Roberta Kaplan, a legendary lawyer in the realm of LGBTQ+ rights and feminism, has resigned from the firm she founded “after clashing with her partners over her treatment of colleagues,” The New York Timesreports.
She opened New York-based Kaplan Hecker & Fink in 2017 after 25 years with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, a major corporate law firm. She once said Kaplan Hecker & Fink operated “on the principle that there always must be someone to stand up to a bully,” according to the Times.
Kaplan told the Bloomberg news service she was leaving the firm because “it grew in size and complexity beyond what I had in mind, and I wanted to get back to something nimbler.” She is starting a firm called Kaplan Martin with Tim Martin, a partner in Kaplan Hecker & Fink, and two other friends, Steven M. Cohen and Mitra Hormozi, both former federal prosecutors.
But the Times story details tensions at Kaplan Hecker & Fink. “Her departure was announced after The Times informed her personal lawyers that it was preparing to publish an article about Ms. Kaplan that would shine a light on complaints about what some employees said was an unprofessional office culture that she presided over,” the paper reports. Kaplan had been removed from the firm’s management committee, according to the Times.
“Several people whom she worked with told The Times that she had insulted employees, inappropriately commented on their looks and threatened to derail people’s careers,” the article continues. Kaplan’s lawyers said this was not the case. They also told the Times, “There is nothing more unremarkable than trial lawyers using colorful language, criticizing their peers and representing diverse clients with no expectation of ideological purity.”
Kaplan herself gave a statement to the paper, saying, “The work I do is high-stakes and challenging, requiring both toughness and precision.” Because she had fought “some of the world’s biggest bullies, there are people who don’t like me, which comes with the territory, particularly when you are a woman,” she added. “I am proud of my record as a lawyer, colleague and mentor.”
She has been involved in controversies before. In 2021, she resigned as cochair of the board of Time’s Up, an organization founded to assist survivors of sexual harassment and assault, after it was revealed that she had advised then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on his response to allegations that he had sexually harassed employees. Kaplan helped found Time’s Up and its legal defense fund in 2017. Cuomo resigned as governor in 2021 after a report from New York State Attorney General Letitia James found the accusations against Cuomo credible and concluded that he and his associates had committed unlawful retaliation against one of his accusers. Both Cohen and Hormozi have “close ties” to Cuomo, Bloomberg reports.
Kaplan Hecker & Fink will be renamed Hecker Fink as of Monday. “It was Robbie’s decision to leave the firm,” partners Julie Fink and Sean Hecker said in a statement to the Times. “We wish her the very best and look forward to working with her and her new firm in the future.”
Aiden Cordero, 18, was suspended from her Florida high school in February for using the girls’ bathroom.
Cordero is a transgender girl and a senior at Frank W. Springstead High School, in a suburb of Tampa, where, she said, she’s been using the girls’ restroom for the last three years without issues. However, one of a few laws targeting LGBTQ students or topics Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in May 2023 requires that she use either the boys’ restroom or the single-occupancy restroom in the school’s clinic, which she said is far from her classes.
In February, she had an emergency, so she went to the nearest bathroom, which was the women’s restroom, she said. When she returned to class, she said, two classmates told an administrator she had used the girls’ restroom, and she wassuspended for the day.
As a result of her suspension, Cordero said, she wasn’t allowed to join the rest of her classmates on a senior trip, which she had paid $180 for. Before the incident, Cordero was considering staying in Florida for college, because she was awarded a Bright Futures Scholarship, which would have paid partial tuition at an in-state university. Due to her experiences in high school, as well as the passage of state legislation targeting LGBTQ rights, she decided to leave Florida and attend college in New York, even though doing so would mean additional expenses.
“I feel like if I went to college [in Florida], I would have to face that for four more years. If I stayed in a dorm out here, I have to be in a male dorm, using male bathrooms,” she said, referring to a Florida Board of Education rule implemented last year that broadened the May 2023 law.
A spokesperson for the Hernando County School District declined to comment on Cordero’s suspension, citing student privacy.
NBC News spoke with Cordero and other students, teachers and parents in Hernando County throughout the most recent school year about effects of laws targeting the LGBTQ community, including what critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which was expanded in May 2023.DeSantis signed the first version of the law, the Parental Rights in Education act, in May 2022. The original law prohibited “classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity” in kindergarten through third grade “or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
The expanded measure prohibits sexual orientation or gender identity instruction in prekindergarten through eighth grade, restricts reproductive health education in sixth through 12th grade and requires that reproductive health instruction “be age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.” The law applies to both public and charter schools.
The LGBTQ students and teachers who spoke with NBC News said the resulting climate has been one of confusion about what exactly violates the law and increased hostility toward anything LGBTQ-related.
Hernando County School District Superintendent John Stratton sent out an email in May 2023 that said teachers should familiarize themselves with the Parental Rights in Education law, according to a copy of the email shared with NBC News. He sent another email shortly thereafter, which was also shared with NBC News, that directed school staff members not to “display any items that can be considered classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity (flags, posters, stickers, etc.).”
Ian Wald, a digital cinema production teacher at Nature Coast Technical High School in Brooksville, about 50 miles north of Tampa, said he removed a rainbow sticker that was behind his desk at the end of the 2022-23 school year, shortly after Stratton’s email was sent out.“I wasn’t trying to convert anybody; I was just trying to let students know that they were safe in my classroom,” said Wald, who doesn’t identify as LGBTQ.
However, teachers who are a part of the LGBTQ community, like Alyssa Marano, said the expanded law made them feel they had to hide who they are. Marano, who was also a teacher at Nature Coast, left her job at the end of the 2022-23 school year because of the political climate surrounding LGBTQ issues in Hernando County and at the state level and got a job as a marketing manager at a local gym.
After having missed the first half of the school year, she returned to the classroom in January.
“When I decided to leave at the end of last year, there were so many emotions, and it was really just a heavy time,” she said. “So I had to put it down.” Now, she added, she’s picking her teaching career back up, hopeful that it will be “a little lighter.”
In March, Florida education officials and civil rights attorneys reached a settlement in a lawsuit challenging the parental rights law that allows students and teachers to speak freely about sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida classrooms as long as it’s not a part of class instruction. The settlement will also allow schools to create anti-bullying policies related to sexual orientation and gender identity and create LGBTQ clubs, such as gender-sexuality alliances. In April, a judge in a separate lawsuit temporarily blocked the restriction on teachers’ use of pronouns that don’t align with their birth sexes. However, that injunction blocks enforcement of the law only against two of the teachers who sued.The settlement doesn’t affect the part of the parental rights law that bars teachers from using names and pronouns for students that don’t align with their sexes assigned at birth or the law restricting trans students’ bathroom use.
Florida has also passed a number of other bills targeting trans youth, including one that restricts trans students’ participation in school sports. Several of the state’s LGBTQ-related bills, however, have been temporarily or permanently blocked in court, including a measure that restricted gender-affirming care for minors and adults, which a judge largely struck down this month. In an emailed statement, DeSantis’ deputy press secretary said the governor’s office plans to appeal the ruling.
Some Floridians have moved out of the state or considered moving as a result of the so-called Don’t Say Gay law. In a report published in January, before the law was expanded, the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law found that 56% of 133 LGBTQ parents surveyed in Florida said they had considered moving out of the state because of the measure. Another Williams Institute report, which was conducted in March 2023, when the bill’s expansion was being debated, surveyed 106 Florida parents, both LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ, and found 40% said they had considered moving out of the state as a result of the law.
Jon Harris Maurer, the public policy director at Equality Florida, an LGBTQ advocacy group founded in 1997, said that this year the organization heard concerns from more parents and families than ever before.
“Families were afraid to send their children to school because protections had been eliminated, bullying was on the rise, and teachers were being forced back into the closet,” he said. “On top of that, school districts were telling teachers to remove ‘safe space’ stickers and to strip books off the classroom and library shelves.”
School board members from one-third of school districts in the state, representing the majority of Florida’s student population, also reached out to Equality Florida during the 2023-24 school year to say their districts had struggled to interpret the laws and that the state is “refusing to clarify them, amplifying confusion and fear,” Harris Maurer said.
Cordero, who graduated in May and decided to pursue college in New York City, said that though New York isn’t perfectly safe, she hopes to be able to live her “best life” there.
“I’m able to use the women’s bathrooms, I’m going to be able to stay in women’s dorms — just be myself basically,” she said. “When I’m in New York, I’m going to be free.”
Police declared a “mass arrest situation” in Chicago, Illinois on Sunday night following the city’s annual Pride parade.
The arrests began at 1:23 a.m. in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago, with police ordering a mass arrest, but no other information was given. The Chicago police department has not announced how many people were arrested during or after the parade.
CWB Chicago reported widespread fights and disruption throughout Boystown, home to one of the largest LGBTQ+ communities in the Midwest. The chaos continued into Monday morning, with videos of people clashing with the police being posted on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
Videos show police throwing members of the crowd to the ground, shoving people, and people running away from the scene.
Police also said “of the known arrests, at least two people were taken into custody for gun possession.”
The police blocked off an area of West Belmont which usually hosts all-night Pride after parties. Rather than people dancing and socializing, the street was “bumper to bumper” with Chicago police vehicles. Residential side streets, however, were filled with people celebrating the last night of Pride.
Chicago’s Pride Parade and its afterparty have led to between 46 and 52 arrests each year between 2013 and 2015, according to CWB Chicago records. There were 25 arrests last year, including 21 adults and four juveniles.
“The Pride Parade yesterday was a safe and wonderful celebration of our diverse LGBTQ+ community, and it was such a joy to see so many people come out to show their support in the fight for equality,” Bennett said. “Following the Parade’s conclusion, I was extremely disappointed to see disruptive actions in our neighborhood into the early morning hours. I am grateful to the Chicago Police Department for their quick and decisive action to limit any damage and keep people safe, and to the Streets and Sanitation Department for their great work to clean our neighborhood.”
“I look forward to meeting with city departments and stakeholders in the coming days to discuss how we can continue to improve the Parade for participants, attendees and neighbors, and prevent these disturbing actions from occurring in the future,” Lawson said.
In 2019, Elizabeth Erion wished that her trans daughter had an opportunity to create community with other trans kids in the area.
“I knew there were a few sleep-away camps for gender-expansive youth, but they were too far away, and financially out of reach for our family,” Erion said.
So she worked with another parent of a trans teen and formed Camp Free2Be. It started as a weeklong camp with eight campers and six junior counselors. This year, the camp will serve more than 60 campers.
Erion said that queer students may have limited opportunities to meet students who are like them, which makes the work Camp Free2Be does so important. With the recent spike in anti-LGBTQ legislation around the country, a recent survey revealed that nearly half of trans youth feel unsafe in school.
“Camps like ours offer trans and nonbinary youth a space where it’s completely safe to be their authentic selves; to wear clothes they might not normally feel able to wear; to try out a new name or pronouns; to meet other kids who know exactly what it’s like to be gender diverse.”
To continue to build queer youth community, the camp is led by junior counselors from 15-18, who are also trans or non-binary. Applications are still being accepted with a June 23 deadline. Counselors who participate in both weeks of the camp will receive a $150 stipend for their participation.
“[Junior counselors] serve as role models for our younger campers, while also making friends and developing leadership skills.”
This day camp is located in Arlington, in walking distance from the Metro. Campers will engage in STEM, arts and crafts, outdoor games, theater, and more at the camp. Once a day, the entire camp gathers for a lesson on LGBTQ history.
“These are lessons our youth probably won’t be given in school, and they are important in showing them that they are part of a larger community with a rich history.”
For Erion, the most rewarding parts of the camp are the unscheduled and spontaneous conversations she overhears from campers.
“While doing arts and crafts or playing board games, they will casually talk about issues unique to growing up trans or nonbinary. They are learning from each other and finding out that they have shared experiences.” she said.
One of the best parts of the camp is that it will cost parents nothing. Camp Free2Be is in partnership with SMYAL to make the camp free for campers and junior counselors.
This year, camp will run through two back-to-back weeks, July 15-19 and July 22-26. Registration closes June 23 and can be found at campfree2be.org. If you have already planned your summer, be on the lookout in January 2025 for summer 2025 registration.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of legal marriage for same-sex couples in the United States, starting with Massachusetts on May 17, 2004. In recognition of this 20th anniversary, this report provides a portrait of married same-sex couples based on survey responses from 484 LGBTQ+ Americans. These couples come from all 50 states and Washington, D.C. They are diverse racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically. On average, they have been together for over 16 years and married for over nine years. Over 60% were married after the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges that brought marriage equality to all 50 states. Over 30% of these couples have children, and 25% want children in the future.
This report focuses on these couples’ reasons for getting married, how marriage has impacted their lives, and the ways they have come to rely upon their spouse and their spouse’s family for support. It also addresses the experiences that some of them have had with discrimination, the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges on them, and their concerns that Obergefell might be overturned.
Overall, these couples appreciate the ways that marriage has strengthened their relationships with their partners, provided security for their children, and provided legal protections, financial security, and greater acceptance by family, friends, and the broader community. They are also worried about the future of marriage equality and the increasingly hostile climate for LGBTQ+ people in many parts of the country—so much so that some are considering moving to another state.
In sum, two decades after the first state in the United States permitted same-sex couples to marry, they report that marriage equality has had a profound positive impact on their lives but are concerned about the future security of their families.
Key Findings
Why same-sex couples got married
When asked why they got married, the vast majority of same-sex couples said love (93.0%), companionship (74.0%), and legal protections (75.0%).
Almost two-thirds said they married for the symbolic value and meaning of marriage (63.8%), and almost half said they married for increased financial security (49.4%).
Couples in longer relationships before marrying were more likely to cite legal and financial reasons for marrying.
Some also married to protect their current (3.5%) or future children (12.4%).
When asked about the positive impacts of marriage in general, members of same-sex couples also strongly endorsed: marriage as a symbol of love and commitment (89.3%), the ability to access rights and benefits (76.0%), including health insurance (66.7%), financial benefits more generally (74.4%), and societal (62.2%) and family (66.7%) recognition and acceptance.
How marriage has changed same-sex couples’ lives
Relationship and life satisfaction. When asked how marriage changed their lives, 83.1% of participants reported positive changes in their sense of safety and security, almost three-fourths (74.6%) reported positive changes in life satisfaction, and almost two-thirds (61.0%) reported becoming closer to their partner.
Stability and security in their relationship. About two-thirds (66.9%) of participants said that marriage provided more stability to their relationships, including legal protections, financial stability, mutual support, long-term planning, and a stronger sense of security and commitment in the relationship.
Shared life planning. Many couples reported that marriage had profoundly changed how they made life plans. Where to live. Over 60% of participants (61.4%) affirmed that marriage affected their life planning in terms of making decisions about moving and where to live, including moving for their partner’s job or to be near their partner’s family.
Work and income. Over 60% of participants (61.0%) felt that marriage affected their life planning in terms of working and earning income. Many said that marriage enabled partners to designate one to work at a steady job so the other could take career risks, pursue satisfying but less lucrative work, go back to school, or stay home with children.
Financial planning. Almost 60% (59.3%) said marriage affected their financial planning in terms of saving, investing, and planning for retirement, the ability to care for each other in case of illness, buy a house, and afford to have children.
Workplace benefits. Over half (51.9%) of married same-sex couples said that marriage equality provided them access to workplace health insurance benefits previously unavailable to them.
Parenting. Almost one in five (19.8%) reported that marriage affected their plans about whether or when to have or adopt children and how many children to have. For many, marriage was a “prerequisite” to becoming parents.
Stability and security for children. Of those who had children, almost 60% (58.1%) reported that marriage provided more stability or security for their children, including by providing legal protections, offering a greater sense of legitimacy for their children, and conveying a sense of stability in their family to their children.
Caretaking. Over one-fourth of participants reported they were living with a disability, and over one-fourth reported that their partner had a disability. Just one partner had a disability in 112 couples (23.1%), and both partners had a disability in 73 couples (15.1%). Regarding caregiving, 14.5% of respondents reported that they were a caregiver for their partner, and 12.4% reported that their partner was a caregiver for them. More specifically, in approximately one out of six couples, one or both partners were caregivers: one partner was a caregiver in 50 couples (10.3%), and both partners cared for each other in 28 couples (5.8%).
Reliance and Mutual Support
Many of the ways that marriage has impacted couples are related to how partners within a marriage support and depend on one another. For many same-sex couples, this mutual reliance did not start with their wedding but long before and extended not only to their partners but their in-laws.
Reliance prior to marriage
Most (93.4%) participants lived with their spouses before getting married, with 69.7% seeing living together as a step towards marriage. Participants lived with their partners for an average of 3.83 years before getting married.
Almost three-quarters (70.9%) were engaged to their partners before they got married. They were engaged to their spouses for an average of 2.3 years. Among those who were engaged, almost all (96.2%) saw being engaged as a step towards marriage.
Some forms of mutual support were high at each stage in these couples’ relationships. For example, while they were living together, engaged, and married, approximately one in five of these couples helped pay for each other’s education costs; provided caregiving to the other when they needed help due to a health condition or aging; or moved when the other got a job in a different location. In all three stages of these relationships, over 60% shared savings goals, like buying a car and a house.
Some forms of mutual support dramatically increased when couples got married. For example, married same-sex couples were more likely to buy a house together (47.1%) and have a shared bank account (68.2%) than when they were living together or engaged.
Compared to when they were living together or engaged, married same-sex couples were more likely to have or adopt children (11.6%), share child-raising responsibilities (18.0%), and decide to have one partner not work to devote more time to childcare (11.6%).
Reliance on family and in-laws
In addition to members of the couple relying upon one other, marriage also meant that the couple had two families—or sets of in-laws—that they could rely upon.
Over 40% (40.9%) of participants and their partners relied on each other’s families of origin in times of crisis, such as to help meet financial or health care needs
For example, of couples with the following needs, over three-fourths (76.1%) reported that their families had helped out during a health crisis, 60.5% had relied upon their families for financial support, 31.3% had relied on their families for occasional help with childcare, and 14.5% had relied on their families for regular help with childcare.
Of those who had a wedding (77.3%), 35.8% said their family helped pay for the wedding, and 29.4% said their partner’s family helped pay for the wedding.
Discrimination
Participants reported experiences of discrimination both when planning their weddings and as married couples.
10.7% of those who had a wedding said they experienced discrimination while planning their wedding, with another 7.2% indicating that they were unsure of whether they experienced discrimination. Types of discrimination included discrimination by participants’ churches or synagogues, city officials, and wedding vendors.
Some participants said they believed they avoided discrimination because they only sought out vendors and officiants known for being LGBTQ+ friendly, lived in an LGBTQ+ friendly area, or did not disclose that they were having a same-sex wedding to certain vendors.
In response to an open-ended question, several participants indicated concern about the increased visibility that marriage had brought to their relationship, which made them more vulnerable to discrimination.
Impact of Obergefell v. Hodges decision
In 2015, the Supreme Court extended marriage equality to all fifty states through its decision in Obergefell v. Hodges.
Almost all participants indicated that the Obergefell decision (94.2%) made a difference to them. In fact, most participants were married post-Obergefell (62.8%), even though their relationships started before 2015.
Approximately three-fourths of those in married same-sex couples reported that what made a difference to them was full legal recognition in terms of rights and responsibilities (79.5%), that marriage would be recognized in all 50 states (74.6%), and having marriage equality validated as a constitutional right (72.5%).
For over a third (34.7%), Obergefell made a very practical difference: they lived in one of the states that didn’t have marriage quality until the case was decided.
Concerns about the future of Obergefell
Almost 80% (79.3%) of married same-sex couples said they were very (40.9%) or somewhat (38.4%) concerned about the Obergefell decision being overturned.
Being trans or having a trans partner, being older, and having less education were associated with being concerned about the future of Obergefell.
About one-fourth said they had pursued various actions out of concern that marriage equality might be challenged. Some sped up their timeline for marriage to make sure it would still be available, and others sought second-parent adoptions to ensure that their legal relationship to their children is protected. Others sped up their timeline for having children to ensure both parents had a legal relationship with their child.
Concerns about the future of marriage equality, as well as the current anti-LGBTQ+ climate in many states, are prompting many couples to consider moving to another state or another country.
Asked about whether they currently wanted to move out of state, over one-quarter (29.0%) indicated that they did.
Considering just those participants who indicated that they very much or somewhat wanted to move, their top three reasons for wanting to move were related to the socio-political climate (52.9%), concerns about anti-LGBTQ+ laws (48.6%), and fears about losing rights as an LGBTQ+ person
The monthlong celebration of LGBTQ Pride reaches its exuberant grand finale on Sunday, bringing rainbow-laden revelers to the streets for marquee parades in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and elsewhere across the globe.
In New York, 10 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested at the Pride parade Sunday, according to the NYPD.
Seven people were charged with disorderly conduct. It was not clear what the three other individuals arrested were charged with.
Videos from the parade show protesters being handcuffed by the police, and one person who was carried away. Some of the protesters were chanting “free Palestine.”
Already this month, pro-Palestinian activists have disrupted pride parades held in Boston, Denver, and Philadelphia. Several groups participating in marches Sunday said they would seek to center the victims of the war in Gaza, spurring pushback from supporters of Israel.
“It is certainly a more active presence this year in terms of protest at Pride events,” said Sandra Pérez, the executive director of NYC Pride. “But we were born out of a protest.”
The first pride march was held in New York City in 1970 to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Inn uprising, a riot that began with a police raid on a Manhattan gay bar.
In addition to the NYC Pride March, the nation’s largest, the city will also play host Sunday to the Queer Liberation March, an activism-centered event launched five years ago amid concerns that the more mainstream parade had become too corporate.
Another one of the world’s largest Pride celebrations will also kick off Sunday in San Francisco. Additional parades are scheduled in Chicago, Minneapolis, and Seattle.
On top of concerns about protests, federal agencies have warned that foreign terrorist organizations and their supporters could target the parades and adjacent venues. A heavy security presence is expected at all of the events.
The number of out LGBTQ people who have won elected office has increased nearly 200% since 2017, according to research published Wednesday and first reported on by NBC News.
The LGBTQ+ Victory Institute, which works to increase queer and transgender representation in public service, found that there were 1,303 out LGBTQ elected officials as of May, a 10% increase from 1,185 officials last year and a 190.8% increase from the 448 out officials in 2017, according to the organization’s latest annual “Out for America” report.
For the first time, there is also at least one out LGBTQ elected official in every state and in Washington, D.C., the report found.
“LGBTQ people are running in historic numbers right now, and we are winning,” Elliot Imse, the executive director of the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute, said.
However, Imse noted that LGBTQ people are still underrepresented in public service. A March Gallup poll found that 7.6% of the U.S. population is LGBTQ, and there are 519,682 elected positions, the Victory Institute report found, meaning the country would need to elect 38,193 more LGBTQ officials to achieve equitable representation.
“The representation gap is so large that we need a moonshot effort to close it, and that is more important than ever right now, given all the attacks in our communities from state legislatures and city councils across the country,” Imse said.
The country has had a wave of state legislation targeting the LGBTQ community, particularly transgender youth, in recent years, with each year surpassing the previous year’s record. As of this June, state lawmakers have introduced 523 such bills — including restrictions on transition-related health care for minors, trans students’ participation in school sports, and how LGBTQ topics can be discussed in schools — up from a total of 510 in 2023, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
Though representation of LGBTQ people has increased overall, the report found that the number of out transgender officials had decreased for the first time since 2017, from 50 last year to 47 this year.
Imse said it’s “concerning” that the number of trans elected officials has fallen as both trans elected officials and trans people generally have faced more hostility, though the report didn’t evaluate whether the hostility is causing fewer trans people to run for or remain in office.
Despite the decrease in trans elected officials in the last year, the overall number of out trans, nonbinary, two spirit and gender-nonconforming people serving in elected office has increased 1,633% since 2017, from six to 104.
The number of known out gender-nonconforming, nonbinary or genderqueer elected officials has increased from none in 2017 to 57 in 2024. Just since last year, the number of out nonbinary officials has increased 70%, from 23 to 39, the report found.
For the first time, the report also found that less than half (48.2%) of LGBTQ elected officials identify as gay. The number of officials who identify as pansexual increased 28.6%, as queer 23.1 % and as bisexual 20.7%, while the number of lesbian elected officials increased by 8.3%.
The number of LGBTQ elected officials who are Black, Latino and Asian American and Pacific Islander increased by 17%, compared with a 9.3% increase of white LGBTQ elected officials.
Imse said the sharp increase in elected officials who are nonbinary, for example, shows that voters will support candidates with various identities.
“It’s a very hopeful message to see that even though so many people do not yet understand sexual orientation and gender identity in a detailed way, they are de-emphasizing the importance of that when they choose their elected officials and are much more willing to look for people because of what they stand for.”
Imse added that the data doesn’t show the effect that LGBTQ officials are having in their communities. He pointed to Nebraska state Sen. John Fredrickson, a Democrat who gave an emotional speech in April against a bill that would’ve barred trans students from using the school facilities that align with their gender identities and restricted their participation on school sports teams.
The bill needed 33 votes to pass out of committee. After Fredrickson’s speech, two of the bill’s Republican co-sponsors abstained from voting, bringing the final tally to 31-15 and effectively killing the bill.
Fredrickson said that, as the first openly gay man elected to the Nebraska Legislature, he never wanted his legacy to be about his identity.
“That said, I happen to have come into office during a time where we are seeing an unprecedented number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills being introduced, and I feel a high level of responsibility to my community to speak truth in these spaces,” Fredrickson said in an email. “I’ll be honest — it hasn’t always been easy, and it has taken a toll on myself and my family. That said, I go to bed every night knowing who I am, knowing my community, and knowing that I stand on the right side of history, and that is an honor.”
Fredrickson encouraged LGBTQ people who are interested in running for office to do so.
“Without being in these rooms, we risk the conversation continuing to be about us, not with us,” he said.
A new report by the U.K. youth charity Just Like Us has found that many schools still don’t talk openly about diverse families, resulting in what the group describes as social stigma, discrimination, and poor wellbeing for the children and parents of LGBTQ+ families.
The new research independently surveyed 1,012 LGBTQ+ parents across the U.K. and interviewed families about their experiences.
More than half (56%) of lesbian and gay parents face negative comments about their families, while forty-two percent of their kids have experienced remarks about having LGBTQ+ parents, according to the research.
“Every parent wants to send their child to school in the morning and feel reassured that they will be safe, happy, and ready to learn,” said Laura Mackay, Chief Executive of Just Like Us.
“But many LGBT+ parents are instead feeling worried, isolated and unsure whether they or their children will face hurtful and invasive comments, unfair treatment and outright discrimination simply because their family isn’t heterosexual or cisgender.”
Half of lesbian and gay parents are worried their child will be “bullied because they have LGBT+ parents” and “not be accepted” (48% and 52%, respectively), and almost a quarter (23%) say their children have felt “upset or hurt by negative comments at school about LGBT+ people.”
Nearly a quarter (24%) of those surveyed say their children have been “left out of social arrangements seemingly because they are from an LGBT+ family.”
The same number holds for lesbian moms and gay dads who “feel isolated as an LGBT+ parent” and “depressed or anxious about my LGBT+ family not fitting in or not being treated fairly.”
Those numbers are even higher for trans parents.
“As an LGBT+ parent, compiling this report has been far from reassuring,” said Amy Ashenden, Director of Communications and Engagement for the charity. “Some of the findings are harrowing.”
The report reveals that anti-trans rhetoric has seeped into some school communities. Nearly a third (30%) of transgender parents have heard negative comments about trans people at school.
Lesbian moms face invasive questions about their families, too, the report shows. Almost forty percent have been asked by “strangers” about their child’s sperm donor.
More than a third (35%) of all LGBTQ+ parents say their school refers to families as “moms and dads” as the default, while just one in five gay, lesbian, and trans parents say their school openly discusses LGBTQ+ families with pupils.
“There is clearly so much work to be done to help schools and nurseries understand the huge impact that an inclusive – or unaccepting – school environment can have on LGBT+ families,” Ashenden added.
A federal judge inCalifornia has ruled that a lawsuit brought byLGBTQ+ veterans against theDepartment of Defense will move forward. The forward momentum of the suit, which claims the Pentagon has failed to discharge LGBTQ+ service members honorably post-don’t ask, don’t tell, marks a significant victory for those caught up in the homophobic policy.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero’s decision allows the plaintiffs to argue that the process of correcting their discharge papers is not only lengthy but also re-traumatizing, Reutersreports. These veterans, discharged under discriminatory policies, contend that being forced to navigate a complex system to amend their records violates their constitutional rights to equal protection and due process.
The class action, filed in the Northern District of California, aims to mandate the Defense Department to proactively update the discharge statuses of LGBTQ+ veterans. Lawyers for the plaintiffs celebrated the ruling, noting its importance during Pride Month as a step towards rectifying past injustices.
The lawsuit highlights the struggles of veterans who have been unfairly labeled with less-than-honorable discharges. Such discharges can prevent them from accessing crucial benefits, including healthcare, loans, job opportunities, and tuition assistance. The discharge papers often explicitly state the reason for their discharge, effectively outing them whenever they need to present their military records.
“Requiring LGBTQ+ veterans to first bear the stigma and discriminatory effects of carrying indicators of sexual orientation on their DD-214s, and then navigate a broken record correction process to seek resolution, violates their constitutional rights,” thelawsuit states.
While the Pentagon cited an existing procedure for discharge upgrades, Spero noted that this process might need to be revised and could perpetuate discrimination. The Pentagon argued that a two-page application process exists for veterans seeking discharge corrections, claiming that legal representation is unnecessary and that most cases are resolved within ten months. However, the plaintiffs argue that the process is opaque and burdensome, often requiring legal assistance and forcing veterans to relive their traumatic experiences.
In January, three gay Democratic U.S. congressmen — California Rep. Robert Garcia, Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan, and New Hampshire Rep. Chris Pappas — sent aletter to the Department of Defense,urging a quicker response to resolve cases of LGBTQ+ service members dishonorably discharged under DADT and the outright ban that preceded it. Garcia, Pocan, and Pappas emphasized the moral obligation of the U.S. government to correct these wrongs and restore honor to LGBTQ+ veterans. “Our service members made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our country. ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ was a policy that should have never existed in the first place, but we’re unfortunately still feeling the repercussions of it to this day,” Garcia said in a press release.
The case, Farrell v. U.S. Department of Defense, seeks to address the systemic issues within the department by ensuring that all veterans discharged under DADT and similar policies receive the honorable discharges they deserve. This move could affect thousands of veterans who served their country but were discharged due to their sexual orientation.
“In honor of Pride Month, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will host a convening and reception for U.S. leaders championing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI+) equality across the U.S. government and around the world on Thursday, June 27, at the Department of State.
“The convening will begin at 1:00 p.m. EDT in the Burns Auditorium, and the reception will begin at 6:00 p.m. EDT in the Benjamin Franklin Room.
“The Secretary will deliver remarks at both events which will be open to pre-registered press and streamed live on www.state.gov and www.YouTube.com/statedept.
“The Pride Month convening will also feature brief remarks by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield and U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai.
“At the Pride Month reception, Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons Jessica Stern will deliver brief remarks and will announce the release of the Annual Progress Report on the Implementation of the Presidential Memorandum on Advancing the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons Around the World.” – Via press release from the State Department.