Joseph Darius Jaafari

2 weeks ago | lookoutnews.org | Joseph Darius Jaafari

Arizona is being forced to gut some HIV prevention programs as a result of federal spending freezes, with fallout hitting LGBTQ+ community organizations hardest. At the beginning of June, the state’s Department of Health Services quietly issued Stop Work Orders to at least a dozen grassroots HIV prevention groups—many of them focused on queer and trans communities of color.

3 weeks ago | tucsonsentinel.com | Joseph Darius Jaafari

LOOKOUT Organizers from across Arizona gathered at the state Capitol on Monday to mark the start of Pride Month and push back against what they called a continued onslaught of anti-LGBTQ+ bills passed by the state Legislature.

3 weeks ago | lookoutnews.org | Joseph Darius Jaafari

Organizers from across Arizona gathered at the state Capitol on Monday to mark the start of Pride Month and push back against what they called a continued onslaught of anti-LGBTQ+ bills passed by the state Legislature. While LGBTQ+ rights groups have often used Pride Month to criticize Republicans for targeting trans and queer youth, two Democrats were also named this year for advancing anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and legislation: U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego and Gov. Katie Hobbs.

1 month ago | tucsonsentinel.com | Joseph Darius Jaafari

LOOKOUT In a blow to LGBTQ+ and civil rights groups, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs broke with her party writ-large to sign a bill that could make posting information or images of LGBTQ+ people—and literature related to them—illegal without age verification.

1 month ago | lookoutnews.org | Joseph Darius Jaafari

In a blow to LGBTQ+ and First Amendment advocates, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs signed a bill that could make posting information or images of LGBTQ+ people — and literature related to them — illegal without age verification. House Bill 2112 requires any website where more than one-third of the content could be considered “sexual material” to implement an age verification system. The bill, already passed in 12 Republican-led states, is intended to prevent minors from accessing lewd content.