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Kate Sosin

LGBTQ+ Reporter (They/Them)

Hiya, I’m Kate Sosin, one of two LGBTQ+ beat reporters here at The 19th and our (very) unofficial chief chaos officer. I try to report stories or angles that you won’t find anywhere else, the ones that disrupt our assumptions about the world and queer people in it.

In my career, I’ve witnessed the fallout of gay leaders pushing trans-exclusionary employment protections in 2007 (they didn’t pass). I watched as some of the first couples got their civil unions and then marriages as a reporter at Windy City Times in Chicago. I reported as the numbers of transgender homicides rose. I saw the streets fill with people to celebrate the end of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the ban on openly gay military service. I spoke with transgender people a few years later who were barred from service by the Trump administration at Logo TV. I watched kids in South Dakota beg their lawmakers not take away their healthcare. I documented trans women fighting to be placed according to their gender in prisons across the country for NBC News.

I feel like every story I have told and lived comes back to gender and its constraints. I am so proud to be part of a team committed to that work. Still my true joy is my partner, Jane, and our family, a mutual addiction to paint-by-numbers and a shameless addiction to bad TV.

My work is free to consume and free to republish because of contributions from readers like you. A donation of $19 goes a long way toward sustaining our nonprofit newsroom.

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Latest from Kate Sosin

Senate advances Respect for Marriage Act to protect recognition of marriage equality

The stop-gap measure passed the House this summer, and President Joe Biden has vowed to sign it.

Kate Sosin · November 16, 2022
For years, Black trans women have been told their life expectancy is 35 years. That’s false.

While there’s no evidence to support the statistic, experts do worry that it creates a self-fulfilling prophecy for Black trans women.

Kate Sosin · August 17, 2022
Prisons and jails are 'potentially high-risk' for monkeypox but won't fall under a vaccine mandate

Public health experts say the CDC’s decision not to proactively vaccinate those behind bars threatens the health of the public at large.

Kate Sosin · August 16, 2022
What will happen if Obergefell is overturned? Queer legal experts are scrambling

35 states have marriage bans, and experts doubt that Congress could codify marriage equality.

Kate Sosin, Candice Norwood · July 11, 2022
Meet Amy Paris, the trans woman working quietly at the White House to better LGBTQ+ lives

She’s the force behind recent strides, including inclusive TSA screening rules and gender-neutral passports.

Kate Sosin · July 6, 2022
As Pride month closes, LGBTQ+ advocates are split on whether Biden is doing enough to protect the community

Some are cheering the administration’s efforts, while others say there’s more talk than action.

Kate Sosin · June 27, 2022
What it means to remember the Pulse shooting in the era of 'Don’t Say Gay'

Six years after the largest massacre of LGBTQ+ people, Orlando is erecting a museum to a history its school children might not be taught.

Kate Sosin · June 10, 2022
Oklahoma judge reversed ruling taking lesbian mom’s name off of her son’s birth certificate

The order does not guarantee the mother parental rights, which will be decided at a court date in August.

Kate Sosin · June 7, 2022
A lesbian mom raised her son for two years. An Oklahoma judge erased that in 15 minutes.

Kris Williams was removed from her son’s birth certificate in a case experts say could test the boundaries of marriage equality.

Sara Luterman, Kate Sosin · May 20, 2022
How did trans people become a GOP target? Experts say it’s all about keeping evangelicals voting

The recent blitz of anti-trans bills may not align with what many Republicans believe, but party lawmakers pursue them on behalf of their most important interest group.

Kate Sosin · May 17, 2022