Features

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17 Republican AGs demand Supreme Court take up case about forcing schools to out trans kids

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A coalition of 17 Republican state attorneys general have filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to take up a case about a school’s policy allowing teachers to not out trans and gender-nonconforming students to their parents.  The brief, filed last week, opposes a lower court decision upholding the Montgomery County, Maryland, Board of Education’s guidelines on student gender identity. First adopted by the district during the 2020–2021 school year, the guidelines do not require school staff to inform parents if a student requests to socially transition at school. Instead, school staff must first “ascertain the level of support the […]

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Trans youth & their families sue Louisiana over its trans health care ban

Five trans youth and their families have joined a group of LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations in suing the state of Louisiana over its gender-affirming care ban.  The ban took effect on January 1st after the state legislature overrode a veto by former Gov. John Bel Edwards (D).  H.B. 648 bans doctors and nurses from providing safe and medically necessary gender-affirming care like puberty blockers and hormone therapy to transgender youth. It prevents trans youth from receiving both gender-affirming medications and surgery (though surgery is almost never performed on trans youth). It would also punish doctors for providing this care by taking away their […]

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The nation’s first lesbian governor is fighting for LGBTQ+ veterans to receive coverage for IVF

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Out Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) has proposed legislation to grant LGBTQ+ military veterans coverage for in-vitro fertilization (IVF), something the federal Veterans Administration (VA) only allows for heterosexual couples.  Healey first introduced the legislation – dubbed the HERO Act – in November, and according to The Boston Business Journal a hearing on the proposal is set to be held this month before the Joint Committee on Veteran and Federal Affairs. Related: “Our veterans have sacrificed so much for our country, and this transformative legislation marks an important step toward ensuring that Massachusetts supports them in return,” Healey said in a press release after introducing the legislation.  […]

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A transgender teen wanted to update his school records. Oklahoma created a rule to stop him.

Sitting on his living room couch, a 16-year-old high school student described all the reasons he’s fighting to change his gender identity on official documents. He doesn’t want his classmates to know he’s trans. He worries about the disrespectful comments he hears from people who don’t realize he transitioned years ago, the ugly rhetoric on social media that prompts him to put down his phone, and the alarming data and stories about harassment and violence.  But mostly, J. Doe — as the teen is referred to in a lawsuit his family filed last month against the Oklahoma State Board of Education — just wants to be […]

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Trans candidate Arienne Childrey is running for Ohio House and against the state’s drag ban sponsor

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Arienne Childrey is running to be the first transgender member of the Ohiolegislature — and she’s running against a state representative who sponsored a drag ban and supported bills restricting gender-affirming care and trans participation in school sports. “If you’re going to attack our communities, then you’re gonna have to compete against someone from our community,” Childrey told the Ohio Capital Journal. Childrey has declared her candidacy in the Democratic primary in Ohio House District 84, located in the northwestern part of the state. No other Democrat has entered the race so far. The incumbent is Republican Angela King. King and Rep. Josh Williams […]

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A trans man was brutally murdered in a trailer park. Then cops tragically misgendered him.

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A transgender man’s murder in August has become a teaching opportunity in progressive Wayne County, Michigan, as mourning friends and family members were forced to defend his gender identity after death. The senseless killing of 26-year-old Jean Butchart, shot in the head by a stranger on a hot August evening in Belleville, shocked his loved ones. But a cascade of misinformation based on conflicting reports about his gender worsened their heartbreak. Related: As police searched for Butchart’s killer, conflicting information on the victim’s driver’s license led police and the media to misgender him as a woman. Never Miss a Beat […]

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South Dakota’s First LGBTQ Ministry “Shepherd’s Table” Opens

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ev. Sawyer Vanden Heuvel hails from a small town where his church shunned him for being LGBTQ. However, when the pastor moved to South Dakota he became pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). It didn’t take long for Vanden Heuvel’s faith to beckon him to lead, and thus, he founded “a place for all” called Shepherd’s Table; born at the only LGBTQ community center in the state called the Prism Center.  This month, Shepherd’s Table became the first LGBTQ place of worship in South Dakota. “Opening Shepherd’s Table has been a dream since I first connected with people […]

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Book Bans Are Harming LGBTQ People, Advocates Say. This Online Library Is Fighting Back.

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Erik Lundstrom was about 14 when he secretly purchased the coming-of-age novel “Rainbow Boys” and hid it in his room, waiting until he was alone to become absorbed in the story of three teenage boys coming to terms with their sexuality. “I read that book five or six times that summer, just finally having some sort of outlet of stories about people that I identified with in a new and interesting, exciting and terrifying way,” Lundstrom told CNN. It would be many more years until Lundstrom, now 32, would join the ranks of a small group of volunteers dedicated to […]

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Trans LGBTQ+ activist shot dead in Baltimore remembered as ‘incredible person’

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Trans woman Meghan Riley Lewis, who was shot dead in Bel Air, has been remembered as an “incredible person”.  On Wednesday (27 December), Lewis, who was a mum-of-two, was shot and killed in the parking lot of her apartment complex.  Brian Delen, 47, has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder, first-degree assault and firearms charges in relation to the incident. He is currently being held without bond. Bel Air Police said Delen was delivering food at around 6.30pm to the English Country Manor neighbourhood when he got into an argument with Lewis that turned physical. Dylan pulled out a gun […]

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For transgender youth in crisis, hospitals sometimes compound the trauma

Four days of waiting under the flickering fluorescent lights of UNC Hospitals’ emergency room left Callum Bradford desperate for an answer to one key question. The transgender teen from Chapel Hill needed mental health care after overdosing on prescription drugs. He was about to be transferred to another hospital because the UNC system was short on beds. With knots in his stomach, he asked, “Will I be placed in a girls’ unit?” Yes, he would. The answer provoked one of the worst anxiety attacks he had ever experienced. Sobbing into the hospital phone, he informed his parents, who fought for days to […]

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