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Iowa enacts transgender bathroom bill and ban on gender-affirming care for minors

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed two bills into law Wednesday that affect transgender minors in the state. One bill, Senate File 538, prevents doctors from administering gender-affirming care to those under 18. The other, Senate File 482, prevents trans students from entering school bathrooms or changing rooms that correspond with their gender identities.  The new laws are part of a broader effort among conservative lawmakers throughout the country to restrict the rights of LGBTQ Americans, especially transgender people. So far this year, more than 400 such proposals have been filed in state legislatures, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Supporters of the […]

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Maryland passes bill requiring state Medicaid plans to cover gender-affirming care

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Maryland’s newly-elected governor Wes Moore (D) ran on a promise to support legislation that would require state Medicaid plans to cover gender-affirming care. Now it looks like he’ll soon get a chance to make good on that promise. On Monday, the state’s senate approved the Trans Health Equity Act in a 32–14 vote after the bill passed in the Maryland House of Delegates on Saturday. S.B. 460 now goes to Moore’s desk for a signature. An anti-trans tweet about gender-affirming surgery led trans men to proudly share their scars.  The new law, introduced by Maryland Del. Anne Kaiser (D) last year, requires […]

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Republicans have taken away access to gender-affirming care from 22% of trans youth

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Almost 23% of trans youth in the United States have lost access to gender-affirming care.  A new report from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) found that of the 300,000 trans youth ages 13 through 17, there are 66,600 living in states that have passed bans on this lifesaving care. And 84,700 more trans youth (28.2%) live in states that are currently considering bans.  The state is the fourth to pass a law prohibiting trans students from using bathrooms that match their gender identity.  According to the Movement Advancement Project, there are currently eight states that fully ban gender-affirming care for minors, along […]

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Disney To Defy DeSantis With Major LGBTQ Conference

The Miami Herald reports: The Walt Disney Company will host a major conference promoting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights in the workplace in Central Florida this September, gathering executives and professionals from the world’s largest companies in a defiant display of the limits of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign against diversity training. Michael Chamberlain, chief marketing officer for Out & Equal, confirmed the conference would be held at The Walt Disney World Resort, Sept. 11-14. Dozens of iconic American companies — including Apple, McDonald’s, Uber, Walmart, Hilton, Amazon, Boeing, Cracker Barrel and John Deere — are sponsoring the Out & Equal […]

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Missouri attorney general bans gender-affirming care in “power grab”

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Missouri’s Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R) has announced an “emergency regulation” that restricts gender-affirming medical care for transgender people in his state. Trans and civil rights advocates have criticized Bailey’s announcement for spreading misinformation and attempting a “power grab” while his state’s legislature considers a bill restricting gender-affirming care. Though Bailey’s announcement mentions “children,” it doesn’t list any age limits for his emergency regulations, meaning that it could apply to people of all ages. Republicans sneaked a last-minute amendment into a voting rights bill. One Democrat said the genital examinations would happen “over my dead body.” In a March 20 statement, […]

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Grindr joins major public health push to distribute free at-home HIV tests

The world’s most popular gay dating app, Grindr, is participating in a nationwide effort to distribute free at-home HIV testing kits to populations most affected by the virus.  “If you’ve got a way that you are testing, and it’s really working for you, then that’s great, and you should stick with that,” Jack Harrison-Quintana, director of the app’s social justice division, Grindr for Equality, told NBC News. “If you don’t, this is an additional way for you to get tested in a way that’s just about as easy as doing an at-home Covid test.”  Grindr, which reports 12 million monthly active […]

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Arkansas restricts school bathroom use by transgender people

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday signed a law prohibiting transgender people at public schools from using the restroom that matches their gender identity, the first of several states expected to enact such bans this year amid a flood of bills nationwide targeting the trans community. The bill signed by the Republican governor makes Arkansas the fourth state to place such restrictions at public schools, and it comes as bills in Idaho and Iowa also await their governor’s signature. And it might be followed by an even stricter Arkansas bill criminalizing transgender adults using public restrooms that match their gender identity. Arkansas’ law, which won’t […]

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Kentucky passes the ‘worst anti-trans bill’ in America

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Lawmakers in Kentucky have passed an expanded anti-trans bill which targets the rights of vulnerable young trans people in the state. The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky denounced the legislation as the “the worst anti-trans bill in the nation”.  On Thursday night (16 March), the state’s legislature passed the bill in a matter of hours, with approval from a committee and both the state House and Senate.  Senate Bill 150 seeks to ban gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth, requires doctors to detransition young trans people and prevents schools from discussing gender identity or sexual orientation with students of any […]

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Tennessee shuns federal HIV funds

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While the country remains in shock after Tennessee’s recent ban on public drag performances, another, more insidious attack on the LGBTQ+ community has been underway in the state. A coordinated effort by right-wing media and conservative lawmakers has decimated community-based programs addressing healthcare for LGBTQ+ people in Tennessee, including efforts to combat HIV. In January, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) announced his administration was rejecting $8.8 million in federal funds provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for HIV prevention and treatment. Left unsaid was the fact that some of those dollars had made their way to […]

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Sanders signs Arkansas trans care malpractice bill into law

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has signed legislation making it easier to sue providers of gender-affirming care for children, a move that could effectively reinstate a blocked ban on such care. Sanders on Monday signed the new law, which won’t take effect until this summer. It would allow anyone who received gender-affirming care as a minor to file a malpractice lawsuit against their doctor for up to 15 years after they turn 18. Under current Arkansas law, medical malpractice claims must be filed within two years of an injury. Legal experts have said the change could close access to gender-affirming care for […]

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