On Friday, July 21, 2023, trans activist Federico Barbarossa entered the Miss Italy pageant in protest of its rule to only accept entrants who were “female at birth.” Over a hundred trans men have joined him since then.

According to Italian news outlet Il Primato Nazionale (as reported by NBC News), Miss Italy organizer Patrizia Mirigliani said the pageant would not accept trans women and believes “lately, beauty contests have been trying to make the news using strategies that I think are a bit absurd.”

Mirigliani expressed her thoughts after Rikkie Valerie Kollé became the first trans woman to win the Miss Netherlands contest earlier in July. It is also important to note that Miss Italy is a part of Miss Universe, which is owned by Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip, also known as Anne Jakrajutatip, who is a trans woman.

Barbarossa in turn entered the pageant using his deadname (the name given at birth) in solidarity with trans women. He told Italian newspaper La Repubblica (as reported by LGBTQ Nation), “Miss Italy is not just a beauty contest, but it is part of the country’s cultural history. And excluding trans women automatically means excluding them from history.”

Italy has a long way to go in terms of reaching trans equality, but Barbarossa’s actions as well as those of the other trans men who have stood up for trans women send a message to world leaders that the queer community will not tolerate hatred.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, June 15, 2023, two women caused a chain of events that would lead to them accidentally raising $45,000 for queer books. Amy Vance and Martha Martin went to the Rancho Peñasquitos branch of the San Diego Public Library (SDPL) that day and borrowed all of the library’s queer books.

Later that day, Vance and Martin sent an email to the SDPL’s administrator, Adrianne Peterson, saying that they were borrowing the books permanently as they believed the books encompassed “inappropriate content” and were unsuitable for the general public. The SDPL told the Los Angeles Times that the estimated cost to replace the books was around $235.

After the San Diego Union-Tribune released a piece about Vance and Martin’s actions, the SDPL received an overwhelming amount of support from its community. The New York Times reported that people sent piles of Amazon boxes filled with new books for the library’s collection.

About 180 people also donated $15,000, which the city matched, leaving the SDPL with over $30,000 to continue building its collection of queer books as well as expanding their queer-focused programs. One of these events includes their drag queen story hour series.

SDPL head librarian Misty Jones said it best in a response email on June 21: “Displays such as the one at Rancho Peñasquitos send a powerful message that LGBTQ+ patrons and their allies are respected members of our community. They also serve to encourage conversations and dispel misconceptions and stereotypes that often surround the LGBTQ+ community.”

While community actions such as these will not immediately rid the world of hatred for queer people, they are a step in the right direction. By continuing to stand up for the inherent value and rights of queer people, there is hope for a kinder future.