to do so apart from the Behavioral Health Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BenitoLink interviewed six youths in the LGBTQ+ community for this article. They talked about their lives, the challenges they face and where they find emotional support, be it community organizations, family or significant others. BenitoLink agreed to allow a few to remain unnamed to protect their identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082942\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1334px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082942\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH06-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1334\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH06-KQED.jpg 1334w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH06-KQED-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH06-KQED-1025x1536.jpg 1025w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1334px) 100vw, 1334px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarabi Grace Muñoz, 14, holds up a post from her friend’s Instagram profile on April 7, 2026. Muñoz said her friend had been struggling with addiction and recently returned to rehab.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One anonymous local teen, who identifies as gay, said YRC has had a positive impact on his life, supporting him through the loss of loved ones, addiction, self harm and involvement in the juvenile justice system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both he and his older sister have struggled with addiction. They agreed to go to rehab at the same time but when he finished his program, he learned that his sister took her own life. YRC paid for her funeral, for which he said he was forever grateful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was the second person he lost to suicide, he said, following the death two years ago of his best friend, who identified as queer.\u003cbr>\nThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 41% of LGBTQ+ students have seriously considered suicide compared to 13% of their cisgender — those whose gender corresponds to their sex assigned at birth — and heterosexual peers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After multiple attempts to follow up with this teen, BenitoLink heard from those close to him that he broke parole and returned to rehab. While reporting this story, he also turned 18, qualifying him as a legal adult and thus possibly facing more serious consequences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082951\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082951\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/JPARGA-EDIT320A-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/JPARGA-EDIT320A-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/JPARGA-EDIT320A-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/JPARGA-EDIT320A-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarabi Grace Muñoz, 14, poses for a portrait at a skate park she considers a safe space for herself on April 8, 2026. Muñoz moved to Hollister from San Jos\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">é \u003c/span> last year and still travels out to the city to visit a psychologist for mental health support.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to The Trevor Project, a leading LGBTQ+ suicide prevention nonprofit whose research is used in peer-reviewed publications, communities themselves have an impact on a person’s mental health.[aside postID=arts_13977595 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/2025.04.14_MIDDLETON_SANDYSTONE_15-KQED.jpg']The project’s 2024 survey of nearly 34,000 youth states that “LGBTQ+ young people who reported living in very accepting communities attempted suicide at less than half the rate of those who reported living in very unaccepting communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sarabi Grace Muñoz, 14, identifies as female and as omnisexual, which falls under the bisexual umbrella of sexual preferences. She moved to Hollister last year after living in San Jose and said she feels like the environment is far less welcoming of queer people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been called a faggot more times than I can count,” Muñoz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She recounted a few memories including one where she was denied entry to a church because of her appearance, noting that she was sporting a Pride pin that day. Another time, an acquaintance found out Muñoz had dated a woman and told her to repent while she still could.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t even really express the judgment and, like, disdain that is pushed upon you until you’re just walking the street with your friend and somebody yells out ‘faggot!’ and tries to hit you with a coke can,” Muñoz said, describing an incident she experienced at a Hollister Farmers Market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082943\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082943\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH07-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH07-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarabi Grace MuÒoz, 14, at a skate park she considers a safe space for herself on April 8, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Muñoz said she told her mom around the age of nine that she liked girls, and was generally accepted by her immediate family. She said she feels that her identity is complicated and harder to understand for her extended family, who are Catholic immigrants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her family’s religion factored into her guilt about her sexuality and impacted her mental health, she said. At one time, part of her believed that God didn’t love her, that she had disappointed Him because she was in love with somebody that was not a man.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Muñoz said she started therapy around the second grade during a tumultuous childhood. A few years ago, she was diagnosed with major depressive disorder by a psychologist in San Jose. Despite trying to find services in Hollister, she said her family faced limited options and decided to make the 50-mile commute to San Jose for providers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC reports 65% of LGBTQ+ students feeling sad or hopeless compared to 31% of cisgender and heterosexual students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082944\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1334px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082944\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH08-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1334\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH08-KQED.jpg 1334w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH08-KQED-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH08-KQED-1025x1536.jpg 1025w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1334px) 100vw, 1334px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An anonymous teen who identifies as queer sits for a portrait in California in 2026. He said it felt good to talk about his identity with close friends and to have a space where he felt accepted.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A teen in San Benito County who identifies as queer asked to remain anonymous for this article so he can come out to his family on his own timeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He shared that when he was about 12, he realized he’s never only been attracted to girls. A few years later, as a sophomore in high school, he started opening up to friends around him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just felt good to talk about it with people because it’s something that I’d never talked about with anyone before,” he said. “I’m the kind of person where it feels good to get thoughts outside of my head and out into the world. It just feels like less mental weight on me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The teen said that he feels especially safe and comfortable when hanging out with his female friends, as some boys his age have a stigma around queer people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not that they’re necessarily unaccepting,” he said. “It’s just that they’re kind of like, ‘Do your own thing and I’ll do my thing and I don’t really want to be associated with it.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082945\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082945\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH09-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH09-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH09-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH09-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An anonymous teen who identifies as queer stands for a portrait in California in 2026. They said they fear for their safety outside of school because they do not know how others feel about queer people.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A lingering fear exists for a few of the students interviewed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another teen interviewed for this article asked to remain anonymous to protect their identity from their parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re very respectful,” they said about their parents. “There’s just some things they don’t really understand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As someone who is a part of the queer community, they specifically mentioned they fear for their safety outside of school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel like I always kind of have to assume how people feel about, like, queer identities or especially transgender people,” they said. “It’s just because I don’t know, I think it’s just really a safety thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082939\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082939\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH04-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gael Barba-Solis attends a rehearsal for \u003cem data-start=\"41\" data-end=\"57\">School of Rock\u003c/em> at Hollister High School on Feb. 27, 2026. One of his tasks that afternoon was recording the cast for a montage that would play during the musical.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Barba-Solis reported being called slurs in middle school, and just outside of Hollister High a stranger threw apples at his back while he carried an LGBTQ+ flag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My identity, I’m secure in,” Barba-Solis said. “I know who I am. It’s more of the fear of others, I guess, and sort of kind of like how they would react.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several teens interviewed said their school is where they feel like they can be most open about their sexuality or gender identity. Clubs, and the friends they’ve made through extracurriculars, plus the occasional school counselor or teacher, make up common safe spaces for students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Notably, the theater departments at both Anzar and Hollister High schools provide welcoming organizations for students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Transgender and nonbinary young people who had access to gender-affirming clothing, gender-neutral bathrooms at school, and had their pronouns respected by the people they live with, had lower rates of attempted suicide compared to those who did not,” according to the Trevor Project 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082940\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082940\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH05-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH05-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH05-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gael Barba-Solis holds a ladder for his friend Xier Perry as he adds graffiti to the \u003cem data-start=\"85\" data-end=\"101\">School of Rock\u003c/em> set at Hollister High School on Feb. 28, 2026. The workday included building and painting set pieces while show tunes played in the background.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082935\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082935\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260228-JP-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH221-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260228-JP-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH221-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260228-JP-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH221-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260228-JP-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH221-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students add graffiti to one of the School of Rock set pieces at Hollister High School on Feb. 28, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082946\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082946\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH10-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH10-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH10-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH10-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mae Pung, 17, poses for a portrait at Hollister High School on Feb. 12, 2026. Pung, who identifies as bisexual, said coming out to her family was a smooth process because several relatives are also part of the LGBTQ community, making it feel normalized.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Pung, 17, supports her friend, Barba-Solis as vice president of Mariposa Club.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pung identifies as bisexual but said she feels like her identity isn’t something she’s had to explain to her family. She also takes comfort in knowing she has other family members that identify with the LBGTQ+ community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think my parents are already like normalized—normal to it—I guess. So it was relatively just smooth for me to just come out as bisexual,” Pung said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pung said she has struggled with mental health in the past but feels like it’s affected her less in recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think I was diagnosed in middle school, but then we lost our insurance to our health care,” Pung said. “I couldn’t go to the doctors anymore. So I couldn’t get my prescription for the antidepressants I was taking. And then I met Haiden [Dizon]. I started dating Haiden and it kind of just went away. I think there are still a little bit of, like, remnants of it there, especially with anxiety occasionally. But for the most part, I’m not too bad.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dizon and Pung have been dating for just over two years, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082947\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082947\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH11-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH11-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH11-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH11-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Haiden Dizon and Mae Pung sit at Hollister High School after getting snacks on March 10, 2026. Pung said she was diagnosed with depression around seventh grade, but since meeting Dizon a few years ago, she feels her symptoms have become less severe.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>D’Elia said hands-on education for community providers and students would be beneficial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barba-Solis has given presentations to Hollister High staff to help educate them about the LGBTQ+ community. In March, a joint effort of the Gay Straight Alliance and the Mariposa Club resulted in another staff presentation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Youth Alliance, launched its first LGBTQ+-centered meeting in February. It’s currently working with Barba-Solis and the Mariposa Club to create more safe spaces and opportunities for education. The goal is to create two groups, Barba-Solis said, including one for youth and one for parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To find that middle ground and that compromise, it kind of has to be accepted that this is both a journey for you and your parents, because it is,” Barba-Solis said. “It’s to help parents recognize that but also help educate them on how to support their child. Because I know some parents do try. It’s the trouble of understanding and then therefore that leads to miscommunication.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additional consulting work with community members on the use of resources is documented in the Community Planning Process Report. The BHSA Integrated Plan, outlining the use of funds and a proposed budget for 2026-2029 will be submitted in June to the San Benito County Board of Supervisors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A draft is available for virtual public comment until May 21. A public hearing for final community input is also set for May 21. Currently, YRC Director Salinas says the goal is to have YRC treatment services available to the community in early 2027.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082948\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082948\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH12-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH12-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH12-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH12-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(From top left) Mae Pung, Haiden Dizon, David and Gael Barba-Solis laugh during a portrait in Hollister, Calif., on Jan. 20, 2026. Gael, who identifies as a transgender man, said he has found support in his longtime friends, whom he considers family.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Looking forward, Barba-Solis said he hopes to see centers for students while supporting those who aren’t “out” with discretion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we can just start with support groups or even, like, professionals who do specialize in identities with queer youth, I think that that could be a good start, especially in Hollister.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://california-newsroom.beehiiv.com/\">The California Newsroom\u003c/a>\u003c/strong> is a statewide public media collaboration that includes NPR, CalMatters, KQED in San Francisco, LAist and KCRW in Los Angeles, KPBS in San Diego and other partner stations across California.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>24/7 crisis and suicide resources\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Benito County Behavioral Health Crisis Line: (831) 902-2911\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TrevorLifeline: 1-866-488-7386 for 24/7 support via phone, text, or online instant messaging\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 9-8-8 is available via call, text and online chat\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "LGBTQ+ youth in San Benito County are building peer-led safe spaces and advocacy networks as local leaders reassess mental health funding, gender-affirming care and support services under California’s Prop. 1 behavioral health reforms.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was produced jointly by \u003ca href=\"https://benitolink.com/\">BenitoLink\u003c/a> and CatchLight as part of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.catchlight.io/mental-health\">mental health visual desk\u003c/a>\u003c/em>. \u003cem>\u003cstrong>Jessica Parga\u003c/strong> wrote and photographed for BenitoLink/CatchLight, with illustrations by \u003cstrong>Brea Spencer\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a winter evening, four friends meet to catch up at a local park. Among them is Gael Barba-Solis, a student who created one of the area’s only LGBTQ+ support spaces. They talk about their Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, their classes and teachers, and rehash old stories. They often walk around this spot in their town as it is one of the few areas they like to meet up outside of school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barba-Solis, 17, identifies as a trans man and pansexual, someone who is attracted to others regardless of their gender or sex. He said he feels very fluid when it comes to gender expression and started exploring his gender identity in middle school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As time went on, as I continued being called ‘she,’ being called my dead name, I didn’t like it,” Barba-Solis said. “I thought I was okay with it, but it eventually just sort of created like almost this pit in my stomach whenever I was called it. It was putting me in a dark place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The road was messy. He said he felt overwhelmed with thoughts of his identity and would spend nights in tears. Accepting himself, he said, felt like the easy part.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He shared that his closest friends, Haiden Dizon, Mae Pung and David, who wished to not include his last name to protect his privacy, have been there for him whenever he needed them and have been like a family. He said his older sister, who’s also in the LGBTQ+ community, was the first person in his family to use his preferred name and pronouns. Through her, he found the confidence to start a trans club at his high school, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082937\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082937\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Founder and President Gael Barba-Solis leads a Mariposa Club meeting at Hollister High School on Jan. 14, 2026. Barba-Solis started the club during his sophomore year of high school to build a transgender community. Students now meet every Wednesday during lunch to discuss trans issues, safe spaces and related topics.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Barba-Solis said he created the Mariposa Club to support transgender teens at Hollister High School and give them the safe space he didn’t feel he always had. Club meetings focus on education, with topics ranging from how to safely use a chest binder (made for flattening the chest for a more masculine appearance) to LGBTQ+-friendly cities for after graduation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now it’s like I have breathing room. I can actually be who I am,” Barba-Solis said. “I have friends who support me and who are there for me, as well as my parents and my sister.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2024, California approved behavioral health reform through \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/BHT/Pages/FAQ-Prop1.aspx\">Prop 1\u003c/a>. It consists of two parts: the Behavioral Health Services Act and the commitment of $6.4 billion to fund mental health services through the Behavioral Health Bond. BHSA replaces the Mental Health Services Act of 2004 and focuses on substance use disorders, mental illness and housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Benito County will receive funding from Prop. 1 dispersed through multiple agencies, including to Youth Recovery Connections and directly to the county’s Behavioral Health Department. While planning continues, LGBTQ+ youth in the county work to build their own safe spaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082938\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082938\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH03-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Haiden Dizon carries Mae Pung’s backpack as they walk to a local Dollar Tree after school in Hollister, Calif., on March 10, 2026. Pung said she was diagnosed with depression around seventh grade, but since meeting Dizon a few years ago, she feels her symptoms have become more manageable.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When it comes to LGBTQ+ awareness and support, San Benito County is lacking compared to nearby areas, said Maxx D’Elia, a trans man who has worked in mental health supporting students in the county.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I worked with kids where they’d say ‘I want to be a boy because I want to date girls,’ And I’m like, ‘Well, you don’t have to be a boy to date a girl. You could date a girl and be a girl,” said D’Elia. “I think that’s where a lot more education needs to come in. I would also want these kids to know that it’s okay to slow down as well and take that time to just figure it out. There’s no rush. We’re all just figuring out life one day at a time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From 2018-2024, the county’s Behavioral Health Department funded San Benito+, a safe space for the queer community to gather at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sanbenitocountyca.gov/departments/behavioral-health/esperanza-center\">Esperanza Center\u003c/a> in downtown Hollister.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“There’s a lot of issues that pop up for this population that may need some specialized care, and usually it’s not addressed quickly and efficiently enough,” Interim Behavioral Health Director Rachel White said regarding the San Benito+ program. “And there’s consequences to that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2024, the program was shut down because of a lack of involvement. White said she recognizes that the program missed the mark and that it was just not reaching its community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Losing San Benito+ was a true setback in our little community and we currently lack quality gender and sexuality affirming care in this area,” D’Elia wrote in an email in May 2025. “That’s not to say it doesn’t exist, but it’s so far and few between. If you head over to Gilroy and Morgan Hill, they only have an LGBTQ support group that runs twice a month in Gilroy and twice a month in Morgan Hill at the libraries which are run by the LGBTQ Youth Space.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>D’Elia, who worked at San Benito+ with a handful of other part-time employees, said the program would do better with a full-time leader that could put in time to build outreach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Benito County Behavioral Health is working to get feedback from youth on what they need for future resources and, depending on those responses, possibly integrate the queer community’s needs into a Transitional Age Youth program, White said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Behavioral Health created a \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyrZUJkWOlW0pRDZG1DKwJyun7H36u_KaFm3C9NjiQvSWtUA/viewform\">public survey\u003c/a> to gather input on a possible youth space. It closes on May 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082950\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082950\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/JPARGA-EDIT31-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/JPARGA-EDIT31-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/JPARGA-EDIT31-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/JPARGA-EDIT31-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A cyclist passes the Esperanza Center in Hollister, Calif., on April 21, 2026. From about 2018 to 2024, the San Benito County Behavioral Health Department funded San Benito+, a safe space for the queer community to gather at the downtown center.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Benito County Behavioral Health has been allocated an average of $4.5 million annually from BHSA under Prop. 1, which goes into effect July 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, Youth Recovery Connections (YRC), a local organization, was approved for funding through Prop 1 and the Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program bond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>YRC does prevention work focused on substance use and mental health. According to YRC Executive Director Michael Salinas, the group is now working on opening a second site in Hollister with expanded services to include treatment delivered by counselors and clinicians—the only place in the county to do so apart from the Behavioral Health Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BenitoLink interviewed six youths in the LGBTQ+ community for this article. They talked about their lives, the challenges they face and where they find emotional support, be it community organizations, family or significant others. BenitoLink agreed to allow a few to remain unnamed to protect their identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082942\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1334px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082942\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH06-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1334\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH06-KQED.jpg 1334w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH06-KQED-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH06-KQED-1025x1536.jpg 1025w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1334px) 100vw, 1334px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarabi Grace Muñoz, 14, holds up a post from her friend’s Instagram profile on April 7, 2026. Muñoz said her friend had been struggling with addiction and recently returned to rehab.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One anonymous local teen, who identifies as gay, said YRC has had a positive impact on his life, supporting him through the loss of loved ones, addiction, self harm and involvement in the juvenile justice system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both he and his older sister have struggled with addiction. They agreed to go to rehab at the same time but when he finished his program, he learned that his sister took her own life. YRC paid for her funeral, for which he said he was forever grateful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was the second person he lost to suicide, he said, following the death two years ago of his best friend, who identified as queer.\u003cbr>\nThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 41% of LGBTQ+ students have seriously considered suicide compared to 13% of their cisgender — those whose gender corresponds to their sex assigned at birth — and heterosexual peers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After multiple attempts to follow up with this teen, BenitoLink heard from those close to him that he broke parole and returned to rehab. While reporting this story, he also turned 18, qualifying him as a legal adult and thus possibly facing more serious consequences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082951\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082951\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/JPARGA-EDIT320A-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/JPARGA-EDIT320A-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/JPARGA-EDIT320A-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/JPARGA-EDIT320A-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarabi Grace Muñoz, 14, poses for a portrait at a skate park she considers a safe space for herself on April 8, 2026. Muñoz moved to Hollister from San Jos\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">é \u003c/span> last year and still travels out to the city to visit a psychologist for mental health support.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to The Trevor Project, a leading LGBTQ+ suicide prevention nonprofit whose research is used in peer-reviewed publications, communities themselves have an impact on a person’s mental health.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The project’s 2024 survey of nearly 34,000 youth states that “LGBTQ+ young people who reported living in very accepting communities attempted suicide at less than half the rate of those who reported living in very unaccepting communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sarabi Grace Muñoz, 14, identifies as female and as omnisexual, which falls under the bisexual umbrella of sexual preferences. She moved to Hollister last year after living in San Jose and said she feels like the environment is far less welcoming of queer people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been called a faggot more times than I can count,” Muñoz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She recounted a few memories including one where she was denied entry to a church because of her appearance, noting that she was sporting a Pride pin that day. Another time, an acquaintance found out Muñoz had dated a woman and told her to repent while she still could.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t even really express the judgment and, like, disdain that is pushed upon you until you’re just walking the street with your friend and somebody yells out ‘faggot!’ and tries to hit you with a coke can,” Muñoz said, describing an incident she experienced at a Hollister Farmers Market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082943\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082943\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH07-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH07-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarabi Grace MuÒoz, 14, at a skate park she considers a safe space for herself on April 8, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Muñoz said she told her mom around the age of nine that she liked girls, and was generally accepted by her immediate family. She said she feels that her identity is complicated and harder to understand for her extended family, who are Catholic immigrants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her family’s religion factored into her guilt about her sexuality and impacted her mental health, she said. At one time, part of her believed that God didn’t love her, that she had disappointed Him because she was in love with somebody that was not a man.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Muñoz said she started therapy around the second grade during a tumultuous childhood. A few years ago, she was diagnosed with major depressive disorder by a psychologist in San Jose. Despite trying to find services in Hollister, she said her family faced limited options and decided to make the 50-mile commute to San Jose for providers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC reports 65% of LGBTQ+ students feeling sad or hopeless compared to 31% of cisgender and heterosexual students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082944\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1334px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082944\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH08-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1334\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH08-KQED.jpg 1334w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH08-KQED-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH08-KQED-1025x1536.jpg 1025w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1334px) 100vw, 1334px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An anonymous teen who identifies as queer sits for a portrait in California in 2026. He said it felt good to talk about his identity with close friends and to have a space where he felt accepted.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A teen in San Benito County who identifies as queer asked to remain anonymous for this article so he can come out to his family on his own timeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He shared that when he was about 12, he realized he’s never only been attracted to girls. A few years later, as a sophomore in high school, he started opening up to friends around him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just felt good to talk about it with people because it’s something that I’d never talked about with anyone before,” he said. “I’m the kind of person where it feels good to get thoughts outside of my head and out into the world. It just feels like less mental weight on me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The teen said that he feels especially safe and comfortable when hanging out with his female friends, as some boys his age have a stigma around queer people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not that they’re necessarily unaccepting,” he said. “It’s just that they’re kind of like, ‘Do your own thing and I’ll do my thing and I don’t really want to be associated with it.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082945\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082945\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH09-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH09-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH09-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH09-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An anonymous teen who identifies as queer stands for a portrait in California in 2026. They said they fear for their safety outside of school because they do not know how others feel about queer people.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A lingering fear exists for a few of the students interviewed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another teen interviewed for this article asked to remain anonymous to protect their identity from their parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re very respectful,” they said about their parents. “There’s just some things they don’t really understand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As someone who is a part of the queer community, they specifically mentioned they fear for their safety outside of school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel like I always kind of have to assume how people feel about, like, queer identities or especially transgender people,” they said. “It’s just because I don’t know, I think it’s just really a safety thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082939\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082939\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH04-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gael Barba-Solis attends a rehearsal for \u003cem data-start=\"41\" data-end=\"57\">School of Rock\u003c/em> at Hollister High School on Feb. 27, 2026. One of his tasks that afternoon was recording the cast for a montage that would play during the musical.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Barba-Solis reported being called slurs in middle school, and just outside of Hollister High a stranger threw apples at his back while he carried an LGBTQ+ flag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My identity, I’m secure in,” Barba-Solis said. “I know who I am. It’s more of the fear of others, I guess, and sort of kind of like how they would react.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several teens interviewed said their school is where they feel like they can be most open about their sexuality or gender identity. Clubs, and the friends they’ve made through extracurriculars, plus the occasional school counselor or teacher, make up common safe spaces for students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Notably, the theater departments at both Anzar and Hollister High schools provide welcoming organizations for students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Transgender and nonbinary young people who had access to gender-affirming clothing, gender-neutral bathrooms at school, and had their pronouns respected by the people they live with, had lower rates of attempted suicide compared to those who did not,” according to the Trevor Project 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082940\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082940\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH05-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH05-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH05-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gael Barba-Solis holds a ladder for his friend Xier Perry as he adds graffiti to the \u003cem data-start=\"85\" data-end=\"101\">School of Rock\u003c/em> set at Hollister High School on Feb. 28, 2026. The workday included building and painting set pieces while show tunes played in the background.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082935\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082935\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260228-JP-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH221-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260228-JP-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH221-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260228-JP-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH221-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260228-JP-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH221-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students add graffiti to one of the School of Rock set pieces at Hollister High School on Feb. 28, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082946\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082946\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH10-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH10-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH10-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH10-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mae Pung, 17, poses for a portrait at Hollister High School on Feb. 12, 2026. Pung, who identifies as bisexual, said coming out to her family was a smooth process because several relatives are also part of the LGBTQ community, making it feel normalized.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Pung, 17, supports her friend, Barba-Solis as vice president of Mariposa Club.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pung identifies as bisexual but said she feels like her identity isn’t something she’s had to explain to her family. She also takes comfort in knowing she has other family members that identify with the LBGTQ+ community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think my parents are already like normalized—normal to it—I guess. So it was relatively just smooth for me to just come out as bisexual,” Pung said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pung said she has struggled with mental health in the past but feels like it’s affected her less in recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think I was diagnosed in middle school, but then we lost our insurance to our health care,” Pung said. “I couldn’t go to the doctors anymore. So I couldn’t get my prescription for the antidepressants I was taking. And then I met Haiden [Dizon]. I started dating Haiden and it kind of just went away. I think there are still a little bit of, like, remnants of it there, especially with anxiety occasionally. But for the most part, I’m not too bad.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dizon and Pung have been dating for just over two years, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082947\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082947\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH11-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH11-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH11-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH11-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Haiden Dizon and Mae Pung sit at Hollister High School after getting snacks on March 10, 2026. Pung said she was diagnosed with depression around seventh grade, but since meeting Dizon a few years ago, she feels her symptoms have become less severe.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>D’Elia said hands-on education for community providers and students would be beneficial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barba-Solis has given presentations to Hollister High staff to help educate them about the LGBTQ+ community. In March, a joint effort of the Gay Straight Alliance and the Mariposa Club resulted in another staff presentation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Youth Alliance, launched its first LGBTQ+-centered meeting in February. It’s currently working with Barba-Solis and the Mariposa Club to create more safe spaces and opportunities for education. The goal is to create two groups, Barba-Solis said, including one for youth and one for parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To find that middle ground and that compromise, it kind of has to be accepted that this is both a journey for you and your parents, because it is,” Barba-Solis said. “It’s to help parents recognize that but also help educate them on how to support their child. Because I know some parents do try. It’s the trouble of understanding and then therefore that leads to miscommunication.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additional consulting work with community members on the use of resources is documented in the Community Planning Process Report. The BHSA Integrated Plan, outlining the use of funds and a proposed budget for 2026-2029 will be submitted in June to the San Benito County Board of Supervisors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A draft is available for virtual public comment until May 21. A public hearing for final community input is also set for May 21. Currently, YRC Director Salinas says the goal is to have YRC treatment services available to the community in early 2027.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082948\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082948\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH12-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH12-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH12-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/BREA-YOUTH-MENTAL-HEALTH12-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(From top left) Mae Pung, Haiden Dizon, David and Gael Barba-Solis laugh during a portrait in Hollister, Calif., on Jan. 20, 2026. Gael, who identifies as a transgender man, said he has found support in his longtime friends, whom he considers family.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Looking forward, Barba-Solis said he hopes to see centers for students while supporting those who aren’t “out” with discretion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we can just start with support groups or even, like, professionals who do specialize in identities with queer youth, I think that that could be a good start, especially in Hollister.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://california-newsroom.beehiiv.com/\">The California Newsroom\u003c/a>\u003c/strong> is a statewide public media collaboration that includes NPR, CalMatters, KQED in San Francisco, LAist and KCRW in Los Angeles, KPBS in San Diego and other partner stations across California.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>24/7 crisis and suicide resources\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Benito County Behavioral Health Crisis Line: (831) 902-2911\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TrevorLifeline: 1-866-488-7386 for 24/7 support via phone, text, or online instant messaging\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 9-8-8 is available via call, text and online chat\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>It was last August when \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069570/california-advocates-fearful-as-supreme-court-weighs-bans-of-trans-student-athletes\">Trevor Norcross\u003c/a> first made the trip from San Luis Obispo County to Sacramento for the California Interscholastic Federation’s executive committee meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a heated public comment period, dominated by those who were opposed to transgender girls’ participation on sports teams that align with their gender identity, he stood up and spoke.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I started coming to the CIF meetings by myself when I saw that the anti-trans crowd was showing up unopposed,” Norcross told KQED. “I just wanted to be on record that we’re here, we care, and we matter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years earlier, his daughter Lily had come out as transgender just before she entered high school. She joined the track team in her first year and found great joy in competing as a sprinter and long jumper during her first two seasons. But after the Trump administration reentered the White House in 2025, the Norcross family said, it seemed to open the door to a slew of outwardly hateful rhetoric.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In their small coastal community of Arroyo Grande, Lily became a target.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said she’s been stalked by a local politician running for state Assembly, targeted by a local church group’s campaign against transgender high school athletes, and is widely known to be “example No. 3” in a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit filed \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12047432/us-sues-california-over-its-refusal-to-ban-transgender-athletes-from-girls-sports\">against the California Department of Education and CIF\u003c/a>. The Trump administration’s suit alleges California officials violated Title IX by refusing to sign a resolution agreeing to comply with a federal push to ban transgender athletes from girls’ sports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have had people try to dox me. I’ve had people stalk me. I’ve had people threaten to murder me,” Lily told KQED. “I have people just walk up to me and call me slurs during school. Anything that you could imagine, I have dealt with.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12003275\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12003275 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/USDeptofJusticeGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/USDeptofJusticeGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/USDeptofJusticeGetty-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/USDeptofJusticeGetty-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/USDeptofJusticeGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/USDeptofJusticeGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/USDeptofJusticeGetty-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The U.S. Department of Justice. \u003ccite>(J. David Ake/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Norcross soon discovered that their family’s experience was not unique. Looking through notes from CIF meetings, he found that they had become rife with anti-transgender sentiment. At the first meeting where Norcross spoke, nine people followed him — all opposing teens like Lily being able to participate on school teams that match their gender identity, according to meeting minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since that August meeting in Sacramento, Norcross has attended every one the executive committee has held, plus larger Federated Council meetings, which are rarer and bring together representatives from across the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At first, he’d show up alone. But over time, Norcross, families of other trans athletes and local advocacy groups have built up a coalition that’s transformed the CIF meeting room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At last week’s executive committee meeting in Oakland, the room was filled wall to wall with transgender rights supporters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had 50 people there, and all the speaking slots,” said Arne Johnson, a lead organizer for the Bay Area-based activist group Rainbow Families Action. “We got to take the room ourselves. It was like the first time we got to engage with CIF without feeling gross and having to scrape off some bad feelings after the conversations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rainbow Families Action first sent its own representatives to a CIF meeting in October, months after the high school sports governing body \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041770/california-tweaks-trans-athlete-rules-after-trump-threatens-to-halt-federal-funding\">piloted new rules\u003c/a> ahead of the state track and field championships that increased the number of girls who could qualify for the finals in events where a transgender athlete was competing.[aside postID=news_12071407 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241120-TransgenderAthletes-01-1020x680.jpg']There, they met Norcross. During the public comment period, he spoke in support of Lily again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“His speech was very moving,” Johnson said. “It just was kind of one of those moments when you suddenly see where you need to be. We just were like, ‘This can’t ever happen again. Trevor can’t come to one of these things by himself.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, Rainbow Families Action has sent representatives to every CIF meeting, growing their coalition from about a dozen representatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group in Oakland included parents, transgender students, a grandmother, multiple clergy members and activists from different trans rights groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re gaining our momentum,” Norcross said. “The other side came at us hot and heavy, and they intentionally used degrading language on purpose because they want us to be afraid. They want us not to speak out, and we refuse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next, he said, he is advocating to meet with Gov. Gavin Newsom, who made headlines last year after he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12061591/after-criticism-newsom-urges-clearer-rules-for-trans-girls-in-sports\">called it “deeply unfair”\u003c/a> for transgender athletes to compete in girls sports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Norcross said Newsom has met with activists who oppose transgender athletes’ inclusion and should offer parents like him the same opportunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to the lack of research proving that trans girls have a biological advantage, Norcross said, “there are all kinds of advantages people have.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you can afford a private coach, you’ve got an advantage. One of the things I want to talk to Governor Newsom about is he, like me, is left-handed. He played baseball. Isn’t being left-handed an advantage when you’re playing baseball?” Norcross said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Entering puberty earlier than others is an advantage. Your birthday, based on cutoffs, is an advantage,” he said. “There’s more research that needs to be done to say if you can statistically prove that those are bigger advantages than being a transgender athlete.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, he and Rainbow Families Action plan to continue making their presence known at CIF meetings statewide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They picked on the wrong kid, and they picked on the wrong family,” Norcross said. They “platformed us, and we will fight back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It was last August when \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069570/california-advocates-fearful-as-supreme-court-weighs-bans-of-trans-student-athletes\">Trevor Norcross\u003c/a> first made the trip from San Luis Obispo County to Sacramento for the California Interscholastic Federation’s executive committee meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a heated public comment period, dominated by those who were opposed to transgender girls’ participation on sports teams that align with their gender identity, he stood up and spoke.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I started coming to the CIF meetings by myself when I saw that the anti-trans crowd was showing up unopposed,” Norcross told KQED. “I just wanted to be on record that we’re here, we care, and we matter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years earlier, his daughter Lily had come out as transgender just before she entered high school. She joined the track team in her first year and found great joy in competing as a sprinter and long jumper during her first two seasons. But after the Trump administration reentered the White House in 2025, the Norcross family said, it seemed to open the door to a slew of outwardly hateful rhetoric.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In their small coastal community of Arroyo Grande, Lily became a target.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said she’s been stalked by a local politician running for state Assembly, targeted by a local church group’s campaign against transgender high school athletes, and is widely known to be “example No. 3” in a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit filed \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12047432/us-sues-california-over-its-refusal-to-ban-transgender-athletes-from-girls-sports\">against the California Department of Education and CIF\u003c/a>. The Trump administration’s suit alleges California officials violated Title IX by refusing to sign a resolution agreeing to comply with a federal push to ban transgender athletes from girls’ sports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have had people try to dox me. I’ve had people stalk me. I’ve had people threaten to murder me,” Lily told KQED. “I have people just walk up to me and call me slurs during school. Anything that you could imagine, I have dealt with.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12003275\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12003275 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/USDeptofJusticeGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/USDeptofJusticeGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/USDeptofJusticeGetty-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/USDeptofJusticeGetty-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/USDeptofJusticeGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/USDeptofJusticeGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/USDeptofJusticeGetty-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The U.S. Department of Justice. \u003ccite>(J. David Ake/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Norcross soon discovered that their family’s experience was not unique. Looking through notes from CIF meetings, he found that they had become rife with anti-transgender sentiment. At the first meeting where Norcross spoke, nine people followed him — all opposing teens like Lily being able to participate on school teams that match their gender identity, according to meeting minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since that August meeting in Sacramento, Norcross has attended every one the executive committee has held, plus larger Federated Council meetings, which are rarer and bring together representatives from across the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At first, he’d show up alone. But over time, Norcross, families of other trans athletes and local advocacy groups have built up a coalition that’s transformed the CIF meeting room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At last week’s executive committee meeting in Oakland, the room was filled wall to wall with transgender rights supporters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had 50 people there, and all the speaking slots,” said Arne Johnson, a lead organizer for the Bay Area-based activist group Rainbow Families Action. “We got to take the room ourselves. It was like the first time we got to engage with CIF without feeling gross and having to scrape off some bad feelings after the conversations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rainbow Families Action first sent its own representatives to a CIF meeting in October, months after the high school sports governing body \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041770/california-tweaks-trans-athlete-rules-after-trump-threatens-to-halt-federal-funding\">piloted new rules\u003c/a> ahead of the state track and field championships that increased the number of girls who could qualify for the finals in events where a transgender athlete was competing.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>There, they met Norcross. During the public comment period, he spoke in support of Lily again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“His speech was very moving,” Johnson said. “It just was kind of one of those moments when you suddenly see where you need to be. We just were like, ‘This can’t ever happen again. Trevor can’t come to one of these things by himself.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, Rainbow Families Action has sent representatives to every CIF meeting, growing their coalition from about a dozen representatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group in Oakland included parents, transgender students, a grandmother, multiple clergy members and activists from different trans rights groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re gaining our momentum,” Norcross said. “The other side came at us hot and heavy, and they intentionally used degrading language on purpose because they want us to be afraid. They want us not to speak out, and we refuse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next, he said, he is advocating to meet with Gov. Gavin Newsom, who made headlines last year after he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12061591/after-criticism-newsom-urges-clearer-rules-for-trans-girls-in-sports\">called it “deeply unfair”\u003c/a> for transgender athletes to compete in girls sports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Norcross said Newsom has met with activists who oppose transgender athletes’ inclusion and should offer parents like him the same opportunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to the lack of research proving that trans girls have a biological advantage, Norcross said, “there are all kinds of advantages people have.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you can afford a private coach, you’ve got an advantage. One of the things I want to talk to Governor Newsom about is he, like me, is left-handed. He played baseball. Isn’t being left-handed an advantage when you’re playing baseball?” Norcross said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Entering puberty earlier than others is an advantage. Your birthday, based on cutoffs, is an advantage,” he said. “There’s more research that needs to be done to say if you can statistically prove that those are bigger advantages than being a transgender athlete.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, he and Rainbow Families Action plan to continue making their presence known at CIF meetings statewide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They picked on the wrong kid, and they picked on the wrong family,” Norcross said. They “platformed us, and we will fight back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "SF Site of Compton’s Cafeteria Uprising Could Get Expanded Historic Designation",
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"content": "\u003cp>A San Francisco supervisor is aiming to expand the local historic designation of the building that was once home to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/comptons-cafeteria-riot\">Compton’s Cafeteria\u003c/a>, where one of the first uprisings for transgender rights against police took place in 1966.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ordinance, introduced Tuesday by Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, who represents the city’s Transgender District in the Tenderloin, would require city approval for the owners of 111 Taylor St. to make changes to the building’s exterior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is about ensuring that the history of trans resistance in the Tenderloin is preserved with the integrity it deserves,” Mahmood said in a statement. “This legislation ensures our local protections reflect the full significance of the historic Compton’s Cafeteria site.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, a coalition of transgender activists \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13978869/trans-activists-vow-to-liberate-comptons-after-sf-board-of-appeals-loss\">attempted to oust a private prison corporation\u003c/a> that operates a transitional housing facility for people on parole at the site. Their appeal was officially a zoning dispute — the activists alleged that Geo Reentry Services, a subsidiary of Geo Group, was operating the building outside the scope of its zoned use for group housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the deeper root of the appeal was Geo Group’s reputation and business practices. The activists argued that the company, which also operates Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers and is accused by former tenants of running the Tenderloin facility as a prison-like environment, is misaligned with the space’s roots in queer activism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the 1960s, the building at the corner of Taylor and Turk streets was home to Gene Compton’s Cafeteria, a late-night diner that was a popular hangout spot for trans women and queer people. Police often raided it, and in August 1966, diners rioted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12063234\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12063234\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250716_ComptonsCafeteriaBuilding_GH-2_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250716_ComptonsCafeteriaBuilding_GH-2_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250716_ComptonsCafeteriaBuilding_GH-2_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250716_ComptonsCafeteriaBuilding_GH-2_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">111 Taylor St., the former Compton’s Cafeteria site now operated as a GEO Group halfway house, stands in San Francisco’s Tenderloin on July 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The event — three years before the Stonewall Inn Riot in New York City — led to the city being the first in the U.S. to launch social services for the trans community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The building is now the ending point for the annual Trans March during Pride, and sits at the center of the city’s Transgender District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Breonna McCree, the co-executive director of the Transgender District, said the building’s current use by Geo Group is “miles from where it should be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It should be a space where trans and nonbinary [people] can come to seek refuge, seek housing, seek shelter,” she told KQED. “It should be a place where trans and nonbinary people can design the space for the youth, because that’s where it all started for San Francisco.”[aside postID=news_12069545 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260102-hazelsinnraid00040_TV_qed.jpg']Ultimately, the city’s Board of Appeals voted 4-1 in favor of Geo Group, with multiple commissioners saying that while they agreed with the activists’ perspective, that wasn’t the question they were required to answer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we had a proposition on the city buying the property and handing it over to the trans community as a community center, I would vote the same way that a lot of folks in this room would,” Commissioner Jose Lopez said at the July 2025 hearing. “But that’s not what’s on the table for us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahmood said since Geo Group owns the building, the city isn’t able to demand that the company change its use. But the ordinance will ensure that Geo Group is unable to make cosmetic changes to its exterior, preserving, at least, the physical space that’s considered a major landmark for the queer community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2022, the city has designated the intersection of Turk and Taylor, as well as portions of the building exterior, as a landmark. The building was also added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2025, making it the first federally recognized historic site associated with the transgender rights movement. But activists have said those designations don’t go far enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we have in terms of landmarking [now] is really a partial landmarking,” Mahmood told KQED. “We really feel that in light of what’s happening in the community that we could lose key historical features, and this is about preventing erasure of the full story of what happened here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ordinance will have to go before the Land Use and Transportation Committee in the coming weeks. Mahmood said he hopes the proposal will be heard in late June or early July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/nvoynovskaya\">\u003cem>Nastia Voynovskaya\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A San Francisco supervisor is aiming to expand the local historic designation of the building that was once home to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/comptons-cafeteria-riot\">Compton’s Cafeteria\u003c/a>, where one of the first uprisings for transgender rights against police took place in 1966.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ordinance, introduced Tuesday by Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, who represents the city’s Transgender District in the Tenderloin, would require city approval for the owners of 111 Taylor St. to make changes to the building’s exterior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is about ensuring that the history of trans resistance in the Tenderloin is preserved with the integrity it deserves,” Mahmood said in a statement. “This legislation ensures our local protections reflect the full significance of the historic Compton’s Cafeteria site.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, a coalition of transgender activists \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13978869/trans-activists-vow-to-liberate-comptons-after-sf-board-of-appeals-loss\">attempted to oust a private prison corporation\u003c/a> that operates a transitional housing facility for people on parole at the site. Their appeal was officially a zoning dispute — the activists alleged that Geo Reentry Services, a subsidiary of Geo Group, was operating the building outside the scope of its zoned use for group housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the deeper root of the appeal was Geo Group’s reputation and business practices. The activists argued that the company, which also operates Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers and is accused by former tenants of running the Tenderloin facility as a prison-like environment, is misaligned with the space’s roots in queer activism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the 1960s, the building at the corner of Taylor and Turk streets was home to Gene Compton’s Cafeteria, a late-night diner that was a popular hangout spot for trans women and queer people. Police often raided it, and in August 1966, diners rioted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12063234\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12063234\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250716_ComptonsCafeteriaBuilding_GH-2_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250716_ComptonsCafeteriaBuilding_GH-2_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250716_ComptonsCafeteriaBuilding_GH-2_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250716_ComptonsCafeteriaBuilding_GH-2_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">111 Taylor St., the former Compton’s Cafeteria site now operated as a GEO Group halfway house, stands in San Francisco’s Tenderloin on July 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The event — three years before the Stonewall Inn Riot in New York City — led to the city being the first in the U.S. to launch social services for the trans community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The building is now the ending point for the annual Trans March during Pride, and sits at the center of the city’s Transgender District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Breonna McCree, the co-executive director of the Transgender District, said the building’s current use by Geo Group is “miles from where it should be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It should be a space where trans and nonbinary [people] can come to seek refuge, seek housing, seek shelter,” she told KQED. “It should be a place where trans and nonbinary people can design the space for the youth, because that’s where it all started for San Francisco.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Ultimately, the city’s Board of Appeals voted 4-1 in favor of Geo Group, with multiple commissioners saying that while they agreed with the activists’ perspective, that wasn’t the question they were required to answer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we had a proposition on the city buying the property and handing it over to the trans community as a community center, I would vote the same way that a lot of folks in this room would,” Commissioner Jose Lopez said at the July 2025 hearing. “But that’s not what’s on the table for us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahmood said since Geo Group owns the building, the city isn’t able to demand that the company change its use. But the ordinance will ensure that Geo Group is unable to make cosmetic changes to its exterior, preserving, at least, the physical space that’s considered a major landmark for the queer community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2022, the city has designated the intersection of Turk and Taylor, as well as portions of the building exterior, as a landmark. The building was also added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2025, making it the first federally recognized historic site associated with the transgender rights movement. But activists have said those designations don’t go far enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we have in terms of landmarking [now] is really a partial landmarking,” Mahmood told KQED. “We really feel that in light of what’s happening in the community that we could lose key historical features, and this is about preventing erasure of the full story of what happened here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ordinance will have to go before the Land Use and Transportation Committee in the coming weeks. Mahmood said he hopes the proposal will be heard in late June or early July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/nvoynovskaya\">\u003cem>Nastia Voynovskaya\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Philz Coffee’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/pride\">pride\u003c/a> flags aren’t going anywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area-based company said Friday that it is reversing its decision to remove the rainbow flags from stores after backlash from baristas and others — and will put every flag taken down back up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I made a mistake, and I am sincerely sorry,” CEO Mahesh Sadarangani said in a statement on the company’s website. “To our Team Members, to our customers, and to the LGBTQIA+ community that has been with us since the very beginning, the confusion and hurt we caused around our new policy for Pride flags failed you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early this month, \u003ca href=\"https://www.change.org/p/urge-philz-coffee-to-keep-pride-flags-up\">a Change.org petition \u003c/a>started by Philz baristas said the company had decided to remove the flags, gathering thousands of signatures against the move. Sadarangani confirmed the decision in an emailed statement to \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/philz-coffee-pride-flags-ban-22195803.php\">the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>\u003c/a> on April 9.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are working toward creating a more consistent, inclusive experience across all our stores, including removing a variety of flags and other decor,” Sadarangani said in the statement. “This is a change in how our stores look, not in who we are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12080432\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12080432\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/PhilzCoffeeGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/PhilzCoffeeGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/PhilzCoffeeGetty-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/PhilzCoffeeGetty-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inside a Philz Coffee shop at Bay Street in Emeryville, a Progress Pride flag hangs above the counter on July 29, 2024. \u003ccite>(Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The next day, San Francisco Pride and other groups led a protest outside the company’s shop in the Castro neighborhood, where pride flags are a major part of the community’s self-expression and history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suzanne Ford, executive director of SF Pride, said Sadarangani reached out to her and Jupiter Peraza, an activist and a member of the city’s Trans Advisory Committee, the next week for a conversation about what had happened and how it affected the neighborhood and queer Philz workers.[aside postID=news_12051278 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/PhilzCoffeeGetty.jpg']“She and I sat down with Mahesh, and for about an hour and a half and were able to share the impact of their announcement on the LGBTQ community and what it meant as a trans woman to wake up feeling very upset about something that happened in her own neighborhood,” Ford said. “And it’s not just about the customers [the decision] hurt. It hurt a lot of their team members,” Ford said. “Their team members were vocal to their management.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ford said she felt encouraged by the CEO’s response.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Philz is a better company than they were last week,” Ford said. “And I feel like Mahesh probably is a different person than he was last week.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company, which was founded in San Francisco’s Mission District in 2003, currently has 82 stores spread across California and Chicago and more than 1,500 employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In August, the company was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12051278/no-layoffs-in-philz-coffee-sale-but-stock-owning-former-employees-will-lose-out\">purchased by private equity firm\u003c/a> Freeman Spogli.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "CEO Mahesh Sadarangani apologized in a statement to the company’s LGBTQ community members and baristas for its decision to remove the flags from stores. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Philz Coffee’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/pride\">pride\u003c/a> flags aren’t going anywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area-based company said Friday that it is reversing its decision to remove the rainbow flags from stores after backlash from baristas and others — and will put every flag taken down back up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I made a mistake, and I am sincerely sorry,” CEO Mahesh Sadarangani said in a statement on the company’s website. “To our Team Members, to our customers, and to the LGBTQIA+ community that has been with us since the very beginning, the confusion and hurt we caused around our new policy for Pride flags failed you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early this month, \u003ca href=\"https://www.change.org/p/urge-philz-coffee-to-keep-pride-flags-up\">a Change.org petition \u003c/a>started by Philz baristas said the company had decided to remove the flags, gathering thousands of signatures against the move. Sadarangani confirmed the decision in an emailed statement to \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/philz-coffee-pride-flags-ban-22195803.php\">the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>\u003c/a> on April 9.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are working toward creating a more consistent, inclusive experience across all our stores, including removing a variety of flags and other decor,” Sadarangani said in the statement. “This is a change in how our stores look, not in who we are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12080432\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12080432\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/PhilzCoffeeGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/PhilzCoffeeGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/PhilzCoffeeGetty-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/PhilzCoffeeGetty-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inside a Philz Coffee shop at Bay Street in Emeryville, a Progress Pride flag hangs above the counter on July 29, 2024. \u003ccite>(Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The next day, San Francisco Pride and other groups led a protest outside the company’s shop in the Castro neighborhood, where pride flags are a major part of the community’s self-expression and history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suzanne Ford, executive director of SF Pride, said Sadarangani reached out to her and Jupiter Peraza, an activist and a member of the city’s Trans Advisory Committee, the next week for a conversation about what had happened and how it affected the neighborhood and queer Philz workers.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“She and I sat down with Mahesh, and for about an hour and a half and were able to share the impact of their announcement on the LGBTQ community and what it meant as a trans woman to wake up feeling very upset about something that happened in her own neighborhood,” Ford said. “And it’s not just about the customers [the decision] hurt. It hurt a lot of their team members,” Ford said. “Their team members were vocal to their management.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ford said she felt encouraged by the CEO’s response.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Philz is a better company than they were last week,” Ford said. “And I feel like Mahesh probably is a different person than he was last week.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company, which was founded in San Francisco’s Mission District in 2003, currently has 82 stores spread across California and Chicago and more than 1,500 employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In August, the company was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12051278/no-layoffs-in-philz-coffee-sale-but-stock-owning-former-employees-will-lose-out\">purchased by private equity firm\u003c/a> Freeman Spogli.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "the-bay-area-is-expensive-what-do-you-do-when-its-the-only-place-that-feels-safe",
"title": "The Trans ‘Tax’: Why Feeling Safe Can Mean Paying More to Live in the Bay",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of \u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">How We Get By\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>, a KQED series exploring how people are coping with rising costs in the Bay Area and California. Find the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">full series here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From a young age, Liam Chavez felt different from the people around him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Growing up in Thousand Oaks, he got bullied. In high school, he didn’t know anyone who was openly gay or queer. “I didn’t really fit in,” said Chavez, 28. “It was really hard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was sure something was wrong with him. It wasn’t until he moved to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/berkeley\">Berkeley \u003c/a>a decade ago for college that he felt like he was home. “A lot of people I meet are surprised to learn I didn’t grow up here because I enjoy it so much and fit in so well,” Chavez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the first time, he’d found the language and the identity that matched his experience. “Basically, the day that I found out that trans men existed, I realized I was a trans man,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But staying here has come at a real cost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he came out to his family, they cut him off. His parents told him it was Berkeley’s fault, “that I’ve been brainwashed,” he said. His father refused to come to his graduation, and he said he’s hardly spoken to either parent since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fresh out of school, he felt overwhelmed. He struggled to find his financial footing, knowing nobody was there to catch him if he fell. At the same time, he was trying to heal from the trauma of a sexual assault by another college student, and he had developed chronic migraines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I go back to that time, I just remember terror,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079248\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079248\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_003_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_003_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_003_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_003_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Liam Chavez examines yarn for an upcoming artisans fair on April 8, 2026, at Avenue Yarn in Albany, California. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With no family support and significant medical expenses, including medication for his migraines and therapy, in part for the assault, the gap between what he earned and what he needed to live widened fast. But he couldn’t go home, and leaving the state for somewhere cheaper didn’t feel like an option.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Chavez was transitioning, his doctor sat him down and issued some advice: Don’t leave California, at least not for a while. “I think she was right,” Chavez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the Bay Area is one of the most expensive places to live in the country, transgender Californians like Chavez have found that the calculation of whether to stay or go is about more than rent prices.[aside postID=news_12078915 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/012426_FREEOAKLANDUP_GH_011-KQED.jpg']In \u003ca href=\"https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/transgender-moving-desire/\">a national survey\u003c/a> conducted following the 2024 presidential election, nearly half of trans respondents said they had already moved, or were considering moving, in search of a more trans-friendly community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To afford life here, Chavez patched together part-time work as a tutor and dog sitter and picked up random gigs on Craigslist. His friends joked that he was always hustling. “I had no choice,” he said. “I had to, and it was exhausting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it still wasn’t enough, he turned to credit cards. He charged food, gas and rent until he owed close to $15,000, on top of his student loan debt. “It felt crushing,” he said. “It felt like I could never get out from under that money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/lgbt-poverty-us/\">Research has found\u003c/a> that nearly 1 in 3 transgender Americans lives in poverty — double the rate of cisgender straight people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whether you’re looking at individual income, household income, food insecurity or housing instability, what you’ll see among trans people are much higher rates of economic vulnerability,” said Brad Sears, a distinguished scholar at the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reason for these discrepancies lies, in part, in demographics. Research from the Williams Institute found that, compared with cisgender straight men, transgender people are more likely to be young and people of color, and almost twice as likely to be living with a disability — all factors that can make it more difficult to achieve financial stability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079250\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079250\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_007_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_007_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_007_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_007_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Liam Chavez and Avenue Yarn employee Leti Iversen compare yarn colors on April 8, 2026, in Albany, California. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But even when researchers compared people with the same education, age, race and disability status, they found that transgender people still have 70% higher odds of living in poverty than cisgender straight men.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sears attributes this to the unique layer of discrimination that transgender people face. “The pathways to poverty really start with [family] rejection, over-criminalization, homelessness … while trans people are still young,” he said. “That continues into adult life, where you continue to see high rates of discrimination in all parts of life, including housing, but particularly in the workplace.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Addressing these disparities, he said, means working with parents to decrease family rejection, and with law enforcement — “so it’s not a crime to be walking while trans” — in order to keep trans people out of the foster care and criminal justice systems, “which are just huge predictors for future poverty.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079251\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079251\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_008_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_008_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_008_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_008_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Liam Chavez speaks with Avenue Yarn employee Leti Iversen on April 8, 2026, in Albany, California. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Workplace protections also make a big difference. Although federal employment protections prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, the Trump administration has sought to \u003ca href=\"https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbtq-rights/trumps-executive-orders-promoting-sex-discrimination-explained\">limit and roll back safeguards\u003c/a> for transgender Americans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California, meanwhile, has one of the country’s strongest \u003ca href=\"https://transgenderlawcenter.org/resources/employment/know-your-rights/faq-the-gender-nondiscrimination-act/\">nondiscrimination frameworks for transgender people\u003c/a>, and some Bay Area cities add \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/san-francisco-all-gender-restroom-ordinance?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">additional\u003c/a> protection \u003ca href=\"https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/our-work/title-vi-nondiscrimination-policy#:~:text=The%20City%20of%20Berkeley%20is,Rights%20Restoration%20Act%20of%201987\">through\u003c/a> local \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/files/assets/city/v/1/employment-investigations-and-civil-rights-compliance/documents/working-for-oakland/workplace-amp-employment-standards/employment-investigations-and-civil-rights-compliance/city-of-oakland-gender-inclusion-policy-ai-73.pdf\">policies\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sears said having a gender identity nondiscrimination policy is a good start, but workplaces should also have a plan in place to support employees who want to transition by doing things like ensuring there’s an appropriate bathroom available and providing colleagues with training. “Visible support from leadership at the top is one of the biggest things that make a difference,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘A whole future that I can think about’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For Chavez, the turning point came when, out of desperation, he called the free, 24-hour 211 helpline that connects callers to social services. The operator referred him to a nonprofit credit counseling agency, Money Management International, where a counselor helped him build a monthly budget and negotiated with his creditors to cut his interest rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency consolidated his debt into a single monthly payment automatically drafted from his bank account — something that credit counseling agencies have set up in agreements with major creditors to help close accounts and dig borrowers out of crushing debt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079242\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079242\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_001_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_001_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_001_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_001_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Liam Chavez opens the trunk of his car as he prepares for a morning swim at Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach on March 30, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“These creditors know that when people come to us, they’re not just getting plugged into this affordable repayment plan, but they’re also getting budgeting advice and advice that helps people achieve financial stability, which makes it more likely that they will repay the debt that they owe when presented with more affordable repayment terms,” said Bruce McClary, a spokesperson for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chavez said the counselor’s debt management plan helps hold him accountable, and the low monthly payment has allowed him to chip away at his balance. “That’s really helped because it’s really the interest that is just like a killer,” Chavez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three years later, he has paid off more than $10,000. “I really want to be debt-free,” he said. “And I’m so close.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of Chavez’s life today is structured around that goal.[aside postID=news_12075761 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-AFFORDABILITYCHILDCARE00263_TV-KQED.jpg']At home in Oakland, he tracks every dollar in a spreadsheet: rent, insurance, groceries, savings, income from his job and side gigs like a pet-sitting job he recently took on. “I’m actually pretty comfortable this month, which I’m kind of like, whoa, this is new,” he said, laughing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To cut costs, he keeps his heater off and uses an electric blanket. He buys clothes, furniture and appliances secondhand. Groceries come from a mix of bulk purchases, discount markets and Trader Joe’s. When money gets tight, he turns to food pantries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just visited a couple weeks ago because I had some unexpected expenses and I was really hungry and I needed to eat,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He shares a one-bedroom apartment with Erasmo, a 7-year-old Greek tortoise he got during a difficult stretch in college. “I thought to myself, it might be good to have somebody to be responsible to, another creature,” Chavez said. “In order to take care of him, I have to take care of myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tortoise’s name means “beloved” in Greek, and Chavez has a custom bumper sticker on his car that reads: My tortoise is smarter than your honor student.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Chavez has a full-time job at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health, where he administers grant funding to students working on community health projects and helps them manage budgets — skills he’s honed through hard experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently, he ran his salary through an online calculator and was surprised to find himself labeled middle class, like his family had been growing up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079296\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079296\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_012_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_012_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_012_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_012_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Liam Chavez swims in the bay at Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach in Alameda on March 30, 2026. He says open water swimming helps him manage stress and reconnect with his body. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I was like, really?” he said. “Because … I think about my family, they could go out and buy their RV, and they could go on vacations. But I don’t do any of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even small splurges require planning. Instead of credit cards, Chavez sometimes uses “buy now, pay later services” to spread out costs, like when he bought a hot pink inflatable flamingo-shaped buoy that he named Chorizo, which bobs along behind him to keep him safe on his open-water swims off Crown Beach in Alameda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s been swimming since he was a kid. As an adult, it’s become a kind of therapy. “Sport has been such an instrumental way of me reclaiming my bodily autonomy and my power,” he said. It’s one of the small, hard-won pleasures that make staying in the Bay Area feel worth it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079297\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079297\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_013_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_013_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_013_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_013_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Liam Chavez swims across the bay with “Chorizo” trailing behind him at Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach in Alameda on March 30, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In his spare time, he volunteers on a crisis line for sexual assault survivors. He said he recently took a call from someone whose circumstances closely mirrored his own. “It was incredible that I could answer that call and be their advocate and be their support,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s considering pursuing a master’s degree in social work or public health once his debt is paid off — a path he hopes will lead him to a stable career.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s kinda been crazy for me to think about, like, oh wow, I actually have a whole future that I can think about,” he said. “I can have professional aspirations now instead of just thinking about: Where’s my next meal? How am I gonna pay the rent?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some months, Chavez is still living with little room to spare. His medical expenses remain high, and the cost of living continues to climb. But for the first time in years, he said, “I think I see a light at the end of the tunnel.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "For many people, staying in the Bay Area despite soaring costs is a choice. But for some transgender Californians in the current political climate, it’s also a matter of safety. ",
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"title": "The Trans ‘Tax’: Why Feeling Safe Can Mean Paying More to Live in the Bay | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of \u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">How We Get By\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>, a KQED series exploring how people are coping with rising costs in the Bay Area and California. Find the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">full series here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From a young age, Liam Chavez felt different from the people around him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Growing up in Thousand Oaks, he got bullied. In high school, he didn’t know anyone who was openly gay or queer. “I didn’t really fit in,” said Chavez, 28. “It was really hard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was sure something was wrong with him. It wasn’t until he moved to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/berkeley\">Berkeley \u003c/a>a decade ago for college that he felt like he was home. “A lot of people I meet are surprised to learn I didn’t grow up here because I enjoy it so much and fit in so well,” Chavez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the first time, he’d found the language and the identity that matched his experience. “Basically, the day that I found out that trans men existed, I realized I was a trans man,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But staying here has come at a real cost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he came out to his family, they cut him off. His parents told him it was Berkeley’s fault, “that I’ve been brainwashed,” he said. His father refused to come to his graduation, and he said he’s hardly spoken to either parent since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fresh out of school, he felt overwhelmed. He struggled to find his financial footing, knowing nobody was there to catch him if he fell. At the same time, he was trying to heal from the trauma of a sexual assault by another college student, and he had developed chronic migraines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I go back to that time, I just remember terror,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079248\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079248\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_003_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_003_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_003_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_003_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Liam Chavez examines yarn for an upcoming artisans fair on April 8, 2026, at Avenue Yarn in Albany, California. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With no family support and significant medical expenses, including medication for his migraines and therapy, in part for the assault, the gap between what he earned and what he needed to live widened fast. But he couldn’t go home, and leaving the state for somewhere cheaper didn’t feel like an option.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Chavez was transitioning, his doctor sat him down and issued some advice: Don’t leave California, at least not for a while. “I think she was right,” Chavez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the Bay Area is one of the most expensive places to live in the country, transgender Californians like Chavez have found that the calculation of whether to stay or go is about more than rent prices.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/transgender-moving-desire/\">a national survey\u003c/a> conducted following the 2024 presidential election, nearly half of trans respondents said they had already moved, or were considering moving, in search of a more trans-friendly community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To afford life here, Chavez patched together part-time work as a tutor and dog sitter and picked up random gigs on Craigslist. His friends joked that he was always hustling. “I had no choice,” he said. “I had to, and it was exhausting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it still wasn’t enough, he turned to credit cards. He charged food, gas and rent until he owed close to $15,000, on top of his student loan debt. “It felt crushing,” he said. “It felt like I could never get out from under that money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/lgbt-poverty-us/\">Research has found\u003c/a> that nearly 1 in 3 transgender Americans lives in poverty — double the rate of cisgender straight people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whether you’re looking at individual income, household income, food insecurity or housing instability, what you’ll see among trans people are much higher rates of economic vulnerability,” said Brad Sears, a distinguished scholar at the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reason for these discrepancies lies, in part, in demographics. Research from the Williams Institute found that, compared with cisgender straight men, transgender people are more likely to be young and people of color, and almost twice as likely to be living with a disability — all factors that can make it more difficult to achieve financial stability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079250\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079250\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_007_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_007_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_007_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_007_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Liam Chavez and Avenue Yarn employee Leti Iversen compare yarn colors on April 8, 2026, in Albany, California. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But even when researchers compared people with the same education, age, race and disability status, they found that transgender people still have 70% higher odds of living in poverty than cisgender straight men.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sears attributes this to the unique layer of discrimination that transgender people face. “The pathways to poverty really start with [family] rejection, over-criminalization, homelessness … while trans people are still young,” he said. “That continues into adult life, where you continue to see high rates of discrimination in all parts of life, including housing, but particularly in the workplace.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Addressing these disparities, he said, means working with parents to decrease family rejection, and with law enforcement — “so it’s not a crime to be walking while trans” — in order to keep trans people out of the foster care and criminal justice systems, “which are just huge predictors for future poverty.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079251\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079251\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_008_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_008_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_008_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040826TransAffordability-_GH_008_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Liam Chavez speaks with Avenue Yarn employee Leti Iversen on April 8, 2026, in Albany, California. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Workplace protections also make a big difference. Although federal employment protections prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, the Trump administration has sought to \u003ca href=\"https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbtq-rights/trumps-executive-orders-promoting-sex-discrimination-explained\">limit and roll back safeguards\u003c/a> for transgender Americans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California, meanwhile, has one of the country’s strongest \u003ca href=\"https://transgenderlawcenter.org/resources/employment/know-your-rights/faq-the-gender-nondiscrimination-act/\">nondiscrimination frameworks for transgender people\u003c/a>, and some Bay Area cities add \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/san-francisco-all-gender-restroom-ordinance?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">additional\u003c/a> protection \u003ca href=\"https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/our-work/title-vi-nondiscrimination-policy#:~:text=The%20City%20of%20Berkeley%20is,Rights%20Restoration%20Act%20of%201987\">through\u003c/a> local \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/files/assets/city/v/1/employment-investigations-and-civil-rights-compliance/documents/working-for-oakland/workplace-amp-employment-standards/employment-investigations-and-civil-rights-compliance/city-of-oakland-gender-inclusion-policy-ai-73.pdf\">policies\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sears said having a gender identity nondiscrimination policy is a good start, but workplaces should also have a plan in place to support employees who want to transition by doing things like ensuring there’s an appropriate bathroom available and providing colleagues with training. “Visible support from leadership at the top is one of the biggest things that make a difference,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘A whole future that I can think about’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For Chavez, the turning point came when, out of desperation, he called the free, 24-hour 211 helpline that connects callers to social services. The operator referred him to a nonprofit credit counseling agency, Money Management International, where a counselor helped him build a monthly budget and negotiated with his creditors to cut his interest rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency consolidated his debt into a single monthly payment automatically drafted from his bank account — something that credit counseling agencies have set up in agreements with major creditors to help close accounts and dig borrowers out of crushing debt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079242\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079242\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_001_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_001_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_001_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_001_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Liam Chavez opens the trunk of his car as he prepares for a morning swim at Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach on March 30, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“These creditors know that when people come to us, they’re not just getting plugged into this affordable repayment plan, but they’re also getting budgeting advice and advice that helps people achieve financial stability, which makes it more likely that they will repay the debt that they owe when presented with more affordable repayment terms,” said Bruce McClary, a spokesperson for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chavez said the counselor’s debt management plan helps hold him accountable, and the low monthly payment has allowed him to chip away at his balance. “That’s really helped because it’s really the interest that is just like a killer,” Chavez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three years later, he has paid off more than $10,000. “I really want to be debt-free,” he said. “And I’m so close.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of Chavez’s life today is structured around that goal.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>At home in Oakland, he tracks every dollar in a spreadsheet: rent, insurance, groceries, savings, income from his job and side gigs like a pet-sitting job he recently took on. “I’m actually pretty comfortable this month, which I’m kind of like, whoa, this is new,” he said, laughing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To cut costs, he keeps his heater off and uses an electric blanket. He buys clothes, furniture and appliances secondhand. Groceries come from a mix of bulk purchases, discount markets and Trader Joe’s. When money gets tight, he turns to food pantries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just visited a couple weeks ago because I had some unexpected expenses and I was really hungry and I needed to eat,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He shares a one-bedroom apartment with Erasmo, a 7-year-old Greek tortoise he got during a difficult stretch in college. “I thought to myself, it might be good to have somebody to be responsible to, another creature,” Chavez said. “In order to take care of him, I have to take care of myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tortoise’s name means “beloved” in Greek, and Chavez has a custom bumper sticker on his car that reads: My tortoise is smarter than your honor student.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Chavez has a full-time job at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health, where he administers grant funding to students working on community health projects and helps them manage budgets — skills he’s honed through hard experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently, he ran his salary through an online calculator and was surprised to find himself labeled middle class, like his family had been growing up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079296\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079296\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_012_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_012_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_012_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_012_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Liam Chavez swims in the bay at Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach in Alameda on March 30, 2026. He says open water swimming helps him manage stress and reconnect with his body. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I was like, really?” he said. “Because … I think about my family, they could go out and buy their RV, and they could go on vacations. But I don’t do any of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even small splurges require planning. Instead of credit cards, Chavez sometimes uses “buy now, pay later services” to spread out costs, like when he bought a hot pink inflatable flamingo-shaped buoy that he named Chorizo, which bobs along behind him to keep him safe on his open-water swims off Crown Beach in Alameda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s been swimming since he was a kid. As an adult, it’s become a kind of therapy. “Sport has been such an instrumental way of me reclaiming my bodily autonomy and my power,” he said. It’s one of the small, hard-won pleasures that make staying in the Bay Area feel worth it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079297\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079297\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_013_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_013_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_013_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/033026Trans-affordability-_GH_013_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Liam Chavez swims across the bay with “Chorizo” trailing behind him at Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach in Alameda on March 30, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In his spare time, he volunteers on a crisis line for sexual assault survivors. He said he recently took a call from someone whose circumstances closely mirrored his own. “It was incredible that I could answer that call and be their advocate and be their support,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s considering pursuing a master’s degree in social work or public health once his debt is paid off — a path he hopes will lead him to a stable career.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s kinda been crazy for me to think about, like, oh wow, I actually have a whole future that I can think about,” he said. “I can have professional aspirations now instead of just thinking about: Where’s my next meal? How am I gonna pay the rent?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some months, Chavez is still living with little room to spare. His medical expenses remain high, and the cost of living continues to climb. But for the first time in years, he said, “I think I see a light at the end of the tunnel.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>San José State University is challenging the Trump administration’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071407/trump-officials-say-san-jose-state-broke-civil-rights-law-by-letting-trans-athlete-play\">threats to withhold funding\u003c/a> over policies supporting transgender student-athletes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit filed in federal court last week by the California State University system comes after the U.S. Department of Education presented San José State with an ultimatum in January, saying that if the school does not make a set of sweeping policy changes and public statements barring transgender students from athletic programs, it could risk losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal financial aid and research funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is no choice at all,” the lawsuit reads. “SJSU has filed this action to defend the rule of law and protect itself and its community against such lawless acts by the federal government.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The school made national headlines when a series of opponents forfeited games against its women’s volleyball team, which had a transgender player, in 2024. Shortly after, the department’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into San José State University in February 2025, alleging the school violated federal Title IX law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same month, President Donald Trump issued an executive order barring transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports, and the NCAA said it would change its policies in line with the directive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12074482\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12074482\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-2262729717-scaled-e1773182284895.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1413\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing at the White House on Feb. 20, 2026, in Washington, D.C. \u003ccite>(Chen Mengtong/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The moves followed a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12015114/anti-trans-lawsuit-seeks-ban-san-jose-state-volleyball-player-tournament\">lawsuit filed during the 2024 season\u003c/a> by San José State’s co-captain, Brooke Slusser and a slew of players on teams that had forfeited attempting to bar the transgender athlete from playing on San José State’s team, alleging that the school and the Big Mountain West athletic conference violated the rights of women by allowing transgender players to compete. At the time, the university had not acknowledged publicly whether a transgender athlete played on the team, and the player had not yet publicly \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/20/magazine/trans-athletes-women-college-sports.html\">come out\u003c/a> as trans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, the federal government threatened to withhold federal funding if it didn’t make changes to school policies that state that there are only two sexes and that “the sex of a human — female or male — is unchangeable,” issue public and personal apologies to women who forfeited games against the volleyball team and bar transgender women from women’s sports teams and gendered facilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The school receives nearly $200 million in research funding from the federal government. About two-thirds of its students also rely on a total of about $130 million in federal financial aid, according to the lawsuit. Without the funding, the lawsuit states, those students, many of whom are the first in their families to go to college, could lose necessary financial support and may not be able to afford tuition.[aside postID=news_12071407 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241120-TransgenderAthletes-01-1020x680.jpg']Still, the CSU rejected the proposed resolution agreement from the Department of Education last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attorneys for the school said that its policies allowing transgender players to participate on the team between 2022 and 2024 were in line with federal law, and the DOE’s own interpretation of Title IX at the time. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also issued rulings in 2023 and 2024 upholding the rights of transgender athletes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our position is simple: We have followed the law and cannot be punished for doing so,” SJSU President Cynthia Teniente-Matson said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attorneys for the CSU added that any future change cannot be applied retroactively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The President does not have the authority to override judicial decisions interpreting the Constitution or federal statutes — much less to go back in time and change the rules that applied before he took office,” the suit reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement on its website, the CSU said its policies supporting transgender students and prohibiting gender identity discrimination remain in place, and “remains unwavering in its commitment to fostering an inclusive, respectful, and safe environment for all students, faculty, and staff — including LGBTQ+ community members.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the question of whether transgender athletes could be barred from competing in women’s sports more broadly in the future remains unclear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12016237\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12016237\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/AP24306173842056_qed.jpg\" alt=\"Inside a gym with players in yellow uniforms.\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/AP24306173842056_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/AP24306173842056_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/AP24306173842056_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/AP24306173842056_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/AP24306173842056_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/AP24306173842056_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San José State Spartans play the Air Force Falcons during the first set of an NCAA college volleyball match on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in San José, California. \u003ccite>(Eakin Howard/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Trump’s executive order restricting transgender athletes’ participation is currently being challenged in multiple lawsuits — both alleging that its enforcement violates Title IX precedent, like the CSU case, and that the administration’s process for rescinding federal funding is unlawful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shiwali Patel, a senior director of education justice at the National Women’s Law Center and a Title IX attorney, said that federal law limits the government from rescinding funds from an entire institution, as opposed to the program that’s been found in noncompliance with Title IX.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12075180/advocates-worry-supreme-court-is-going-after-the-transgender-community-deliberately\">Supreme Court\u003c/a> is also expected to rule on a pair of state laws banning transgender athletes from women’s teams this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12015199\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12015199\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241120-TransgenderAthletes-03.jpg\" alt=\"People wearing volleyball uniforms shake hands near the volleyball net.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241120-TransgenderAthletes-03.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241120-TransgenderAthletes-03-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241120-TransgenderAthletes-03-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241120-TransgenderAthletes-03-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241120-TransgenderAthletes-03-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241120-TransgenderAthletes-03-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San José State Spartans volleyball team greets their opponents, the University of New Mexico Lobos, before playing their home game on Nov. 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Natalia Navarro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>During oral arguments in January, the court appeared poised to uphold the bans, though depending on how narrowly the court chooses to rule, that decision might not directly impact schools in California, which has state laws protecting transgender students’ rights to participate in sports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Assuming that the court does that, and does not hold that Title IX mandates an anti-trans sports ban, then there is even stronger grounds for CSU to fight back against the Trump administration,” Patel said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, some schools that have faced federal funding threats have \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/article/trump-university-college.html\">made concessions \u003c/a>or come to agreements with the Trump administration, and the suit said that if the Supreme Court or Ninth Circuit changes the law and imposes new or different requirements, “SJSU will comply going forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>San José State University is challenging the Trump administration’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071407/trump-officials-say-san-jose-state-broke-civil-rights-law-by-letting-trans-athlete-play\">threats to withhold funding\u003c/a> over policies supporting transgender student-athletes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit filed in federal court last week by the California State University system comes after the U.S. Department of Education presented San José State with an ultimatum in January, saying that if the school does not make a set of sweeping policy changes and public statements barring transgender students from athletic programs, it could risk losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal financial aid and research funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is no choice at all,” the lawsuit reads. “SJSU has filed this action to defend the rule of law and protect itself and its community against such lawless acts by the federal government.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The school made national headlines when a series of opponents forfeited games against its women’s volleyball team, which had a transgender player, in 2024. Shortly after, the department’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into San José State University in February 2025, alleging the school violated federal Title IX law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same month, President Donald Trump issued an executive order barring transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports, and the NCAA said it would change its policies in line with the directive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12074482\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12074482\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-2262729717-scaled-e1773182284895.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1413\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing at the White House on Feb. 20, 2026, in Washington, D.C. \u003ccite>(Chen Mengtong/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The moves followed a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12015114/anti-trans-lawsuit-seeks-ban-san-jose-state-volleyball-player-tournament\">lawsuit filed during the 2024 season\u003c/a> by San José State’s co-captain, Brooke Slusser and a slew of players on teams that had forfeited attempting to bar the transgender athlete from playing on San José State’s team, alleging that the school and the Big Mountain West athletic conference violated the rights of women by allowing transgender players to compete. At the time, the university had not acknowledged publicly whether a transgender athlete played on the team, and the player had not yet publicly \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/20/magazine/trans-athletes-women-college-sports.html\">come out\u003c/a> as trans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, the federal government threatened to withhold federal funding if it didn’t make changes to school policies that state that there are only two sexes and that “the sex of a human — female or male — is unchangeable,” issue public and personal apologies to women who forfeited games against the volleyball team and bar transgender women from women’s sports teams and gendered facilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The school receives nearly $200 million in research funding from the federal government. About two-thirds of its students also rely on a total of about $130 million in federal financial aid, according to the lawsuit. Without the funding, the lawsuit states, those students, many of whom are the first in their families to go to college, could lose necessary financial support and may not be able to afford tuition.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Still, the CSU rejected the proposed resolution agreement from the Department of Education last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attorneys for the school said that its policies allowing transgender players to participate on the team between 2022 and 2024 were in line with federal law, and the DOE’s own interpretation of Title IX at the time. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also issued rulings in 2023 and 2024 upholding the rights of transgender athletes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our position is simple: We have followed the law and cannot be punished for doing so,” SJSU President Cynthia Teniente-Matson said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attorneys for the CSU added that any future change cannot be applied retroactively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The President does not have the authority to override judicial decisions interpreting the Constitution or federal statutes — much less to go back in time and change the rules that applied before he took office,” the suit reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement on its website, the CSU said its policies supporting transgender students and prohibiting gender identity discrimination remain in place, and “remains unwavering in its commitment to fostering an inclusive, respectful, and safe environment for all students, faculty, and staff — including LGBTQ+ community members.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the question of whether transgender athletes could be barred from competing in women’s sports more broadly in the future remains unclear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12016237\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12016237\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/AP24306173842056_qed.jpg\" alt=\"Inside a gym with players in yellow uniforms.\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/AP24306173842056_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/AP24306173842056_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/AP24306173842056_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/AP24306173842056_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/AP24306173842056_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/AP24306173842056_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San José State Spartans play the Air Force Falcons during the first set of an NCAA college volleyball match on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in San José, California. \u003ccite>(Eakin Howard/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Trump’s executive order restricting transgender athletes’ participation is currently being challenged in multiple lawsuits — both alleging that its enforcement violates Title IX precedent, like the CSU case, and that the administration’s process for rescinding federal funding is unlawful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shiwali Patel, a senior director of education justice at the National Women’s Law Center and a Title IX attorney, said that federal law limits the government from rescinding funds from an entire institution, as opposed to the program that’s been found in noncompliance with Title IX.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12075180/advocates-worry-supreme-court-is-going-after-the-transgender-community-deliberately\">Supreme Court\u003c/a> is also expected to rule on a pair of state laws banning transgender athletes from women’s teams this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12015199\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12015199\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241120-TransgenderAthletes-03.jpg\" alt=\"People wearing volleyball uniforms shake hands near the volleyball net.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241120-TransgenderAthletes-03.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241120-TransgenderAthletes-03-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241120-TransgenderAthletes-03-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241120-TransgenderAthletes-03-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241120-TransgenderAthletes-03-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241120-TransgenderAthletes-03-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San José State Spartans volleyball team greets their opponents, the University of New Mexico Lobos, before playing their home game on Nov. 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Natalia Navarro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>During oral arguments in January, the court appeared poised to uphold the bans, though depending on how narrowly the court chooses to rule, that decision might not directly impact schools in California, which has state laws protecting transgender students’ rights to participate in sports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Assuming that the court does that, and does not hold that Title IX mandates an anti-trans sports ban, then there is even stronger grounds for CSU to fight back against the Trump administration,” Patel said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, some schools that have faced federal funding threats have \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/article/trump-university-college.html\">made concessions \u003c/a>or come to agreements with the Trump administration, and the suit said that if the Supreme Court or Ninth Circuit changes the law and imposes new or different requirements, “SJSU will comply going forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>An emergency Supreme Court ruling to temporarily bar California from enforcing a state law that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12021521/new-year-new-law-know-more-about-your-rights-as-a-trans-student-in-california-schools\">prevents public schools from outing transgender students\u003c/a> has advocates raising concerns about its potential to further roll back protections for transgender youth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The court’s conservative majority on Monday sided with a group of Christian parents who alleged that the law violates their religious and due process rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The decision comes as the court also considers this spring \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069570/california-advocates-fearful-as-supreme-court-weighs-bans-of-trans-student-athletes\">whether to bar transgender girls\u003c/a> from participating in public school sports and strike down a law \u003ca href=\"https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/2025/24-539_3f14.pdf\">banning conversion therapy\u003c/a> for minors in Colorado. Last year, the court upheld a law barring some gender-affirming care for minors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the fifth anti-trans decision that the Supreme Court has done,” said Jorge Reyes Salinas, the communications director for Equality California. “It is disappointing, and it is alarming that the Supreme Court has chosen to do this and once again disregard the safety and well-being and privacy of transgender people, specifically transgender youth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is very clear to the American people that the Supreme Court is going after the transgender community deliberately,” he continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960230\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230806-Kids-Pronouns-Protest-Getty-WL-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960230\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230806-Kids-Pronouns-Protest-Getty-WL-KQED.jpg\" alt='A crowd of people in an indoor setting including some holding signs, one of which reads \"Let Queer & Trans Kids Be Kids Too!\"' width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230806-Kids-Pronouns-Protest-Getty-WL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230806-Kids-Pronouns-Protest-Getty-WL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230806-Kids-Pronouns-Protest-Getty-WL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230806-Kids-Pronouns-Protest-Getty-WL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230806-Kids-Pronouns-Protest-Getty-WL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230806-Kids-Pronouns-Protest-Getty-WL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People hold up signs in support of gay and transgender student rights during the Chino Valley Unified School District board meeting at Don Lugo High School in Chino on Thursday night, July 20, 2023. \u003ccite>(Will Lester/MediaNews Group/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The California law in question, enacted in 2024, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12019618/california-bans-schools-from-forcing-teachers-to-out-lgbtq-students\">prevents schools\u003c/a> from automatically fulfilling parents’ requests for information if their child changes their pronouns or gender expression at school. This week’s ruling blocks the state from enforcing the law as it is challenged in lower courts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2024, a group of parents and teachers opposed the policy in District Court, and in December, a federal judge ruled that school officials cannot withhold such information about students if parents request it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, a three-judge panel of appellate judges temporarily blocked that District Court order pending a challenge by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who said the lower court misunderstood state law. He said it is “far from categorically forbidding disclosure of information about students’ gender identities to parents,” and that it allows, and in some cases requires, disclosure when there is a risk of serious harm to a student.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta has also argued that violating students’ “reasonable expectation of privacy” by disclosing information without their consent is a form of sex discrimination violating the state Equal Protection Clause.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The appellate panel sided with Bonta in a preliminary ruling, temporarily blocking the lower court’s decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heron Greenesmith, the deputy director of policy for the Transgender Law Center, said the Supreme Court’s decision to halt enforcement of the law prevents schools from ensuring that students are safe.[aside postID=news_12065312 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/LYFY_WEB_Ep3_A.png']“School districts can go ahead and enact policies saying that students must be outed to people in their life, regardless of safety, moving forward,” they told KQED. “Trans youth deserve autonomy, trans youth deserve safety. And if the people who are physically in control of them do not have their best interests or safety in mind, it is up to other adults in that youth’s life to help that youth access better safety. That’s what the California law is doing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, State Sen. Scott Wiener called the decision “dangerous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The issue of forced outing has life or death consequences for far too many LGBTQ kids,” he said via email. “Some will die. Some will get kicked out and become homeless. Some will be sent to conversion therapy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some parents challenging the law have suggested the opposite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two parents who signed onto the suit allege that they were not informed that their middle-school-aged child had started to use male pronouns and changed his name at school until he attempted suicide and was hospitalized. Another set of parents said that they confronted school leaders about using their child’s preferred pronouns and name, and were told that state law prevented the school from informing parents without their child’s permission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California’s policy of hiding a child’s gender transition from mom and dad was not only unconstitutional, but it was also dangerous. No school should ever place ideology above a child’s well-being or a parent’s God-given authority,” Greg Burt, the vice president of the California Family Council, said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In their decision, the Supreme Court majority said parents are likely to succeed in the case, based on arguments that California’s law violates free exercise and due process rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12049926\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/20250725_KaiserTransProtest_GC-31_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12049926\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/20250725_KaiserTransProtest_GC-31_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/20250725_KaiserTransProtest_GC-31_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/20250725_KaiserTransProtest_GC-31_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/20250725_KaiserTransProtest_GC-31_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Calder Storm waves a transgender flag at a rally and vigil, honoring transgender patients affected by Kaiser’s decision to halt gender-affirming care to minors, outside of Kaiser Permanente on July 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Parents with religious objections have argued that they have “sincere religious beliefs about sex and gender” and “feel a religious obligation to raise their children in accordance with those beliefs,” according to the court. Other parents say it violates their 14th Amendment right to “have primary authority with respect to ‘the upbringing and education of children.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California’s nondisclosure policy thus quite obviously excludes parents from highly important decisions about their child’s mental health … and is unlikely to satisfy heightened scrutiny. Our resolution of the parents’ likelihood of success on this claim is dictated by existing law,” the decision reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Justice Elena Kagan dissented, along with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Kagan cautioned that the court’s decision, before hearing any oral arguments in the case or a full decision by the appellate court, is hasty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Court is impatient: It already knows what it thinks, and insists on getting everything over quickly,” she wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also criticized the court’s decision to use “shortcut procedures” to vacate the appeals court decision more quickly — pointing to a similar case out of Massachusetts that the Supreme Court is considering hearing.[aside postID=news_12069570 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230705-SUPREME-COURT-SCOTUS-AP-JM-KQED-1020x680.jpg']Instead of adding that case to its docket to decide on the merits, the court elected to intervene on the California matter under an emergency basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in this case is deeply disturbing,” Equality California’s Executive Director Tony Hoang said in a statement after the ruling. “By stepping in on an emergency basis, the Court has effectively upended California’s student privacy protections without hearing full arguments and before the judicial process has run its course.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While not surprising, this move reflects a dangerous willingness to short-circuit the established judicial process to dismantle protections for transgender youth,” Hoang continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While many have expressed outrage with the way the court went about its ruling, Greenesmith said that the Transgender Law Center, which is involved with multiple cases arguing to expand protections for trans people in state courts across the country, isn’t exactly hoping that the high court takes up more cases regarding transgender rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I couldn’t say with full certainty that we are looking for any of these cases to go to the Supreme Court under circumstances in which they have shown a reluctance to understand basic constitutional principles like substantive due process, for example, from which our understanding of protections and sexual orientation and gender identity bases have sprung,” they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Supreme Court’s other rulings affecting transgender youth are expected this spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think I’m alone in saying that I am not expecting the court to support the rights of trans students to be able to access sports and teams and fun with their friends in the spring,” Greenesmith told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, the court’s decision blocking California’s law will be applicable until the appellate court reaches a final decision. The timeline of that case is not yet known.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s heartbreaking for us to hear stories from transgender youth and their families who really just want to have a day where they’re able to breathe and they’re to enjoy their lives and their privacy,” said Reyes Salinas, with Equality California. “And it’s unfortunate that their own government is doing everything in their power to not let that happen for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the fifth anti-trans decision that the Supreme Court has done,” said Jorge Reyes Salinas, the communications director for Equality California. “It is disappointing, and it is alarming that the Supreme Court has chosen to do this and once again disregard the safety and well-being and privacy of transgender people, specifically transgender youth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is very clear to the American people that the Supreme Court is going after the transgender community deliberately,” he continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960230\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230806-Kids-Pronouns-Protest-Getty-WL-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960230\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230806-Kids-Pronouns-Protest-Getty-WL-KQED.jpg\" alt='A crowd of people in an indoor setting including some holding signs, one of which reads \"Let Queer & Trans Kids Be Kids Too!\"' width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230806-Kids-Pronouns-Protest-Getty-WL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230806-Kids-Pronouns-Protest-Getty-WL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230806-Kids-Pronouns-Protest-Getty-WL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230806-Kids-Pronouns-Protest-Getty-WL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230806-Kids-Pronouns-Protest-Getty-WL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230806-Kids-Pronouns-Protest-Getty-WL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People hold up signs in support of gay and transgender student rights during the Chino Valley Unified School District board meeting at Don Lugo High School in Chino on Thursday night, July 20, 2023. \u003ccite>(Will Lester/MediaNews Group/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The California law in question, enacted in 2024, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12019618/california-bans-schools-from-forcing-teachers-to-out-lgbtq-students\">prevents schools\u003c/a> from automatically fulfilling parents’ requests for information if their child changes their pronouns or gender expression at school. This week’s ruling blocks the state from enforcing the law as it is challenged in lower courts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2024, a group of parents and teachers opposed the policy in District Court, and in December, a federal judge ruled that school officials cannot withhold such information about students if parents request it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, a three-judge panel of appellate judges temporarily blocked that District Court order pending a challenge by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who said the lower court misunderstood state law. He said it is “far from categorically forbidding disclosure of information about students’ gender identities to parents,” and that it allows, and in some cases requires, disclosure when there is a risk of serious harm to a student.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta has also argued that violating students’ “reasonable expectation of privacy” by disclosing information without their consent is a form of sex discrimination violating the state Equal Protection Clause.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The appellate panel sided with Bonta in a preliminary ruling, temporarily blocking the lower court’s decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heron Greenesmith, the deputy director of policy for the Transgender Law Center, said the Supreme Court’s decision to halt enforcement of the law prevents schools from ensuring that students are safe.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“School districts can go ahead and enact policies saying that students must be outed to people in their life, regardless of safety, moving forward,” they told KQED. “Trans youth deserve autonomy, trans youth deserve safety. And if the people who are physically in control of them do not have their best interests or safety in mind, it is up to other adults in that youth’s life to help that youth access better safety. That’s what the California law is doing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, State Sen. Scott Wiener called the decision “dangerous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The issue of forced outing has life or death consequences for far too many LGBTQ kids,” he said via email. “Some will die. Some will get kicked out and become homeless. Some will be sent to conversion therapy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some parents challenging the law have suggested the opposite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two parents who signed onto the suit allege that they were not informed that their middle-school-aged child had started to use male pronouns and changed his name at school until he attempted suicide and was hospitalized. Another set of parents said that they confronted school leaders about using their child’s preferred pronouns and name, and were told that state law prevented the school from informing parents without their child’s permission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California’s policy of hiding a child’s gender transition from mom and dad was not only unconstitutional, but it was also dangerous. No school should ever place ideology above a child’s well-being or a parent’s God-given authority,” Greg Burt, the vice president of the California Family Council, said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In their decision, the Supreme Court majority said parents are likely to succeed in the case, based on arguments that California’s law violates free exercise and due process rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12049926\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/20250725_KaiserTransProtest_GC-31_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12049926\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/20250725_KaiserTransProtest_GC-31_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/20250725_KaiserTransProtest_GC-31_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/20250725_KaiserTransProtest_GC-31_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/20250725_KaiserTransProtest_GC-31_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Calder Storm waves a transgender flag at a rally and vigil, honoring transgender patients affected by Kaiser’s decision to halt gender-affirming care to minors, outside of Kaiser Permanente on July 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Parents with religious objections have argued that they have “sincere religious beliefs about sex and gender” and “feel a religious obligation to raise their children in accordance with those beliefs,” according to the court. Other parents say it violates their 14th Amendment right to “have primary authority with respect to ‘the upbringing and education of children.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California’s nondisclosure policy thus quite obviously excludes parents from highly important decisions about their child’s mental health … and is unlikely to satisfy heightened scrutiny. Our resolution of the parents’ likelihood of success on this claim is dictated by existing law,” the decision reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Justice Elena Kagan dissented, along with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Kagan cautioned that the court’s decision, before hearing any oral arguments in the case or a full decision by the appellate court, is hasty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Court is impatient: It already knows what it thinks, and insists on getting everything over quickly,” she wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also criticized the court’s decision to use “shortcut procedures” to vacate the appeals court decision more quickly — pointing to a similar case out of Massachusetts that the Supreme Court is considering hearing.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Instead of adding that case to its docket to decide on the merits, the court elected to intervene on the California matter under an emergency basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in this case is deeply disturbing,” Equality California’s Executive Director Tony Hoang said in a statement after the ruling. “By stepping in on an emergency basis, the Court has effectively upended California’s student privacy protections without hearing full arguments and before the judicial process has run its course.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While not surprising, this move reflects a dangerous willingness to short-circuit the established judicial process to dismantle protections for transgender youth,” Hoang continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While many have expressed outrage with the way the court went about its ruling, Greenesmith said that the Transgender Law Center, which is involved with multiple cases arguing to expand protections for trans people in state courts across the country, isn’t exactly hoping that the high court takes up more cases regarding transgender rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I couldn’t say with full certainty that we are looking for any of these cases to go to the Supreme Court under circumstances in which they have shown a reluctance to understand basic constitutional principles like substantive due process, for example, from which our understanding of protections and sexual orientation and gender identity bases have sprung,” they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Supreme Court’s other rulings affecting transgender youth are expected this spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think I’m alone in saying that I am not expecting the court to support the rights of trans students to be able to access sports and teams and fun with their friends in the spring,” Greenesmith told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, the court’s decision blocking California’s law will be applicable until the appellate court reaches a final decision. The timeline of that case is not yet known.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s heartbreaking for us to hear stories from transgender youth and their families who really just want to have a day where they’re able to breathe and they’re to enjoy their lives and their privacy,” said Reyes Salinas, with Equality California. “And it’s unfortunate that their own government is doing everything in their power to not let that happen for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"mindshift": {
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"order": 12
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"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
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"onourwatch": {
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"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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"perspectives": {
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"order": 14
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"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
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"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
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"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
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},
"pri-the-world": {
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"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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},
"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
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