Jackie Evancho, the classical singer who performed the national anthem at President Trump’s inauguration, is calling out the president for his decision to reverse guidance from the Obama administration that encouraged schools to allow transgender students to use facilities matching their gender identity.
According to White House spokesman Sean Spicer, Trump believes that decisions about transgender students’ access to bathrooms are a “state’s rights issue” that are best left up to state legislatures or local school boards, rather than the federal government.
Evancho, who rose to fame in 2010 after being selected as the runner-up on “America’s Got Talent,” is the sister of 18-year old Juliet Evancho, one of three transgender students suing suburban Pittsburgh’s Pine-Richland School District for discrimination. Under a longstanding policy that had pre-dated the Obama guidance, transgender students were allowed to use the bathrooms that matched their gender identity. But the school board caved to political pressure and instituted a new policy that reversed that policy.
Jackie Evancho took to Twitter Wendesday night to express her disapproval of the Trump administration’s actions, tweeting: “I am obviously disappointed in the @POTUS decision to send the #transgender bathroom issue to the states to decide.#sisterlove.”
I am obviously disappointed in the @POTUS decision to send the #transgender bathroom issue to the states to decide. #sisterlove
The decision by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, as head of the Justice Department, and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, as head of the Education Department, to issue a “Dear Colleague” letter withdrawing the trans-inclusive guidance, has been criticized by many celebrities, including Caitlyn Jenner, who called the move a “disaster,” Ellen DeGeneres, Ellen Page, Lance Bass, Ariana Grande, Kathy Griffin, and Katy Perry, most of whom expressed their disapproval via Twitter.
On Thursday morning, the Evancho sisters appeared on the TODAY show and Good Morning, America to further explain their disappointment with Trump’s latest policy, and reiterating their call for an in-person meeting with him.
“I guess I just want to enlighten him on what my sister, I’ve seen her go through every single day in school and people just like her, what they deal with,” Jackie said of Trump during the GMA interview. “The discrimination, it’s terrible.”
For the second time this summer, Ariana Grande has rebuked President Donald Trump's administration for using her music in a social media post.
The latest dispute erupted after the Team Trump account added Grande's 2024 hit "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)" to a TikTok post that repurposed one of its lyrics.
The post quotes the lyric "Me and my truth we sit in silence..." before adding: "...men can't have babies and should never compete in women's sports."
Democratic lawmakers are demanding answers from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth following reports that transgender service members forced out of the military under President Donald Trump's ban have not received separation pay they are owed.
Trump implemented a more limited ban during his first term, generally requiring transgender troops to serve according to their assigned sex at birth and barring medical transition. The policy exempted certain service members already serving openly or diagnosed with gender dysphoria before it took effect.
But after returning to office last year, Trump issued an executive order aimed at removing nearly all transgender personnel from the military, reinforcing a separate order refusing to recognize transgender identity as valid.
Jay Katari, a board member of equalpride, the parent company of several prominent LGBTQ publications, has resigned following reports that he had expressed support for President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement.
A straight man, Katari was appointed to equalpride's board of directors by its lead investor group in late August 2026 to serve as a "strategic advisor" for "growth and innovation."
Katari was tasked with helping the company "expand its reach," build commercial partnerships, develop recurring revenue, and guide its transformation from a traditional media company into a platform offering "products, services, and experiences for the LGBTQ+ community and its allies," as reported by Kevin Ortega-Rojas on the Here's Why with Kevin Ortega-Rojas Substack.
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