After being named as the “Reality Stars of the Year,” along with their castmates, including Meredith Marks, 53, and Bronwyn Newport, 40, the ladies targeted the bad behavior of others as Whitney, 39, reacted to Andy Cohen, 57, confirming that Jen Shah, 52, would never return to the show.
In their Us Weekly cover story, Angie, 51, shared her feeling that Lisa, 50, was trying to find dirt on the cast.
“I would like to see Lisa move differently in the group. Stop with going behind people’s backs,” she advised. “There’s much more interesting things … than trying to dig up information or making up lies about people in the group.”
Angie also admitted to thinking that Lisa’s antics could lead to the end of the series.
“Those things become unforgivable at some point, and it will ruin our show,” she warned.
After being asked about a misconception that bothered her, Mary, 52, shared the worst part of RHOSLC.
“The worst, darkest part was [my church] being called a cult, my little baby church,” she revealed. “Jen Shah put that out there, and then people took it and ran with it.”
She then spoke of her evolving relationships with her castmates.
“I feel like, the longer we know each other, the harder it gets to, like, for me to tell them off … Deep down, I really love them,” she admitted.
As for Heather, 51, she opened up about her lowest moment of the show.
“I came on thinking I was Lisa Barlow’s best friend. [It] was revealed to me about two weeks in that we had different versions of our friendship,” she explained.
Meanwhile, Lisa reacted to claims of “losing” her $60,000 ring to collect insurance money.
“The ring was not insured,” she confirmed, adding, “Most wealthy people don’t think about insuring their jewelry.”
Also during the interview, Whitney spoke of Andy saying that Jen wouldn’t be back on RHOSLC.
“I’m just grateful I have an answer for the red carpets now,” she noted.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake Cityseason six airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.
Healing and uplifting communities through music and unity is the foundation of this event space created by Zacil “DJ Sizzle Fantastic” Pech and Norma “Normz La Oaxaqueña” Fajardo.
For nearly a decade DJ Sizzle has built a reputation in the queer POC and Spanish-speaking undocumented communities for making the space for them to come together to celebrate their culture and partake in the ultimate act of resistance — joy.
Couples, companions, comadres all dance together on the dancefloor at Cumbiatón. (Photo courtesy of Cumbiatón).
Cumbiatón was created during the first Trump administration as a direct response to the erasure, racism, homophobia and xenophobia that was engrained into the administration’s mission for those first four years. Now that the second Trump administration is upon us, the racism, homophobia, transphobia and xenophobia are tenfold.
This event space is a ‘party for the hood, by the hood.’ It is led by women, queer and trans people of color in every aspect of the production process.
The recent fires that burned through Altadena and Pacific Palisades made DJ Sizzle decide to step back from marketing the event in Los Angeles, an area where people had just lost their businesses, homes and where their lives were completely thrown for a loop.
Now they’re back, doubling-down on their mission to bring cumbias, corridos and all the music many of us grew up listening to, to places that are accessible and safe for our communities.
“I started Cumbiatón back in 2016, right after the election — which was weirdly similar because we’re going through it again. And a lot of us come from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) movement. We were the ones to really push for that to happen along with the DREAM Act.”
DJ Sizzle says that she wanted to create a space out on the streets to celebrate life and come together, because of how mentally and physically taxing it is to be a part of the marginalized communities that were and still are, a major target for ongoing political attacks.
Edwin Soto and Julio Salgado pose for a photo at a Cumbiaton event in 2024. (Photo courtesy of Cumbiatón).
“We need these spaces so that we can kind of refuel and rejoice in each other’s existence,” said DJ Sizzle. “Because we saw each other out on the street a lot, but never did we really have time to sit down, have a drink, talk, laugh. So I found that music was the way to bring people together and that’s how Cumbiatón got started. It was honestly like a movement of political resistance through music.”
DJ Sizzle is an undocumented community organizer who aims to not only bring awareness to the issues that her communities face, but also to make space to celebrate the wins and bond over the music that brings people in Latin America, East L.A., Boyle Heights and the Bay area together.
Julio Salgado, a queer, visionary artist and migrant rights activist from Ensenada, Baja California with roots in Long Beach and the Bay Area, connected with DJ Sizzle over their shared passion in advocating for immigrant rights.
“Cumbiatón was created during the first [Trump] administration, where you know, a lot of people were really bummed out and so what Sizzle wanted to create was a place where people could come together and celebrate ourselves,” said Salgado. “Fast-forward to the second [Trump] administration and we’re here and feel a little bit more like: ‘oh shit, things are bad again.’ But, things have always been bad.”
Salgado is involved with Cumbiatón through his art. He is a mixed-media artist who creates cartoons using his lived experience with his sobriety journey, undocumented status and queer identity.
With a background in journalism from California State University, Long Beach, Salgado documents what activists do in the undocumented spaces he has been a part of throughout his life.
In 2017, Salgado moved back to Long Beach from the Bay Area, and at the time he started doing political artwork and posters for protests against the first Trump administration, but because the nature of that work can be very tiring, he says that he turned to a more uplifting version of his art where he also draws the joy and unity in his communities.
When he and Sizzle linked up to collaborate during that time, he thought he could use his skills to help uplift this brand and bring it to the forefront of the many events that saturate the party landscape.
DJ Sizzle doing her thing on stage, giving the crowd the music they went looking for. (Photo courtesy of Cumbiatón).
“We are familiar with using the dance floor as a way to kind of put the trauma a little bit away just for one night, get together and completely forget,” said Salgado.
Coming from an undocumented background, Salgado and Sizzle say that their experience with their legal status has made them very aware of how to go about the ID-check process at the door for their events.
“When you’re undocumented, you have something called a [High Security Consular Registration (HSCR)] and it’s kind of like your ID and many of these heterosexual clubs would see that and say it was fake,” said Salgado. “But at the gay club, they didn’t care.”
Just being conscious of what that form of ID looks like and knowing that it’s not fake, helps many of the hundreds of people who come through for Cumbiatón, feel just slightly more at ease.
Edwin Soto, who is another community activist and leader in the undocu-queer community, is also involved in the planning and organizing of the event.
In the long journey of making Cumbiatón what it is now, they say that they have all been very intentional about who they bring in, making sure that whoever they are, they also understand the experience of being undocumented and accepted anyway.
“Something that Sizzle and the team have been very intentional about is making sure that [the security at the door] knows that someone might be using their consulate card,” said Soto.
Bringing together this event space is no easy task, considering the fact that their events are deeply thought out, intentional and inclusive of not just people of color, but also people with differing abilities and people who do not reflect the norm in West Hollywood clubs.
“We created the space that we were longing for that we did not see in West Hollywood,” he said. “[Cumbiatón] is what life could really be like. Where women are not harassed by men. Where people are not body-shamed for what they’re wearing.”
When it comes to their lives outside of Cumbiatón and partying, Sizzle says that it does get exhausting and planning the event gets overwhelming.
“It is really difficult, I’m not going to lie,” said DJ Sizzle. “We are at a disadvantage being queer and being undocumented because this administration triggers us to a point that, anyone who is not a part of those identities or marginalized communities would ever be able to understand,” said Sizzle. “There are times where I’m just like: ‘I’m going to cocoon for a little bit’ and then that affects the marketing and the communication.”
Usually, the events bring in hundreds of people who are looking for community, safety and inclusion. (Photo courtesy of Cumbiatón).
That’s a little bit about what goes on behind the scenes — which really shouldn’t come as a surprise for anyone who is out there fighting for basic human rights, while also making the space to party and enjoy themselves.
“I’m really trying to find balance and honestly my life raft are my friends and my community,” she said. “Like, being able to share, being able to have this plática, and be like ‘bitch, I see you and I know its fucked up, but we got each other.’”
Cumbiatón was made with the purpose of making space to include and invite the many different people in these communities who are otherwise sidelined in broader conversations and in party scenes where they are not as inclusive or thoughtful about their attendees.
“How beautiful is it to be queer and listen to rancheras and to norteñas and cumbia, and to just own it,” said Soto.
To join Cumbiatón at their next party, visit their Instagram page.
Last January, Diego Sandoval’s high school in San Diego County closed abruptly one Friday because of wildfires menacing the Southern California area. Classmates evacuated their homes as the fire spread. Frida Vergara, whose school was among the few in the area that didn’t close, recalls that friends with asthma were coughing and wheezing from the smoke.
It wasn’t the first time the students — both 17-year-old seniors in the Sweetwater Union High School District — saw how extreme weather disrupted learning. A year earlier, floods swamped parts of the county, damaging school buildings and closing one for more than a month. The problem is global: At least 242 million students in 85 countries or territories, or 1 in 7 students, lost education time in 2024 because of heat waves, fires, floods and other disasters, according to UNICEF.
Sandoval and Vergara say the connection between events like these and climate change is clear, and scientists agree: Greenhouse gases are trapping heat in the atmosphere and making disruptive and deadly weather events more common. And the two high schoolers say it’s also apparent who should pay for the damage: fossil fuel companies producing the materials that emit those gases.
That’s why, on Oct. 24, they and hundreds of other students across California plan to lead walkouts at their schools in support of state legislation that would put oil companies on the hook financially for infrastructure damage and other costs associated with the climate crisis. Young people at more than 50 high schools have signed on so far.
Known as the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act, the legislation is modeled on a 1980 law, passed in response to the infamous Love Canal disaster, that compels companies to pay to clean up hazardous waste they’ve created. Since 2024, two states — New York and Vermont — have adopted laws similar to the California bill that take the superfund concept and apply it to the climate crisis.
“Youth are now seeing that the ones responsible for this are the ones that are profiting billions of dollars off of climate change,” said Sandoval, who attends Eastlake High School, in Chula Vista.
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The California climate bill, introduced in February, lists climate-resilient schools, electric buses, green workforce development and job training as investments that could be covered by the superfund.
But after fierce opposition from the oil and gas industry and the California’s State Building and Construction Trades Council, a union that has often allied with the industry, the bill stalled. Esther Portillo, western environmental health director for the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council, which supports the bill, said concerns about a major oil refinery closing and about gas prices rising also deterred legislators, including some Democrats.
Dawn Addis, a Democratic assembly member and one of the bill’s authors, said the legislation will continue to be negotiated when the legislative session resumes in January. Supporters have made progress in responding to legislators’ questions about the bill’s details, she said, adding that she was optimistic about its passage. Addis, a former public school teacher, also commended the students and their activism.
“We want obviously students in the classroom learning but this is an extreme situation,” she said. “The effects of the climate crisis are incredibly, incredibly real for kids.”
The Trump administration and a coalition of conservative states led by West Virginia have filed separate lawsuits to block the New York and Vermont laws. The administration’s lawsuitscall the state laws a “brazen attempt to grab power from the federal government and force citizens of other States and nations to foot the bill for its infrastructure wish list.” Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has canceled billions in clean energy projects, proposed rescinding rules that underpin regulation of greenhouse gases, and backed legislation that cut funding for schools to reduce their climate toll.
Like the California bill, the Vermont and New York laws single out the education system. Vermont’s, for example, talks about the fund paying for energy-efficient cooling systems and building upgrades in schools, among other types of buildings.
“This bill is an incredibly important way to provide states with the ability to pay for necessary projects they should be implementing to save lives,” said Kimberly Ong, senior attorney and senior director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, which is representing New York and Vermont in some of the lawsuits.
In California, perhaps more than any other state, the costs to schoolchildren of climate change are mounting quickly. Kids there have already missed more than 54,000 hours of school time so far this year because of extreme weather events, according to an analysis by the nonprofit UndauntedK12, which helps schools green their operations. The Los Angeles Unified School District, which sustained damage in the Palisades Fire in January, says it was forced to set aside $2.2 billion to help pay for repairs.
“Polluter pay bills are interesting and innovative ways to create new revenue for climate adaptation and mitigation without raising taxes on everyone or approving another state bond,” said Jonathan Klein, co-founder of UndauntedK12. “Fossil fuel companies have profited billions of dollars, essentially creating this crisis,” he added, “and they knew what they were doing for decades.”
He noted that it will be important for education groups and students to help ensure that schools are a priority for any revenue that does materialize from such legislation.
Juan Alanis, a Republican state assembly member who voted against the bill when it was before the Standing Committee on Natural Resources, wrote in an email that he was concerned that it unfairly penalized companies that have already contributed money through California’s cap-and-trade program to reduce emissions. “While we all share a bipartisan commitment to combating climate change and protecting Californians from its devastating impacts, AB 1243 takes us down a troubling path of retroactive punishment that creates unnecessary uncertainty for businesses,” he wrote.
His colleague on the committee, assembly member Josh Hoover, called the bill “just another attempt by Sacramento politicians to virtue signal.”
Sandoval and Vergara, the San Diego County students, say they see the influence of Big Oil. Fossil fuel companies spent more than $38 million on lobbying and related activities in California last year, nearly $12 million more than the previous high set in 2017, according to an analysis by Last Chance Alliance, a coalition of environmental, health, climate and labor groups.
Sandoval said that growing up, his schools taught him about the impact of climate change on the environment but little about what he and other students might do to stop it. Getting involved in climate activism has made him see there are steps young people can take beyond, say, using less plastic.
“When I dedicate time to doing this, I know it’s more impactful than, say, my math homework,” he said. “We’re really seeing youth advocate for something that should be so common sense, yet we’re seeing incredible opposition on the other side.”
Contact editor Caroline Preston at 212-870-8965, via Signal at CarolineP.83 or on email at preston@hechingerreport.org.
The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.
In New Jersey, fewer than half of 6- and 7-year-olds in special education spend the vast majority of their day with their classmates without disabilities. That might change, though, because a state special education advisory group has pledged to examine the issue.
Earlier this year, a Hechinger Report investigation revealed New Jersey is the worst in the nation when it comes to what’s known as inclusion — measured by how often students of all abilities are learning alongside one another in the classroom for at least 80 percent of the day. For young students, specifically, the rate is especially low.
In September, the council that advises New Jersey state education officials on special education issues announced plans to focus on the placement of young children with disabilities this year. It will examine how the state trains educators and administrators and study whether there’s a link between a child’s disability and their placement.
Nationwide, 68 percent of students with disabilities spend at least 80 percent of the school day learning alongside peers without disabilities, according to The Hechinger Report’s analysis of federal data. New Jersey has the lowest rate at 45 percent.
And just 48.5 percent of 6- and 7-year-olds with disabilities in New Jersey spend the vast majority of their day in a general education classroom, compared with nearly three-quarters nationally. Researchers say including those young students is often easier and more beneficial — while observers say the data shows New Jersey isn’t doing enough to protect children’s rights to try learning in inclusive classrooms in their first years of schooling.
Vin Gopal, a New Jersey senator and chair of the state Senate Education Committee, called the statistics “extremely disconcerting” and said they demonstrate that New Jersey must make “fundamental changes.”
“Evidence clearly indicates that students with disabilities, and often general education students as well, benefit profoundly from inclusive educational settings, and understanding that, New Jersey needs to do better,” Gopal, a Democrat who also serves as Senate majority conference leader, said in an email.
Under federal law, students have the right to learn alongside their peers without disabilities as much as possible. Special education experts say most students, especially young ones, can learn in a general education classroom with proper support and accommodations.
New Jersey state Sen. Vin Gopal, a Democrat, is chair of the state Senate Education committee. He’s calling for the state to improve the inclusion of students with disabilities in the general education classroom. Credit: Julio Cortez/AP Photo
Although there are some promising signs of change in New Jersey, advocates and parents say there are still many obstacles at both the state level and at the federal level as the Trump administration continues to target the Department of Education.
One potential factor behind New Jersey’s low inclusion rates: how exactly districts write and enforce individualized education programs, or IEPs. These agreements lay out what kinds of services students are required to receive, and where.
Between 2016 and 2023, state officials determined at least 50 school districts — nearly a third of those monitored — at times failed to justify where they placed students with disabilities, according to a Hechinger Report review of state records. All school districts undergo monitoring every six years in New Jersey, according to state policy.
That’s a violation of New Jersey law, which requires IEP teams — whose members include school officials and educators — to annually review and provide a written explanation for student placements. For example, if a student is assigned to be in a separate classroom, their IEP should spell out why they can’t be taught in an inclusive classroom with additional support. And IEP teams are required to come up with plans to return students to classrooms with peers without disabilities, if possible.
Districts are cited even if there is insufficient documentation in only one student’s IEP, according to Michael Yaple, a spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Education. In a statement, Yaple said the department is focused on making sure all decisions about a child’s placement “are individualized, federally compliant, and regularly reviewed to promote inclusive opportunities.”
To Gopal, problems with IEPs point to a need for more parental involvement in these decisions and better procedures to help parents object if they disagree about their child’s placement.
“Failure to justify these placements should not be acceptable,” Gopal said. He has long focused on addressing problems with special education in the state, including sponsoring a bill last year to improve communication between schools and parents.
The bill, which was signed into law in the summer, will require districts to provide parents with details about their student’s academic progress ahead of IEP meetings, and it will also require that the state launch a working group to monitor parental involvement.
Efforts to train teachers in how to teach in inclusive classrooms are growing too.
The New Jersey-based nonprofit All in For Inclusive Education received interest from three times as many school districts as it could serve in this year’s round of applications for its New Jersey Inclusion Project program, which provides support to districts looking to improve inclusion rates. About a dozen districts were chosen to receive the training.
Advocates hope rising interest means New Jersey is on the cusp of taking the steps that school leaders in other states have taken to improve inclusion and reduce reliance on separate classrooms.
For example: Hawaii, which once had the nation’s lowest percentage of students with disabilities learning in the general education classroom at least 80 percent of the time, set a goal to improve its inclusion rate to 51 percent by 2020. Over the past decade, Hawaii increased the proportion of students who spend most of their time in general education classes by 10 percentage points to 55.6 percent.
Even if New Jersey does improve its inclusion rates, advocates say it’s important to follow what happens next. For example, federal data has never captured whether students with disabilities are receiving the services and aids they need to thrive in a general education classroom.
State efforts could be even more crucial than before as the White House works to dismantle the federal Department of Education.
In March, the Trump administration laid off half the staff of its civil rights enforcement arm, which in the past typically investigated thousands of complaints annually from students with disabilities. Last week, the Trump administration laid off nearly all employees of the U.S. Department of Education office that makes sure states are providing special education services required under federal law.
The administration has also canceled more than $30 million for 25 special education programs in 14 states, according to Education Week. The letters to those programs cited references to diversity, equity, inclusion and racism in their application materials.
The Education Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Overall, advocates — including Lindsay Kubatzky, director of policy and advocacy at the National Center for Learning Disabilities — worry Trump’s anti-DEI push will worsen efforts to integrate the nation’s 7.5 million students with disabilities in general classrooms.
“We are the ‘I’ in DEI,” Kubatzky said. “If you start attacking diversity, equity and inclusion, you’re, of course, looking at students with disabilities.”
The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.
Dr. Wendy Osefo has reportedly been removed from her professor position at Wesleyan University following her and her husband, Eddie’s, recent arrest for fraud.
More On Dr. Wendy Osefo Reportedly Being Removed From Her Professor Position At Wesleyan University
On Tuesday, October 14, US Weekly published a report asserting that Wesleyan University confirmed to the outlet that Wendy has been “removed from her position as a professor.” Specifically, the college sent a statement to the outlet, writing:
“Wendy Osefo is no longer an employee of Wesleyan University.”
According to TMZ, the outlet also received the same statement. Additionally, TMZ noted that Wendy “had been a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Sociology.” Furthermore, US Weekly adds that students also received an email from “the director of Wesleyan,” explaining that Wendy “would no longer be teaching the course.”
Per TMZ, Wendy Osefo previously taught at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. However, she resigned in 2024 and began her role at Wesleyan in the fall of that year. Her class was reportedly centered on “reality television and social issues,” per US Weekly.
Wendy reportedly obtained degrees from Temple University and Johns Hopkins, as well as a Ph.D. in “public affairs and community development” from Rutgers University, per TMZ.
More On The ‘RHOP’ Recent Arrest
As The Shade Room previously reported, Wendy and Eddie Osefo were arrested on multiple fraud charges on October 9. The pair is reportedly being accused of making false statements resulting in fraud of over $300. Wendy is reportedly facing a total of 15 charges, while her husband is reportedly facing 18. This, all because the pair alleged that their home was burglarized in April 2024. This reportedly resulted in the theft of pricey jewelry and Birkin bags. However, authorities soon determined that Wendy and her husband had staged the plan. Additionally, authorities shared that they later peeped social media posts shared by Wendy in which she was wearing jewelry she claimed had been stolen.
Outside Of Dr. Wendy Osefo Reportedly Being Removed From Her Professor Position, Here’s What Has Happened Since Her & Her Husband’s Arrest
According to US Weekly, Wendy and Eddie Osefo posted a $50,000 bail and were released from jail on October 10. Subsequently, a spokesperson for the couple shared that they were in “good spirits.”
“They are grateful for the outpouring of concern and support from friends, fans, and colleagues. The Osefos, alongside their legal team, look forward to their day in court. At this time, they respectfully ask for privacy as they focus on their family and the legal process ahead,” the spokesperson told the outlet.
Since then, Andy Cohen has reacted to Wendy’s arrest, while Ashley Darby also took some time to throw slide shade her way. At this time, Wendy has not publicly spoken about her removal from Wesleyan University staff.
After debuting their relationship on the first season of Next Gen NYC earlier this year, taking viewers into their romance after moving to the Big Apple in 2024, Ariana, 23, took to her Instagram Story with a statement, confirming she and Hudson were going their “separate ways.”
“Hudson and I have decided to go our separate ways, while these things are never easy, we both know it’s what’s best for us right now. We are so grateful for all the love and support you’ve shown us over the years. Sometimes life takes you in different directions and that’s okay … Love you all,” she wrote on October 14.
Ariana and Hudson began dating in high school before Ariana enjoyed a brief romance with Aaron Scott in 2020. Then, after Ariana and Aaron split, they rekindled their relationship.
“This might sound crazy, and I get it, but I have a five-year rule,” she explained to Bravo’s The Daily Dish in August. “So, if he doesn’t propose in five years, which is in a little less than two years, it’s a no … I don’t want to rush him, you know, make him feel, like, pressure. But he talks about it all the time. So, I’m like, ‘Stop talking about it and do it or don’t do it.’ Everyone’s getting engaged! Really, everybody?”
“My mom always told me, ‘If he doesn’t propose after five years, then you’re already doing too many wife duties,’” she added.
MEAD, Wash. — A few weeks after President Donald Trump took office, the conservative school board leaders in this town near the Idaho border made a bet.
They would pit one Washington against the other and see what happened.
For years, Democrats in control of the state had required every school district to have policies on the books that protect transgender students from bullying and prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity. The Mead school board unanimously approved a policy in 2019 to comply with the state guidelines, with little comment. Board members at the time asked only about potential cost and whether the student dress code also needed to change.
In 2023, lingering frustration with Covid restrictions and a growing backlash to transgender rights helped propel conservatives onto the town’s school board, a dynamic similar to one that had played out in communities across the country. Then, last year, the state education department checked how many school district policies actually complied with Washington’s nondiscrimination laws. State officials found Mead’s needed updating on a few counts, such as staff training and when to use a student’s preferred pronouns.
The board had 30 days to correct its policy, according to a Feb. 21 notice from the state. Trump by then had already signed a pair of executive orders proclaiming there are only two genders and banning transgender athletes from women’s sports.
Taking their cue from a clear shift in White House policy, the Mead school board pleaded in a March 11 letter for help from the U.S. secretaries for education and justice.
“We find ourselves caught between conflicting directives that threaten not only our federal funding but also the rights and values of the families we serve,” the board wrote. “Refusal to comply could prompt state retaliation in the form of withheld state funding, further threatening our ability to serve students in need.”
It didn’t take long for the board’s gamble to pay off.
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The Mead school board’s letter — sent alongside complaints from several other Washington school districts — arrived just as the U.S. departments of Education and Justice prepared to launch a special investigations team to look into complaints of Title IX violations in colleges and schools.
Title IX, a federal civil rights law from 1972, prohibits sex-based discrimination in education, and some on the right argue that allowing transgender girls to compete in school sports improperly disadvantages and discriminates against cisgender females. (Research to suggest transgender athletes have an advantage in sports is limited and inconclusive.) The joint team would fast-track resolutions and include civil rights attorneys from both departments.
Their first target: the Office for Superintendent of Public Instruction, which oversees education for Washington state.
“OSPI has threatened to withhold funding to school districts that refuse to comply with the OSPI policies that violate Title IX and its implementing regulations,” the U.S. Department of Education said in an April 30 letter announcing the investigation. The letter cited complaints from Mead and a half dozen other districts.
The Hechinger Report, through open records requests, obtained thousands of pages of emails from the accounts of the Mead school board, its superintendent and other Washington school boards involved in the Title IX investigation. Their emails and interviews with conservative activists, elected officials, parents and educators across the state reveal a significant victory for school boards like Mead, which quietly strategized with a statewide network of parents and state Republican officials waiting for a shift in federal power before challenging Washington’s protections for transgender students.
The federal probe also underscores the second Trump administration’s intent to leverage federal authority to undermine progressive policies in blue states, even as experts expect the courts to ultimately determine the legality of the administration’s interpretation of Title IX. Already, the administration has launched similar probes into education agencies in California and Maine.
In Mead, the federal involvement into local school policy alarmed some residents.
“It is irresponsible and dangerous,” said Alaura Miller, a recent graduate of the Mead School District, which serves a former railway town turned bedroom community of Spokane. She came out as transgender in her late teens. Now she’s in college with plans to become a mental health counselor for LGBTQ+ youth in eastern Washington.
“The school board’s emboldening the worst in people,” Miller said. “It’s not teaching community.”
Alaura Miller, a graduate of the Mead school district, has advocated for its school board to support LGBTQ+ youth in her hometown. She plans to work as a mental health counselor in eastern Washington state. Credit: Margaret Albaugh for The Hechinger Report
The escalation of this conflict to Washington, D.C., follows years of simmering tension between local conservatives and the overwhelming number of progressives who run the Evergreen State.
In 2007, it was the first state to adopt rules that allowed transgender students to participate in school sports and competitions that aligned with their gender identity. Lawmakers three years later explicitly included students in nondiscrimination laws, which count gender identity as a protected class. And in 2012, the state issued formal guidelines that protected locker and restroom access for transgender students.
Conservatives grumbled along the way. But they focused political attention elsewhere, including some early victories to block mandatory sex education in every grade and every school. Voters eventually established that mandate in a 2020 ballot measure.
The true firestorm arrived in 2023, with passage of a bill that would allow housing shelters to notify state authorities, not parents, when runaway youth seek refuge and gender-affirming care.
“That’s what started it all. That put parents’ rights on everyone’s radar, as under attack,” said David Spring, executive director of the Washington Parents Network, a statewide coalition that formed during the pandemic to protest school closures and mask mandates.
By then, allies of Trump started to pay attention to Washington state.
The America First Legal Foundation, started by longtime Trump adviser Stephen Miller, represented a group of parents who sued in 2023 to fight the new protections for transgender youth in crisis. Courts dismissed their lawsuit, but Spring’s coalition — and $16 million in political contributions — built momentum behind a 2024 ballot measure to create a “parents’ bill of rights.” The initiative, among other provisions, required schools to inform parents in advance of any medical services offered to their children. Proponents of the measure argue Democrats gutted it with a pair of student safety bills passed earlier this year.
A parents’ rights-focused slate of candidates, meanwhile, secured a 4-1 conservative majority in 2023 on the school board in Mead, where student enrollment hovers just above 10,000 students. About 2 in 5 students qualify as low income and nearly 4 in 5 identify as white.
The new board wasted little time before setting a clear agenda. “Voters made it clear tonight that they want a strong school board that represents parents,” Board President Michael Cannon, who won reelection, told local media at the time.
The Trump administration launched an investigation into Washington state after the Mead school board and several other communities asked for federal intervention. Credit: Margaret Albaugh for The Hechinger Report
In February 2024, the board adopted a resolution opposing a state policy that would require curriculum inclusive of “the histories, contributions, and perspectives of historically marginalized groups,” including LGBTQ+ people, saying it subverted local control over education. The board also joined with its counterparts from two dozen other districts in a campaign to prohibit transgender athletes from playing on female sports teams.
The effort failed, but some residents took notice of a change in their community. One mother with students in Mead schools wrote to the board in December, sharing a statement from the Washington State LGBTQ Commission that condemned the board’s campaign.
“It sends a very clear message to our children that Mead does NOT support and include all students,” her email reads. Writing from her work email account, she identified herself as a state employee active with the LGBTQ+ resources group for public workers.
Alan Nolan, one of the new conservatives on the board, responded by notifying the mother’s employer that she may have broken laws against using government resources for personal matters.
“Are you aware of her activities?” Nolan wrote to her supervisors. Nolan declined interview requests for this story, instead referring The Hechinger Report to the board’s previous statements on the Title IX investigation.
Alan Nolan, one of the newer conservative members of the Mead school board, speaks during a Sept. 8 board meeting. In 2023, voters elected a parents rights-focused slate of candidates to secure a 4-1 conservative majority on the board. Credit: Margaret Albaugh for The Hechinger Report
Cannon, the board president, defended Nolan’s decision to contact the parent’s employer: “He was saying, ‘Quit trying to push us around by using your state title.’”
Cannon also disputed whether the board’s actions made any students or families feel unwelcome at Mead schools.
“That certainly is not the intention at all,” he said. “We want to make every student feel like they belong as much as any other student.”
By then, Trump had reclaimed the White House — after his campaign and Republicans spent $215 million on anti-transgender advertising, according to tracking firm AdImpact. In the presidential election, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris commanded a nearly 20 percentage point lead in the overall Washington vote; in Spokane County, a slim majority of voters supported Trump.
Adrien Leavitt, staff attorney with the ACLU of Washington, said the GOP’s focus on transgender issues in the campaign trickled into local politics in places like Mead.
“When vitriol toward trans people became a nationwide talking point for the right to win the presidency, that invigorated a lot of people to invoke the same harmful rhetoric in their local communities,” Leavitt said. “We think of Washington as a liberal state. Nonetheless, it’s a very diverse state.”
OSPI, in its statewide civil rights review, required 59 out of 295 school districts in Washington to make corrections to their nondiscrimination policy, and 52 of them did so, according to agency data. Another 93 districts received notices to correct their gender-inclusive schools policy, but only 55 districts had as of earlier this year.
After the November election, Spring’s statewide network of parents worked with school boards to prepare for a shift in “the other Washington.” Nearly two dozen boards started a campaign to reverse the state’s policy on transgender athletes, and a growing clash over student pronouns in one district accelerated their efforts. The network’s members met weekly on Zoom, and Spring in early February filed a federal complaint over Title IX before boards like Mead — roughly 30 in total, Spring estimated — soon followed.
“That’s a tenth of school districts doing this kind of revolt. School boards just want to run their schools,” he said.
Michael Cannon, president of the Mead school board, was first elected in 2019. The school board was one of many that challenged Washington state’s Covid protocols. Credit: Margaret Albaugh for The Hechinger Report
In Mead, after the board learned it had 30 days to correct its transgender policy, Nolan shared details of the state’s findings with county and state GOP leaders and the Silent Majority Foundation, a conservative legal nonprofit in eastern Washington. In response to a mother with students in nearby Central Valley schools who asked the board for advice on how to join the fight, Nolan painted an ominous picture of the stakes: “OSPI and the legislature intend to threaten all districts to adopt policies well in excess of what state law requires or face loss of funding.”
Mead schools collect nearly $9 million in federal funding, or about 5 percent of its total budget; another 80 percent comes from the state. State code grants OSPI the authority to order the termination of funding to districts that violate nondiscrimination laws, but the agency has never withheld funding for noncompliance, according to spokeswoman Katy Payne. Still, the Mead school board cited the risk of losing funding — both state and federal — in its plea for help to the federal Education Department.
“It shouldn’t be a choice of which funding to lose,” Cannon told The Hechinger Report. “We just don’t want to risk any funding. That just can’t be on the table for us.”
Superintendent Travis Hanson, who declined several interview requests, said in an email that “culture-war conflicts” — specifically, the political shifts that lead to dramatic changes in local, state and federal education policy — have placed district leaders in an impossible position.
“The increasingly acrimonious debates on these issues are generally split along partisan lines and represent a complex situation for district leaders: navigating socio-political conflict we did not create but are nonetheless responsible for managing,” wrote Hanson, who joined the district in July 2023, just months before the election of the new slate of board members.
Superintendent Travis Hanson listens during a Sept. 8 meeting of the Mead school board. He took over as superintendent in July 2023. Credit: Margaret Albaugh for The Hechinger Report
In late March, the board took another step that further increased tensions: It proposed changes to the transgender policy — but not to comply with the state. Rather, the board would require students to get permission before using their preferred locker room or restroom and would not allow transgender students to room on overnight trips based on their preferred gender. School staff, under the changes, would not need a student’s permission before telling their parents about their gender identity.
A transgender student at Mead High School wrote to the board urging members considering the issue to be sensitive to students “who may rely on school to be their one safe space.”
Nolan replied first by stating his appreciation for the student’s willingness to engage in a civil discussion, but then he issued a vague warning to the teenager.
“I don’t know the source of your gender confusion nor will I pretend I can provide a solution to resolve it,” Nolan told the student. “Fooling yourself to believe you can become that sex is a dangerous lie and those who have bought into it often pay a heavy price.”
The student’s mother responded within hours.
She balked at Nolan’s allusion to a “heavy price” and called him presumptuous and patronizing for commenting on her child’s gender identity.
“We deliberately chose to live within the Mead school district upon recommendation from other family members — a decision I am increasingly questioning,” the mother wrote. “You can’t just wish away kids who are different, and deliberately isolating or driving away families like mine will come with its own heavy price.”
Nolan shared the emails with Cannon, and later sent the mother an apology.
“While we may hold different views on the matter, my response should have been more thoughtful in its tone as it is understandably a topic of significant personal importance,” he wrote.
Other residents praised the board, casting it as their ally in a fight against encroaching state mandates.
One couple with a young daughter wrote: “They have exceeded government outreach for far too long and it is time to take back local control, as the system was designed.”
In the interview with Hechinger, Cannon agreed. And he argued conservatives in Washington state have only acted on the defense.
“The irony is that we’re responding to what they’re doing,” he said of Democrats. “They’ve used the Legislature to force school districts to adhere to their political ideology. None of this originated with these conservative school boards that they like to vilify.”
Trump has continued to wield federal authority over states on Title IX and other issues, even while he has pledged to return control of education to individual states and communities and signed an executive order in March to do so. Later that month, newly confirmed Education Secretary Linda McMahon previewed the investigations to come.
In a Dear Colleague letter to superintendents, McMahon raised concerns about the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a law that protects the personal records of students, and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), which gives parents the right to review instructional materials. The letter argued that some states and districts had turned “the concept of privacy on its head” and used the laws to prevent parents from knowing if their child started transitioning at school.
The investigation into Washington state hinges on allowing transgender students to compete in female sports but also potential violations of those student privacy laws. Elizabeth Laird, director of equity in civic technology at the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology, described the administration’s legal reasoning as going beyond what Congress intended.
“This investigation looks like the latest instance of the Trump administration weaponizing its ability to withhold federal funds to enforce its ideological agenda,” Laird said.
In an email, an Education Department spokesperson said only that the investigation into Washington state was ongoing. The Justice Department declined to comment.
Chris Reykdal, the Washington state schools chief, described the federal government’s use of the privacy provisions as an attempt to mandate discrimination.
“My office will enforce our current laws as we are required to do until Congress changes the law and/or federal courts invalidate Washington state’s laws,” Reykdal said in a statement. “Unless, and until that happens, we will be following Washington state’s laws, not a president’s political leanings expressed through unlawful orders.”
Some states and districts have already faced consequences from similar investigations. In Maine, the U.S. Department of Agriculture — in a related Title IX investigation — froze federal money meant to feed children in schools, daycares and after-school programs. The state sued, and won a court-approved settlement to stop the freezing of funds. The Trump administration has initiated similar investigations and funding fights in California and in 10 school districts, in Colorado, Kansas and Virginia.
Spring, with the statewide parents network in Washington, did not exactly celebrate the federal intervention in so many school districts. He’s a conservative who prefers local control, especially of education, but said state laws and rights can’t supersede federal law at the schoolhouse.
“We right now have a state ordering school districts around, to break federal law,” Spring said.
Ultimately, courts are likely to continue weighing in on whether these federal actions can be enforced. Conflicting rulings in the federal judiciary, however, make it difficult to predict the outcome.
Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which includes Washington state, barred Idaho from enforcing a ban — the first in the nation — on transgender athletes participating in girls’ and women’s sports teams. The 4th Circuit, also last year, ruled that a similar ban in West Virginia violated Title IX.
Then, this year, the Supreme Court dealt a significant blow to the transgender rights movement, deciding in a 6-3 split that states can prohibit gender-affirming medical care for minors. A Trump-appointed judge in Tennessee also scrapped a set of Title IX rules that former President Joe Biden’s administration proposed to strengthen protections for LGBTQ+ students. And on its upcoming docket, the Supreme Court will hear two cases on whether bans on transgender women in sports violate the Constitution.
“Trump and the alt-right folks want to suggest that civil rights are a zero-sum game,” said Hunter Iannucci, counsel with the National Women’s Law Center, a nonprofit legal group. “They’re trying to position this so Title IX operates only for those students, or only these students can have rights, and that’s just not accurate.”
Back in Mead, the school board in April paused consideration of its contested updates to the transgender policy. Board members continued to hear from both angry and approving members of the public until deciding, in May, to indefinitely postpone any formal action until the federal departments finish their Title IX investigation. The board meetings and especially portions for public comment have been largely quiet since then.
But Miller, the recent Mead graduate, still attends the meetings to speak on behalf of transgender students who remain in the district.
“There are people in the community willing to stand up,” she said. “Even though we’re scared of violence and discrimination, we still have a voice. We still exist.”
Contact staff writer Neal Morton at 212-678-8247, on Signal at nealmorton.99, or via email at morton@hechingerreport.org.
This story about Title IX was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.
The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.
After sharing a post in which she explained why she leaked her and Julia’s texts and seemed to shade producers for blurring certain words out in an effort to make them seem more salacious than they were, Guerdy, 47, received a message from the social worker, who labeled her as an “eternal victim.”
“Nooooo I did not offer to get on the cruise — she asked me and that’s what my text messages proved,” Guerdy wrote in her first comment, via OMFGRealityTV on Instagram.
Guerdy had shared her messages with Julia, 53, publicly in an effort to confirm that Julia had invited her on the cast cruise — and that she had not begged to be included. However, because not all of the messages were seen, some have felt that they weren’t getting the full story.
“Till this day, I still don’t know why my text messages were blurred in the first place, there was no big reveal except for this simple fact … but blurring them made it seem like I was exposing intimate details which I would never do that!” Guerdy stated.
Following the sharing of the comment, a woman named Connie clapped back at Guerdy.
“You are the eternal victim … move on. This show defines no one,” her message read.
And after seeing it, Guerdy immediately took notice of who Connie was.
“Hi Connie! [I] recognize you from our show — you are Julia’s social worker but did she pay you a bonus to also be her social media spokesperson?” Guerdy replied. “Stay out of this and stick to foster caring. I will publicly expose all the nasty comments you have wrote about me and sent me … and if you’ve seen the show, you know I will! Keep it up Connie!”
After the screenshots of Guerdy and Connie’s messages were shared, RHOM fans couldn’t believe that a social worker would behave in such a manner.
“If I was Guerdy I’d report that social worker to her HR department and let them know she’s publicly & privately harassing me. I’d also go out of my way to file a police report,” one person said.
“As a social worker I’m curious as to why she’s choosing to spend her free time harassing Guerdy rather than keeping herself afloat in this administration? I would think her time would be better served doing her actual job and finding ways to keep a job,” wrote another.
Others slammed the woman for acting “very unprofessional” and wondered if she “[valued] her license.”
“Seems like an unfit social worker to me. Do we need to make some calls?” asked someone else.
The Real Housewives of Miami‘s season seven reunion concludes next Thursday, October 16, with part three at 9/8c on Bravo.
Cristina, One Of Ne-Yo’s Four Girlfriends, Shows Off Her Massive Leg Tattoo Of His Face
Last week, Cristina, also known by Ne-Yo and online as “Pretty Baby,” took to Instagram to share a carousel of a few photos with her more than 78,000 followers. Furthermore, the carousel was captioned, “Loyalty is rare.. but when it’s real .. it’s priceless .. 🔐♾️” Additionally, the photos showed her dressed in a tan bikini, noticeably flaunting her curves but also flaunting something else: a massive tattoo of Ne-Yo’s face.
Peep the photos below and swipe to see additional ink Cristina has dedicated to her boo.
Social Media Weighs In On The Now-Viral Photos
Social media users weighed in on Cristina showing off her massive leg tattoo of Ne-Yo’s face in The Shade Room’s comment section.
Instagram user @mzsuzieb wrote, “I know a cult when I see one.”
While Instagram user @kaikardashian added, “i’m concerned.”
Instagram user @themissmalibu wrote, “I pray this level of delusion never finds me.”
While Instagram user @stealthwithwealth added, “She tryna be the main, we see you”
Instagram user @blk_aphrodite_ wrote, “What possesses this type of behavior??”
While Instagram user @laytheoriginal added, “I pray I never love a man this much .”
Instagram user @dopetrini wrote, “It’s giving cult but it might just be me”
While Instagram user @coopcancook added, “5 eva, huh?”
Instagram user @angelanatalja wrote, “Imagine doing all this while knowingly on a roster…”
While Instagram user @realdorshayngabanna added, “And He Still will LEAVE”
Before His Girlfriend, Cristina, Showed Off Her Massive Leg Tattoo Of His Face, Ne-Yo Made Headlines Alongside Crystal Renay
Before Cristina showed off her massive leg tattoo of Ne-Yo’s face, he made headlines alongside his ex-wife, Crystal Renay. As The Shade Room previously reported, in August, Crystal Renay and Ne-Yo reunited to send two out of their three kids, their sons Shaffer and Roman-Alexander, to school. Furthermore, photos showed both Renay and Ne-Yo in all smiles as they headed off their sons’ first day.
Drake & Sophie Brussaux Link Up To Celebrate Adonis Graham’s 8th Birthday As Drake Shares Updated Photo Of His Son
On Sunday, October 12, The Shade Roomreposted footage filmed at the birthday celebration for Drake and Brussaux’s son, Adonis. Furthermore, the clip showed Adonis standing between his parents as they posed for photos as as Drake held a knife up to his cowboy-themed birthday cake. To note, the trio appeared with all smiles for the occasion.
Then, on the evening of Sunday, October 12, Drake took to his Instagram Story to share an updated photo of Adonis.
Social Media Reacts To Updated Photo Of Adonis
Social media users reacted to the footage of Adonis’ birthday party, Drake and Sophie Brussaux linking up, and the updated photo of the 8-year-old in TSR’s comment section.
Instagram user @x.xxii wrote, “Somebody said ‘That Justin Timberlake biopic role is his!’ 😂”
While Instagram user @stylesbynailahalnisa added, “I kno she well taken care of I don’t hear a peep out of her 😂”
Instagram user @amacieforever wrote, “He is so cute!”
While Instagram user @goddess.sunshiine added, “Awww he’s a little handsome feller”
Instagram user @sadity_beauti wrote, “I know drake lovesss his son down but still pissed that’s his baby mama🤣! He’s such a cutie🫶🏾”
While Instagram user @superchargedelliot21 added, “That boy made a reincarnated Justin Timberlake”
Instagram user @royaly_destined_85 wrote, “I know Drake (and the world lol) was iffy in the beginning, but Adonis is definitely growing into being his twin!!!”
While Instagram user @s_w4944 added, “He’s 8?! Geez I remember when Pusha T told the world about him”
Instagram user @tee.monae_ wrote, “Awww look at Lil Jimmy 🩵#WhateverItTakes”
Before His 8th Birthday, Adonis & Drake Last Turned Heads At A Raptors Game In 2022
The last time Adonis and Drake made headlines was when they popped out to a Toronto Raptors NBA game in 2022. As The Shade Room previously reported, at the time, Adonis was 5 years old, and cameras captured the pair sharing an adorable father-son moment.
Drake was on Daddy Duties while at the Raptors game with his son Adonis, who wanted all the snacks! 💯❤️👨👦pic.twitter.com/jaedMKcukt
Social emotional learning — lessons in soft skills like listening to people you disagree with or calming yourself down before a test — has become a flashpoint in the culture wars.
The conservative political group Moms for Liberty opposes SEL, as it is often abbreviated, telling parents that its “goal is to psychologically manipulate students to accept the progressive ideology that supports gender fluidity, sexual preference exploration, and systemic oppression.” Critics say that parents should discuss social and emotional matters at home and that schools should stick to academics. Meanwhile, some advocates on the left say standard SEL classes don’t go far enough and should include such topics as social justice and anti-racism training.
While the political battle rages on, academic researchers are marshalling evidence for what high-quality SEL programs actually deliver for students. The latest study, by researchers at Yale University, summarizes 12 years of evidence, from 2008 to 2020, and it finds that 30 different SEL programs, which put themselves through 40 rigorous evaluations involving almost 34,000 students, tended to produce “moderate” academic benefits.
Related: Our free weekly newsletter alerts you to what research says about schools and classrooms.
The meta-analysis, published online Oct. 8 in the peer-reviewed journal Review of Educational Research, calculated that the grades and test scores of students in SEL classes improved by about 4 percentile points, on average, compared with students who didn’t receive soft-skill instruction. That’s the equivalent of moving from the 50th percentile (in the middle) to the 54th percentile (slightly above average). Reading gains were larger (more than 6 percentile points) than math gains (fewer than 4 percentile points). Longer-duration SEL programs, extending more than four months, produced double the academic gains — more than 8 percentile points.
“Social emotional learning interventions are not designed, most of the time, to explicitly improve academic achievement,” said Christina Cipriano, one of the study’s four authors and an associate professor at Yale Medical School’s Child Study Center. “And yet we demonstrated, through our meta-analytic report, that explicit social emotional learning improved academic achievement and it improved both GPA and test scores.”
Cipriano also directs the Education Collaboratory at Yale, whose mission is to “advance the science of learning and social and emotional development.”
The academic boost from SEL in this 2025 paper is much smaller than the 11 percentile points documented in an earlier 2011 meta-analysis that summarized research through 2007, when SEL had not yet gained widespread popularity in schools. That has since changed. More than 80 percent of principals of K-12 schools said their schools used an SEL curriculum during the 2023-24 school year, according to a survey by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) and the RAND Corporation.
The Yale researchers only studied a small subset of the SEL market, programs that subjected themselves to a rigorous evaluation and included academic outcomes. Three-quarters of the 40 studies were randomized-controlled trials, similar to pharmaceutical trials, where schools or teachers were randomly assigned to teach an SEL curriculum. The remaining studies, in which schools or teachers volunteered to participate, still had control groups of students so that researchers could compare the academic gains of students who did not receive SEL instruction.
The SEL programs in the Yale study taught a wide range of soft skills, from mindfulness and anger management to resolving conflicts and setting goals. It is unclear which soft skills are driving the academic gains. That’s an area for future research.
“Developmentally, when we think about what we know about how kids learn, emotional regulation is really the driver,” said Cipriano. “No matter how good that curriculum or that math program or reading curriculum is, if a child is feeling unsafe or anxious or stressed out or frustrated or embarrassed, they’re not available to receive the instruction, however great that teacher might be.”
Cipriano said that effective programs give students tools to cope with stressful situations. She offered the example of a pop quiz, from the perspective of a student. “You can recognize, I’m feeling nervous, my blood is rushing to my hands or my face, and I can use my strategies of counting to 10, thinking about what I know, and use positive self talk to be able to regulate, to be able to take my test,” she said.
The strongest evidence for SEL is in elementary school, where the majority of evaluations have been conducted (two-thirds of the 40 studies). For young students, SEL lessons tend to be short but frequent, for example, 10 minutes a day. There’s less evidence for middle and high school SEL programs because they haven’t been studied as much. Typically, preteens and teens have less frequent but longer sessions, a half hour or even 90 minutes, weekly or monthly.
Cipriano said that schools don’t need to spend “hours and hours” on social and emotional instruction in order to see academic benefits. A current trend is to incorporate or embed social and emotional learning within academic instruction, as part of math class, for example. But none of the underlying studies in this paper evaluated whether this was a more effective way to deliver SEL. All of the programs in this study were separate stand-alone SEL lessons.
Advice to schools
Schools are inundated by sales pitches from SEL vendors. Estimates of the market size range wildly, but a half dozen market research firms put it above $2 billion annually. Not all SEL programs are necessarily effective or can be expected to produce the academic gains that the Yale team calculated.
Cipriano advises schools not to be taken in by slick marketing. Many of the effective programs have no marketing at all and some are free. Unfortunately, some of these programs have been discontinued or have transformed through ownership changes. But she says school leaders can ask questions about which specific skills the SEL program claims to foster, whether those skills will help the district achieve its goals, such as improving school climate, and whether the program has been externally evaluated.
“Districts invest in things all the time that are flashy and pretty, across content areas, not just SEL,” said Cipriano. “It may never have had an external evaluation, but has a really great social media presence and really great marketing.”
Cipriano has also built a new website, improvingstudentoutcomes.org, to track the latest research on SEL effectiveness and to help schools identify proven programs.
Cipriano says parents should be asking questions too. “Parents should be partners in learning,” said Cipriano. “I have four kids, and I want to know what they’re learning about in school.”
This meta-analysis probably won’t stop the SEL critics who say that these programs force educators to be therapists. Groups like Moms for Liberty, which holds its national summit this week, say teachers should stick to academics. This paper rejects that dichotomy because it suggests that emotions, social interaction and academics are all interlinked.
Before criticizing all SEL programs, educators and parents need to consider the evidence.
The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.
Kirk Frost hopped online to drop a sweet message for his son Kannon Frost, letting him know that nothing could stop him from being a solid dad to him. While he was at it, he clapped back at trolls who keep dragging his wife, Rasheeda, for standing by him and pushing him to stay active in Kannon’s life. The internet, of course, had plenty to say, some applauded Kirk, but others still think he seems to find new ways to embarrass Rasheeda.
Kirk Frost Pours His Heart Out To Kannon & Claps Back At Trolls Coming For Rasheeda
The ‘Love & Hip Hop ATL’ star recently dropped a heartfelt message on Instagram for his youngest son, Kannon, who he shares with Jasmine Bleu. Kirk Frost told his little man that haters might be praying on his downfall, but he’s never going to stop being a good dad to him.
“Im sorry @kannonxfrost most women want me to be a dead beat to you. Also not be a father, not pay child support just not be in your life at all but sorry I don’t know how to do that,” Kirk wrote.
Kirk kept it real, admitting his mini-me came into the world while his marriage with Rasheeda hit a rough patch, but he still gave her flowers for pushing him to stay in Kannon’s life. Even though the message came from the heart, folks online still noticed he threw a lil’ jab at trolls who keep coming at Rasheeda for sticking beside him.
“You came at a time when me and my wife was going through a bad season but we’re making it thru. I know… @rasheeda gets crucified for loving you & making sure I remain a good father. Which I think is crazy, but since you asking questions, we just want to make sure you know that we love you. 🙏🏽🫶🏽,” Kirk continued.
Social Media Has Mixed Feelings About Kirk’s Heartfelt Post
The Shade Room’s comment section exploded with reactions to Kirk Frost’s letter to Kannon. Some folks gave him props for showing up as a dad, while others thought he should’ve kept the message private.
Instagram user @itsani.j wrote, “Kids are innocent and they deserve love and support no matter how they came to be ❤️”
Instagram user @lifewithden wrote, “Be a father. Leave the internet out of it!”
While Instagram user @key2happiness wrote, “Don’t twist the narrative. Your wife gets crucified for being your door mat. Not for being a mother to your outside child. Cut it out.”
Then Instagram user @thebrownmamimelts wrote, “Make using a Journal or a Diary normal again…. Something’s don’t belong online.”
Another Instagram user @amarilevy wrote, “Rasheeda gets crucified for giving you too many passes Kirk, not for loving the child.”
While another Instagram user @jai_amaru_5 wrote, “Big dawg, keep us out the family chat.”
Then another Instagram user @datlucky1 wrote, “You wrote THIS message to a KID ? Really.”
Finally, Instagram user @v._aya wrote, “Tell him not the internet. ✌🏾”
Kirk Shares Sweet Rare Video Of Rasheeda & Kannon
Even with the internet’s reactions to Kirk’s message to Kannon, he’s been open about his love for his son before. Back in August, he gave fans a peek at Rasheeda and Kannon’s relationship in a sweet video. In the clip, Kannon appears to be much younger as he sings, ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ with Rasheeda. In the caption, Kirk gave Rasheeda props for being a good woman despite everything that occurred in the past.
“It’s moments like this, that you don’t see, that make me appreciate the woman that you are to me in real life @rasheeda. I Love you,” the reality star wrote.
Aww, Roomies! Everybody is locking in and falling in love this cuffing season! Brooklyn Frost just told her fans she’s officially off the market and dating baller Terrence Brown. She hopped on Snapchat to show how Terrence pulled out all the stops to ask her to be his girl — and the internet is here for it!
Brooklyn Frost Shows Off Romantic Moment Baller Terrence Brown Asked Her To Be His Girl
Recently, college hooper Terrence Brown hopped on social media to show he asked Brooklyn Frost to be his girl — and he went all OUT! Terrence did his BIG one, setting up a romantic scene filled with balloons that spelled out, “Will You Be My Girlfriend?” He even decorated the bed with roses that read, “Yes Or No?” And the views? Too good! He made sure the setup came with a perfect night skyline. Brooklyn later shared clips on Snapchat, proudly captioning them, “I’m a girlfriend.”
Who Is Brooklyn Frost & Terrence Brown? — Let Us Put You On!
If you aren’t familiar with Brooklyn Frost and Terrence Brown, let us put you on real quick. Brooklyn is a 21-year-old Twitch streamer and YouTube creator who has been killing the digital world. She’s known for creating fashion, beauty, and lifestyle content, and wild pranks. She first popped off on her brother Deshae Frost’s platform before dropping her own content in 2019, then hopped into live streaming in 2024. She even pulled up to Kai Cenat’s Streamer University with some other big-name creators. Terrence, on the other hand, is a basketball player who transferred from Fairleigh Dickinson University to the University of Utah to keep doing his thing on the court.
Social Media Melts Over Brooklyn & Terrence’s Sweet Cuffing Season Moment
Folks lit up The Shade Room Teens’ comment section with reactions to Brooklyn Frost and Terrence Brown making it official. Several social media users were happy to see Brooklyn getting loved on, while others warned Terrence that he better treat like her like a prize. Peep some of the reactions below.
Instagram user @ms.keishanaw wrote, “😍😍😍😍Yess I love this for her.”
Instagram user @mermaidvibezz2 wrote, “Congratulations 🎉🎊🎈🍾 black love is beautiful 😍❤️”
While Instagram user @1brazyleyah wrote, “I hope he treats her well🥹🔥🔥❤️”
Then, Instagram user @brvzynae wrote, “she keep her some fine 😂”
Another Instagram user @nayyybabbyy wrote, “Yessssss Brooklyn 😍 she’s so pretty I love this.”
Instagram user @773ashleymarie_ wrote, “She’s a really nice girl she deserves it.”
While another Instagram user @mwah_valentina wrote, “And he better treat my girl right not playing!”
Then another Instagram user @dariiiaaaaa._ wrote, “awwwwwwwe🥺🥺”
Finally, Instagram user @baddiemoesha wrote, ‘My girl, I’m so happy for her. ❤️😍”
Judge Greg Mathis is a prime example of if he wanted to, he would! He recently shared exactly what he did to repair his marriage with his wife, Linda Reese, and made it clear that he wasn’t about to let her slip through his fingers. Roomies, if y’all recall the pair have been married for 39 years, but filed for divorce in 2024, but Mathis quickly put in work to make sure his Queen stayed by his side.
Judge Greg Mathis Reveals How He Saved His Marriage
Judge Greg Mathis and his wife Linda Reese recently spilled all the tea on how they found their way back to love after filing for divorce last year. The couple sat down with Tamron Hall for an exclusive chat and got real about what they did to fix their marriage. Mathis had the audience near tears when he said losing Linda felt like losing his mom and since he’d do anything to get his mom back, “he did everything to get his wife back.”
Linda couldn’t stop cheesing, clearly proud of her man for stepping up to keep their love strong. But she wasn’t just watching from the sidelines, she put in work too. Linda said she stayed quiet after the divorce filing, but behind the scenes, they were both working on rebuilding their bond. Through it all, they thoroughly learned each other again and actually enjoyed the process. “And it’s just been progressively great. Every day it’s been wonderful,” Linda shared.
The TL Applauds Judge Mathis For For Putting In Work To Save His Marriage
The Roomies were all the way here for Judge Greg Mathis and Linda Reese locking in to save their marriage. Several folks gave Judge Mathis props for not letting Linda slip away in TSR’s comment section. See some of the reactions below.
Instagram user @zelietimothy wrote, “Yesss yess!! I love when love fights for each other! This is is everything 👏🏽👏🏽”
Instagram user @thegreatcurtis wrote, “I LOVE THAT THIS STILL EXISTS. ITS GIVE HOPE. ❤️❤️👑🙏🏾”
While Instagram user @comedianjustinwhitehead wrote, “I’m glad they worked it out… I appreciate and support REAL love! 🫶🏾🙏🏾”
Then Instagram user @getuptoparr wrote, “I love a man that fights for his marriage!!!!”
Another Instagram user @beverly.hillz wrote, “A prime example of “if he wanted to, he would” 🥰”
Instagram user @xotanye wrote, “he fought for his wife. i know that’s right♥️”
While another Instagram user @rodney__21 wrote, “I’ll admit, old school brothas got more game 😂”
Then another Instagram user @onpointwhite2u wrote, “I’m so happy that they made it work. You don’t see enough of this.”
Lastly, Instagram user @__capitalp_ wrote, “Linda’s smile says he did everything AND all of the right things to get her back ❤️”
39 Years Strong: Judge Mathis & Linda Keep Striving
Linda Reese filed for divorce from Judge Mathis back in August 2024, siting irreconcilable differences as the reason for them not being able to see eye to eye anymore. But by November, the two had clearly found their way back to each other and reignited the spark. When TMZ caught up with them, they looked happy and in love. Mathis told the outlet things were going smooth between them, while Linda kept it cute and didn’t share too much or give confirmation that her hubby was out of the doghouse. Still, the way they were smiling and hugging said it all, so it’s safe to say the King and Queen find their right back to each other.
Drake is again walking away holding an L(oss) from a battle involving Kendrick Lamar. On Thursday (October 9), a judge dismissed the defamation lawsuit Drizzy filed against Universal Music Group (UMG) over the hit song, ‘Not Like Us.’ The federal official ruled that Kenny’s lyrics were opinion, per the Associated Press. While Drake hasn’t spoken out yet, others involved in making the track, including Mustard, seemingly have!
Judge Explains Why She Tossed Drake’s Lawsuit Against UMG
As previously reported, Drake’s and Kendrick Lamar’s rap beef exploded in the spring of 2024. The superstars traded shots from the booth for several rounds. Then, in May, Lamar put a nail in Drizzy’s metaphorical coffin with ‘Not Like Us.’ The song became a cultural phenomenon and ate the charts up—same energy for the music video he released in July. Even celebrities once tight with Drake, such as LeBron James, picked sides. And, spoiler alert, it often wasn’t the Canadian rapper’s!
‘Not Like Us,’ which calls out Drake by name, attacks him as “a colonizer” of rap culture. It also makes serious allegations about his sex life, including “I hear you like ’em young” — a claim Drake has rejected. This week, Judge Jeannette A. Vargas acknowledged in her written opinion that ‘Not Like Us’ explicitly branded Drake as a pedophile. However, Vargas said a reasonable listener could not have concluded that the song revealed objective facts about Drake.
“Although the accusation that Plaintiff is a pedophile is certainly a serious one, the broader context of a heated rap battle, with incendiary language and offensive accusations hurled by both participants, would not incline the reasonable listener to believe that ‘Not Like Us’ imparts verifiable facts about Plaintiff,” Judge Vargas wrote.
An aerial photo depicting Drake’s mansion doubles as the song’s cover art. The photo, per the judge, had “an overlay of more than a dozen sex offender markers,” but Vargas said it was “obviously exaggerated and doctored.”
“No reasonable person would view the Image and believe that, in fact, law enforcement had designated thirteen residents in Drake’s home as sex offenders,” Judge Vargas wrote.
Judge Vargas also pointed out that Drizzy, too, took low blows in the rap beef. Before ‘Not Like Us,’ she said Drake mocked Kendrick Lamar’s height and shoe size. Additionally, he questioned Lamar’s success in the April 2024 track ‘Push Ups.’ Meanwhile, Kendrick Lamar insulted Drizzy’s fashion sense that same month in ‘Euphoria.’ Judge Vargas wrote that the insults escalated from there, becoming “vicious, personal.”
Considering the medium the rappers used to insult each other, Judge Vargas concluded that the average listener knows better. She said listeners would not consider a diss track “a product of a thoughtful or disinterested investigation, conveying to the public fact-checked verifiable content.”
Per AP, Vargas wrote that ‘Not Like Us’ was “replete with profanity, trash-talking, threats of violence, and figurative and hyperbolic language, all of which are indicia of opinion.” A reasonable listener, she added, “would conclude that Lamar is rapping hyperbolic vituperations.”
Drake’s Team & UMG Reacts To Lawsuit Dismissal
After the decision, Drake’s legal team issued a statement: “We intend to appeal today’s ruling, and we look forward to the Court of Appeals reviewing it.”
For context, Drizzy filed the lawsuit in January. It does not name Kendrick Lamar. Instead, the paperwork alleges Universal Music Group (UMG) intentionally published and promoted ‘Not Like Us,’ despite knowing the lyrics contained false and defamatory allegations. The lawsuit claims the song messed up his reputation and decreased the value of his brand. Additionally, Drake alleged that the song encourages listeners to use vigilante justice against him. He even blamed ‘Not Like Us’ for attempted break-ins and the shooting of a security guard at his Toronto home.
UMG immediately denied the allegations. Interestingly, Universal Music Group is the parent record label for both Drake and Kendrick Lamar. It released a statement following the lawsuit dismissal.
“From the outset, this suit was an affront to all artists and their creative expression and never should have seen the light of day,” UMG said. “We’re pleased with the court’s dismissal and look forward to continuing our work successfully promoting Drake’s music and investing in his career.”
Mustard Shares THIS Post After Dismissal
It’s no debate that ‘Not Like Us’ was one of 2024’s biggest songs. Even Judge Vargas described it as having a “catchy beat and propulsive bassline.” Outside of court, Kendrick Lamar’s diss won record of the year and song of the year at the Grammys. It also helped make this year’s Super Bowl halftime show the most-watched ever, as fans speculated whether Lamar would actually perform it. He did, but with altered lyrics and the acknowledgment of the UMG lawsuit!
Mustard, who produced the diss, joined Kenny on the Super Bowl stage. He’s stuck by the artist’s rivalry with Drake. After the dismissal news on Thursday, Mustard took to X with a post that has fans thinking it’s a response to the legal update!
The internet just won’t let up on Ayesha Curry. After her ‘Call Her Daddy’ interview blew up online due to comments she made about her marriage to Steph Curry, old clips from past appearances have started popping up too. In one trending clip, Ayesha said she thought her life would be completely different–no marriage or kids. Another viral clip shows her playful reaction to another man during a talk show interview. Let’s get into the resurfaced clips that have the internet coming for her again!
Resurfaced Clip Shows Ayesha Curry Commenting On Marriage To Steph Curry
Okay, so BOOM! An old clip of Ayesha Curry from season 4 of ‘The Real’ talk show is spinning the block on Instagram right now. Fans swear the video proves she’s been playing in Steph Curry’s face. In the clip, a shirtless man walks out with drinks, abs on full display, and Ayesha reacts by jokingly trying to slide off her wedding ring. Sis was clearly just playing, and even the show’s hosts thought her gesture was funny. But folks in the comment section of askablkman’s video weren’t amused! Some even called it straight-up embarrassing. Peep the footage below.
Here’s What Ayesha Said About Marriage & Children
And then came another one! The internet wasted no time cutting up after Ayesha Curry admitted on the ‘Call Her Daddy’ podcast that she didn’t always want marriage or kids.
“I thought I was going to be a career girl and that’s it! I had my eyes set on goals… I was never the little girl that dreamt about the wedding dress and all of that,” Ayesha said during the interview.
She explained that she’s always been locked in on her goals, even after becoming a mom. Ayesha said she loves motherhood but still feels she’s meant to do more. “After my daughter turned one, I remember there being a shift… I have goals for myself, this doesn’t feel right. I love being a mom, but I love doing other things too,” she added. The interview dropped a month ago, but folks online still are split over whether she went too far with her comments.
Ayesha curry is living proof that no matter if your rich and successful women will still find a way to complain https://t.co/sC5B65oyfJ
The Internet Weighs In On Ayesha’s Comments About Marriage
After TSR shared the video of Ayesha’s interview, the comment section lit up with reactions. Some thought her responses were disrespectful while others didn’t see the issue. A few even defended her, pointing out that she praised Steph a lot throughout the chat.
Instagram user @allanpachino wrote, “What’s wrong with not wanting something in the beginning then being pleasantly surprised and happy with what you got? Why is this a topic. She said nothing wrong.🤷🏿♂️”
Instagram user @shanae310 wrote, “She didn’t say, she regretted any of it. She just had her life planned out and ahead of her🤷🏾♀️”
While Instagram user @she_tu wrote, “All I got from that interview was that she didn’t imagine her life as a mother and wife UNTIL SHE MET HER MAN! 😍😍😍”
Then Instagram user @melle_j_ wrote, “Baby I have three children and that absolutely was not the plan 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣”
Another Instagram user @candyyyashley wrote, “She ain’t said nothing wrong. Y’all want her husband to leave her so bad 😂”
Instagram user @candy_yamz wrote, “She said what 85 percent of women feel but won’t say out loud.”
While another Instagram user @foreverjonezin wrote, “The way y’all took what she said way out of context is crazy 😂”
Then another Instagram user @elhazael715 wrote, “Just imagine if Steph said the EXACT SAME THING that Ayesha said & then tell us what your reaction would be…”
Finally, Instagram user @landonromano wrote, “What ppl want out of life changes all the time that’s normal . Look at y’all exes at one point that’s what YOU wanted 😂😂 see how that work.”
If you’ve been side-eyeing those viral weight-loss shots but couldn’t justify the price tag, Costco just might’ve changed the game. The wholesale giant is now offering Wegovy and Ozempic — yep, the same blockbuster drugs all over your timeline — at a major discount for its members. And, let’s just say…the TL is shook.
According to drugmaker Novo Nordisk, Costco pharmacies are selling the medications for $499 a month for self-pay members — way less than the list price of $1,349. And, if you’ve got that Executive Membership or use a Costco Citibank Visa, you can snatch an extra 2% off. Novo Nordisk says this collab is all about access, especially as they compete with Eli Lilly’s rival meds, Zepbound and Mounjaro, while also trying to edge out those unregulated compounded versions flooding medical spas and telehealth sites.
Social Media Split Over Costco’s Weight Loss Move
One Instagram user @fullfigureblackbarbie said, “Now I’m going to try it“
And, Instagram user @4beautiful_mel added, “Welp looks like I’m signing up with Costco 😂”
Instagram user @holland7367 commented, “$500 is still outrageous“
Meanwhile, Instagram user @therealdjstacks shared, “Ain’t Ozempic getting sued like crazy right now 😆”
While Instagram user @mr.6foot9 commented, “This sh*t going to ruin life’s later on lol“
Then Instagram user @crownthyking wrote, “Imagine a lady in a apron saying you ‘want to try [a] shot’ in Costco 🤣”
Instagram user @fantoine14 said, “Is it the Kirkland brand 😂😂😂”
Lastly, Instagram user @ajo_mvv added, “Any employee discounts? If so, where do I apply?“
Ozempic Hype Grows As Costco Joins In
But, make no mistake, this is still big business. Wegovy and Ozempic are FDA-approved GLP-1 injections that help curb appetite and promote weight loss. While Ozempic is officially for Type 2 diabetes, both drugs have been flying off shelves thanks to their off-label use for dropping pounds. With Costco entering the chat, folks might finally get their hands on these meds without blowing the budget — and let’s just say, the girls (and the guys) are ready to load up the cart.
Troy Masters was a cheerleader. When my name was called as the Los Angeles Press Club’s Print Journalist of the Year for 2020, Troy leapt out of his seat with a whoop and an almost jazz-hand enthusiasm, thrilled that the mainstream audience attending the Southern California Journalism Awards gala that October night in 2021 recognized the value of the LGBTQ community’s Los Angeles Blade.
That joy has been extinguished. On Wednesday, Dec. 11, after frantic unanswered calls from his sister Tammy late Monday and Tuesday, Troy’s longtime friend and former partner Arturo Jiminez did a wellness check at Troy’s L.A. apartment and found him dead, with his beloved dog Cody quietly alive by his side. The L.A. Coroner determined Troy Masters died by suicide. No note was recovered. He was 63.
Considered smart, charming, committed to LGBTQ people and the LGBTQ press, Troy’s inexplicable suicide shook everyone, even those with whom he sometimes clashed.
Troy’s sister and mother – to whom he was absolutely devoted – are devastated. “We are still trying to navigate our lives without our precious brother/son. I want the world to know that Troy was loved and we always tried to let him know that,” says younger sister Tammy Masters.
Tammy was 16 when she discovered Troy was gay and outed him to their mother. A “busy-body sister,” Tammy picked up the phone at their Tennessee home and heard Troy talking with his college boyfriend. She confronted him and he begged her not to tell.
“Of course, I ran and told Mom,” Tammy says, chuckling during the phone call. “But she – like all mothers – knew it. She knew it from an early age but loved him unconditionally; 1979 was a time [in the Deep South] when this just was not spoken of. But that didn’t stop Mom from being in his corner.”
Mom even marched with Troy in his first Gay Pride Parade in New York City. “Mom said to him, ‘Oh, my! All these handsome men and not one of them has given me a second look! They are too busy checking each other out!” Tammy says, bursting into laughter. “Troy and my mother had that kind of understanding that she would always be there and always have his back!
“As for me,” she continues, “I have lost the brother that I used to fight for in any given situation. And I will continue to honor his cause and lifetime commitment to the rights and freedom for the LGBTQ community!”
Tammy adds: “The outpouring of love has been comforting at this difficult time and we thank all of you!”
Troy Masters and his beloved dog Cody.
No one yet knows why Troy took his life. We may never know. But Troy and I often shared our deeply disturbing bouts with drowning depression. Waves would inexplicitly come upon us, triggered by sadness or an image or a thought we’d let get mangled in our unresolved, inescapable past trauma.
We survived because we shared our pain without judgment or shame. We may have argued – but in this, we trusted each other. We set everything else aside and respectfully, actively listened to the words and the pain within the words.
Listening, Indian philosopher Krishnamurti once said, is an act of love. And we practiced listening. We sought stories that led to laughter. That was the rope ladder out of the dark rabbit hole with its bottomless pit of bullying and endless suffering. Rung by rung, we’d talk and laugh and gripe about our beloved dogs.
I shared my 12 Step mantra when I got clean and sober: I will not drink, use or kill myself one minute at a time. A suicide survivor, I sought help and I urged him to seek help, too, since I was only a loving friend – and sometimes that’s not enough.
(If you need help, please reach out to talk with someone: call or text 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. They also have services in Spanish and for the deaf.)
In 2015, Troy wrote a personal essay for Gay City News about his idyllic childhood in the 1960s with his sister in Nashville, where his stepfather was a prominent musician. The people he met “taught me a lot about having a mission in life.”
During summers, they went to Dothan, Ala., to hang out with his stepfather’s mother, Granny Alabama. But Troy learned about “adult conversation — often filled with derogatory expletives about Blacks and Jews” and felt “my safety there was fragile.”
It was a harsh revelation. “‘Troy is a queer,’ I overheard my stepfather say with energetic disgust to another family member,” Troy wrote. “Even at 13, I understood that my feelings for other boys were supposed to be secret. Now I knew terror. What my stepfather said humiliated me, sending an icy panic through my body that changed my demeanor and ruined my confidence. For the first time in my life, I felt depression and I became painfully shy. Alabama became a place, not of love, not of shelter, not of the magic of family, but of fear.”
At the public pool, “kids would scream, ‘faggot,’ ‘queer,’ ‘chicken,’ ‘homo,’ as they tried to dunk my head under the water. At one point, a big crowd joined in –– including kids I had known all my life –– and I was terrified they were trying to drown me.
“My depression became dangerous and I remember thinking of ways to hurt myself,” Troy wrote.
But Troy Masters — who left home at 17 and graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville — focused on creating a life that prioritized being of service to his own intersectional LGBTQ people. He also practiced compassion and last August, Troy reached out to his dying stepfather. A 45-minute Facetime farewell turned into a lovefest of forgiveness and reconciliation.
Troy discovered his advocacy chops as an ad representative at the daring gay and lesbian activist publication Outweek from 1989 to 1991.
“We had no idea that hiring him would change someone’s life, its trajectory and create a lifelong commitment” to the LGBTQ press, says Outweek’s co-founder and former editor-in-chief Gabriel Rotello, now a TV producer. “He was great – always a pleasure to work with. He had very little drama – and there was a lot of drama at Outweek. It was a tumultuous time and I tended to hire people because of their activism,” including Michelangelo Signorile, Masha Gessen, and Sarah Pettit.
Rotello speculates that because Troy “knew what he was doing” in a difficult profession, he was determined to launch his own publication when Outweek folded. “I’ve always been very happy it happened that way for Troy,” Rotello says. “It was a cool thing.”
Troy and friends launched NYQ, renamed QW, funded by record producer and ACT UP supporter Bill Chafin. QW (QueerWeek) was the first glossy gay and lesbian magazine published in New York City featuring news, culture, and events. It lasted for 18 months until Chafin died of AIDS in 1992 at age 35.
The horrific Second Wave of AIDS was peaking in 1992 but New Yorkers had no gay news source to provide reliable information at the epicenter of the epidemic.
“When my business partner died of AIDS and I had to close shop, I was left hopeless and severely depressed while the epidemic raged around me. I was barely functioning,” Troy told VoyageLA in 2018. “But one day, a friend in Moscow, Masha Gessen, urged me to get off my back and get busy; New York’s LGBT community was suffering an urgent health care crisis, fighting for basic legal rights and against an increase in violence. That, she said, was not nothing and I needed to get back in the game.”
Staff of Gay News City in New York City, which Troy Masters founded in 2002.
“We were always in total agreement that the work we were doing was important and that any story we delved into had to be done right,” Schindler wrote in Gay City News.
Though the two “sometimes famously crossed swords,” Troy’s sudden death has special meaning for Schindler. “I will always remember Troy’s sweetness and gentleness. Five days before his death, he texted me birthday wishes with the tag, ‘I hope you get a meaningful spanking today.’ That devilishness stays with me.”
Troy had “very high EI (Emotional Intelligence), Schindler says in a phone call. “He had so much insight into me. It was something he had about a lot of people – what kind of person they were; what they were really saying.”
Troy was also very mischievous. Schindler recounts a time when the two met a very important person in the newspaper business and Troy said something provocative. “I held my breath,” Schindler says. “But it worked. It was an icebreaker. He had the ability to connect quickly.”
The journalistic standard at LGNY and Gay City News was not a question of “objectivity” but fairness. “We’re pro-gay,” Schindler says, quoting Andy Humm. “Our reporting is clear advocacy yet I think we were viewed in New York as an honest broker.”
Schindler thinks Troy’s move to Los Angeles to jump-start his entrepreneurial spirit and reconnect with Arturo, who was already in L.A., was risky. “He was over 50,” Schindler says. “I was surprised and disappointed to lose a colleague – but he was always surprising.”
“In many ways, crossing the continent and starting a print newspaper venture in this digitally obsessed era was a high-wire, counter-intuitive decision,” Troy told VoyageLA. “But I have been relentlessly determined and absolutely confident that my decades of experience make me uniquely positioned to do this.”
Troy launched The Pride L.A. as part of the Mirror Media Group, which publishes the Santa Monica Mirror and other Westside community papers. But on June 12, 2016, the day of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla., Troy said he found MAGA paraphernalia in a partner’s office. He immediately plotted his exit. On March 10, 2017, Troy and the “internationally respected” Washington Blade announced the launch of the Los Angeles Blade.
Troy Masters and then-Rep. Adam Schiff. (Photo courtesy of Karen Ocamb)
In a March 23, 2017 commentary promising a commitment to journalistic excellence, Troy wrote: “We are living in a paradigm shifting moment in real time. You can feel it. Sometimes it’s overwhelming. Sometimes it’s toxic. Sometimes it’s perplexing, even terrifying. On the other hand, sometimes it’s just downright exhilarating. This moment is a profound opportunity to reexamine our roots and jumpstart our passion for full equality.”
Troy tried hard to keep that commitment, including writing a personal essay to illustrate that LGBTQ people are part of the #MeToo movement. In “Ending a Long Silence,” Troy wrote about being raped at 14 or 15 by an Amtrak employee on “The Floridian” traveling from Dothan, Ala., to Nashville.
“What I thought was innocent and flirtatious affection quickly turned sexual and into a full-fledged rape,” Troy wrote. “I panicked as he undressed me, unable to yell out and frozen by fear. I was falling into a deepening shame that was almost like a dissociation, something I found myself doing in moments of childhood stress from that moment on. Occasionally, even now.”
From the personal to the political, Troy Masters tried to inform and inspire LGBTQ people.
“Just recently he invited us to participate with the LA Blade and other partners to support the LGBTQ forum on Asylum Seekers and Immigrants. He cared about underserved community. He explored LGBTQ who were ignored and forgotten. He wanted to end HIV; help support people living with HIV but most of all, he fought for justice,” Zaldivar says. “I am saddened by his loss. His voice will never be forgotten. We will remember him as an unsung hero. May he rest in peace in the hands of God.”
“It pains me to know that my dear, beautiful and amazing friend Troy is no longer with us … He always gave me and many people light,” Salcedo says. “I know that we are living in dark times right now and we need to understand that our ancestors and transcestors are the one who are going to walk us through these dark times… See you on the other side, my dear and beautiful sibling in the struggle, Troy Masters.”
“Troy was immensely committed to covering stories from the LGBTQ community. Following his move to Los Angeles from New York, he became dedicated to featuring news from the City of West Hollywood in the Los Angeles Blade and we worked with him for many years,” says Joshua Schare, director of Communications for the City of West Hollywood, who knew Troy for 30 years, starting in 1994 as a college intern at OUT Magazine.
“Like so many of us at the City of West Hollywood and in the region’s LGBTQ community, I will miss him and his day-to-day impact on our community.”
Troy Masters accepting a proclamation from the City of West Hollywood. (Photo by Richard Settle for the City of West Hollywood)
“Troy Masters was a visionary, mentor, and advocate; however, the title I most associated with him was friend,” says West Hollywood Mayor John Erickson. “Troy was always a sense of light and working to bring awareness to issues and causes larger than himself. He was an advocate for so many and for me personally, not having him in the world makes it a little less bright. Rest in Power, Troy. We will continue to cause good trouble on your behalf.”
Erickson adjourned the WeHo City Council meeting on Monday in his memory.
Masters launched the Los Angeles Blade with his partners from the Washington Blade, Lynne Brown, Kevin Naff, and Brian Pitts, in 2017.
Cover of the election issue of the Los Angeles Blade.
“Troy’s reputation in New York was well known and respected and we were so excited to start this new venture with him,” says Naff. “His passion and dedication to queer LA will be missed by so many. We will carry on the important work of the Los Angeles Blade — it’s part of his legacy and what he would want.”
AIDS Healthcare Foundation President Michael Weinstein, who collaborated with Troy on many projects, says he was “a champion of many things that are near and dear to our heart,” including “being in the forefront of alerting the community to the dangers of Mpox.”
“All of who he was creates a void that we all must try to fill,” Weinstein says. “His death by suicide reminds us that despite the many gains we have made, we’re not all right a lot of the time. The wounds that LGBT people have experienced throughout our lives are yet to be healed even as we face the political storm clouds ahead that will place even greater burdens on our psyches.”
May the memory and legacy of Troy Masters be a blessing.
Veteran LGBTQ journalist Karen Ocamb served as the news editor and reporter for the Los Angeles Blade.
Pooh Shiesty is finally free after serving three years of his federal sentence. Less than 24 hours after his release, footage of his ‘Welcome Home’ celebration also popped up online. Loved ones greeted him with lavish decor and a family-style dinner party that had fans wishing they got an invite! Let’s get into why Shiesty was in prison, what led to his early release and what’s next after having a good time with his people!
Shiesty, real name Lontrell Williams Jr., was imprisoned in a Pennsylvania facility until Monday (October 6). In 2022, a judge sentenced him to serve five years and three months in prison for a federal firearms charge. He had pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess guns to further crimes of violence and drug trafficking, per ABC24. A release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida revealed that he had agreed to the conspiracy concerning three separate shooting incidents between July 2020 and May 2021.
At first, Pooh faced up to 20 years in prison. Ultimately, he got sentenced to 63 months with one year of time served. Rather than serving his entire sentence, Pooh walked months before the scheduled release date on April 11, 2026. His early release, per Complex, could be related to good behavior.
Rapper’s Lawyer Speaks Out As Release Footage Trends
As videos of Pooh Shiesty started trending, the rapper’s lawyer spoke to XXL about his release. Bradford Cohen told the outlet he’s “elated” about the early release. Additionally, the attorney said he believes Pooh Shiesty will thrive and rise following this time behind bars.
“The government fought hard to give him 10, but after listening to the case, the Judge agreed with us that it was not appropriate and gave him a sentence that resulted in him serving 3 years. I know he will come back bigger than ever and definitely learned from this experience. He is excited to start the next chapter of his story. I believe that everything happens for a reason, and I think that this is just the beginning of his second act,” Cohen said.
See Posts From Pooh Shiesty’s ‘Welcome Home’ Party
As mentioned, Pooh Shiesty came home to what seems like plenty of love. While his fans celebrated online, his loved ones did their big one privately. One clip shows the rapper posing near an in-ground pool with silver balloons and the words “Welcome Home” in giant LED-lit letters behind him. The person recording and others cheered him on as he walked around the area!
Meanwhile, another video shows a custom-decorated hallway, from green wallpaper with his name to a floor decal that reads “Main Slime.” The family also had green balloons and a Shiesty background near a fully-decorated dinner table for more than 10 people. Pooh Shiesty appeared to be smiling as he walked through the spot.
More footage from the celebration shows Pooh Shiesty rocking layers of diamond chains while flexing several stacks of money. By then, he had seemingly changed into a Gucci tee and designer shorts. He appeared to be sitting on top of a luxury vehicle while poppin’ his wealth. One photo showed him posing with the stacks (fanned out this time) and rappers Big30 and K Carbon.
High school history teacher Antoine Stroman says he wants his students to ask “the hard questions” — about slavery, Jim Crow, the murder of George Floyd and other painful episodes that have shaped the United States.
Now, Stroman worries that President Donald Trump’s push for “patriotic education” could complicate the direct, factual way he teaches such events. Last month, the president announced a plan to present American history that emphasizes “a unifying and uplifting portrayal of the nation’s founding ideals,” and inspires “a love of country.”
Stroman does not believe students at the magnet high school where he teaches in Philadelphia will buy this version, nor do many of the teachers I’ve spoken with. They say they are committed to honest accounts of the shameful events and painful eras that mark our nation’s history.
“As a teacher, you have to have some conversations about teaching slavery. It ishard,”Stroman told me. “Teaching the Holocaust is hard. I can’tnotteach something because it is hurtful. My students will come in and ask questions, and you really have to make up your mind to say, ‘I can’t rain dance around this.’”
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These are tense times for educators: In recent weeks, dozens of teachers and college professors have been fired or placed under investigation for social media posts about their views of slain 31-year-old conservative activist Charlie Kirk, ushering in a slew of lawsuits and legal challenges.
In Indiana, a portal called Eyes on Education encourages parents of school children, students and educators to submit “real examples” of objectionable curricula, policies or programs. And nearly 250 state, federal and local entities have introduced bills and other policies that restrict the content of teaching and trainings related to race and sex in public school. Supporters of these laws say discussion of such topics can leave students feeling inferior or superior based on race, gender or ethnicity; they believe parents, not schools, should teach students about political doctrine.
“It has become very difficult to navigate,” said Jacob Maddaus, who teaches high school and college history in Maine and regularly participates in workshops on civics and the Constitution, including programs funded by the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute. Almost 80 percent of teachers surveyed recently by the institute say they have “self-censored” in class due to fear of pushback or controversy. They also reported feeling underprepared, unsupported and increasingly afraid to teach vital material.
After Kirk’s death Trump launched a new “civics education coalition,” aimed at “renewing patriotism, strengthening civic knowledge, and advancing a shared understanding of America’s founding principles in schools across the nation.” The coalition is made up made up almost entirely of conservative groups,including Kirk’sTurning Point USA, whose chief education officer, Hutz Hertzberg, said in a statement announcing the effort that he “is more resolved than ever to advance God-centered, virtuous education for students.”
So far, no specific guidelines have emerged: Emails to the Department of Education — sent after the government shut down — were not returned.
Some students, concerned about the shifting historical narratives, have taken steps to help preserve and expand their peers’ access to civics instruction. Among them is Mariya Tinch, an 18-year-old high school senior from rural North Carolina. “Trump’s goal of teaching ‘patriotic’ education is actually what made me start developing my app, called Revolve Justice, to help young students who didn’t have access to proper civic education get access to policies and form their own political opinions instead of having them decided for them,” she told me.
Growing up in a predominantly white area, Tinch said, “caused civic education to be more polarized in my life than I would like as a young Black girl. A lot of my knowledge in regard to civic education came from outside research after teachers were unable to fully answer my questions about the depth of the issues that we are taught to ignore.”
Mariya Tinch, a high school senior in North Carolina, at the 2025 Ready, Set, App! competition (second from left). She developed an app to help students get access to policies and form their own political opinions. Credit: Courtesy of Mariya Tinch
Other students are upset about federal cuts to history education programs, including National History Day, a 50-year-old nonprofit that runs a history competition for some 500,000 students who engage in original historic research and provides teachers with resources and training. Youth groups are now forming as well, including Voters of Tomorrow, which has a goal of building youth political power by “engaging,educating, and empowering our peers.”
There will surely be more attention focused on the founders’ original ideals for America as we approach the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence this July. Some teachers and groups that support civics teachers are creating resources, including the nonprofit iCivics, with its “We can teach hard things — and we should” guidelines.
How all of these different messages resonate with students remains to be seen. In the meantime, Jessica Ellison, executive director of the nonprofit National Council for History Education is fielding a lot of questions from history teachers and giving them specific advice.
“They might be anxious about any teaching that could get them on social media or reported by a student or parent,” Ellison told me, noting the strategy she shares with teachers is to focus on “the three S’s –— sources, state standards and student questions.”
Ellison also encourages teachers to “lean into the work of historians. Read the original sources, the primary sources, the secession documents from Mississippi and put them in front of students. If it is direct from the source you cannot argue with it.”
In September, students at Berlin High School in Delaware, Ohio, participated in a sign creation and postcard campaign for a levy on the ballot. Credit: Courtesy Michael LaFlamme
Michael LaFlamme has his own methods: He teaches Advanced Placement government and U.S. history at Olentangy Berlin High School outside of Columbus, Ohio, where many of his students work the polls during elections to see up close how voting works. They learn about civics via a participatory political science project that asks students to write a letter to an elected official. He also encourages students to watch debates or political or Sunday morning news shows with a parent or grandparent, and attend a school board meeting.
“There is so much good learning to be done around current events,” LaFlamme told me, noting that “it becomes more about community and experience. We are looking at all of it as political scientists.”
For Maddaus, the teacher in Maine, there is yet another obstacle: How his students consume news reinforces the enormous obstacles he and other teachers face to keep them informed and thinking critically. Earlier this fall, he heard some of his students talking about a rumor they’d heard over the weekend.
“Mr. Maddaus, is it true? Is President Donald Trump dead?” they asked.
Maddaus immediately wanted to know how they got this false news.
“We saw it on TikTok,” one of the students replied — not a surprising answer, perhaps, given that 4 out of 10 young adults get their news from the platform.
Maddaus says he shook his head, corrected the record and then went back to his regularly scheduled history lesson.
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