A pioneer of the contemporary gay rights movement was forced to use an alias to protect his father’s career. Jack Nichols, Jr., co-founder of the Mattachine Society of Washington, conducted most of his activism under the pseudonym “Warren Adkins” at the request of his father, Jack Nichols Sr.. The senior Nichols was a Special Agent at the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and believed his son’s sexuality and related advocacy would bring serious career repercussions.

According to records released to Emma Best as part of the Freedom of LGBTQIA+ Information project, Special Agent Nichols was right.

Documents responsive to a request by Tom Nash shed light on a proposed conversion therapy ban in Virginia that failed last January. The documents include emails between experts and Doctor David Brown, Director of the Virginia Department of Health Professions, regarding a conversion therapy “workgroup” convened by Brown in October 2018, and a pair of bills, SB 245 and HB 363, seeking to ban the practice.

In response to a recent public records request, MuckRock received healthcare and health insurance-related complaints from the Massachusetts Division of Insurance and Attorney General’s Office. These complaints reveal that while gender-affirming treatment access in the state has progressed in recent years, policy barriers persist.

Last month, Governor of Hawaii David Ige signed a bill into law preventing state-licensed medical professionals from performing sexual orientation or gender identity conversion therapy on anyone under 18, making the state the 12th so far to implement a ban.

Despite ample evidence of premeditation, public knowledge of political and personal clashes, and a taped confession, Dan White was charged with voluntary manslaughter after he assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. Previously processed Federal Bureau of Investigation records released to Emma Best reveal details about White’s alleged antisemitism and homophobia, and lend credence to accusations that the State’s prosecution of White was performed with “reckless and wanton disregard of normal prosecutorial standards.”