President Joe Biden signed a sweeping executive order on Thursday that recommits his administration to the fight for racial equity and support for underserved communities that were central to Executive Order 13985, the policy the president signed on his first day in office.
Both executive orders are broad in scope and detailed in practice, demanding a “whole of government approach” to root out and remedy the systemic racism that is baked into American institutions, including the federal government.
In a fact sheet accompanying Thursday’s Executive Order on Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities through The Federal Government, the White House said that despite progress under the Biden-Harris administration over the last two years, “underserved communities — many of whom have endured generations of discrimination and disinvestment — still confront unacceptable barriers to equal opportunity and the American dream.”
The White House further notes in the new executive order that its mandate is complemented by Executive Order 14035 of June 25, 2021 (“Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce”).
The new document includes mention of the historic achievements for LGBTQ Americans during the Biden-Harris administration:
“We have taken historic steps to advance full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) Americans, including by ending the ban on transgender service members in our military; prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics across Federal programs; and signing into law the Respect for Marriage Act (Public Law 117-228) to preserve protections for the rights of same-sex and interracial couples.
My administration is also implementing the first-ever National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality to ensure that all people, regardless of gender, have the opportunity to realize their full potential.”
Speaking with reporters on Thursday, Chiraag Bains, Biden’s deputy assistant for racial justice and equity, said “this is about racial equity, but it is about equity more broadly as well, and that includes for LGBTQI+ Americans as well.”
Bains noted the timeliness of the new executive order as Republican state legislators have issued a record breaking number of anti-LGBTQ bills, overwhelmingly targeting the transgender community.
He acknowledged these matters are “a matter of life and death,” pointing to the shooting at Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colo., last November.
Thursday’s executive order also stipulates that “in September 2023, and on an annual basis thereafter, concurrent with the agencies’ submission to [the Office of Management and Budget] for the president’s budget, agency heads shall submit an Equity Action Plan to the Steering Committee.”
Among the equity action plans will be one to “include actions to advance equity” pursuant to June 2022’s Executive Order on Advancing Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Individuals.
Spain has passed sweeping reforms of its gender recognition laws to allow self-ID for trans people from the age of 16 without the need for a psychological or medical evaluation.
Lawmakers in Madrid passed the reforms on Thursday (16 February) by a vote of 191 to 60, with 91 abstaining.
The reforms mean that trans Spaniards will no longer be required to file medical documents in order to change their gender markers on official documents such as birth certificates.
Additionally, no diagnosis of gender dysphoria or proof of two-year hormonal treatment will be necessary.
Trans young people under 16 will also be allowed to apply for changed gender markers with the consent of parents or guardians, while those aged 12 or 13 will need a judge’s permission.
“Today we have taken a giant step forward,” equality minister Irene Montero said.
“This law recognises the right of trans people to self-determine their gender identity, it depathologises trans people. Trans people are not sick people, they are just people.”
Spain joins countries such as Denmark and Switzerland in its decision to pass the self-ID laws.
“We’re celebrating the fact this law has passed after eight years of tireless work to obtain rights for the trans community,” LGBTQ+ advocacy group FELGBTI+ head Uge Sangil told AFP outside parliament.
“We’re winning human rights with the free determination of gender.
“From today, our lives will change, because we are not ill,” Sangil continued.
It passed through the lower house of Spain’s parliament in late December following a vote of 188 to 150, despite the growing divide between Spain’s coalition government on the subject.
Maria Jesus Moro of the right-wing Popular Party, who opposes the law, claimed it was “too hasty” and had somehow “caused a lot of suffering”.
Spain is miles ahead of UK on trans rights
The vote comes following the divisive decision by the UK government to block a gender recognition reform passed by Scotland’s parliament.
The law would have made it easier for Scottish trans people to change gender markers on their ID and legal documents by minimising the wait time and minimum age.
The announcement by the government that it would invoke Section 35 to block gender reforms was met with overwhelming backlash, as well as renewed calls for Scottish independence.
Scotland’s outgoing first minister Nicola Sturgeon called the decision a “full frontal attack on democracy” following the announcement on 16 January.
“The Scottish government will defend the legislation and stand up for Scotland’s parliament,” she added.
“If this Westminster veto succeeds, it will be the first of many.”
Following the controversy, Westminster said it would block similar reforms proposed by Wales if they were to go forward.
An LGBTQ+ action plan by the Welsh government outlined a set of improvements that would help trans people obtain gender-recognition certificates.
But the concept was shut down before it had a chance to move forward, with a spokesperson of the UK government’s equalities office telling PinkNews that it would not budge on preventing further changes to the Gender Recognition Act.
“We share the concerns that others have set out with proposed reforms to the GRC application process, particularly around safety issues for women and children,” a spokesperson said.
“As a result of this, there are no plans to reform the Gender Recognition Act in England or Wales.”
A Christian campaign planning to air two Super Bowl ads to promote Jesus as a loving and accepting figure is reportedly affiliated with anti-LGBTQ+ causes.
The “He Gets Us” campaign, which is not affiliated with a specific church or denomination, has already been airing ads during NFL playoffs. One of the ads says “Jesus disagreed with loved ones. But didn’t disown them.”
Trying to connect him to the modern age, one ad also says Jesus was “an influencer who became insanely popular” but was then “canceled” because he “stood up for something he believed in.
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The ads are designed in such a way that viewers don’t know they are religious until the end.
“We simply want everyone to understand the authentic Jesus as he’s depicted in the Bible — the Jesus of radical forgiveness, compassion, and love,” states the website of the campaign.
And yet, He Gets Us is a subsidiary of the Servant Foundation, which, according toLever, has donated over $50 million to the anti-LGBTQ+ hate group Alliance Defending Freedom.
Alliance Defending Freedom identifies itself as a “legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, the sanctity of life, parental rights, and God’s design for marriage and family.” The Southern Poverty Law Center describes it as a hate group. ADF has joined with like-minded organizations in Europe in support of forced sterilization of transgender individuals and has represented numerous anti-LGBTQ+ plaintiffs in pivotal legal battles for LGBTQ+ rights. The organization has also been a large force behind the anti-abortion movement.
According toChristianity Today, the Super Bowl ads are part of a three-year, one billion-dollar campaign, with $20 million of that going toward its two-game day ads.
And according to Jason Vanderground, President of the branding firm Haven that is working on the campaign, “That is just the first phase.”
Among the donors to the campaign is billionaire David Green, co-founder of Hobby Lobby.
In addition to being called out for its affiliation with the Alliance Defending Freedom, the ads have been criticized by some Christians as well, who say that encouraging people to identify with Jesus is not as important as promoting his divinity.
Missouri has launched a multi-agency investigation into a pediatric transgender center after a former case worker alleged children were being routinely prescribed puberty blockers or hormone therapy without “appropriate or accurate” mental health assessments, the state’s attorney general announced Thursday.
“We have received disturbing allegations that individuals at the Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital have been harming hundreds of children each year, including by using experimental drugs on them,” state Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a statement. “We take this evidence seriously and are thoroughly investigating to make sure children are not harmed by individuals who may be more concerned with a radical social agenda than the health of children.” The investigation was launched two weeks ago after Jamie Reed, who worked as a case manager at the Transgender Center from 2018 to November 2022, alleged the center caused permanent harm to many of the patients being treated for gender dysphoria. The attorney general’s office, which said it had previously received a sworn affidavit and supporting documentation from Reed, confirmed the existence of the investigation Thursday after Reed went public that same day with her allegations in an op-ed published in The Free Press, a news website started by Bari Weiss, a former op-ed writer and editor at The New York Times. Reed concluded her op-ed by calling for a “moratorium on the hormonal and surgical treatment of young people with gender dysphoria.”
In a 23-page affidavit shared on the attorney general’s website, Reed alleged the staff repeatedly violated the center’s own treatment guidelines. She said the center required minors to meet four criteria — a minimum age, a therapist referral, parental consent and a clinical visit with an endocrinologist or an adolescent medicine specialist — before they could receive puberty blockers, which temporarily pause puberty, or hormone therapy, such as estrogen or testosterone. But she alleged the center’s staff would provide the medication “without complete informed parental consent and without an appropriate or accurate assessment of the needs of the child.”
Reed alleged in the affidavit that providers at the center prescribed hormone therapy to patients as young as 13, even though the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, a nonprofit professional association, recommended at the time that minors be at least 16 years old for such treatment. She also alleged providers at the center only used therapists they “knew would say yes” to a patient’s medical transition and that parents were “routinely pressured” into consenting to have their child receive transition-related care.
In her affidavit, Reed also alleged that doctors at the Transgender Center did not share information with patients and their parents about the possibility of sterility following hormone therapy, though, in her op-ed, she said patients were “told about some side effects, including sterility,” but that she “came to believe that teenagers are simply not capable of fully grasping what it means to make the decision to become infertile while still a minor.” She also said she witnessed minors experience “shocking injuries” from the medication, including one patient who experienced “severe atrophy of vaginal tissue” after receiving testosterone and had to have subsequent vaginal lacerations treated surgically.
Reed alleged she raised concerns to doctors at the center and university administrators for years and was discouraged from tracking adverse outcomes of patients, she stated in the affidavit. She wrote in her op-ed that her experience at the Transgender Center has led her to support a nationwide moratorium on gender-affirming care for young people due to “the secrecy and lack of rigorous standards that characterize youth gender transition across the country.”
Washington University in St. Louis, the parent institution of the Children’s Hospital,said in a statement shared on its websiteThursday that it is “alarmed by the allegations reported in the article published by The Free Press describing practices and behaviors the author says she witnessed while employed at the university’s Transgender Center.”
“We are taking this matter very seriously and have already begun the process of looking into the situation to ascertain the facts,” the statement said. “As always, our highest priority is the health and well-being of our patients. We are committed to providing compassionate, family-centered care to all of our patients and we hold our medical practitioners to the highest professional and ethical standards.”
The state’s Division of Professional Registration, one of the agencies assisting in the investigation, is looking into whether any licensed professionals at the Transgender Center are in violation of their respective licensing board’s policies, while the Department of Social Services will be investigating concerns surrounding fraud, waste or abuse in the state’s Medicaid program, according to the attorney general’s news release.
Missouri is one of at least 24 states that have introduced measures this year to prohibit gender-affirming care for minors. Five states — Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Arizona and Utah — have already placed restrictions on such care, though federal courts have blocked Alabama’s and Arkansas’ laws from taking effect pending the outcome of the litigation.
Transition-related care for minors is supported by major medical organizations — including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association. These associations oppose governmental restrictions on care, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, which they say are safe and have been used for decades to treat other conditions in minors.
The World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s most recent Standards of Care guidance, which is used widely by clinicians who provide transition-related care, recommends that this type of care be provided to minors using a multidisciplinary team of medical experts in a variety of fields, including psychology and endocrinology. The group doesn’t recommend any medical intervention for children prior to puberty. Rather, it recommends that children socially transition, for example, by using a different name and pronouns or wearing a different hairstyle or clothing. Adolescents who begin the early stages of puberty — usually between 8 and 14 — may be eligible for puberty blockers, but the group recommends they meet a list of criteria, including receiving a comprehensive psychosocial assessment.
The group also recommends that older youths meet a list of criteria before beginning hormone therapy. For example, the standards say adolescents have to demonstrate the emotional and cognitive maturity required to provide informed consent for treatment, the adolescent’s other mental health concerns should be addressed, and the adolescent and the parents or guardian should be informed of the potential reproductive effects of the treatment.
Minors rarely receive surgery, but when they do, the group recommends they receive hormone therapy for at least 12 months prior, receive ongoing mental health support and assessments and be informed of the potential health effects of surgery, including infertility.
More than half a dozen studies published in major medical journals over the last few years have found that access to puberty blockers and hormone therapy improves mental health outcomes, including significantly reducing suicidality, for trans youths.
LGBTQ Victory Fund, the only national organization dedicated to electing LGBTQ leaders to public office, endorsed Rue Landau for Philadelphia City Council, At-Large. Victory Fund named her a 2023 LGBTQ ‘Spotlight’ candidate, a designation given to candidates with exceptional potential to be national leaders of the LGBTQ equality movement.
If elected, Landau would be the first out LGBTQ person ever elected to the Philadelphia City Council. Philadelphia is the only major U.S. city to have never elected an out LGBTQ person to city council.
“For far too long, Philadelphia’s vibrant LGBTQ community has lacked equitable representation on city council – with the wounds to show for it. As an attorney with a long track record of increasing pathways to affordable housing, strengthening protections for women in the workplace and enacting civil rights protections for marginalized populations – including the LGBTQ community – Rue has spent her entire career on the front lines of forging a more equitable Philadelphia. We are confident that her bright vision for the city and ability to bring diverse coalitions of people together will not just make her an exceptional council member, but a vital voice for equality throughout Pennsylvania and the country,” said Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Fund.
“I am honored to have earned the endorsement of LGBTQ Victory Fund for my race for Philadelphia City Council. Representation matters – our city is ready to elect our first openly LGBTQ member of Council, and this year, we will make history,” said Landau.
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LGBTQ Victory Fund
LGBTQ Victory Fund works to achieve and sustain equality by increasing the number of openly LGBTQ elected officials at all levels of government while ensuring they reflect the diversity of those they serve. Since 1991, Victory Fund has helped thousands of openly LGBTQ candidates win local, state and federal elections.
While the state of California has experienced its first in loss in population since its entry into the union in 1831, one of the states that has been the direct beneficiary of those fleeing the Golden State is now feeling the negative pushback from its anti-LGBTQ legislation from the one demographic it is known for the most — families.
That same survey found that nearly 20 percent are even actively in the process of moving out of Florida.
While only 113 LGBTQ parents were surveyed, the heightened tension across the state is obvious, in both forms of legislation, education policies and social debate. The survey focused on the comfort level of LGBTQ parents as Florida citizens before and after passed and proposed legislation.
On March 28, 2022, the Florida Legislature passed HB 1557, the “Parental Rights in Education” bill, also dubbed the Don’t Say Gay bill. This bill prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity before the 4th grade and requires such instruction to be “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate” thereafter. Many are concerned that the bill will not only result in restricted or nonexistent education about the existence of diverse sexual and gender identities, but it will result in a chilly or hostile school climate for LGBTQ educators, students, and families because it suggests that something is wrong with LGBTQ identities. Based on surveys of 113 LGBTQ+ parents, this study represents a first look at how HB 1557 is negatively affecting LGBTQ+ parent families in the state. Almost 9 out of 10 (88%) LGBTQ+ parents are very or somewhat concerned about the impact that HB 1557 will have on them and their children, with one in four reporting they have experienced anti-LGBTQ harassment since the law was passed and one in five reporting becoming less out in their communities since the law was passed. Parents have considered a variety of coping strategies in response to the bill, including moving out of the state (56%) and moving their children to a different school (11%). Over 16% of LGBTQ parents have already taken steps to move their families to another state.
Key Findings
Concerns
When asked, “How worried are you about the effects of the Don’t Say Gay bill/law on your children and family?”, 88% of LGBTQ+ parents said they were very or somewhat worried about the effects of the bill on their children and families.
LGBTQ+ parents’ initial reactions to the bill ranged from fear to anger to disbelief. Over time, even those who were initially relatively unconcerned (e.g., because they believed the bill would not be signed into law or was unenforceable) became increasingly worried. Some considered moving their children to private schools.
LGBTQ+ parents voiced a variety of concerns about how Don’t Say Gay would affect their children, including restricting them from speaking freely about their families, negatively impacting their sense of legitimacy, and encouraging a hostile school climate that would negatively impact their children.
LGBTQ+ parents with LGBTQ+ children voiced intense concerns as they worried about their children’s ability to talk freely about their own and their parents’/family’s identities. Indeed, 13% said that their children had expressed fears about the future related to living in Florida as LGBTQ+ youth.
LGBTQ+ parents also worried about their own ability to be involved in/volunteer at their children’s schools.
LGBTQ+ parents who were less concerned typically said that their children were younger (e.g., they were not yet in school) or their children were in private schools. By extension, parents who expressed the greatest concern typically had school-aged children in public schools.
Experiences
LGBTQ+ parents reported that their children had already experienced a variety of impacts of the bill. This included harassment and bullying at school because they had LGBTQ+ parents, not being able to talk about their parents or their own LGBTQ+ identities at school or outside of school, and fears about continuing to live in Florida.
LGBTQ+ parents reported on their experiences over the 3–6 months prior to the survey in a variety of areas: Almost one-quarter feared harassment by neighbors because of their sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Twenty-one percent of LGBTQ+ parents had been less out in their neighborhood, workplace, or community.
Coping Strategies
LGBTQ+ parents coped in a variety of ways, including by becoming more engaged in activism, avoiding the news, getting support from friends and family, and planning for the future (e.g., moving).
Notably, 56% of parents considered moving out of Florida and 16.5% have taken steps to move out of Florida. Indeed, participants said that they were saving money, looking for jobs, and exploring the housing markets outside of Florida. Many felt conflicted, however, noting that they loved their families, friends, and communities; others said that moving was currently impossible for them, as they were caring for older family members or other dependents or had jobs that they could not find elsewhere.
Other actions, beyond moving, for protecting and defending their families were also endorsed. For example, 11% had considered moving their children to a school that is not bound by the Don’t Say Gay law (such as a private school).
Some participants talked about Don’t Say Gay with their (usually school-aged) children, with the goal of clarifying what the legislation says, what it doesn’t say, and why people are concerned. Those with young children typically did not speak with them about the legislation, and/or kept the messaging simple and reassuring.
The World Surf League has announced it is to adopt a new policy on transgender athletes.
The governing body announced it would adopt a policy recommended by the International Surfing Association (ISA) in a Friday (3 February) statement.
Under new guidelines, trans female athletes are required to maintain a testosterone level of less than 5 nmol/L (nanomoles per litre) for at least 12 months in order to compete in the women’s division.
“The WSL is working hard to balance equity and fairness and it’s important for a policy to be in place,” WSL chief of sport Jessi Miley-Dyer said. “We recognise that the policy may need to evolve over time as we get feedback and see new research in the field.”
The ISA first recommended the policy in October 2022 following pressure from various groups due to the ongoing controversy surrounding trans athletic participation.
The international organisation said it based the policy on guidance from its medical commission and vowed to reevaluate recommendations annually.
“The ISA is committed to the fundamental principles of fairness and equality of opportunity, and therefore this policy will be reevaluated annually as more research, information, and feedback becomes available.”
Miley-Dyer explained to The Inertiathat the decision was made unanimously among WSL leadership following a review.
She added that there had been “a lot of conversations with a lot of different stakeholders groups” during deliberation on the matter, adding that WSL officials recognised the ISA “took a very deliberate approach.”
Tests to check for eligibility will not be done by World Surf League, but will be arranged by applicants looking to compete.
Those tests will then be sent to WSL medical officers, who will have a “confidential conversation” to discuss medical requirements.
Several experts and athletes have explained that creating a comprehensive trans policy is often incredibly tricky because there isn’t enough research to suggest whether there are advantages.
Trans male athletic swimmer Schuyler Bailar explained to PinkNews in 2022 that the often hostile debate on trans athletes participating in sports makes it difficult for progress to be made.
“There’s a really big problem with putting out rules right now on trans athletes because we don’t actually have robust research,” he said.
A trans passenger has accused the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) of severe mistreatment and is calling on TSA to provide better training to staff.
“One of the worst things about traveling as trans is going through TSA,” said photographer and activist NV Gay in a video posted to Instagram describing their experience.
Gay said they were going through security at the Orlando International Airport when they were flagged by the body scanner.
“Of course, if you’ve got boobs and a bottom part, well it’s gonna flag you, and ya know I’m ready for that, I’m expecting that…The problem is that the TSA continually does not train their employees on how to respectfully pat down and talk to trans people.”
Gay said the person patting them down “continually decided to rub ‘down there’ multiple times all over me and then very loudly put it out there to everyone in the crowd that I was trans with a penis and with boobs and that she had no idea and she didn’t know if she could clear me and that she’d have to get her supervisor to clear me.”
“It’s ridiculous at this point,” Gay lamented. “It’s so easy to just be respectful. Be like ‘hey, you’ve got flagged, I need to check’…Be better TSA.”
In the caption, Gay added that “the most disgusting part was that the TSA officer constantly said that my bottom part was poking her, which was not true at all.”
“Having to go through that was horrible,” they added. “No person should ever be treated this way.”
Gay told LGBTQ Nation that this is far from the only negative experience they have had with TSA and that since posting the video, other trans people have messaged them to share their own “truly horrific experiences.”
“The TSA needs to implement trainings on how to treat all passengers as humans and understand that different people look different and have various body parts,” Gay said.
“They should also have multiple agents present for screenings and make sure that the passenger has given consent. Passengers should also be able to record situations in order to make sure that they are not taken advantage of. This goes for everyone, not just transgender individuals.”
The official account of Orlando International Airport replied to Gay’s Instagram post with an apology for what they experienced and asked them to provide more detailed information about where and when the incident took place so the airport could reach out to the local management team.
This led to a Direct Message conversation between Gay and the airport on Instagram (which Gay shared with LGBTQ Nation), in which the airport representative apologized repeatedly and told Gay to reach back out if they don’t hear back from TSA soon.
On Twitter, TSA replied to Gay’s video that they “appreciate” the “feedback” and “continue to push for technological improvement that will provide effective security w/ out gender identification.”
Gay, who has also filed an official complaint with TSA, then replied that updating technology is a step but that it is far more important to train employees in respectful treatment. “The scan was not the problem. The way the agent treated me was the issue!” Gay emphasized.
In a statement to LGBTQ Nation, TSA stated that it “recognizes the concerns of transgender/non-binary/gender nonconforming passengers with the security screening process, and the agency continues to implement the new algorithm on the Advanced Imaging Technology units to significantly reduce false alarms and improve efficiency for all passengers.”
It continued, “At TSA, we are committed to ensuring every traveler is treated with respect and courtesy. When passengers have complaints about their specific screening experience, we encourage them to contact the TSA Contact Center.”
The FBI has joined the investigation of violent threats against three LGBTQ+ bars in the Grove neighborhood of St. Louis, and a fourth threat against a children’s play space in the city that was scheduled to host a drag queen story hour. NBC affiliate KMOV reported the addition of federal law enforcement to the probe.
Saturday afternoon, around 4 pm, at least two gay bars in the Grove entertainment district in the city received calls from an individual threatening violence at the establishments. Three bars in the area, Prism STL, Just John, and Rehab, all received calls threatening violence that night.
“The caller off the bat started talking about how they were the Joker, and they were going to blow up the bar, send bombs and shoot up everybody,” Prism bartender Jordan Cox told the Riverfront Times. Cox said it sounded like at least two other people were on the line with the caller.
Just John bar owner John Arnold said he received a voice mail about the same time.
“It said they were going to come in at 3 o’clock in the morning and shoot the place up,” Arnold says. “And that they were tired of us ‘faggots.’”
The same voicemail mentioned a Just John staffer by name, whom the caller said he liked. “They told us to make sure he wasn’t there,” said Arnold.
KMOV reported the FBI is also investigating threats against a children’s play space in the South City area called Urban Fort. The owner said they’ve received violent threats and have been forced to increase security and change the date, time, and location of a scheduled story time hour featuring a drag performer.
“Apparently, the federal government is involved at this point, as well,” Prism owner Sean Abernathy told the Riverfront Times. He says that around midnight on Saturday, St. Louis police showed up with members of law enforcement who looked like they worked for agencies other than St. Louis police.
Since September, the FBI has been on heightened alert for violence directed at LGBTQ+ plus establishments, groups, and events. A threat assessment distributed in the weeks before the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs in November warned that hate crime perpetrators and violent domestic extremists may increase threats against the LGBTQ+ community “due to their reactions to legislative or socio-political changes related to LGBTQ+ topics, and conspiracy theories involving the LGBTQ+ community.”
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement, “The investigations remain ongoing.”
“It’s frustrating,” Prism owner Abernathy told KMOV, “because we’re just people trying to be ourselves, trying to enjoy our lives. We’re not out to hurt anybody, but it feels like it’s a lot of people out to hurt us.”
In a historic vote, the Utah House of Representatives unanimously passed HB 228 – legislation that would prohibit therapists from subjecting youth to conversion therapy, a dangerous practice that seeks to change a young person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The Utah Senate passed the bill earlier this month, which means it is now on its way to Utah Governor Spencer Cox, who has pledged to sign it.
Today’s vote marks the first time that a state legislative body has voted unanimously in favor of a bill prohibiting conversion therapy for minors.
In 2020, the Utah Division of Professional Licensing adopted a policy barring conversion therapy for minors. The Utah Legislature has now taken action to codify that prohibition in state law, as twenty other states have also done.
“Utah’s legislature has confirmed that protecting LGBT youth from conversion therapy is a bipartisan issue,” said Mathew Shurka, co-founder of Born Perfect. “This is a historic day for survivors like myself and the many family members who have lost loved ones due to the devastation caused by this deadly practice. Every LGBT child deserves the dignity of being protected under the law.”
Conversion therapy has been rejected as unnecessary, ineffective, and harmful by every major medical and mental health organization in the country, including the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“We are thrilled to see Utah take this historic step to ensure that youth and their families are protected from this unethical practice,” said Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights. “Once again, Utah has shown that legislators can come together to do the right thing even in this polarized era.”
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Born Perfect is a survivor-led program created by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) in 2014 to end conversion therapy by passing laws across the country that protect LGBTQ children and young people, fighting in courtrooms to ensure their safety, and raising awareness about the serious harms caused by these dangerous practices. https://bornperfect.org.