Features

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Arizona Refused to Cover Trans Healthcare for 40 Years, but that Might Change

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Two transgender teenagers are suing Arizona over its blanket ban on paying for transition-related healthcare for Medicaid recipients. The claimants, 17-year-old D.H. and 15-year-old John Doe, are bringing a class-action lawsuit alleging that their civil rights are being violated by Arizona’s prohibition on transition-related surgeries. Arizona is one of 10 states that explicitly bans coverage for transition-related treatments to transgender Medicaid recipients, according to Metro Weekly. The National Center for Lesbian Rights filed the complaint against the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System on August 6. “D.H. and John bring this lawsuit on behalf of themselves and similarly situated individuals to challenge Arizona’s […]

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Judge Suspends Idaho’s Anti-trans Law that Excludes Trans Women from Sports

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An Idaho judge has granted an injunction against enforcement of the state’s discriminatory law excluding trans athletes from the student sports teams corresponding to their true gender. The anti-trans bill, HB500, was signed into law by Republican governor Brad Little in the midst of the pandemic in March, alongside its sister bill HB509 that bars trans people from changing the gender marker on their birth certificate. In June, a judge ruled that HB509 is a violation of transgender people’s constitutional rights, in a lawsuit filed against Idaho by LGBT+ advocacy group Lambda Legal. And on Monday (August 17), another lawsuit against the anti-trans laws […]

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Gay Lawmaker and Coronavirus Survivor Tried to Donate Plasma, but He Was Turned Away

A gay lawmaker and coronavirus survivor tried to donate plasma to help others – but he was turned away because of his sexuality. Shevrin Jones, a Democratic member of the Florida House of Representatives, went to a blood drive on August 7 with his mother Bloneva Jones and his father Eric Jones. The three decided to donate blood because they had recently recovered from COVID-19 and wanted to help others by donating their antibody-rich blood. Writing on Twitter, Jones said: “I was blessed to get through COVID, and it’s only right that we bless someone else and give them a fighting chance to […]

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An Old, Dangerous Drug has Made a Comeback with a New Generation of Users

It had been several years since professor Joseph Palamar had seen that unmistakable “caveman face,” the telltale sign of an imminent overdose of gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, or GHB. Standing among throngs of concertgoers at a Brooklyn music venue last year, Palamar spotted the bulky man with the contorted face nearby. He was struggling to remain conscious. “I’ve noticed that when people are meant to pass out and they keep forcing it, they make these very strange, primitive faces,” Palamar, an epidemiologist and associate professor of population health at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, told NBC News. “They look like […]

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Anti-transgender Birth Certificate Law Violates Order, Judge Rules

Idaho officials’ latest attempt to ban transgender people from changing the gender on their birth certificates violates a court order issued two years ago, a federal judge said. U.S. Magistrate Judge Candy Dale first ruled in 2018 that a law barring the birth certificate changes was unconstitutional, and she banned state officials from implementing it. Earlier this year, Republican lawmakers passed new legislation that did largely the same thing. That law signed by Republican Gov. Brad Little went into effect on July 1. It set strict criteria for changing gender on a birth certificate, including a requirement that a person […]

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Transgender Teens File Class-action Suit over Arizona Surgery Ban

Two transgender teens sued Arizona’s Medicaid agency Thursday, alleging their civil rights are being violated by the state health insurance program’s ban on gender-affirming surgeries. The suit, filed Thursday in an Arizona federal courthouse, seeks to establish a class action on behalf of the teens — known only as John Doe, 15, and D.H., 17, and other transgender Arizonan Medicaid recipients under age 21 who seek chest reconstruction as treatment for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria. The complaint estimates there are at least 100 Arizonans who would be affected by the suit. The suit defines the class as “individuals who […]

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Trans Woman Harassed and Misgendered in Jail Secures Vital Reforms for Trans Prisoners

Trans prisoners in a New York county were delivered a stunning victory Wednesday (August 5) when a roster of LGBT+ activist organisations secured them a vital but simple right: To be incarcerated as the correct gender. The landmark legal settlement was described by activists as having secured some of the most “robust policies in the country” to better protect trans folk in custody in the western Steuben County. The case was brought forward after 43-year-old trans military veteran Jena Faith was sentenced to a month in Steuben County Jail in 2019. While initially kept in the women’s division of the […]

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Banker Sues Citi after Being ‘Denied a Promotion’ Because He’s Gay

The multinational investment bank Citigroup is being sued by a gay man who claims he was demoted and discriminated against because of his sexual orientation. The allegations by gay banker Thomas Krauss appear to counter Citigroup’s proud ranking as the most LGBT-inclusive financial services employer in the Stonewall Top 100. Krauss joined the firm in 2010 and until recently led the firm’s capital introduction group for the Americas, Bloomberg reported. He says he was targeted when he uncovered complaints of sexual harassment made against a new hire on his team, Deutsche Bank veteran Joseph Genovese. Concerned that Genovese’s hiring could put Citigroup at […]

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‘Brave’ and ‘Outspoken’ Marilyn Cazares among Six Transgender Americans Killed in July

Rosa Diaz and her daughter were riding their motorcycles through rural Brawley, California, this year when they noticed a young person who appeared lost walking down the town’s main street. Diaz, who runs the only LGBTQ resource center for miles, sensed that the person might be in need of support. She told her daughter to continue ahead, and Diaz made a U-turn. “I asked her for her name,” and the person shared a male name, Diaz said in an interview. “I said, ‘Is there another name that you prefer?’ And that’s when she told me, ‘Well, I like Marilyn.’” Diaz […]

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In a First, Hospital Vows to Ban Cosmetic Surgeries on Intersex Infants

A prominent children’s hospital publicly apologized Thursday for performing cosmetic genital surgeries on intersex infants and pledged to end the practice. “We recognize the painful history and complex emotions associated with intersex surgery and how, for many years, the medical field has failed these children,” the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago said in a statement. “We empathize with intersex individuals who were harmed by the treatment that they received according to the historic standard of care, and we apologize and are truly sorry.” The apology, signed by the hospital’s CEO and three head physicians, comes after […]

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