The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors Tuesday OK’d a resolution confirming the county’s commitment to fight bullying of young people, Local News Matters reports. The county is located just south of San Francisco.
“[Donald] Trump’s bullying tactics have swept across our schools, causing immigrant children to fear being deported and LGBTQ+ children to fear having their long-fought for rights to be trampled upon,” Board President David Canepa, the resolution’s sponsor, said in a statement released Monday night, according to the site.
The resolution “directs each county department and employee to engage in efforts that prevent bullying, provide education and intervene if bullying occurs,” the site notes.
The board also voted Tuesday to recognize March 31, next Monday, as Transgender Day of Visibility. It raised the trans Pride flag Wednesday on the county flagpole in anticipation of the day.
“For everyone that is a part of this community, we see you, we are here with you, and we are committed to celebrating your beauty, your love, our pride, and your joy,” Supervisor Noelia Corzo, the new liaison to the county’s LGBTQIA+ Commission, said at the ceremony, according to local paper The Daily Journal.
“San Mateo County does lead the way, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have more work to do,” Corzo added. “I want to thank the commission for their ongoing work in pushing us to be more welcoming, be more affirming, provide a safer community for every LGBTQIA+ community member in our county.” People attending the ceremony waved their own small trans Pride flags.
Ishani Dugar, lead trainer and peer group coordinator at the San Mateo County Pride Center, spoke at the event on the importance of visibility. “Wear flags or raise them if you have them, share your pronouns with folks, correct assumptions about identity that people will hold, push back on folks who assume that others in their space will be comfortable with transphobic language or with assuming that trans people are not present,” Dugar said.
The Pride Center will hold an online Trans 101 Workshop from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday. On Friday, it will host a mixer for families of trans kids from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
The Department of Education started an investigation Thursday into a new California law that bars public schools from disclosing to parents the sexual orientation of their children.
If the three-month-old law were to be found in violation of federal rules and the Trump administration acted on threats to withhold funding, the state could lose up to $7.9 billion, California Department of Education officials said.
The investigation is the latest move by the Trump administration to address gender identity and sexual orientation in schools and beyond. In January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order saying the U.S. would recognize only two sexes, male and female.
At issue is California Assembly Bill 1955, which prohibits schools and their staffs from disclosing a student’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
The Department of Education contends the state law violates the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act, which gives parents the right to access their children’s educational data, including reviewing records regarding sexual orientation.
It also allows parents to request record corrections or amendments, and gives them some control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information.
“Teachers and school counselors should not be in the business of advising minors entrusted to their care on consequential decisions about their sexual identity and mental health,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement. “That responsibility and privilege lies with a parent or trusted loved one.”
Assemblymember Chris Ward, D-San Diego, who authored the bill, said requiring school officials to expose students’ gender without their consent is “immorally invasive.”
“Parents have always retained the right to have meaningful conversation with their children and play a crucial role in their development,” he said in a statement.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said educators are trying to protect students who do not want their sexual orientation outed, even to their parents.
“Our students must be safe in order to learn,” he said in a statement. “I have heard from so many students and families whose safety has been impacted by forced outing policies. To our LGBTQ+ youth and families, I want to make sure that you hear us as loudly as we hear you.”
California Teachers Association President David Goldberg reiterated Thurmond’s position and said the Trump administration is threatening to withhold money from some of the state’s most vulnerable students, who rely on it for food and special education services.
“We respect our justice system and follow laws in California,” he said.
Trump signed a separate order in February, banning transgender women and girls from competing in female sports and threatened to rescind funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities.
On Tuesday, the Department of Education opened an investigation into the Portland Public Schools for allegedly allowing a male track athlete to compete in a March 19 girls track-and-field competition.
Welcome to the latest edition of Heroes of the Resistance — GLAAD’s ongoing series highlighting positive changemakers for the LGBTQ community at a time of challenge and uncertainty.
In a significant recent victory, Senate Democrats came together unanimously to halt legislation at the federal level that would have banned federally-funded schools from allowing transgender girls to participate in sports, calling it a distraction intended to harm a small group of people. The bill, pushed forward by Republicans, had mirrored a dangerous executive order issued by President Trump that perpetuates myths and disinformation about transgender Americans. GLAAD’s fact sheet on transgender people in sports is here, outlining facts versus myths and the truth about commonly asked questions.
In Minnesota, lawmakers rejected a bill that also would have banned transgender girls from playing school sports. The defeat of the bill came as advocates spoke out about its discriminatory nature and slippery slope in harming not just transgender girls, but all girls who play sports. “This bill creates a path for intense scrutiny and harassment for the 200,000 Minnesota girls who currently play sports ages 5 to 18,” said Rep. Julie Greene, DFL-Edina, dispelling the misconception that banning transgender girls from sports would somehow make sports more safe for cisgender girls. “This bill puts all girls at risk,” she concludes. The Minnesota High School League has allowed transgender students to participate on teams for a decade without incident. Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison agrees with killing the bill and fighting any federal effort to interfere in Minnesota’s human rights law, which Ellison says supersedes any attempt by the federal government to roll back protections for trans students.
Rev. Terri Burnor protests at the Minnesota State Capitol / Ellen Schmidt, MPR News
In Montana, out transgender state representatives Zooey Zephyr and SJ Howell gave impassioned speeches on the House floor early this month in opposition to two extreme bills that would have removed transgender youth from their families and banned certain types of expression and participation at Pride marches and drag shows. “I am here to stand before the body and say that my life is not a fetish,” said Representative Zephyr, in response to disrespectful comments by the bill’s sponsor about transgender people. “When I go to walk [my son] to school, that’s not a lascivious display. That is not a fetish. That is my family.”
An impressive 29 Republicans broke party ranks in order to support the defeat of the bills. Representative Sherry Essman, a Republican, rose to defend Rep. Zephyr and chastised the bill’s sponsor. ‘I’m speaking as a parent and a grandmother. And I’m very emotional because I know the representative in seat 20 is also a parent. No matter what you think of that, she is doing her best to raise a child. I did my best to raise my children as I saw fit, and I’m taking it for granted that my children are going to raise my grandchildren as they see fit,’ she said.
“Everybody in here talks about how important parental rights are. I want to tell you, in addition to parental rights, parental responsibility is also important. And if you can’t trust a decent parent to decide where and when their kids should see what, then we have a bigger problem. … “Trust the parents to do what’s right, and stop these crazy bills that are a waste of time. They’re a waste of energy,” said Essman.
These steps forward represent the power of conversations, organizing, and efforts to build understanding around transgender people and LGB people more broadly. These efforts have also led to victories against Trump’s executive orders that blatantly discriminate against LGBTQ people, immigrants, women, and people of color.
Rep. Zephyr and Rep. Howell / Brittany Peterson, AP
Since Trump took office, multiple federal judges of all political affiliations have blocked enforcement and/or struck down these orders on the merits. Four federal judges to date have blocked Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship in the country. Two federal courts have blocked his ban on lifesaving health care for transgender youth 19 years old and younger; and another judge has blocked the dangerous transfer of transgender women inmates to male prisons that would have aligned with Trump’s effort to erase transgender people from federal law. A preliminary injunction has been issued against Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders seeking to eliminate important progress for marginalized communities.
Most recently, a federal court granted a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of Trump’s executive order targeting transgender service members. In the opinion, U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes stated that “thousands of transgender servicemembers have sacrificed—some risking their lives—to ensure for others the very equal protection rights the Military Ban seeks to deny them.” Judge Reyes held that banning transgender service members from the military violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution because it is discrimination based on transgender status and sex; and because “it is soaked in animus.”Judge Reyes continued: “Its language is unabashedly demeaning, its policy stigmatizes transgender persons as inherently unfit, and its conclusions bear no relation to fact.”
In Massachusetts, the city of Worcester approved a measure declaring the second-largest city in Massachusetts a sanctuary city for the transgender community. The move came in response to Trump’s executive order attempting to administratively erase transgender people under federal law. “I don’t care what your beliefs are, but to take the word ‘transgender’ out of the vocabulary in the federal government is just plain wrong,” Mayor Joseph Petty said. This makes Worcester at least the third city in the U.S. to pass such a measure.
In a sign of proactive movement in Washington State, Governor Bob Ferguson announced a new policy to speed up the efficiency of document changes for transgender and nonbinary people, which previously could take up to ten months: “Very proud to announce the Department of Health will now process all requests to change gender designation on birth certificates within three business days.”
The Rev. Dr. Mark Suriano, pastor at the First Congregational Church UCC in Park Ridge, New Jersey, didn’t hesitate to speak out in support of the full breadth of his community in a letter to the Central Atlantic Conference United Church of Christ following inflammatory comments and threats to his congregation spurred by online harassment from the so-called Moms for LIberty – a designated hate group according to the Southern Poverty Law Center and a long history of anti-LGBTQ extremism documented by GLAAD. In his letter, Rev. Suriano quoted the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.” Despite the hateful incident on his congregants, Rev. Suriano expressed hope and gratitude for his community coming together stronger than ever. “I remain emotional about this physical manifestation of the ‘inescapable network of mutuality’ and the ‘seamless garment of destiny’ of which Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke. I also am overwhelmed by the beautiful truth that what affects one of us directly affects all of us indirectly,” he expressed.
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Ana Esquivel no longer feels like her heart stops every time she sees a police officer.
“We’ve been told that they won’t harass or mistreat us here, but back home, if a male name is spotted on your ID, you could spend the night detained,” said the 50-year-old transgender woman. She fled Cuba fearing for her safety and arrived in Mexico earlier this year.
Esquivel settled in the southern city of Tapachula, hoping to dodge the Trump’s administration crackdown on migration and reach the United States. But unlike many who turned back after their Border Patrol appointments got canceled, returning home is not an option for LGBTQ migrants.
Transgender women Rachel Perez, left, and Ana Esquivel, who applied for asylum in Mexico, at Casa Frida.Moises Castillo / AP
“The LGBT population doesn’t necessarily leave their countries for the same reasons as others,” said Mariana de la Cruz, operations director at Casa Frida, a shelter that supports LGBTQ migrants and lost 60% of its funds after President Donald Trump ordered the suspension of foreign assistance programs in January.
“They leave due to discrimination and violence based on their gender identity,” de la Cruz said. “Beyond economic reasons or the American Dream, they leave because they need to survive.”
The flux of migrants at the Southern Mexican border with Guatemala dipped after Trump announced plans to restrict refugees and asylum seekers, contending he wants to stop illegal entry and border crime. The Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid in Tapachula has not updated its public data since December 2024, but the transformation is clear.
Hundreds of migrants no longer flood a public square, waiting for a response to their refugee applications. And though lines still form around the commission’s headquarters, locals say the crowds are smaller.
At a nearby Catholic shelter, administrator Herber Bermúdez said they have hosted up to 1,700 migrants at a time, but it’s closer to 300 with the shutdown of CBP One, the U.S. border app that facilitated legal entry into the country.
“The change was substantial,” Bermúdez said. “By Jan. 20, we had around 1,200 people, but as the app stopped working, people started heading back to their countries.”
In contrast, help requests addressed to Casa Frida have not dropped.
“All of the people we support were victims of violence,” said Sebastián Rodríguez, who works at the shelter. “They can’t go back.”
In Tapachula since 2022, Casa Frida staff review on average 80 applications per month, assessing the most at-risk. According to Rodríguez, nonbinary and transgender migrants are frequently vulnerable to attacks.
Itzel Aguilar teaches English to migrants at Casa Frida in Tapachula.Moises Castillo / AP
The shelter doesn’t have enough resources to help everyone, but they bring on about 70 new people monthly and can support up to 200 LGBTQ people at any given time.
Several migrants recently told The Associated Press they were kidnapped by cartel members as they set foot in Mexico and had to give up their possessions to be released.
LGBTQ people face more violence, Rodríguez said. Transgender women often dress as men to avoid mockery and being spotted by criminals. If they are spared and reach a shelter, staff assign them to male dorms. If they leave and try to rent a room elsewhere, landlords seem unhospitable or demand unthinkable fees.
“That’s why programs like ours are needed,” Rodríguez said.
According to the shelter, about 40% of its population was affected by the end of CBP One app and the mass cancellation of appointments.
“Some people feel discouraged and hopeless,” Rodríguez said. “But many have applied for asylum in Mexico.”
Among its services, Casa Frida can provide a roof and meals for up to 12 people for three months. The organization’s other programs can help several more migrants by providing legal guidance on remaining in Mexico, advice on finding temporary jobs with inclusive environments, psychological counseling and tips for renting apartments under fair conditions.
“Most people just think of us as a shelter, but providing refuge is only the core of what we do,” Rodríguez said. “Our goal is to reintegrate violence victims into society.”
The shelter operates in three locations: Mexico City, where it was founded in 2020 and mostly supports locals; Tapachula, which mainly receives migrants from Cuba, Honduras, Venezuela, El Salvador, Perú and Haiti; and Monterrey, where those at grave risk are transferred to be safe at an undisclosed address.
Cuban Rasiel Elias Fernandez cooks at Casa Frida in Mexico City last year.Alfredo Estrella / AFP via Getty Images
Manuel Jiménez, 21, was welcomed at the Mexico City station in February. He arrived from a state near the capital when harassment by family members became unbearable.
Jiménez initially hoped to reach the U.S. and he traveled north in November 2024. All went well until border patrol officers detained him in Arizona and he was deported. But it was dangerous for him to stay in his hometown.
“Someone told me about this shelter because I wanted to find a place where I could feel at peace,” said Jiménez, who identifies as bisexual. “Back home, there were people who wanted to hurt me, verbally and physically.”
Now living at Casa Frida, he started working at a nearby restaurant and hopes to save money that will enable him to find a home of his own.
Back in Tapachula, Esquivel applied for Mexican refugee status. Around 85% of Casa Frida’s migrants get a positive response, so she’s optimistic. Maybe one day, she hopes, she could go back to school, land a job and relocate.
“I want to stay here and become part of this country,” Esquivel said. “I want to do it the right way and I’m grateful to Casa Frida for helping me get there.”
She learned about the shelter from another trans woman who also fled Cuba after feeling threatened by police.
“I was nearly arrested,” said Rachel Pérez, 51. “In Cuba, we are discriminated and persecuted. We leave in search for a better life.”
According to Esquivel, she was accused of prostitution — which is not illegal under Cuban law — for repeatedly walking alone at night. Police warned her a few times, but she kept going out until she was detained and transferred to a male prison.
“I was raped there,” said Esquivel, who remained imprisoned for a year. “I was only 21 and the inmates abused me. Within time, I learned how to defend myself, but those were very difficult times I won’t forget.”
Staff at Casa Frida constantly updates their protocols to help migrants like Esquivel. But keeping operations running has proved challenging due to the U.S. aid cuts. According to De la Cruz, worrisome notifications popped by Jan. 24, and a few weeks later, 60% of their budget was gone.
“We’ve been looking everywhere to find new sustainability alternatives,” she said. “We are part of a network focused on LGBT mobility in Latin America and the Caribbean — 13 organizations in 10 countries — and at least 50% of them took a hit.”
Funding campaigns and ongoing meetings with European and local leaders might bring a solution, but concerns haven’t ceased and the team could significantly diminish its operations.
“Nothing is written in stone and we don’t know what could happen next,” De la Cruz said.
A member of the Austin Gay Men’s Chorus was shot and killed in a suspected road rage incident in Texas this month, and the family and police are seeking help.
Edward Espino, 47, was shot and killed early in the morning of March 16. Numerous calls to 911 reported that a Mitsubishi Mirage was stalled on Interstate Highway 35 in Austin just after 3:30 a.m. The incident was upgraded to a crash after the Mirage was subsequently hit by a Ford Bronco.
When first responders arrived at the scene, they discovered Espino trapped in his car and unresponsive.
“The Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services (ATCEMS) and the Austin Fire Department (AFD) extracted Mr. Espino from the vehicle and attempted first aid when they discovered a gunshot wound on his body,” the Austin Police Department said in a press release. “Mr. Espino was pronounced deceased at 4:14 a.m.”
Police interviewed witnesses and the driver of the Bronco, who stayed at the scene. The driver of the Bronco, who remained unnamed, fully cooperated with authorities and was not suspected of involvement in Espino’s death.
“The initial investigation showed that Mr. Espino was in his Mitsubishi Mirage and driving northbound on IH 35 where his vehicle came to a stop in the far left lane of N. IH 35 before being struck from behind by the Bronco,” APD continued in the press release. “The shooting suspects have not yet been identified.”
Police suspect Espino was killed in a road rage incident.
Espino, a member of the Austin Gay Men’s Chorus, was returning from a visit with relatives in Corpus Christi when the shooting occurred. He was remembered by friends and family as warm and outgoing.
“He brought immense joy and light to our chorus in the short time he was with us,” the Austin Gay Men’s Chorus wrote on a GoFundMe page raising funds to assist Espino’s family with the funeral costs. “Our hearts are with his family and all who knew him. He will always be remembered as a bright, shining presence among us. Rest in peace, Edward.”
“There’s nothing that could bring him back, and we know that. But in knowing who took him from us couldn’t mean everything,” said Jessica Munoz, Edward’s younger sister, told local CBS affiliate KEYE.
Police say they have no suspects in the case and are asking for the public’s help. Anyone who believes they might have witnessed the incident or could provide help identifying a suspect is encouraged to contact the APD at (512) 974-TIPS. Tips can be submitted anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting AustinCrimeStoppers.org or calling (512) 472-8477.
The GoFundMe page has currently raised more than $8,500 of a $10,000 goal. Donors can contribute to the fund here.
Ken Paxton has announced the end of a foster care rule intended to protect children who identify as LGBTQ. On Friday, Texas Attorney General Paxton’s office announced that his office had defeated a rule requiring agencies to ensure foster care families support their child’s identity.
“This is a tremendous victory for Texas families, parental rights, and the rule of law,” ” said Paxton. “The Biden Administration had no authority to force radical gender ideology onto vulnerable children and demand compliance from foster care providers under threat of lost funding.”
According to multiple studies, around 30% of youth in the foster care system identify as LGBTQ. Paxton’s win applies to all states, but it appears that LGBTQ-friendly states can still independently enforce such a policy, at least until the Trump administration comes after them.
Republicans in the Legislature filed more than 80 bills that would affect LGBTQ Texans, including many focused on public schools that would impact students, teachers and staff. Republican lawmakers filed a range of bills to ban teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity, limit the ability of teachers and students to discuss sex and gender outside the classroom, outlaw support for gender transitions and protect employees who refer to transgender students by their biological sex.
“Sexual orientation and gender identity policies, they’re not about allowing people to learn and live as they choose,” said Jonathan Covey, policy director of Texas Values. “They’re used in a coercive way to force those people who don’t agree with them to go along with a radical ideology, and schools are actually a major front in this campaign.” One bill proposes a ban on human sexuality instruction from pre-K through eighth grade. Others would ban such instruction from pre-K through 12th grade.
Read the full article. The piece goes on to quote a survey showing that 40% of Texas LGBTQ youth have considered suicide in the last year. Texas Republicans surely consider that a good thing. Photo: Rep. Steve Toth, author of several bills cited in the article.
LGBTQ+ people are more likely to have student loans and experience economic insecurity, poverty, and disabilities, and Donald Trump‘s federal student loan restrictions are expected to disproportionately impact them.
More than one-third (35 percent) of LGBTQ+ adults ages 18 to 40 — an estimated 2.9 million — held more than $93.2 billion in federal student loans at the beginning of the Biden Administration, according to a new report from theWilliams Institute and the Point Foundation, including over half (51 percent) of transgender adults, 36 percent of cisgender LBQ women, and 28 percent of cisgender GBQ men.
Through loan forgiveness, new repayment plans, the expansion of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF), and relief for students with disabilities, the Biden administration approved over $183 billion in student debt relief for more than five million borrowers. Assuming that LGBTQ+ adults received the benefits equally, an estimated 11.6 percent of queer adults with student loans — about 336,000 — benefited from Biden’s programs.
“Student loans have been an important bridge out of poverty and towards independence for many people,” Jorge Valenica, Executive Director and CEO of the Point Foundation, said in a statement. “LGBTQ+ individuals have been less likely to rely on family support for meeting the costs of higher education, making federal student loans all the more critical.”
Now, the Trump Administration is pushing for changes that would disproportionately impact LGBTQ+ borrowers. This includes ending income-driven repayment plans, as outlined in Project 2025, and replacing them with one that “takes less account of borrowers’ finances and imposes no cap on interest,” the report states.
Trump has also signed an executive order ending the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, and is expected to sign one attempting to completely shut down the Department of Education, though he can’t legally do so.
“The proposed restrictions on student loans will particularly affect the nearly one-quarter of LGBTQ adults employed in the public or nonprofit sectors, which qualify for the Public Student Loan Forgiveness program,” said lead author Brad Sears, Distinguished Senior Scholar of Law and Policy at the Williams Institute. “A recent executive order could potentially disqualify anyone working for an organization involved in gender-affirming care, or possibly those serving transgender individuals more broadly, from the PSLF program.”
West Ada School District has recently come under fire after a KTVB story highlighted Lewis and Clark Middle School teacher Sarah Inama, who was asked to remove signs and posters promoting inclusivity from her classroom. The signs share the message that all students are welcome and feature hands of different skin colors and a series of words highlighted in a rainbow of colors, including “welcome,” “important,” “valued” and “equal.”
West Ada cited a district policy that “ensures that classrooms remain neutral” as justification for asking Inama to remove the signs, the district said. After discussing her posters, Inama removed them from the walls of her classroom but later hung them back up. After they were rehung, the school’s principal along with the district’s chief academic officer met with Inama to discuss their concerns about the posters and how they violate district policy.
A local screen printing shop has been working tirelessly for over a week to meet the demand for T-shirts bearing a message of inclusion that has brought international attention to Idaho. Brigade Screen Printing in Boise has received thousands of orders after sixth-grade teacher Sarah Inama refused to take down a sign in her classroom reading “Everyone Is Welcome Here” when asked to do so by the West Ada School District.
“We’re busy on a normal basis,” said shop owner Shawn Wright about the sheer number of orders. “But we’re never this busy. This is a whole another level.” Wright shared the Inama’s story with his staff, many of whom are parents with children in the West Ada School District. “Within five minutes, I had a bunch of moms in tears going, ‘Whatever we gotta do,’” Wright said. The small shop has significantly extended its usual 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule.
