Police in Idaho arrested 31 people who had face coverings, white-supremacist insignia, shields and an “operations plan” to riot near an LGBTQ Pride event on Saturday afternoon. Police said they were affiliated with Patriot Front, a white-supremacist group whose founder was among those arrested.
Authorities received a tip about a “little army” loading into a U-Haul truck at a hotel Saturday afternoon, said Lee White, the police chief in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, a city of about 50,000 near the border with Washington. Local and state law enforcement pulled over the truck about 10 minutes later, White said at a news conference.
Many of those arrested were wearing logos representing Patriot Front, which rebranded after one of its members plowed his car into a crowd of people protesting a white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville in 2017, killing Heather Heyer and injuring dozens.
The men were standing inside the truck wearing khakis, navy blue shirts and beige hats with white balaclavas covering their faces when Coeur d’Alene police stopped the U-Haul and began arresting them on the side of the road.
“They came to riot downtown,” Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White said at a news conference. All 31 were charged with conspiracy to riot, a misdemeanor, White said. The men were going through the booking process Saturday afternoon and are scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, he said.
Police led the men, one by one, to the front of patrol cars, took off their masks and then brought them to a police van. The group’s manifesto calls for the formation of a white ethnostate in the United States, the Southern Poverty Law Center said.
Right wingers and Trump cultists are flooding social media with their usual claims that Patriot Front is a secret FBI operation to make them look bad.
Patriot Front first appeared on JMG in February 2020 when over 150 members chanted “reclaim America” as they marched through Washington DC.
We heard from them again last summer when they were chased back to their U-Haul by counter-protesters in downtown Philadelphia.
They marched again in Washington DC in December 2021before crashing January 2022 anti-abortion rallies in Chicago and Washington DC.
A North Carolina teacher has resigned amid a controversy over the use of LGBTQ-themed flashcards to teach inclusivity and colours in her preschool classroom.
The preschool teacher, who has not been identified by the Wake County school system, resigned from Ballentine Elementary School in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina. Wake County Public School System spokesperson Lisa Luten told WRALthat the district was “concerned to learn of the inappropriate instructional resource” found in the preschool classroom.
“An initial review determined that flashcards were not tied to the district’s Pre-K curriculum, did not complement, enrich or extend the curriculum and were used without the principal’s review, knowledge and/or approval,” Luten added.
Luten also said that extra security was stationed in the school after the backlash against the LGBTQ+ flashcards.
The backlash started to mount against the school after state House speaker Tim Moore said he’d been informed about the flashcard by Republican representative Erin Paré.
Moore released a statement on Friday (27 May) in which he said a “concerned constituent” emailed Paré about the LGBTQ+ flashcards – including one he said depicted a “pregnant man” – which were being used to teach colours to kids in a preschool class.
The LGBTQ+ themed cards were reportedly used in a Ballentine Elementary School preschool classroom to teach about colours. (WRAL)
Paré said in an interview with Fox Newsthat “loving families come in all different shapes and sizes” and that “kids need loving families right now”. But she drew the line at the card’s depiction of a pregnant person with short hair being embraced by their partner.
“But I think when you’re looking at a card in front of a preschooler that has a mommy hugging a daddy with a baby in his belly, that’s just not age-appropriate material to be showing preschoolers, and I’m glad that this principal and the district acted immediately,” Paré said.
Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert also joined the pile-on against the teacher on Twitter and alleged it was an example of how “the Left” are “grooming” children.
“A North Carolina preschool is using LGBT flag flashcards with a pregnant man to teach kids colors,” Boebert wrote. “We went from Reading Rainbow to Randy Rainbow in a few decades, but don’t dare say the Left is grooming our kids!”
But one parent has shared her devastation that her child was losing the teacher. Jackie Milazzo, who has a three-year-old son in the class, told WRAL that the preschool educator was “one of the most remarkable teachers I have ever met” and it was “such a loss for our community”.
She described how parents were crying and hugging each other after they learned that the teacher was resigning over the LGBTQ+ flashcards.
Milazzo added in a separate interview for ABC 11that the preschool kids are “being used as a publicity stunt” by conservative lawmakers.
“We are not upset about what’s in the classroom,” Milazzo said. “I know a lot of the community at Ballentine Elementary aren’t upset about this being in the classroom.”
She added that a “picture of a same-sex couple” doesn’t “make my child unsafe” but the horrific waves of hate she’s received do.
“I’ve been receiving messages that our teachers are groomers, my child is being brainwashed… like how am I supposed to feel safe sending my child to school like this?” Milazzo said.
“These actions are not supporting our schools, they’re not supporting our teachers, they’re not supporting our kids, my child has now lost his teacher.”
The North Carolina Senate is set to debate legislation – dubbed a ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill – that would stop discussions on LGBTQ+ issues in classrooms in the state. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty)
The backlash comes as Republican lawmakers are considering a bill (HB 755) that would prevent instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade classrooms.
The legislation – which has been dubbed a ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill by LGBTQ+ advocates – would also require parents to be notified if a student chooses to change their name, update their pronouns or use school counselling services.
The Reverend Vance Haywood, senior pastor of St John’s Metropolitan Community Church in Raleigh, said the bill “proposes forced outing of queer kids”, the Associated Pressreported.
“It’s creating an environment where we’re telling folks that it’s not OK to be yourself,” Haywood said. “You have to hide parts of who you are.”
The bill has passed through the Senate Rules Committee and is expected to receive a debate and vote on Wednesday before the Republican-controlled Senate.
Support for same-sex marriage has reached an all-time high in the US, according to new polling.
Seventy-one per cent of Americans said they support same-sex marriage in Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs poll, released Wednesday (1 June).
This is one percentage point more than last year, and the highest level of support since Gallup began asking Americans about marriage equality in 1996. That year, just 27 per cent of Americans supported same-sex unions.
According to Gallup, the statistic reflects a “steady increase [of support]among most subgroups of the population, even those who have traditionally been the most resistant to gay marriage.”
Support for same-sex marriage reached a majority among adults aged 65 or older in 2016, protestants in 2017, and Republicans in 2021.
Weekly churchgoers remain the main outlier, with 58 per cent opposing same-sex marriage.
In contrast, as of 2004, Americans that almost never attend church are the predominant supporter of same-sex marriage.
As of 2022, 82 per cent of those who seldom/never attend church support gay marriage, while 70 per cent of monthly attendees are in support.
Overall, since 2011, the majority of Americans have backed same-sex marriage. It hit 60 per cent in 2015, just one month before the historic Obergefell V. Hodges decision by the Supreme Court that guaranteed the right to same-sex marriages.
“As Gallup’s trend on support for legal same-sex marriage inches ever upward, the question is when it will reach its ceiling,” the report said.
“Some observers of the Supreme Court’s leaked draft opinion related to Roe V Wade in May have questioned whether an overturning of Roe would clear a path for the conservative-leaning court to also overturn Obergefell.”
“If this were to happen, the court would be moving in opposition to a public opinion trend that has shown increasing support,” it continued.
The poll is based on telephone interviews conducted every year to a random sample of 1,007 American adults, living in all 50 US states, as well as the District of Columbia. There is a 95 per cent confidence level in the report, with sampling errors at around ±4 percentage points.
Social worker Julio Ramirez, 25, met up with a friend on April 20 for a night out in Hell’s Kitchen, a Manhattan neighborhood near Times Square in New York known for its lively restaurant and bar scene. Their last stop was the Ritz Bar and Lounge, a popular, multilevel gay venue in the heart of the neighborhood’s Restaurant Row.
Surveillance footage from a nearby security camera shows Ramirez walking away from the venue with three unidentified men at 3:17 a.m., according to his brother, Carlos, who said he was briefed by investigators. The four men then entered a nearby taxi, a police source said, but Ramirez was alone in the backseat at 4:10 a.m. when the taxi driver approached a police officer 3 miles away in Manhattan’s Lower East Side neighborhood to say his passenger was unresponsive.
Julio Ramirez.Family photo
Despite efforts to save his life by the officer and the Emergency Medical Services team, Ramirez was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital at 4:49 a.m. on April 21, a police source said, adding that the initial cause of death was listed as a “possible drug overdose.” Ramirez’s official “cause and manner of death are pending further study,” according to the medical examiner, who told NBC News in an email that this could take “at least a few weeks.” Ramirez was initially identified as “John Doe,” his brother said, because neither his wallet nor phone were with him when he died.
Now, more than a month later, Ramirez’s family and friends are left with more questions than answers as they try to piece together what happened in his final hours. Who were the men who entered the taxi with him? Was he drugged? Are investigators prioritizing his case? Where are his phone and wallet? Who drained his bank accounts in the days following his death?
A night out in Hell’s Kitchen
Ramirez’s friends described him as a “sweet” and “smart” young man, and, according to his brother, Ramirez “believed in serving underprivileged communities.” Originally from Long Island, New York, he had just moved to New York City last year after obtaining a bachelor’s degree and two master’s degrees from the University at Buffalo. He had been living and working in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood, where he was a bilingual mental health counselor.
On what would be his final night out in Hell’s Kitchen, Ramirez met up with his friend Carlos Camacho, a 24-year-old aspiring actor who lives in the neighborhood. Camacho said he and Ramirez met on April 20 at 7 p.m. and visited three venues all within a half-mile of each other: Rise Bar, a gay cocktail lounge; Mickey Spillane’s, a bar and restaurant; and, finally, Ritz Bar and Lounge.
Julio Ramirez’ final message with Carlos Camacho.Courtesy Carlos Camacho
The two friends, who have known each other since June, got separated just before 3 a.m., according to their last text exchange, which Camacho shared with NBC News.
At 2:58 a.m., Camacho told Ramirez he was inside the Ritz, and a minute later, Ramirez responded saying he was outside the bar, according to the texts. At 3:10 a.m., Ramirez told his friend to come outside. After not receiving a response, Ramirez texted Camacho, who lives nearby, at 3:29 a.m. to ask if he went home. Camacho responded at 3:45 a.m. to confirm that he was home and asked his friend to come over. Ramirez never responded.
At 12:10 p.m. on April 21, Camacho sent a follow-up message to Ramirez asking him “what happened” the night before. An alert popped up notifying Camacho that his message to Ramirez had been “read,” though unbeknownst to Camacho at the time, his friend had been pronounced dead more than seven hours earlier.
Carlos Camacho
‘I knew something was up’
Earlier that evening, Ramirez had been texting with Shiva Campbell, a friend from Buffalo with whom he was in “constant contact,” according to Campbell. They were chatting about saving money and Adam Sandler movies before Ramirez stopped responding at 10:25 p.m. on April 20, according to their final text exchange, which Campbell shared with NBC News.
Julio Ramirez and Shiva Campbell.Courtesy Shiva Campbell
Campbell said she and Ramirez had remained close after meeting as college freshmen, and, like many young friends, they used the location sharing feature on their iPhones. They had done so for the past several years, so Campbell said she became concerned when at 3:46 a.m. on April 21 an alert popped up saying, “Julio Ramirez stopped sharing location with you.”
She continued to text Ramirez throughout the day on April 21 asking where he was and whether he was OK. Her concern turned to alarm when she noticed the color of the text messages she sent him turned from blue to green, which can indicate his phone had been turned off or had died.
“Julio never lets his phone die,” she said. “Even if he lost his phone, he would text me on his iPad, so I knew something was up.”
Campbell’s last text to Ramirez was on April 22 at 8:06 a.m.: “Ramirez, did something happen?” She would soon discover that he had been pronounced dead more than 24 hours earlier.
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Shiva Campbell’s text thread with Julio Ramirez.Shiva Campbell
Theories and speculation
Carlos Ramirez, 32, said he called his younger brother in the afternoon on April 21 and found it strange that his phone appeared to be turned off. He had planned to call him later that evening but fell asleep before he had the chance, he said.
While he was at work on April 22, Carlos Ramirez received a call from his girlfriend around 11 a.m. telling him to immediately leave work and call his father. When he called, he discovered his parents had received a dreaded phone call 20 minutes earlier from Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital in Manhattan informing them that their son Julio had died the prior morning.
“My dad said, ‘This is really hard, but Julio is dead,’ and he just started crying,” he recalled. “I just lost it. Wow, I couldn’t believe it yet. That was just the worst day of my life.”
Julio Ramirez, left with his parents and brother.Family photo
Three days later, the Ramirez family went to Julio Ramirez’s apartment to collect some of his personal belongings. Eager for answers, Carlos Ramirez logged on to his brother’s laptop. He immediately noticed the Apple iCloud password had been changed, leaving him unable to access most of the applications on his brother’s computer. He was, however, able to access Julio Ramirez’s emails. He said that’s when he noticed unusual money transfers.
Between April 21, the day Julio Ramirez died, and April 25, his checking and savings accounts were depleted through purchases and third-party applications like Apple Pay and Zelle, Carlos Ramirez said.
“They had literally taken every dollar that he had, all his savings and all of his money,” Carlos Ramirez said, adding that approximately $20,000 was taken from his brother. He said he shared this information with investigators, though the NYPD would not confirm this detail to NBC News.
Given these details, and the information investigators shared with him based on surveillance footage, Carlos Ramirez said he believes his brother may have been drugged and robbed that night in a targeted attack.
Carlos Ramirez — who did not see the footage himself — said investigators told him the video shows his brother standing outside of the Ritz Bar and Lounge entrance by himself for 12 minutes shortly after 3 a.m. He is then seen walking away from the bar with two men, and as they turn the corner, a third man follows behind them.
“All three men end up in a cab with Julio,” Carlos Ramirez said investigators told him. He said the men have not been identified.
Based on the limited information they’ve pieced together, Carlos Ramirez and at least one of his brother’s friends, Karinina Quimpo, speculated that Julio Ramirez may have been slipped gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, or GHB, also known as the “date rape drug.” In liquid form, it is clear and colorless, and just a small amount can bring someone to unconsciousness; overdoses can lead to coma, respiratory arrest and even cause death.In recent years, health officials have seen a rise in GHB use among young Americans. Neither the police nor the medical examiner has indicated Julio Ramirez ingested GHB prior to his death.
‘Justice for Julio’
Julio Ramirez was buried at Pinelawn Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York, on April 30. Two weeks later, on May 14, his family and friends held a memorial service in Buffalo.
In the weeks following his mysterious death, his loved ones have been trying to raise awareness about his story as they wait for additional information from the NYPD and the city’s medical examiner.
In an Instagram post May 9, Quimpo shared some of the details surrounding his death and said his “story needs to be solved and heard.” She pleaded for “justice for Julio.”
“We urge you to raise awareness on the death of Julio Cesar Ramirez, to give a voice to gay Latino men who are victims of the crime in this city and to seek justice for the loved ones he left behind,” she wrote. “Julio’s story needs to be heard.”
North Carolina lawmakers advanced legislation on Wednesday that would prohibit classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity for some public school students, a move decried by opponents as harmful to LGBTQ youth.
The “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” a broad piece of legislation that opponents say mirrors Florida’s so-called Don’t Say Gay bill, cleared the state’s Republican-led Senate and will head to the House of Representatives, which also has a Republican majority.
It could reach the desk of Governor Roy Cooper as soon as this week. Cooper, a Democrat, has spoken against the bill and is all but certain to veto it.
Advocates and civil rights groups have tracked hundreds of bills this year across state legislatures directed at lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, including many that target transgender youth specifically.
Florida measure, officially titled the Parental Rights in Education Act, was signed into law in March. In April, the governor of Alabama signed a bill prohibiting classroom discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in certain grades, and similar measures are being considered in Louisiana and Ohio.
The North Carolina measure would prohibit mention of sexual orientation or gender identity in curricula for students from kindergarten through third grade. Schools would also have to notify parents if a student requests to be addressed by a different name or pronoun.
Thanks to victories in primary runoffs Tuesday, Texas is poised to have its first Black gay male state legislators — and one Black lesbian, who won a special election just weeks ago to fill a vacancy, is likely to be elected to a full term.
Before Jolanda Jones’s victory in the special election, Texas had never had a Black member of the LGBTQ+ community in the state legislature. She won the special election May 7 in the Houston-area Texas House District 147 to succeed Rep. Garnet Coleman, who retired in February; that gave her the seat through December. In the Democratic primary runoff, she defeated Danielle Keys Bess, who had also been her opponent in the special election. In November’s general election, Jones will face Republican Damien Thaddeus Jones, but the district is heavily Democratic, so she is expected to win.
Jolanda Jones is a former member of the Houston City Council and the city’s school board. “Yet again, voters were excited by Jolanda’s exceptional experience and qualifications, proven track record and vision for the future,” Annise Parker, president and CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, which had endorsed Jones, said in a press release. “She is a natural leader and fierce advocate who has dedicated her professional life to increasing fairness and equity in Texas, from increasing access to quality health care to improving public schools to safeguarding our right to free and fair elections. She knows how to build winning coalitions and get meaningful change done for her community. With so much prejudice plaguing our society, Jolanda’s win tonight is a beacon of hope and demonstrates voters are motivated to elect leaders that reflect the real America who are ready to enact meaningful change. We are confident Jolanda will continue being an effective leader and lawmaker and that her continued success will inspire many more LGBTQ and Black people to run for office.”
Venton Jones and Christian Manuel-Hayes are positioned to be the first Black gay men in the Texas legislature. Jones easily prevailed over Sandra Crenshaw in House District 100, in the Dallas area. No incumbent was in the race, and Jones’s only opposition in the general election will be Libertarian Joe Roberts. Jones, a veteran advocate for social justice and for HIV treatment and prevention, will be the first out HIV-positive member of the legislature.
Manuel-Hayes won in House District 22, centered on Beaumont. It was a narrow victory over Joseph Trahan in another race with no incumbent. One Republican and one independent are running in the general election, but again, the district is largely Democratic. Manuel-Hayes was a longtime staffer to the retiring incumbent, Joe Deshotel, eventually rising to chief of staff.
“In state legislatures across the country — and certainly here in Texas — we are seeing a disturbing rise in anti-Black and anti-LGBTQ laws passed by legislative bodies that do not represent our community,” Parker said in a statement. “Tonight, primary voters responded to those attacks by shattering a lavender ceiling and sending Venton and Christian to a general election where they are poised to make history. These two LGBTQ leaders are fighters and are determined to create a more accepting and equitable Texas and America. When they win in November, it will send a strong message that bigotry will not prevail long-term.”
A gay music teacher in Iowa was forced to resign from his high school after a blackmailer threatened him.
Matthew Gerhold began working at Valley Lutheran High School in Cedar Valley, Iowa last year. Although he told school officials that he was gay before he was hired, they later compelled him to resign or face termination after he was blackmailed.
Gerhold’s phone was hacked in January 2022 and the hacker blackmailed him by threatening to share private information about his sexuality publicly. Gerhold alerted the school about the hack and the blackmail, then resigned from his position at the high school after being told he would be fired following a school board meeting anyway, according to the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Just after he reported the attempted blackmail, photos from his phone were posted to the school’s Facebook page. He was called to an administrator’s office and put on leave.
Gerhold had initially been told he could not disclose his sexuality or even date while employed by the school.
He said that he believes the school and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod view homosexuality as a problem and a choice, not an “involuntary attraction to one sex or another.”
“My sexual identity has absolutely nothing to do with my career in music and my love for music,” he said. “If the church as a whole doesn’t want to use me for whatever they are striving to achieve, then I shall go somewhere else that would love to have me to live out my vocation for others.”
After his resignation, he applied for and was granted unemployment benefits.
The school appealed that decision and a hearing was held on May 2 in front of Administrative Law Judge Blair Bennett, who ruled that Gerhold had a right to unemployment benefits as he had not violated in any way the conditions of his employment, nor had he been accused of workplace misconduct.
The “argument breaks down to [Gerhold] being told he would no longer have a job because of the actions of a third party, not controlled by [Gerhold], completely outside of work,” Bennett ruled.
Actor Kevin Spacey has been charged with four counts of sexual assault against three men, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said.
In addition, the Oscar-winning American actor faces one charge of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
On Thursday (26 May), Rosemary Ainslie, head of the CPS Special Crime Division, which “deals with the most complex and sensitive cases in England and Wales”, said: “The CPS has authorised criminal charges against Kevin Spacey, 62, for four counts of sexual assault against three men.
“He has also been charged with causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. The charges follow a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police in its investigation.
“The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against Mr Spacey are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.”
According to the CPS, Spacey is due to appear in court, although a date has not been made public.
The first two sexual assault charges are alleged to have both been against the same male complainant, and to have taken place in London in March 2005.
The third sexual assault charge and the charge of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent were allegedly against a second male complainant in London in August 2008.
The final sexual assault charge relates to an alleged offence against a third man in Gloucestershire in 2013.
The actor worked at the Old Vic theatre in London between 2004 and 2015, the time period when the alleged offences occurred.
Spacey is known for his roles in films like The Usual Suspects, LA Confidentialand Seven, and more recently he has starred as politician Frank Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards, as well as working as an executive producer on the show.
Bisexual Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) is being shredded for upholding the Senate filibuster and blocking possible gun reform even as she expressed heartbreak over Tuesday’s Uvalde, Texas elementary school shooting that killed 19 children and 2 adults.
“We are horrified and heartbroken by the senseless tragedy unfolding at Robb Elementary School in Texas and grateful to the first responders for acting swiftly. No families should ever have to fear violence in their children’s schools,” Sinema wrote in a May 24 tweet.
“Just stop,” Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) tweeted in response. “Unless you are willing to break the filibuster to actually pass sensible gun control measures you might as well just say ‘thoughts and prayers’.”
Republican politicians are notorious for offering “thoughts and prayers” after a mass shooting while avoiding any measures to actually prevent the massacres. Since Joe Biden was elected president, Sinema has slowly become more and more Republican-lite in her politics.
The 18-year-old shooter entered the predominantly Latino and lower-income Robb Elementary School on Tuesday morning clad in body armor and carrying a handgun and rifle. The shooter then killed 20 individuals located inside a fourth-grade classroom. He barricaded himself in the school and traded fire with police officials until an officer shot him dead. The massacre marks the 27th school shooting this year alone.
While Democrats have long sought federal gun control measures to help reduce mass shootings, the likelihood of passing any such legislation remains unlikely due to the Senate filibuster. Filibuster rules require 60 Senators to vote in favor of legislation before it can become law.
With the Senate split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans (and Republicans uniformly opposed to any gun control laws), the only way that Democrats can possibly pass national firearm reform would be to eliminate the filibuster. Eliminating it would allow the Democrats to unanimously vote in favor of such legislation while relying on a tiebreaking vote from Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
However, both Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Sinema have long opposed repealing the filibuster. In a January 2022 speech, Sinema said, “There is no need for me to restate my long-standing support for the 60-vote threshold to pass legislation. There’s no need for me to restate its role protecting our country from wild reversals in federal policy.”
“What is the legislative filibuster other than a tool that requires new federal policy to be broadly supported by Senators representing a broader cross-section of Americans – a guardrail, inevitably viewed as an obstacle by whoever holds the Senate majority, but which in reality ensures that millions of Americans represented by the minority party have a voice in the process?” she added.
Numerous pundits and commenters have pointed out that the filibuster has also resulted in the blocking of pro-LGBTQ, pro-reproductive rights, pro-voting rights and other progressive legislation supported by wide swaths of Americans. Approximately 52 percent of U.S. voters support stricter gun laws, according to a 2021 Gallup poll.
Sinema’s opposition to filibuster reform has led various Twitter commenters to criticize her tweet expressing heartbreak over the school shooting victims.
It’s been a month since a Montana judge temporarily blocked enforcement of a state law that required transgender people to undergo surgery before they could change their gender on their birth certificate, and the state still isn’t in compliance with the court order, the ACLU of Montana said.
Jon Ebelt, spokesperson for the state health department, said the agency is still working with the Department of Justice to review the April 21 ruling and its implications. He did not respond to an email asking if that meant the state was evaluating whether to appeal the order.
“We have continued to be patient in allowing the state time to comply with the court ordered preliminary injunction,” the ACLU of Montana said in a recent statement. “However, close to one month has passed and the State’s willful indifference to the court order is inexcusable.”
Montana is among a growing list of Republican-controlled states that have moved to restrict transgender rights, including requiring student-athletes to participate in sports based on their gender assigned at birth or making it illegal for transgender minors to be treated with hormones or puberty blockers.
Beginning in late 2017, transgender residents could apply to change the gender on their Montana birth certificate by filing a sworn affidavit with the health department. District Court Judge Michael Moses’ order requires the state to revert back to that process while the challenge to the new law is pending.
“The fact that the state refuses … evidences its lack of respect for the judiciary and utter disregard for the transgender Montanans who seek to have a birth certificate that accurately indicates what they know their sex to be,” the ACLU said.
If the state continues to violate the preliminary injunction, ACLU of Montana staff attorney Akila Lane said the organization would ask the court to step in.
“We’re only looking for the state to comply” with the preliminary injunction, Lane said Friday.
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A week after the ruling was issued, Billings attorney Colin Gersten inquired about an updated gender designation application form on behalf of a friend. The Office of Vital Records responded saying: “We will contact you once we are able to discuss your options.”
Gersten made another inquiry about the proper form on May 11 and did not receive a reply, according to emails shared with The Associated Press.
Many transgender people choose not to undergo gender-confirmation surgeries. Such procedures are sometimes deemed unnecessary or too expensive, two transgender Montanans argued in their July 2021 lawsuit.
Republican state Sen. Carl Glimm, who sponsored the legislation, has argued that the Department of Public Health and Human Services overstepped its authority in 2017 by changing the designation on a birth certificate from “sex” to “gender” and then setting rules by which the designation could be changed.
Half the states, plus the District of Columbia, allow transgender residents to change the gender designation on their birth certificates without surgical requirements or court orders, according to the policy organization Movement Advancement Project. Just over a dozen states require surgical intervention, and such barriers are being challenged in several states, including Montana.
Over the past few years, other legislation has been aimed at transgender people, and the new laws are being challenged in court.
Alabama passed a law making it a felony to prescribe gender-confirming puberty blockers and hormones to transgender minors, but a judge has blocked the law. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered child welfare officials to investigate parents of children receiving puberty blockers and other gender-confirming care as potential abuse. That, too, was blocked by a judge.
At least a dozen states have recently passed laws to ban transgender girls and women from participating in female sports, most recently Utah.
