Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs issued two pro-LGBTQ executive orders on Tuesday, banning state support of so-called conversion therapy and allowing transgender state employees to receive gender-affirming health care under their insurance plan.
Hobbs made the announcement from the offices of a central Phoenix nonprofit that focuses on helping LGBTQ youth.
Under the executive actions, state agencies will be prohibited from using funds to promote or facilitate so-called conversion therapy, the scientifically discredited practice of using therapy to “convert” LGBTQ people to heterosexuality or traditional gender expectations.
Also, state employee health insurance plans can no longer list gender-affirming surgery as ineligible for coverage. A ban on such coverage was enacted in 2017.
The change will impact former and current state employees and public university workers.
That order effectively resolves an ongoing lawsuit brought in 2019 by Dr. Russell Toomey, a University of Arizona professor who is transgender and sought coverage for a “medically necessary” surgery. ACLU attorneys representing Toomey said Tuesday they will file a motion to settle the case.
A UK-based charity dedicated to LGBTQ+ people over 50 has revealed that many feel “excluded and isolated” in a community “geared towards younger people”.
Research by Opening Doors found people over the age of 50 “especially within the gay community” feel less visible due to being less likely to have “familial networks”.
Due to “distrust in the system”, the charity also found that older people often go without help from external support networks.
John Campbell, who identifies as androsexual, said his experience as an older LGBTQ+ person has been “trying at times, owing to the amount of emotional trauma”.
‘I feel excluded’
Campbell, 64, told Metro: “At times I feel excluded from the community as it is mainly geared towards younger people.
“A lot of this is due to the fact many people from older generations were lost to the AIDs pandemic. It wiped out a generation of movers and shakers, and has left trauma for so many.”
The term ‘androsexual’ refers to people who, regardless of their gender identity, are sexually or romantically attracted to masculinity.
Angela, who didn’t provide her last name and is trans, echoed Campbell’s thoughts regarding a shared trauma within the community.
The 59-year-old said: “The majority of people my age or older have lived through different times and share a common set of experiences and emotions associated with a far less accepting society.
“It is a less frightening place to be known as LGBTQ+ than it ever was when I growing up in the 1970s, 80s and even the 90s.”
‘It can be quite a scary and unsettling experience’
Head of fundraising and communications at Opening Doors, Jonathan Buckerfield, said the findings show the need for support systems suited for LGBTQ+ people as “everything is set up for straight people”.
“As we age, we become less visible in wider society, and this is especially true in the LGBTQ+ community,” Buckerfield said.
“We don’t have the same familial networks and we can find ourselves increasingly cut off from social networks and services. It can be quite a scary and unsettling experience.”
Buckerfield noted that past traumas linked to a time when being LGBTQ+ was less tolerated mean activities that focus on reminiscing are not as suited to older LGBTQ+ people.
“LGBTQ+ people also experience health inequalities, as they are more likely to struggle with alcohol and addiction – but they are also less likely to trust the NHS as straight people do, as they can remember a time when conversion therapies were offered,” he continued.
In March, older LGBTQ+ people spoke to PinkNews about the struggle they faced hiding their true selves from prejudiced eyes and fighting for their right to grow old.
According to GLAAD, the average life expectancy of trans women of colour is 35. For a cis woman, it is 78.
Despite the struggles faced by the ageing LGBTQ+ community, 92-year-old Betty proved that age doesn’t have to result in being cut off from the world as she had her lifelong wish to watch a male strip show granted by her care home in Hampshire.
Some corporate sponsors have kept lower profiles at Pride celebrations this year, but most have not tightened their purse strings or ditched LGBTQ causes in the face of conservative blowback, event organizers and advocates say.
Nearly 78% of U.S. Pride organizers surveyed this year by InterPride, a network of Pride events around the world, said their corporate sponsorships either rose or held steady since last year — higher than the 62% global figure — while 22% reported declines.
Indy Pride, which organizes official celebrations in Indianapolis, faced new difficulties in the run-up to this year’s festivities. One corporate sponsor pulled its logo from an event, and another raised questions about a youth Pride carnival it had agreed to sponsor after getting “blasted” on social media, said executive director Shelly Snider.
Most of the Pride organizers NBC News spoke with, including Snider, declined to identify corporate sponsors that shrunk their involvement or visibility, concerned about alienating important financial backers. Like Indy Pride, Pride organizations are typically nonprofit organizations that also offer year-round services to the LGBTQ community, such as grants, educational events and support for political activism.
“We’ve hired extra security, gone through ‘stop the bleed’ training in case there is an active shooter,” she said. “This is new to this year. I didn’t think when I took this job that we would have to [learn how to] use a tourniquet, but here we are.”
Even so, Indy Pride raised a record $641,000 and saw crowds swell to an estimated 60,000 at its festival and parade last weekend, putting the event at full capacity.
Indy Pride-goers shared a kiss on June 10 in Indianapolis, where organizers said festivities this year hit maximum capacity.Clare Grant / IndyStar / USA TODAY
The mix of changes Snider and other organizers described paint a more complicated picture than recent headlines around brands’ scrambles to respond to anti-LGBTQ backlash — like that faced by Bud Light and Target — may suggest. While some businesses have walked back their ties to LGBTQ events and causes, including Pride-related marketing, many more have maintained or increased their support.
We’ve seen an uptick in support throughout the year. More people are showing up and out, including allies.
JOSH COLEMAN, PRESIDENT OF CENTRAL ALABAMA PRIDE
Josh Coleman, president of Central Alabama Pride in Birmingham, said some longtime corporate sponsors dropped out this year, including Wells Fargo. Others have demanded more input on where their branding appears. But donations have held steady this month, he said, in part because more local and regional sponsors have filled the gaps left by larger companies’ retreats.
“It’s been a little frustrating,” Coleman admitted. “Some folks use allyship when they want to.”
Overall, though, “we’ve seen an uptick in support throughout the year,” he said. “More people are showing up and out, including allies.”
In Tennessee, where a federal judge recently rejected a drag ban that state Republicans enacted earlier this year, corporate backing for Memphis’s Mid-South Pride hasn’t suffered.
People at a Pride event in Franklin, Tenn., on June 3, the day a court overturned new limits on drag shows enacted by state Republicans. George Walker IV / AP
“We had issues,” festival director Vanessa Rodley said in an email, but after the judge temporarily blocked the measure from taking effect in late March, “we saw a wave of new sponsors that wanted to show support. There are a few we never got back, but thanks to our community stepping up and new sponsors, we were able to make it.”
A handful of major brands, including Kroger and Terminix, didn’t return as Mid-South Pride sponsors after making $7,500 and $3,500 contributions, respectively, in 2022, the group’s public sponsor listsin recent years show.
But others, such as Nike, Ford, Charles Schwab and Tito’s Vodka, either matched or upped their previous-year investments, which ranged from $5,000 to $10,000 apiece. And regional businesses, including a mortgage brokerage and a dentistry practice, jumped in this year with $5,000 sponsorships.
A Wells Fargo spokesperson said the bank “is a longstanding supporter of the LGBTQ+ community” and still “sponsoring parades in cities across the country.”
After being contacted, a Kroger spokesperson said the grocery chain “discovered a recent retirement left the [Memphis] parade without a contact at the company” and reached out to Mid-South Pride organizers. “We provided a contact from which to request support for this year or a future event.”
Some advocates warn that any pullback in the visibility of corporate support during Pride Month — especially by the most well-known brands — risks signaling that LGTBQ consumers are expendable. Others have long called for fewer rainbow-slathered logos and more substantive, if quieter, support from private-sector allies.
“Visibility is the least important,” said Bruce Starr, CEO of the marketing agency BMF. “What are you actually donating and giving” to support LGBTQ causes year-round matters more, he said.
In Auburn, Alabama, Pride on the Plains President Seth McCollough said one of the group’s three corporate sponsors gave money this year but asked to not be thanked or recognized publicly.
“It was kind of surprising to me,” McCollough said, but added, “I guess I understand where they are coming from.”
Among them is Target, which drew national attention for pulling some Pride merchandise last month after store employees were threatened. The retailer continues to be a top sponsor and provides volunteers to Pride on the Plains, McCollough said. But while big businesses can often contribute larger sums, the group relies on smaller companies for most of its funding anyway.
Target has continued to provide financial support to Pride events following uproar and threats against store workers over some of its merchandise.Seth Wenig / AP file
Many Pride celebrations facing difficulties are in the Midwest and South, regions that have seen a wave of Republican-led anti-LGBTQ legislation this year. Organizers in bluer states haven’t experienced much difference.
Pride officials in New York City, home to the first Pride March, in June 1970, said this year would be on par with last in terms of arranging sponsors and security. But Pride organizers in Charleston, South Carolina, said they’ve seen a significant drop in funds and sponsorships post-pandemic, after setting records in 2019.
Kendra Johnson, executive director of Equality NC, said threats against the community and Pride events have risen dramatically throughout North Carolina.
“I’m 52 — I’ve never seen it like this,” Johnson said, citing threats of violence and cases in which she said organizers were doxed. Johnson’s LGBTQ advocacy group doesn’t plan Pride festivities, but she said some organizers in the state have told her of sponsors pulling out of local events.
Ron deHarte, co-president of the United States Association of Prides, an umbrella group representing nearly 100 organizers across the country, acknowledged that many groups face growing challenges.
“We’re hearing that there are a few organizations that have made their own decision to modify their programs or cancel based on legislation, out of fear of government action” by some state authorities, he said.
But many sponsors remain committed after years of support for the LGBTQ community, despite the criticism that often comes with it. Tense political climates, as well as presidential election years, tend to drive enthusiasm and attendance at Pride celebrations because many people become more engaged, deHarte said.
“This certainly isn’t the worst we’ve seen,” he said, “and we’ve continued to survive for decades.”
North America’s largest metropolis, Mexico City, also hosts the continent’s biggest Pride parade and festival. While the LGBTQ+ community is impossible to ignore in June, what about the other months of the year?
Visitors can see queer couples holding hands and kissing in shopping centers, streets, and parks. Another common site is murals and graffiti. But a closer look at the spray paint can reveal something about CDMX’strans community.
Te amo trans = I love trans people
Graffiti supporting women’s rights, specifically including trans women and lesbians, are common along Paseo de Reforma, one of the main avenues of the city. Over 90,000 women and girls marched down the street on International Women’s Day to the Zócalo, the capital’s central square.
The women demanded an end to violence against women – and trans women and lesbians were in the crowd. And as they marched, more graffiti appeared along the route.
Transfeminista = Trans feminists
While Mexico also has an issue with women who explicitly want to exclude trans women from the community, like in the United States, they’re a minority. Now and then, you can see “Rad Fem” graffiti, but you’re more likely to see a pro-trans statement or writing from a trans person about acceptance.
Las trans no borramos a nadie = Trans people don’t erase anyone
As you travel around the city, you’ll also see signs like the one from the boardgame Scrabble that cleverly uses the game’s tiles to make a statement: “Transgender. Cisgender. Same points. Same value.” But take a moment to stop and admire the graffiti too.
The National Hockey League (NHL), the highest level professional ice hockey league representing 32 North American teams, has banned teams from wearing Pride-themed warm-up jerseys during the teams’ LGBTQ+-inclusive Pride nights.
The NHL’s ban will also forbid teams from wearing jerseys commemorating military veterans, people with cancer, and others. The league’s decision comes during Pride Month and barely a week after Major League Baseball (MLB) announced a similar ban.
When a gay couple was shown kissing in the stadium, he said “That’s disgusting. Security, get rid of them.”
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman recently talk to Sportsnet about the rainbow-colored jerseys and how some players have refused to wear them.
“It’s become a distraction,” Bettman said. “And taking away from the fact that all of our clubs host nights in honor of various groups or causes, and we’d rather they continue to get the appropriate attention they deserve and not be a distraction.”
Bettman noted that NHL teams will still host Pride nights; players just won’t wear rainbow-colored jerseys during those nights.
Bettman’s “distraction” comment may reference instances like what happened last January when Philadelphia Flyers’ player Ivan Provorov refused to take part in his team’s Pride Night warm-up session because he didn’t want to wear a rainbow-colored jersey. He said the jersey violated his Russian Orthodox Christian beliefs.
In March, James Reimer, a goalie with the San Jose Sharks, declined to wear his team’s Pride jersey for the same reason. Players with the Minnesota Wild and New York Rangers have refused to wear the jerseys as well.
In a statement against the new policy, You Can Play, an organization opposing queerphobia in sports, said that they were “concerned and disappointed” by the new policy.
“Today’s decision means that the over 95% of players who chose to wear a Pride jersey to support the community will now not get an opportunity to do so. Pride nights will continue and we look forward to further enhancing the programming these opportunities bring to the mission of inclusion and belonging for the 2SLGBTQ+ community given this restriction,” the organization said.
Hockey commentator Gord Miller criticized the decision on Twitter, writing, “In addition to the LGBTQ+ community, people with cancer, members of the military and their families, black and indigenous people will be among those who will no longer be visibly recognized before games.”
In March, Luke Prokop, the only out gay athlete ever to play under an NHL contract, said“It’s disheartening to see some teams no longer wearing [Pride jerseys] or embracing their significance, while the focus of others has become about the players who aren’t participating rather than the meaning of the night itself.”
Prokop said that Pride Nights and Pride jerseys play an important part in “promoting and respecting inclusion for the LGBTQIA+ community” and in “fostering greater acceptance and understanding” of queer people in his sport.
“Everyone is entitled to their own set of beliefs,” he said, adding, “I think it’s important to recognize the difference between endorsing a community and respecting individuals within it.”
Last week, MLB announced a similar ban on Pride-themed jerseys.
A Californian transgender man claims a pharmacist at a Walgreens chain in Oakland refused to hand over his hormone replacement medicine due to their “religious beliefs”.
In a Reddit post made on Tuesday (20 June), 30-year-old trans Oakland resident Roscoe Rike wrote that he had entered the pharmacy to pick up his prescription when he was asked by an employee what the medication was for.
“I told him I was pretty sure that it wasn’t any of his business,” he said in the post which has since been deleted.
Rike explained that he had been going to the Walgreens pharmacy on Telegraph Avenue for nearly a decade, and had been picking up his hormone prescription for three years, always without issue.
But the pharmacist, who Rike said he had never seen before, allegedly claimed he could not fill the prescription “due to his religious beliefs”.
Rike then said he immediately began recording a video that had also been uploaded to the post, in which he asks the pharmacist: “So you think you know better than my doctor, is that what’s going on?”
The clip then sees the pharmacist say: “I just need to know the diagnosis”, which Rike responds with: “That’s none of your f**king business.”
The pharmacist then allegedly told Rike, after making “some phone calls”, that he was still not going to give him his prescription.
“At this point, I completely lost my temper and demanded to speak to a manager,” Rike continued. “The pharmacist ignored me and walked away.”
After speaking to one of the employees Rike said was “familiar to me”, a manager was then called in who “apologised profusely” and issued his prescription.
The US pharmacy chain told a local news outlet that it tries to find a middle ground between “moral beliefs” and its customers. (Getty)
“The whole experience was extremely distressing and caused me severe emotional pain,” he said. “I have reached out to the transgender law center, and plan on filing a formal complaint with the Walgreens corporate office.“
Rike finished by urging any local trans residents to make sure “this person isn’t working” when picking up their hormones, because, Rike said: “He will deny you care.”
PinkNews contacted Walgreens for comment on the alleged incident.
In a statement to the local news station KRON4, a spokesperson said: “Our policies are designed to ensure we meet the needs of our patients and customers while respecting the religious and moral beliefs of our team members.
“In an instance where a team member has a religious or moral conviction that prevents them from meeting a customer’s need, we require the team member to refer the customer to another employee or manager on duty who can complete the transaction. These instances, however, are very rare.”
Vice President Kamala Harris made a surprise visit on Monday to the historic Stonewall Inn bar in Manhattan, where the 1969 uprising sparked the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement and Prideevents worldwide. In doing so, she became the first sitting vice president to make a stop there.
Harris first saw Christopher Park, which is part of the Stonewall National Monument established by former President Barack Obama in 2016. The park sits adjacent to the bar and has been repeatedly targeted by vandals in recent weeks. Harris visited the monument with National Park Service Superintendent Shirley McKinney, who briefed and gave her a tour.
One of the bar’s owners, Kurt Kelly, and out TV personality Andy Cohen welcomed Harris when she made it to the Stonewall Inn.
“Gay Pride was yesterday, so I’m like, woo,” Kelly joked after embracing Harris and welcoming her to the bar.
“I get it,” she replied. “The morning after.”
As a small scrum of reporters and photographers and many joyful customers listened intently, Cohen asked Harris to “tell us something that we can be optimistic about this Pride season.”
According to Harris, the Biden-Harris administration will continue to support the LGBTQ+ community in the face of attacks by GOP state legislators and right-wing extremists.
“I look at these young teachers in Florida who are in their twenties, and if they’re in a same-sex relationship, they are afraid to put up a photograph of themselves or their loved one for fear they might lose their job. It pains me, but it also reminds me that we can take nothing for granted in terms of progress. We have to be vigilant. That’s the nature of our fight for equality. And so we’re up for it. And we are not going to be overwhelmed. We are not going to be silenced. We are not going to be deterred. We are not going to tire, [and] we’re not going to throw up our hands; we’re going to roll up our sleeves.”
She emphasized, “That’s how I feel about it.”
Kelly added, “To me, Stonewall means strength in numbers. Every time you put a rock on that wall, we become stronger and stronger and stronger. And you put your rock here today.”
Harris posed for selfies with patrons once the press had been ushered out of the bar. She hung out behind the bar for a short time, chatting with people there.
Harris briefly spoke to reporters as she was leaving the Stonewall Inn.
“This place represents a real inflection moment in this movement, which is a movement that is about equality, a movement that is about freedom, a movement that is about safety,” Harris said, noting the anniversary of the raid. “I’m here because I also understand not only what we should celebrate in terms of those fighters who fought for fundamental freedoms, but understanding that this fight is not over.”
She continued, “When I look at the fact that in our country we’re looking at somewhere around 600 bills being proposed or passed — anti-LGBTQ bills — book bans, a policy approach that is ‘don’t say gay.’ People in fear for their life. People afraid to be. To be! These are fundamental issues that point to the need for us to all be vigilant [and] to stand together.”
The Stonewall Inn was raided by police in the early hours of Saturday, June 28, 1969, as part of a pattern of harassment against LGBTQ+ establishments. A fight broke out instead of the patrons and allies dispersing. Six days of protests and conflict followed the raid and subsequent riot outside the bar, along nearby streets, and in Christopher Park. As one of the most significant catalysts of the movement’s dramatic expansion of protected rights, the Stonewall Riots are widely regarded as one of the most critical events in the LGBTQ+ rights movement.
Her motorcade then took Harris to the Upper East Side for the 24th Annual LGBTQ+ Leadership Council Gala, a campaign reception benefiting the Biden Victory Fund. In front of an enthusiastic crowd, actress Rosario Dawson introduced Harris.
Harris declared, “Pride is patriotism!”
She said, “There is nothing more patriotic than celebrating freedom, which includes the freedom to love who you love and be who you are.”
Harris then spoke about her earlier visit to the Stonewall Inn.
“I reflected on the determination and dedication of patriots like Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson,” she said.
She also paid tribute to the late Jim Rivaldo, a political consultant who served as her campaign manager during her successful 2004 bid for San Francisco district attorney. Rivaldo was instrumental in Harvey Milk’s election to the city council in 1978.
Harris acknowledged Jim Obergefell, who was in attendance, for bringing the case Obergefell vs. Hodges, which established marriage equality nationwide in 2015 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff.
“That progress is not inevitable. It does not just happen. It takes steadfast determination and dedication,” Harris said, “the kind of determination and dedication possessed by people like Jim Obergefell.”
Additionally, Harris acknowledged Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and gay California Rep. Robert Garcia, who were all in attendance. She also celebrated the election of two lesbian governors: Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and Oregon Gov. Tina Kotec, who were not at the event.
She warned, however, of the current political climate and promised her and President Joe Biden’s support in the fight against the backsliding of LGBTQ+ rights nationwide.
“These extremists dare to ban books by LGBTQ+ authors or those that have LGBTQ+ characters. Book bans in this year of our Lord 2023,” she said, exasperated. “Imagine!”
Harris continued, “As we are clear-eyed about this moment, let us all see also the larger context in which this is happening because this fight is not only about teachers in Florida or young people in Tennessee. This fight is on all of us because when you attack the rights of any American, you attack the rights of all Americans.”
As the country approaches another presidential election in 2024, Harris outlined the Republican approach.
“Let’s be clear about where this is headed,” she said. “These extremists have a plan to push their agenda as far and as wide as they possibly can. Their blueprint is to attack hard-won rights and freedoms state by state: to attack the right to live as your authentic self, to attack the right to vote, to attack the rights of workers to organize, to attack the right to make decisions about one’s own body.”
Harris responded to those developments with one resounding message.
“Here’s the thing,” she said. “I have news for these extremists. We’re not having that!”
President Joe Biden on Friday warned that if Republicans win next year’s elections, they will go after the right to privacy that has provided the basis for legal protections for same-sex marriage and access to contraception.
“These guys are serious, man. I — I said it when the decision came out, and people looked at me like I was exaggerating,” he said. “But they’re not stopping here.”
Biden delivered the remarks during an event hosted by America’s largest pro-choice organizations in commemoration of the first anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Americans’ constitutional right to abortion.
Joining the president at the Mayflower Hotel in D.C. were his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff. Also in attendance were senior administration officials and House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who spoke before Biden took the stage.
Repeating his call for Congress to pass legislation restoring the reproductive freedoms that were erased with the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Biden also denounced the abortion restrictions that were since passed in red states.
“They’re not stopping here,” he said. “Make no mistake, this election is about freedom on the ballot.”
Representatives from the abortion rights groups hosting the event — Emily’s List, Planned Parenthood Action Fund and NARAL Pro-Choice America — endorsed Biden’s bid for re-election, likely a signal of his campaign’s confidence that reproductive rights will be a defining feature of the 2024 presidential race.
Also on Friday, the White House issued an Executive Order on Strengthening Access to Contraception along with a fact sheet providing an “update on the work of the Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access and the administration’s ongoing efforts to defend reproductive rights.”
The executive order delineates a series of actions including plans to improve access to affordable contraception for those with private health insurance; improve access to over-the-counter contraception; support family planning services and supplies across the Medicaid program; improve Medicare coverage of contraception; ensure “robust coverage” of contraception for service members, veterans and federal employees; increase contraception access for federally supported healthcare programs; improve access to affordable contraception provided by employer sponsored health plans and institutions of higher education; and support research documenting gaps and disparities in access to contraception.
The White House’s fact sheet, meanwhile, summarizes the Biden-Harris administration’s work fighting for reproductive rights in the wake of Dobbs. This has also included a series of actions contained in two executive orders along with those in Friday’s.
Among other moves, the administration has worked to ensure access to medication abortion, protect the freedom to travel across state lines for medical care, safeguard the privacy of health information and partner with statewide abortion rights advocates.
On Saturday, the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization, the Human Rights Campaign, issued a press release committing the organization to fighting on behalf of reproductive freedom.
“LGBTQ+ people are disproportionately affected by abortion bans,” according to the press release. “Even prior to the Dobbs decision, lesbian, bisexual, and queer cisgender women reported higher rates of unwanted or mistimed pregnancies relative to heterosexual women, often due to the discrimination that they face in healthcare settings.”
A federal judge on Wednesday struck down Florida rules championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis restricting Medicaid coverage for gender dysphoria treatments for potentially thousands of transgender people.
“Gender identity is real” and the state has admitted it, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle wrote in a 54-page ruling.
He said a Florida health code rule and a new state law violated federal laws on Medicaid, equal protection and the Affordable Care Act’s prohibition of sex discrimination.
They are “invalid to the extent they categorically ban Medicaid payment for puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for the treatment of gender dysphoria,” Hinkle wrote.
The judge said Florida had chosen to block payment for some treatments “for political reasons” using a biased and unscientific process and that “pushing individuals away from their transgender identity is not a legitimate state interest.”
An email seeking comment from the DeSantis’ office wasn’t immediately returned.
Hinkle’s harsh language echoed that in his ruling two weeks ago over a law that bans transgender minors from receiving puberty blockers. Hinkle, who was appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton, issued a preliminary injunction so that three children could continue receiving treatment.
The DeSantis administration and the Republican-controlled Legislature had banned gender-affirming treatments for children and a law that DeSantis signed in May made it difficult — even impossible —for many transgender adults to get treatment.
The latest ruling involved a lawsuit filed last year on behalf of two adults and two minors, but advocacy groups estimate that some 9,000 transgender people in Florida use Medicaid to fund their treatments.
Hinkle also addressed the issue of whether gender-affirming treatments were medically necessary and noted that transgender people have higher rates of anxiety, depression and suicide than the general population.
Transgender medical care for minors is increasingly under attack — Florida is among 19 states that have enacted laws restricting or banning treatment. But it has been available in the United States for more than a decade and is endorsed by major medical associations.
More than 60 people have been detained at Istanbul Pride where thousands turned up to march amid targeted celebration bans.
On Sunday (25 June), LGBTQ+ activists and allies took to the streets of Istanbul’s Şişli district in defiance of obstacles.
English Bianet reported that the Istanbul Pride Week Committee said over 60 were detained by authorities.
In Türkiye, since 2015, Pride events have been systematically banned in the country, with events such as picnics and film screenings even being targeted with bans during Pride Month.
Despite the ban, a group of activists marched in Şişli district on June 25, 2023 in Istanbul, Türkiye. (Hakan Akgun/ dia images via Getty Images)
“Nils Muižnieks, Amnesty International’s Europe director, said: “As thousands take to the streets of Istanbul and Izmir in defiance, they risk facing tear gas and rubber bullets.
“The authorities should allow LGBTI Pride Marches in Türkiye to go ahead safely and without interference.”
On Twitter, participants of the Pride event spoke out about attending the march in the face of oppression.
“The governor of Istanbul said that ‘any activity that threatens the institution of the family’ would not be allowed, and the police closed Taksim. But LGBTI+s found a way around and did not give up on the march!” one posted.
“Despite all the pressure, thousands of queers marched in Istanbul today. This victory is enough for us. I can cry of happiness,” another tweet read.
A third read: “Our stories of honour are different from each other, but they are also the same. My heart and soul are in Istanbul today. We were, we are, we will be.”
Prior to the arrests, activists gathered in Mıstık Park in Nişantaşı and hung a huge rainbow flag on a multi-storey carpark opposite the green. Passionate speeches were made demanding equality for LGBTQ+ people in the country.
“We carry the anger of the queers who have been subjected to torture by the state and its law enforcement agencies, and we declare that our anger will burn you,” one activist read. “We will not leave our spaces; you will get used to us.”
LGBTQ community members and supporters hold rainbow flags and shout slogans during the unauthorised Pride March in Istanbul, on June 25, 2023. (YASIN AKGUL/AFP via Getty Images)
The speech went on to condemn President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s victory speech following his re-election in May, in which he stated: “LGBTI is a poison injected into the institution of the family. It is not possible for us to accept that poison.
“No one can speak against the family.”
Protestors at Istanbul Pride responded by “rejecting” Erdoğan’s anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.
“We reject this politics of hatred and denial,” the activist told those gathered. “Despite all the prohibitions, criminalisations, pressures, and attempts to suppress us, we will continue to advocate for a humane life for everyone and persist in democratic living.”
Istanbul Pride has been celebrated since 2003, but from 2015, it has been banned by Turkish authorities. Despite this, activists in different cities across the country – including Mersin, Adana, Ankara and Eskisehir – plan to go ahead with Pride events.
