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In the headlines...

📱 Colorado is launching a portal for residents to document alleged misconduct of ICE agents.

🌎 A group of NASA astronauts safely returned to Earth following the agency’s first-ever medical evacuation.

🧠 After facing swift backlash, the Trump administration restored over $2 billion in mental health and addiction grant funding, just one day after cuts were announced.

LGBTQ+

The hit TV series ‘Heated Rivalry’ inspired a real-life hockey player to publicly come out as gay

Jesse Kortuem is a real-life hockey player who gave up the sport out of fear he couldn’t reconcile his athletic career and his sexualty. Though his close friends and family knew he was gay, he just came out publicly on social media.

Kortuem credited the hit TV series “Heated Rivalry,” saying he felt compelled to share his story now “because I want to speak to the athletes out there who are still in the closet or struggling to find their way.”

Heated Rivalry was made in Canada and is streaming on HBO in the U.S. The six-episode series follows two closeted professional hockey players as they form a romance in secret.

Why is this good news? The NHL not only famously has no players who have publicly come out as LGBTQ+, but has gone so far as to ban teams from hosting Pride Nights and using rainbow tape (the latter was reversed after a player used it anyway). Nobody should be afraid to hide who they are or who they love — and advocates are hoping the series can lead to real change in the league.

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More Good News

​Albany is trialing a “street psychiatry” program to give homeless New Yorkers prescriptions on the spot. Next to the need for safe and supportive housing, people experiencing homelessness are also in desperate need of mental and behavioral healthcare — the city’s “street psychiatry” team of care workers is helping.

​An Indian city unveiled a pioneering new initiative for reducing fast fashion waste. Fast fashion is fueling a growing textile waste crisis in India, with over 7.8 million tons discarded each year — most ending up in landfills or incinerators.

​At-home STD tests are offering new, more accessible options for screening and treatment. It’s positive news after cases of sexually transmitted infections reached alarming highs before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted screening, education, and treatment for sexual health nationwide.

​Last year, coal power generation in China and India fell for the first time since the 1970s. The “historic” moment could bring a decline in global emissions, as the simultaneous drop from the world’s largest coal-consuming countries has not happened since 1973.

Food

Researchers ranked the carbon footprint of six types of diets. Here’s how vegans and vegetarians ranked

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Businesses doing good

A Minneapolis sex shop transformed into a donation and community center for neighbors in need

Minneapolis sex shop Smitten Kitten has mobilized to support neighbors amid a violent and unrelenting crackdown by the Trump administration’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

In the very space where it’s normally “selling adult toys, providing sex education,” volunteers are organizing canned foods, diapers, clothes, and other essentials to be distributed to vulnerable community members.

Additionally, Smitten Kitten’s Instagram page has been leveraging its platform to boost donation opportunities for community members in the area, sharing GoFundMe, Venmo, and Cash App campaigns.

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More Good bits

🏳️‍⚧️ A former USWNT player knows exclusion = nobody wins. (Reels)

🥪 Taylor Swift fights food insecurity with latest donation.

🇺🇸 It’s never too late to admit you were wrong. (TikTok)

🎒 Pack your analog bag, we’re not doomscrolling anymore.

🌎 Food banks provide food and prevent (a lot of) carbon emissions.

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