Happy Thursday!

Last night, Republican presidential hopefuls, sans former President Donald Trump, took to the debate stage to yell over each other once again. This time, however, there were only four candidates. While the previous debates didn't focus a lot of attention on LGBTQ+ rights, this one, for some reason, delved right into attacking gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called it child "abuse." It isn't.

Businessman-turned-wannabe politician Vivek Ramaswamy called it a "mental health disorder." It isn't.

Even former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said that while he wouldn't ban gender-affirming care, the treatment is still "dangerous." It isn't.

Every leading medical association supports gender-affirming care for trans youth.

In other news:

• Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez took transphobes to task in a congressional hearing earlier this week.
• A cold case of a murdered gay man in Utah once had a prime suspect. So what happened?
• TV legend Norman Lear died. He was behind a variety of inclusive television, including some of the first positive portrayals of LGBTQ+ people on the small screen.
• Far-right pundit Matt Walsh said that it was probably better for children to have a limb cut off than to have gay parents.

Onward and upward

Alex