The Associated Press

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Turkey’s Erdogan tells supporters he does not ‘recognize LGBT’

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday he did not “recognize LGBT” and vowed to combat “perverse” trends which he said aimed to destroy the institution of family in the country. Turkey’s government, led by Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party, has toughened its stance on LGBTQ freedoms in recent months, particularly while campaigning for this year’s elections in May. Homosexuality is not a crime in Turkey, but hostility to it is widespread, and police crackdowns on Pride parades have become tougher over the years. Speaking at an AK Party congress in Ankara, Erdogan, who has frequently labeled members of the LGBTQ […]

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After years of erasure, Black queer leaders rise to prominence in Congress and activism

On the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington this summer, a few Black queer advocates spoke passionately before the main program about the ongoing struggle for LGBTQ rights. As some of them got up to speak, the crowd was still noticeably small. Hope Giselle, a speaker who is Black and trans, said she felt the event’s programming echoed the historical marginalization and erasure of Black queer activists in the Civil Rights Movement. However, she was buoyed by the fact that prominent speakers drew attention to recent efforts to turn back the clock on LGBTQ rights, like the attacks on […]

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Nebraska imposes 40 hours of therapy and other restrictions on care for trans youth

Nebraska is requiring transgender youth seeking transition-related care to wait seven days to start puberty blocking medications or hormone treatments under emergency regulations announced Sunday by the state health department. The regulations also require transgender minors to undergo at least 40 hours of “gender-identity-focused” therapy that are “clinically neutral” before receiving any medical treatments meant to affirm their gender identities. A new law that took effect Sunday bans transition-related surgeries for trans youth under 19 and also required the state’s chief medical officer to spell out when and how those youth can receive other care. The state Department of Health and Human […]

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California governor signs law barring schoolbook bans based on racial and LGBTQ teachings

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Monday to ban school boards from rejecting textbooks based on their teachings about the contributions of people from different racial backgrounds, sexual orientations and gender identities. Newsom called the measure “long overdue.” “From Temecula to Tallahassee, fringe ideologues across the country are attempting to whitewash history and ban books from schools,” Newsom said in a statement. “With this new law, we’re cementing California’s role as the true freedom state: a place where families — not political fanatics — have the freedom to decide what’s right for them.” The bill takes effect immediately. The […]

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Montana judge blocks enforcement of law to ban gender-affirming medical care for minors

A Montana law banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors is temporarily blocked, a state judge ruled Wednesday, just four days before it was to take effect. District Court Judge Jason Marks agreed with transgender youth, their families and healthcare providers that a law passed by the 2023 Montana Legislature is likely unconstitutional and would harm the mental and physical health of minors with gender dysphoria. The preliminary injunction blocking the law will remain in effect until a full trial can be held on the issue, but Marks has said he expects his decision will be appealed to the Montana Supreme Court. “Today’s […]

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Some providers are dropping gender-affirming care for kids even in cases where it’s legal

As Republican-led states have rushed to ban gender-affirming care for minors, some families with transgender children found a bit of solace: At least they lived in states that would allow those already receiving puberty blockers or hormone therapy to continue. But in some places, including Missouri and North Dakota, the care has abruptly been halted because medical providers are wary of harsh liability provisions in those same laws — one of multiple reasons that advocates say care has become harder to access even where it remains legal. “It was a completely crushing blow,” said Becky Hormuth, whose 16-year-old son was […]

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Catholic priests bless same-sex couples in defiance of a German archbishop

Several Catholic priests held a ceremony blessing same-sex couples outside Cologne Cathedral on Wednesday night in a protest against the city’s conservative archbishop, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki. Their protest was triggered by Cologne church officials’ criticism of a priest from Mettmann, a town near Duesseldorf, who in March had held a “blessing ceremony for lovers” — including same-sex couples. Officials from the Cologne archdiocese, which Mettmann belongs to, had reprimanded the priest afterward and stressed that the Vatican doesn’t allow blessings of same-sex couples, German news agency dpa reported. The blessing of same-sex couples on Wednesday was the latest sign […]

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Appeals court takes up trans health coverage case likely headed to Supreme Court

A federal appeals court is considering cases out of North Carolina and West Virginia that could have significant implications on whether individual states are required to cover health care for transgender people with government-sponsored insurance. The Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in cases Thursday involving the coverage of gender-affirming care by North Carolina’s state employee health plan and the coverage of gender-affirming surgery by West Virginia Medicaid. During the proceedings, at least two judges said it’s likely the case will eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Both states appealed separate lower court rulings that found the denial of gender-affirming […]

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Families challenge North Dakota’s ban on gender-affirming care for children

Families and a pediatrician are challenging North Dakota’s law criminalizing gender-affirming care for minors, the latest lawsuit in many states with similar bans. Gender Justice on Thursday announced the state district court lawsuit in a news conference at the state Capitol in Bismarck. The lawsuit against the state attorney general and state’s attorneys of three counties seeks to immediately block the ban, which took effect in April, and to have a judge find it unconstitutional and stop the state from enforcing it. State lawmakers “have outlawed essential health care for these kids simply and exclusively because they are transgender,” Gender Justice […]

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A mausoleum for transgender women is inaugurated in Mexico’s capital as killings continue

Mexican transgender rights activists Kenya Cuevas and Andrea Luna sat in front of their longtime friend Paola Buenrostro’s pink grave in Mexico City. “You don’t have to pay rent anymore. You will have your own home now,” Luna sadly joked to her late friend, a transgender woman slain in front of Cuevas in 2016. Buenrostro will be the first woman to be moved to a mausoleum a short distance away entirely dedicated to transgender women that was inaugurated on Thursday. Many of the dead transgender women were victims of hate crimes. Built in Iztapalapa, the most populous borough of Mexico’s […]

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