Mira Lazine

Transgender legislation trackers have universally noted that 2024 has seen the most radical increase in the total number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills. However, this year has also seen fewer anti-LGBTQ+ bills actually pass into law. The Trans Legislation Tracker reports that 617 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been in consideration this year across 43 states, with 225 having failed and 348 active. However, only 44 total bills are reported to have been enacted into law. The American Civil Liberties Union reports similar data—they say that 517 bills have been introduced, 340 defeated, and 39 passed into law. Journalist Erin Reed’s legislation tracker reports 760 total bills in consideration, with […]

Houston surgeon Eithan Haim has been indicted on four felony counts after he shared public documents revealing the private information of transgender patients – in violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), a federal law that protects patients’ medical privacy. Haim leaked internal documents from Texas Children’s Hospital in 2023 to conservative activist Christopher Rufo, alleging that the hospital had violated Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s (R) opinion, which called gender-affirming care “child abuse.” Haim claims that the hospital continued to provide care up until the passing of S.B. 14, a gender-affirming care ban. Related: “My client […]

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ruled that the federal Office of Personnel & Management (OPM) had discriminated against a transgender man who worked with the Federal Bureau of Prisons by denying him hormone replacement therapy. The ruling took over eight years. Marc Lawrence had his first experience with discrimination in 2013 and filed a complaint with the EEOC over a decade ago in May 2014.  Lawrence is currently a retiree, but he worked at the Federal Bureau of Prisons working for over almost 30 years. He received coverage through the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, Blue Cross and Blue […]

Two Texan professors have filed a lawsuit against the United States government, arguing for their right to discriminate against people on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and abortion history. The plaintiffs in the suit — Daniel A. Bonevac, a philosophy professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and John Hatfield, an economics professor at the same school — are represented alongside Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) on behalf of the state. The two professors are backed by America First Legal (AFL), a large conservative legal organization that files hundreds of lawsuits to whittle away LGBTQ+ discrimination protections. The […]

The United Kingdom’s government just issued an emergency order to temporarily ban and criminalize the usage of puberty blockers for transgender minors, independent journalist Erin Reed reports. This criminalization is unprecedented and has not been seen in any other country. It could lead to prison sentences of up to two years, Jo Maugham of the Good Law Project told Reed. Notice of the policy was sent out on Wednesday, when the U.K. Department of Health and Social Care announced restrictions on puberty blockers as an emergency order from Conservative Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Victoria Atkins. The restrictions on puberty […]