U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) reintroduced a bill on Wednesday that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity during the federal jury selection process.

The bipartisan Jury Access for Capable Citizens and Equality in Service Selection (ACCESS) Act would enshrine protections for LGBTQ Americans who are serving or who might be selected to serve on juries, alongside rules proscribing discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, and economic status that are already enforced in federal courtrooms.

“Serving on a jury is a civic duty that no one should be prevented from fulfilling because of who they are or who they love,” Shaheen said in a press release. “It’s preposterous that under current law there are no protections prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ+ jurors in federal courts and Congress must take action to rectify this injustice.” 

“Serving on a jury is a fundamental right and obligation that no individual should be prohibited from fulfilling based on their sexual orientation or gender identity,” said Collins. “I have long worked to fight discrimination, and I am proud to join this effort to help eliminate bias from our judicial system.” 

Amid the absence of nationwide protections, the release notes that only 17 states “prohibit exclusion from jury service in state court based on sexual orientation” while “just 12 protect against discrimination based on gender identity.”

This spring, Democratic lawmakers from the House and the Senate, including leadership from both chambers, reintroduced the Equality Act, which would codify LGBTQ inclusive federal nondiscrimination rules in a range of contexts from employment and housing to public accommodations and education.

Shaheen and Collins were integral to the bill’s inclusion of protections applying to jury service.

June 18 is Autistic Pride Day — a day for us, autistic people, to celebrate our existence despite a world that often tries to erase or change us. Most of us don’t see autism as a disorder to fight; it’s part of who we are — autism determines how we think, communicate, and see the world. That’s why rhetoric like RFK Jr.’s “War on Autism” feels so deeply offensive.

But today, in the face of growing attacks on both autistic and LGBTQI+ rights, it’s important to focus on something hopeful. There’s a strong overlap between the autistic and LGBTQI+ communities — and since Autistic Pride Day falls in the middle of Pride month, I want to celebrate that connection.

Here are eight incredible autistic LGBTQI+ people who have helped change how the world sees both communities, and who can inspire the next generation.

Jim Sinclair (activist)

Jim Sinclair is a founder of the modern neurodiversity movement; a movement based on the idea that the diversity of how the human brain works is a natural part of human variation, like skin color or sexual orientation. Jim Sinclair is a co-founder of the first autistic organization created by autistic people for autistic people: Autistic Network International. His essay “Don’t Mourn For Us” helped millions of parents worldwide to accept their autistic kids. Jim is also an asexual and intersex activist who was raised as a girl. Jim hadn’t spoken orally before the age of 12 but felt from early on that he was not a girl. He was almost institutionalized in a psychiatric facility for refusing to accept a female gender identity and role but was instead subjected to “conversion therapy.”

As an adult, Jim speaks for intersex rights in front of the Intersex Society of North America and refuses to accept the gender binary for himself.

Bella Ramsey (actress)

Bella is a world-famous British actress, best known for their roles as Lyanna Mormont in “Game of Thrones” and Ellie in “The Last of Us” TV series. They are also an openly nonbinary autistic person, and one of the most visible autistic queer people in the world.

Despite the hate Bella receives because of their political views and non-conventional appearance, they continue to openly support trans rights and refuse to accept the femininity assigned at birth.

Andrew Joseph White (writer)

Andrew is an American young adult author whose books “Hell Followed With Us,” “The Spirit Bares Its Teeth,” and “Compound Fracture” became bestsellers and received numerous awards. Born and raised in West Virginia, Andrew is openly bi, autistic, and trans. He writes stories about autistic trans kids — stories he needed when he was younger — often with speculative horror elements that deal with transphobia, ableism, family alienation, and religious bigotry.

Andrew’s first adult horror novel, “You Weren’t Meant To Be Human” about an autistic trans man, will be published in September 2025 and is inspired by trans people’s struggle for abortion rights.

Matt Cain (writer, broadcaster)

Matthew Cain is an openly gay British writer and broadcaster, mostly famous for his novels “The Madonna of Bolton,” “The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle,” “Becoming Ted,” and “One Love.” He was also Channel 4’s first culture editor and editor-in-chief of Attitude magazine and has judged the Costa Prize. In 2025, Matt was awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his services to LGBTQI+ culture — a well-deserved recognition for someone who’s helped bring queer stories into the light.

In 2025, Matt announced that he had been diagnosed with autism, which was “eye-opening” for him and helped him to rethink his past. It also provided a new role model for autistic gay people around the globe.

Lý Xīnzhèn Zhāngsūn (activist, attorney)

Lý Xīnzhèn Zhāngsūn, formally and mostly known as Lydia X. Z. Brown, is a queer, nonbinary, East Asian American advocate, attorney, writer, educator, and community organizer whose work centers on disability justice — particularly for autistic and multiply marginalized people. Over the past 15 years, they’ve trained hundreds across academia, nonprofits, companies, and government on issues at the intersection of disability, race, gender, queerness, and migration. They are one of the most outspoken advocates for disabled people of color in the world, and their work has inspired autistic activists worldwide.

They co-founded the Autistic People of Color Fund and co-edited “All the Weight of Our Dreams: On Living Racialized Autism.” As an educator, they teach in the Disability Studies Program and the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at Georgetown University, as well as in the American Studies Program at American University’s Department of Critical Race, Gender, and Culture Studies.

Jarry (social media influencer)

Jarry is an autistic transgender activist and social media influencer from Russia, who created the first Russian-language YouTube channel about the specific presentation of autism among the majority of women, girls, and other individuals assigned female at birth — a topic still unknown not just to general public, but to many psychiatrists and experts in the post-Soviet region. Because of the Soviet colonial legacy, Russian remains a dominant language in Eastern Europe, so Jarry has influence beyond Russia.

Jarry also led online support groups for autistic folks — an important step in a region where there are no such groups in most of the cities. After Russia launched its full-scale war against Ukraine in 2022, Jarry became an outspoken supporter of Ukraine, and had to ask for political asylum in Europe.

Hannah Gadsby (comedian)

Hannah is an Australian comedian, actor, and writer who won the final of the Raw Comedy competition for new comedians in 2006. In 2018, their show “Nanette” on Netflix won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special and a Peabody Award.

Hannah was assigned female at birth but identifies as genderqueer. Their wife is also their producer, and their queerness is an integral part of their professional life.

They found out they are autistic later in life, which helped them better understand their experiences. Hannah also made millions of people rethink the stereotype that autistic people don’t understand humor.

Akwaeke Emezi (writer)

Akwaeke Emezi is a Nigerian author, best known for their critically acclaimed novels “Freshwater,” “Pet,” and the New York Times bestselling “The Death of Vivek Oji.” In their novels, Akwaeke explores topics such as immigration and displacement, trauma (queerness, Blackness, and alienation. For example, while writing “Pet,” Akwaeke focused on creating the book they needed while growing up as a trans Black disabled person.

Born in Umuahia, Nigeria, like many Nigerian people, Akwaeke faced a lot of stigma in the West. They have struggled with mental health like many non-white, neurodivergent queer people living at the intersection of multiple identities.

They are a powerful role model for non-white autistic people seeking recognition and acceptance despite widespread stigma.

There are many more amazing autistic LGBTQI+ people around the world who are changing both communities every day. This list is extremely subjective and based on my own experience with autistic community in different countries and the way I saw the influence of specific people worldwide. Despite that in making this list, I tried to include as many different autistic people from various backgrounds as possible, unfortunately, many incredible autistic LGBTQI+ folks remain unseen due to regional and linguistic barriers that prevent their stories from reaching a wider audience.

In a significant moment for India’s LGBTQ community ahead of Pride month, the Madras High Court on May 22 affirmed people can form families outside of marriage.

The decision, handed down by Justices G.R. Swaminathan and V. Lakshminarayanan, emphasized “marriage is not the sole mode to found a family,” recognizing the concept of “chosen families” as a well-established principle in LGBTQ jurisprudence.

A two judge Madras High Court panel ordered the release of a 25-year-old lesbian woman who had been forcibly separated from her partner and subjected to harassment by her birth family. 

The Madras High Court sharply criticized the local police for their mishandling of the case, condemning their decision to force the woman back to her parents against her will. The two judges denounced the police’s “rank inaction” and insensitivity, emphasizing that government officials, particularly law enforcement, are obligated to respond swiftly and appropriately to complaints from LGBTQ people, ensuring their rights and safety are upheld.

The Madras High Court expressed unease with the term “queer,” noting its dictionary definitions as “strange” or “odd.” The judges questioned the appropriateness of the label in the context of describing LGBTQ identities, urging sensitivity in language to reflect the community’s dignity and rights.

“For a homosexual individual, their sexual orientation is natural and normal,” said the judges. “There is nothing strange about such inclinations. Why then should they be labeled queer?”

The Madras High Court judges observed that not all parents embrace their children’s identities, unfavorably comparing the detained woman’s mother to late-Justice Leila Seth, who publicly supported her son’s sexual orientation. The panel highlighted Seth’s acceptance as a model for familial understanding, underscoring the need for greater societal compassion toward LGBTQ people.

“The mother of the detenue is no Leila Seth,” said the court. “We understand her desire for her daughter to live a conventional heterosexual life, marry, and settle down. However, as an adult, the detenue is entitled to choose her own path.”

The Madras High Court emphasized the concept of “family” must be understood expansively, citing the Supreme Court marriage equality case and other precedents. These international guidelines affirm that all people, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, are entitled to the full spectrum of human rights, reinforcing the court’s stance on recognizing chosen families within the LGBTQ community.

“While the Supriyo case may not have legalized marriage between same-sex couples, they can very well form a family,” the court said in its order. “The concept of ‘chosen family’ is now well settled and acknowledged in LGBTQIA+ jurisprudence. The petitioner and the detenue can very well constitute a family.”

The Madras High Court referenced Supriyo Chakraborty v. Union of India, which is the marriage equality case on which the Supreme Court ruled in 2023.

The Supreme Court in that ruling declined to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples, but recognized the rights of queer people to form families and urged the government to explore civil union protections, bolstering the court’s call for an expanded understanding of family.

The Madras High Court invoked landmark rulings, including NALSA v. Union of India (2014), which affirmed the right to self-identify as one’s gender, Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India (2018), which decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations, and Shakti Vahini v. Union of India (2018), which upheld the right to marry by choice as a fundamental right. The two judges reaffirmed sexual orientation is an individual choice, falling within the ambit of personal liberty protected under Article 21 of the constitution.

Article 21 guarantees the right to life and personal liberty, stating no person shall be deprived of these rights except through lawful procedure. This fundamental right has been expansively interpreted by courts to encompass dignity, privacy, and autonomy, including protections for sexual orientation and other individual identities.

Souvik Saha, an LGBTQ activist and founder of People for Change, a leading Indian advocacy group, described the Madras High Court’s recognition of chosen families as both a relief and a validation of the community’s lived realities.

“As the founder of Jamshedpur Queer Circle and someone who has worked closely with LGBTQ+ individuals navigating rejection, violence, and social isolation, for decades, queer, and trans persons in India have built nurturing ecosystems outside their biological families — often due to rejection, abuse, or lack of acceptance,” said Saha. “This concept of ‘chosen family’ is not new to us; it’s a survival mechanism, a source of healing, and a space where we find dignity, belonging, and love. The fact that the judiciary now formally acknowledges these relationships marks a progressive and humane shift in how family is legally and socially understood.”

Saha shared the story of S, a transgender man from Jamshedpur whose biological family disowned him at 17.

Finding refuge with a queer couple who became his guardians, S received emotional support, celebrated milestones like birthdays, and was guided through education and gender-affirming healthcare. “Isn’t that family?” asked Saha.

Saha told the Washington Blade the Madras High Court’s ruling sparks hope for legal reforms; particularly in securing adoption, inheritance, and caregiving rights for queer people. He said the decision affirms that queer lives are not deviant but diverse, vibrant, and capable of forming loving, responsible families. Most crucially, Saha noted, it sends a powerful message to queer youth in Jamshedpur and other smaller cities that their lives and relationships are valid and valued.

“This ruling is a step forward, but we must be honest. Legal rulings alone won’t change police behavior unless they are followed by systemic structural reforms,” said Saha. “Policing in India is still deeply patriarchal, casteist, and heteronormative. Many officers still view LGBTQ identities as criminal or immoral, even after Section 377 was struck down in 2018.”

Saha said mandatory sensitization programs in every police academy are needed to transform attitudes. He said the inclusion of queer rights in law enforcement curricula — beyond token workshops — are also important. Saha added the recruitment of LGBTQ liaison officers and the formation of compliant mechanisms at the district level is needed.

“This ruling is a strong message from the judiciary, but unless the Ministry of Home Affairs and state police departments institutionalize this into practice, change will remain slow and uneven,” said Saha.