Features

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Mississippi enacts transgender bathroom ban in public schools

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed a bill into law Monday that would bar transgender people from using bathrooms that correspond with their gender identities in the state’s public schools.  The legislation, titled the Securing Areas for Females Effectively and Responsibly Act, or the “SAFER Act,” mandates that the state’s schools have single-sex restrooms, changing rooms and dormitories. Its text defines someone’s sex as “‘determined solely by a birth,’ without regard to the fluidity of how someone acts or feels.” Reeves, a Republican, wrote in a statement on X that the law — which takes effect immediately — is intended to “keep Mississippi’s daughters […]

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Gay couple files first-of-its-kind class action against NYC for IVF benefits

A gay couple filed a first-of-its-kind class action lawsuit against New York City on Thursday alleging that the city’s health insurance plan is discriminatory because it doesn’t cover in vitro fertilization, or IVF, for male couples.  The lawsuit is the latest development in what has become a yearslong effort by the couple to get the city to change its IVF benefits, which the couple argues makes accommodations for heterosexual and lesbian couples, and for single women. Corey Briskin and Nicholas Maggipinto said they have been talking about having children since 2014, ahead of their engagement. They planned to use a […]

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South Carolina will soon ban gender-affirming care & out trans kids to their parents

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The South Carolina legislature has just passed a ban on gender-affirming care, making it the 25th state to do so. The ban also requires educators to out trans students to their potentially unsupportive parents. Gov. Henry McMaster (R) has signaled that he’s likely to sign it into law. If he does, the law will take effect immediately. House Bill 4624 will prohibit healthcare professionals from providing puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or surgeries to people under the age of 18, even though such surgeries are rarely ever performed on minors. Any professional who provides these to a minor can risk being disciplined […]

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Target Won’t Sell Pride Month Merch In Some Stores

Bloomberg News reports: Target Corp. won’t sell LGBTQ-themed merchandise in some stores during Pride Month in June, after a backlash dented revenue last year. Target faced threats from some customers last year over its Pride merchandise. The Minneapolis-based retailer plans to offer the full assortment online but is considering store-level data to decide which physical locations will carry the products, people familiar with the matter said, declining to be identified discussing private information. Target is likely to stock the products in about half of its nearly 2,000 stores in the US, the people said. The company has typically sold the Pride […]

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The FDA grants trans-inclusive at-home cervical screening device a priority review

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted a priority review for a trans-inclusive cervical screening at-home test to become approved in the US, and we think it’s high time for a change. For women, trans and non-binary people with uteruses, undergoing a regular cervical smear to prevent and detect cervical cancer can be an unpleasant experience due to the cold and down-right uncomfortable speculum used. Some gender-diverse people also experience gender-based discrimination in such appointments. The outdated device used in pelvic appointments to separate the vaginal walls can be cold and uncomfortable. The clamp-like instrument was invented in […]

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United Methodists remove anti-gay language from official teachings on societal issues

United Methodist delegates on Thursday removed a 52-year-old declaration from their official social teachings that deemed “the practice of homosexuality … incompatible with Christian teaching” — part of a wider series of historic reversals of the denomination’s long-standing disapproval of LGBTQ activity. The historic vote came as delegates also approved a new definition of marriage as a covenant between “two people of faith” while recognizing the couple may or may not involve a man and a woman. That replaces an exclusively heterosexual definition of marriage and followed a debate that exposed tensions between some U.S. and international delegates. The 523-161 […]

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University investigating after trans woman filmed and confronted in campus bathroom

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Western Carolina University in North Carolina is investigating after a student confronted and filmed a trans woman in toilets on the campus grounds. In the clip, which was filmed on the Western Carolina University (WCU) campus, the person behind the camera can be heard asking the trans woman what she is doing in the female toilets.  “Going to the bathroom,” the trans individual responds.  “Why are you in the girls’ bathroom?” the camera operator probes, continuing to challenge the trans woman’s presence.  In response, the person being questioned replies that she is a trans girl, to which the woman retorts: […]

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Aetna agrees to settle lawsuit over fertility coverage for LGBTQ customers

Aetna has agreed to settle a lawsuit that accused the health insurer of discriminating against LGBTQ customers in need of fertility treatment. Under the deal announced Friday, the insurer will make coverage of artificial insemination standard for all customers nationally and work to ensure that patients have equal access to more expensive in-vitro fertilization procedures, according to the National Women’s Law Center, which represented plaintiffs in the case. Aetna, the health insurance arm of CVS Health Corp., covers nearly 19 million people with commercial coverage, including employer-sponsored health insurance. The insurer will set aside a $2 million fund to reimburse people who […]

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Arkansas trans community center vandalized for 5th time in past year, advocates say

An Arkansas transgender advocacy group’s community center was vandalized this week for at least the fifth time in the past year, the group’s executive director said. InTRANSitive, the only trans community center in the state, has become increasingly visible in recent years due to its activism against a wave of state legislation targeting trans people, Rumba Yambú, the founder and executive director, said. InTRANSitive’s Little Rock-based community center has seen repeated acts of vandalism since it opened in December 2021, said Yambú, who uses they/them pronouns. Starting last year, someone has damaged the pipes outside of the building at least […]

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14 states sue the Biden administration for the right to discriminate against trans kids

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More states have announced lawsuits against the Biden administration over its new Title IX rules mandating anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ students, bringing the total number of states suing the administration to 14. Last week, Alabama, South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia filed a joint lawsuit against the administration, along with the Independent Women’s Network, Parents Defending Education, Speech First, and the Independent Women’s Law Center. In a separate lawsuit, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) also announced a challenge to the new rules. Now the state of Tennessee is leading a lawsuit against the new rules and is joined by Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, […]

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