Julie Moreau

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Early Care Leads to Better Mental Health for Transgender Youths: Study

Transgender children who receive gender-affirming medical care earlier in their lives are less likely to experience mental health issues like depression and anxiety, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics. “The study highlights that timely access to gender-affirming medical care is really important for youth with gender dysphoria,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Julia C. Sorbara, a pediatric endocrinologist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Gender dysphoriainvolves a conflict between an individual’s sex assigned at birth and their gender identity. The study found that transgender youths who sought that type of care — which, for minors, most […]

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Black LGBTQ Americans Face ‘Harsher Consequences’ of Virus-hit Economy

Black LGBTQ Americans are disproportionately affected by the economic downturn fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report. An online survey of 10,000 people across the U.S., conducted from April to July by LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign and PSB Insights, found that Black LGBTQ respondents fared worse than both the Black population and the LGBTQ population along every economic indicator measured. “The data make clear what we have long known: that those living at the intersections of multiply marginalized identities face harsher consequences of the pandemic.” ALPHONSO DAVID, HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN “We know Black people are dying from COVID-19 at […]

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Gay Spouses Entitled to Social Security Survivors Benefits, Court Rules

Michael Ely met his husband, James Taylor, at a Sunset Beach bar in 1971. Taylor, known as “Spider” to his friends, played guitar in a band, and Ely got involved as a singer. The couple lived in California until the emotional toll of the AIDS epidemic became too great. In the early ‘90s, they relocated to Tucson, Arizona, where Taylor worked as a jet mechanic for Bombardier and Ely took care of their home. In 2007, Ely and Taylor had a commitment ceremony but could not be legally married in Arizona. Then in November of 2014, shortly after the state […]

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Religious Exemptions are Gutting Civil Rights Protections, Advocacy Groups Warn

The Trump administration’s expansion of religious exemptions is undermining civil rights protections and codifying discrimination against marginalized groups — particularly LGBTQ people — according to a report released Monday by three research and advocacy groups. Using a combination of new rules, legal interventions and newly created divisions, the departments of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Labor and State have all taken steps to advance “religious liberty,” often at the expense of LGBTQ rights, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for American Progress and the Movement Advancement Project argue in their report. “When you connect the dots, you […]

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LGBTQ People Face Higher Unemployment amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Survey Finds

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Americans are more likely to become unemployed as a result of the coronavirus epidemic than their non-LGBTQ counterparts, according to a poll by the national LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign and PSB Research. “It is unfortunate, but not surprising, to see how COVID-19 is disproportionately impacting vulnerable populations, including the LGBTQ community,” Elizabeth Bibi, the campaign’s senior communications adviser, told NBC News. “Understanding the impact this virus is having on our community is crucial so that we can be best prepared to weather this crisis and work together on how to recover.” The […]

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Year after Trans Military Ban, Legal Battle Rages on

In the year since the Trump administration banned transgender individuals from serving in the military, a number of advocacy groups have challenged the policy and many active service members say they’ve been forced to choose between continued service and their dignity and basic health care needs. When the administration implemented the ban on April 12, 2019, it ended an Obama-era policy that allowed trans men and women to serve openly and to receive transition-related medical care while enlisted. “The Trump-Pence administration has shamefully told thousands of qualified transgender military members that we aren’t good enough and our service doesn’t matter.” ARMY […]

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Anti-LGBTQ Hate Groups on the Rise in U.S., Report Warns

The number of anti-LGBTQ hate groups soared 43 percent last year, rising from 49 groups in 2018 to 70 in 2019, according to a recent report from the Southern Poverty Law Center. “Groups that vilify the LGBTQ community, in fact, represented the fastest-growing sector among hate groups in 2019,” the report states. The SPLC found the surge in anti-LGBTQ groups occurred amid an overall decrease in hate groups last year, which dropped to 940 from an all-time high of 1,020 in 2018. The report said the surge was “possibly fueled by continued anti-LGBTQ sentiment and policy emanating from government officials,” largely attributing […]

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Trump Admin Unlawfully Axing LGBTQ Discrimination Protections, Suit Claims

The Department of Health and Human Services plans to unlawfully stop enforcing nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ Americans, a lawsuit filed Thursday claims. The suit centers on a “notice of nonenforcement” and a proposed rule issued by the Trump administration in November that would reverse a 2016 Obama-era rule prohibiting discrimination in HHS-funded grant programs and permit federally funded organizations to turn people away claiming conflicts with religious beliefs. The suit was filed by civil rights group Lambda Legal and nonprofit Democracy Forward on behalf of three LGBTQ advocacy groups — True Colors United, SAGE and Family Equality. “In conflict with […]

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States Across U.S. still Cling to Outdated Gay Marriage Bans

Following years of failed attempts under Republican control, Virginia’s newly empowered Democrats finally passed bills repealing two outdated state laws that prohibited same-sex marriage. Sen. Adam Ebbin, the first openly gay lawmaker in the state’s General Assembly, introduced the bill, which was one of four pro-LGBTQ measures passed in the state this month. “This is really just bringing Virginia into the 21st century,” Ebbin told The Washington Post shortly after the bills’ passage. “Voters showed us they wanted equality on Nov. 5, and the Senate of Virginia has started to deliver on that.” Despite the Supreme Court’s landmark 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges making same-sex […]

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Advocates Tracking over 200 Active State Bills Targeting LGBTQ Americans

State lawmakers across the country have introduced several anti-LGBTQ bills since November, advocacy groups say, ranging from proposals that would make it more difficult for same-sex couples to adopt to measures that could put doctors in jail for providing hormone therapy to transgender minors. One such group, Equality Federation, said it is currently tracking about 226 bills — including more than two dozen introduced in January alone and some still active from previous legislative sessions — that have the potential to negatively affect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. “The targeting of kids is really unique this year … It’s really shocking, the depth of […]

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