Ep. 312: Trump Kills LGBTQ Foster Protections, Hegseth's Hormone Hypocrisy & More

It's July 17, 2026, and Listen Up Girl has six stories you need to hear. The orange convicted felon officially erased the Biden-era rule protecting LGBTQ+ youth in foster care — with no replacement plan. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is now offering hormone replacement therapy to male soldiers while trans service members remain banned from the military. The Heritage Foundation, fresh off the Supreme Court's anti-trans sports ruling, is now going after Title IX and women's sports protections entirely. The Rubi Girls — a Texas drag activist group that raised over $3 million for charity — fought the administration's attempt to block their historical marker and won. Mexico's first openly gay mayor, Benjamín Medrano Quezada, was assassinated outside a Guadalajara ice cream shop. And gay progressive Jordan Wood is back in the Maine Senate race after the Graham Platner campaign collapsed. Listen Up Girl is a daily LGBTQ+ news podcast hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman. New episodes every weekday. Subscribe, leave a five-star review, and follow @TheRealZachRE on Instagram. Hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman https://www.listenupgirl.com/ Follow me at   / therealzachre   Podcast music: https://dillonderosa.com/ Thank you Dillion!!!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com (https://pcm.adswizz.com) for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.