New York City’s eviction court – the venue of a landmark same-sex relationship decision long before Obergefell v Hodges – is now the source of a legal opinion that comes down clearly on the side of polyamorous unions.
The decision came in the case of West 49th St., LLC v. O’Neill, decided by New York Civil Court Judge Karen May Bacdayan, concluded that polyamorous relationships are entitled to the same sort of legal protection given to two-person relationships.
The case revolves around three individuals. Scott Anderson and Markyus O’Neill lived together in a New York City apartment. Anderson held the lease, but was married to another man, Robert Romano, who lived at another address. After Anderson died, the building’s owner contended O’Neill had no right to renew the lease since he was just a “roommate” of Anderson’s and not “a non-traditional family member.”
The court concluded that there needed to be a hearing about whether Anderson, Romano and O’Neill were in a polyamorous relationship.
Before gay marriage was legalized in any state, Braschi v. Stahl Assocs. Co. was decided in 1989 and made the New York State Court of Appeals the first American appellate court to recognize that a two-person, same-sex relationship is entitled to legal recognition.
“Braschi is widely regarded as a catalyst for the legal challenges and changes that ensued,” Bacdayan wrote in her opinion. “By the end of 2014, gay marriage was legal in 35 states through either legislation or state court action. Obergefell v Hodges (2015), the seminal Supreme Court decision that established same-sex marriage as a constitutional right was also heralded as groundbreaking.”
“However,” wrote Bacdayan, “Braschi and its progeny and Obergefell limit their holdings to two-person relationships.” This case, Bacdayan wrote, “presents the distinct and complex issue of significant multi-person relationships.”
The judge cited legislation enacted since the advent of federally recognized same sex unions. “In February 2020, the Utah legislature passed a so-called Bigamy Bill, decriminalizing the offense by downgrading it from a felony to a misdemeanor. In June [2020], Somerville, Massachusetts, passed an ordinance allowing groups of three or more people who ‘consider themselves to be a family’ to be recognized as domestic partners. The neighboring town of Cambridge followed suit, passing a broader ordinance recognizing multi-partner relationships. The law has proceeded even more rapidly in recognizing that it is possible for a child to have more than two legal parents.”
“Why then,” posited the judge, “except for the very real possibility of implicit majoritarian animus, is the limitation of two persons inserted into the definition of a family-like relationship for the purposes of receiving the same protections from eviction accorded to legally formalized or blood relationships? Is ‘two’ a ‘code word’ for monogamy? Why does a person have to be committed to one other person in only certain prescribed ways in order to enjoy stability in housing after the departure of a loved one?”
The attorney for the property owner characterized defendant O’Neill’s affidavit, claiming himself as a non-traditional family member, as a “fairytale.”
The case returns to court after further investigation of the three individuals’ relationship.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Thursday that aims to legally protect transgender youths and their parents if they flee conservative states that have restricted access to gender-affirming care.
The bill seeks to “offer refuge” to trans minors and their families “if they’re being criminalized in their home states,” state Sen. Scott Wiener, who introduced the bill, said on Twitter after Newsom signed it.
Wiener said states like Texas and Alabama “are seeking to tear these families apart,” referring to efforts in both states to bar parents from providing their trans children with medical care like puberty blockers and hormone therapy.
In February, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called on the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services to “conduct a prompt and thorough investigation” of any reported instances of minors undergoing “elective procedures for gender transitioning.” He also encouraged anyone who works with children in the state and regular citizens to report parents providing such care.
In Alabama, Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill that makes it a felony for medical professionals to provide gender-affirming medical care to people under 19.
“We should especially protect our children from these radical, life-altering drugs and surgeries when they are at such a vulnerable stage in life,” Ivey said in a statement at the time.
The bill Newsom signed is intended to protect families and children like those from prosecution in their home states if they travel to California for gender-affirming care or if they move to California after already receiving transition-related care elsewhere.
“We believe that no one should be prosecuted or persecuted for getting the care they need — including gender-affirming care,” Newsom said in a statement after signing the measure. “With the signing of this bill, California will ensure that these kids and their families can seek and obtain the medical and mental health care that they need.”
The legislation includes a variety of provisions that are meant to help protect families and trans kids. It prohibits California health care providers from releasing medical information in relation to other states’ laws prohibiting gender-affirming care for minors. It also prohibits the enforcement of a court order “based on another state’s law authorizing a child to be removed from their parent or guardian based on that parent or guardian allowing their child to receive gender-affirming health care or gender-affirming mental health care.”
The bill also authorizes a California court to take temporary emergency jurisdiction when a child hasn’t been able to receive gender-affirming health care elsewhere, which some on social media interpreted to mean that California courts will be able to take custody of children if they flee their home states because their parents don’t want to provide them with gender-affirming care.
But that isn’t accurate, according to Asaf Orr, a senior staff attorney and Transgender Youth Project director at the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Orr said that portion of the bill is related to a court’sjurisdiction in custody matters.
“State courts around the country have the authority to consider whether to retain jurisdiction over a custody matter involving a child who recently came into the state,” Orr told Reuters. “This typically occurs in instances of domestic violence or other crisis situations. This law simply clarifies that courts should retain jurisdiction in situations where a parent brings their child to California so that they can obtain medical treatment for gender dysphoria.” Gender dysphoria is a medical condition that involves a conflict between an individual’s sex assigned at birth and their gender identity.
Last Thursday activists, residents and students protested Columbia University’s aggressive expansion into Harlem in Manhattan, New York outside the university steps. The neighborhood is integral to the Black, Latinx, and LGBTQ culture we honor today. The protest, organized by The United Front Against Displacement (UFAD), a tenant organization fighting gentrification throughout US cities, criticized the university’s partnership with the city to continue the privatization of the New York Housing Authority (NYCHA) and the national war on housing in general.
NYC’s reality is common among the country’s 50 largest cities, which the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development’s latest Annual Homeless Assessment Report states, make up more than half of all people experiencing sheltered homelessness in 2021.
Housing prices and rent increases disproportionately affect BIPOC and LGBTQ people as they’re four times more likely to be in public housing. Housing access is related to deliberate policy choices and underfunding that’s persisted for decades, but has worsened since the Great Recession.
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UFAD protesters didn’t deliberately go into who is affected by homelessness, but they did set a list of demands for those partially responsible. Compliance with these demands, in particular inflation-matched pay for university employees, is a small step toward restoring these “gross injustices”, said the UFAD in an Instagram post.
Ryan Costello, UFAD organizer Lana Leonard
Ryan Costello, an organizer for UFAD, says that Harlem apartments are filled with asbestos, human feces, and broken elevators. Columbia University brags about how much money they’ve made, while they, along with NYCHA, neglect public housing, says Costello. The university raked in nearly $25 billion in net assets in 2021, exceding 2020’s profits by about 15%, despite a global pandemic and rising poverty rates.
“In the long term, my hope really is that we can do something collectively to amend this whole system of injustice. We have a whole series of injustice all together because the elite who are running this country—whether it be Republican or Democrat—have an agenda that is pretty similar in the sense of enriching the few at the expense of the many perpetuating various systems of oppression,” Costello said to LGBTQ Nation.
Nevertheless, Harlem reminds America of what resilience against adversity, homelessness, and injustice looks like. The 70s and 80s gave rise to the Ballroom scene as a new world for homeless trans and queer children to thrive in. The shared homes of royal house mothers and fathers informed culture, joy, and quality of life for all people despite the illegality of balls, drag, and living openly as an LGBTQ person in general.
Today, LGBTQ youth is estimated to be 40% of NYC’s homeless youth. For West Harlem City Councilwoman Kristin Richardson Jordan, an out lesbian, the housing crisis in Harlem threatens the safety of LGBTQ youth seeking homeless shelters as well as hundreds of multi-generational Black and Brown families that have lived in Harlem for decades.
“Developers are entering our community with no accountability for the existing surrounding areas or their socioeconomic impact,” the socialist democrat told LGBTQ Nation.
She adds that developers are doing the bare minimum of affordable units based on Area Median Income (AMI). AMI affects communities throughout the country by skewing the reality of income for most families once high incomes are integrated into the median income adjustment.
For example, when assessed, Harlem’s AMI is $93,400 per year. However, a majority of Harlem families actually make about $37,000 to $57,000, says Jordan. New Jersey uses a similar system. Yet, the state is one of the most expensive states to rent in.
Regardless, those that have maintained their homes in Harlem plan to keep them.
Activists protest outside Columbia University over the school’s planned expansion into Harlem Lana Leonard
Veronica Hickman, a multi-generational West Harlem resident and UFAD organizer, sat on the university steps looking out onto the protest. She said she needed to rest after singing “We Shall Overcome” to protesters. She comes when she can because Costello comes out for Harlem.
“I feel like he’s supporting us, and you know what, if the money isn’t supporting you, you need to do your part. Even if it’s just showing up and doing a song or something, you know, that’s what I need to do,” she said.
The Harlem gentrification project is almost 20 years old. Renzo Piano, a famous Italian architect, announced his plans to former Columbia University President Lee Bollinger in 2003 to “revitalize” West Harlem with what is called The Manhattanville Project: a 17-acre expansion of the university’s business school overlooking the Hudson River. The ivy-league school owned 65% of the neighborhood at this time.
But Columbia University is one of many corporations buying American neighborhoods today. Thirty-three percent of all homes in America were purchased by investors by 2022, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting. This leaves BIPOC and LGBTQ communities to compete against investors with a wage gap ranging 10-70% lower than the average non-LGBTQ worker, reported the Human Rights Campaign earlier this year.
Moving forward, Councilwoman Jordan has hope for Harlem and the wider world.
“I want to see the upcoming generation that has been raised here, like myself, given fair opportunities to obtain property and invest in the community they have grown up in,” said Jordan. “I aim to use my time in office to advocate for our neighbors; standing up for all the constituents in my district who have consistently been left behind by people who only seek to fill their pockets.”
The triumph of a right-wing alliance in Italy’s election has raised concern among LGBTQ advocates, who fear nationalist leader Giorgia Meloni could adopt anti-gay policies as prime minister and set back their efforts to boost equality.
Meloni, who is set to become Italy’s first woman premier at the head of its most right-wing government since World War Two, fiercely denounced what she calls “gender ideology” and “the LGBT lobby” just months before Sunday’s vote.
But she has also played down her party’s post-fascist roots and portrays it as a mainstream group like Britain’s Conservatives.
So what would her leadership of Italy’s new government mean for the LGBTQ community?
What is Meloni’s stance on LGBTQ rights?
Meloni, a Christian, has sprinkled speeches with anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and conservative statements on family-related issues.
“Yes to natural families, no to the LGBT lobby, yes to sexual identity, no to gender ideology, yes to the culture of life, no to the abyss of death,” she said as she addressed supporters of Spain’s rightist Vox party in the southern Spanish city of Marbella in June.
But in the past few weeks, Meloni has repeatedly denied suggestions she might roll back legislation on abortion or LGBTQ rights, while reaffirming her opposition to adoptions and surrogacy for same-sex couples.
Days before the election, however, a senior member of her Brothers of Italy (FdI) group suggested same-sex parenting was not normal.
Federico Mollicone, culture spokesman for the FdI, reiterated his criticism of an episode of the children’s cartoon “Peppa Pig” that featured a polar bear with two mothers.
He said further that “in Italy homosexual couples are not legal, are not allowed” — despite the country having legalized same-sex civil unions in 2016, a reform the FdI opposed in parliament.
FdI does not mention LGBTQ rights specifically in its election manifesto, but calls for “support for childbearing and the family.”
In a Facebook message to an LGBTQ activist who confronted her earlier this month, Meloni said: “I believe a child has the right to grow up with a father and a mother.”
What is the state of LGBTQ rights in Italy?
Italy ranks 23rd in the 27-member European Union when it comes to legal protections for LGBTQ people, according to advocacy group ILGA-Europe.
It is the only major country in Western Europe that has not legalized same-sex marriage, though some microstates such as Monaco and San Marino have also not done so.
Italy has legalized same-sex civil unions, but these do not grant gay couples the same rights as married heterosexual couples, particularly when it comes to parenting. Joint adoption is not available for same-sex couples.
“Even if she doesn’t introduce any anti-LGBT laws, she will not speed up what we’re trying to do to improve the current situation,” Roberto Muzzetta, a board member at Italy’s biggest gay LGBTQ group Arcigay, said from Milan.
“In fact, she will slow it down, or do nothing about it, even though we’re already lagging behind our neighbors.”
Last October, the Italian Senate voted to block debate over a bill that would make violence against women and LGBTQ people a hate crime, effectively killing off a proposal previously approved by the lower house of parliament.
The bill, championed by the center-left Democratic Party (PD), triggered fierce discussion in Italy, with the Vatican saying that it could restrict the religious freedom of the Roman Catholic Church.
Arcigay said it records more than 100 hate crime and discrimination cases a year.
Despite lagging most of its EU neighbors on LGBTQ rights, a 2020 study by the U.S.-based Pew Research Center found 75% of Italians think homosexuality should be accepted.
“Still, Meloni’s opponents were just not able … to make these issues more meaningful (and) promote a different, more progressive vision of society,” political analyst Martina Carone at Torino-based consultancy firm Agenzia Quorum said
What are ordinary LGBTQ Italians concerned about?
Some gay, bisexual and transgender people fear Meloni’s nationalist stance could increase discrimination against LGBTQ people in Italy.
“This morning, when I woke up, I had a feeling of strong discomfort. I felt a great uncertainty, as if I had become aware that things could change for me and my safety,” said Cristian Cristalli, a 34-year-old trans man based in the northern city of Bologna.
“I wondered if I didn’t deserve a future elsewhere, perhaps in a country worthy of our lives,” Cristalli added.
In the northern city of Verona, Stefano Ambrosini, a gay 28-year-old PhD student, said he feared Meloni’s election triumph could lead to an increase in homophobic violence.
“A lot of the people who voted for her are the ones who are already perpetuating violence and discrimination against the community,” he said.
“Now that she has won, these people will feel empowered and definitely safe in doing the terrible things that they want to do to our community.”
Activist Muzzetta said a clear majority in parliament could pave the way for the right-wing alliance to introduce anti-LGBTQ policies that have already been discussed in some regions or municipalities, such as LGBTQ-related books and events bans.
But both Cristalli and Ambrosini said they are determined to defend their rights.
“Let’s see how it goes. I’m ready to fight back,” Ambrosini said.
Cubans have approved a sweeping “family law” code that would allow same-sex couples to marry and adopt as well as redefining rights for children and grandparents, officials said Monday, though opposition in the national referendum was unusually strong on the Communist Party-governed island.
The measure — which contains more than 400 articles — was approved by 66.9% to 33.1%, the president of the National Electoral Council, Alina Balseiro Gutiérrez, told official news media, though returns from a few places remained to be counted.
The reforms had met unusually strong open resistance from the growing evangelical movement in Cuba — and many other Cubans — despite an extensive government campaign in favor of the measure, including thousands of informative meetings across the country and extensive media coverage backing it.
Cuban elections — in which no party other than the Communist is allowed — routinely produce victory margins of more than 90% — as did a referendum on a major constitutional reform in 2019.
The code would allow surrogate pregnancies, broader rights for grandparents in regard to grandchildren, protection of the elderly and measures against gender violence.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who has promoted the law acknowledged questions about the measure as he voted on Sunday.
“Most of our people will vote in favor of the code, but it still has issues that our society as a whole does not understand,” he said.
The measure had been approved by Cuba’s Parliament, the National Assembly, after years of debate about such reforms.
A major supporter of the measure was Mariela Castro, director of the National Center for Sex Education, a promoter of rights for same-sex couples, daughter of former President Raul Castro and niece of his brother Fidel.
But there is a strong strain of social conservatism in Cuba and several religious leaders have expressed concern or opposition to the law., worrying it could weaken nuclear families.
While Cuba was officially — and often militantly — atheist for decades after the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro — Raul’s brother — it has become more tolerant of religions over the past quarter century. That has meant a greater opening not only the once-dominant Roman Catholic Church, but also to Afro-Cuban religions, protestants and Muslims.
Some of those churches took advantage of the opening in 2018 and 2019 to campaign against another plebiscite which would have rewritten the constitution in a way to allow gay marriage.
Opposition was strong enough that the government at that time backed away.
The British government has committed to a 10-year strategy to end discrimination against “female same-sex couples” seeking fertility services.
The first ever Women’s Health Strategy For England, published by the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care, includes language supporting reproductive rights for lesbian, bisexual and queer (LBQ+) women. It commits the government’s health department to improving transparency and removing discriminatory policies to ensure “female same-sex couples are able to access [National Health Service] NHS-funded fertility services in a more equitable way.”
In October, 2021, campaigners Megan and Whitney Bacon-Evanslaunched a legal case against their local NHS board, stating that its fertility policy discriminated against lesbians. In their postcode, same-sex female couples seeking one cycle of NHS-funded in vitro fertilization (IVF) are required to prove infertility by self-funding 12 rounds of artificial insemination, including 6 in a clinical setting, costing approximately £26,000. For heterosexual couples, the requirement to prove infertility is attestation of two years of unprotected sex.
The new strategy removes the requirement for self-funding, and states that female same-sex couples can expect NHS coverage to start with 6 cycles of artificial insemination.
Still, there is little clarity as to when the strategy will take effect. “Some queer couples told us this week they have already been put on fertility waiting lists for 2023, others were told they still don’t qualify,” Bacon-Evans told Human Rights Watch.
Also, the strategy is silent on “single women who want to start a family,” an issue highlighted by experts who submitted to the strategy process, which could potentially discriminate against both heterosexual and queer single women. As the strategy commits the department to administer care for women regardless of non-clinical factors, such as relationship status, single women should be covered.
The strategy also does not define “same-sex” or “couple.” It remains unclear if partners must be married or in a civil partnership, and if treatment will be available to LBQ+ couples in which one or both partners are transgender, non-binary, or gender non-conforming.
Authorities should extend non-discriminatory access to fertility treatment to single women and all LBQ+ couples, regardless of gender identity or expression. They should also be protected from non-clinical barriers to fertility services. One immediate opportunity comes as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence updates its fertility assessment and treatment guidelines.
A group of Proud Boys, fascists, and anti-LGBTQ+ protestors attempted to disrupt a Drag bingo fundraiser in a tense altercation.
A group of people reportedly affiliated with various far-right groups, including the Proud Boys, protested at the First Christian Church in Katy, Texas on Saturday (24 September), as a sponsored family drag bingo charity event was taking place.
The sold-out show aimed to raise money for LGBTQ+ nonprofit Transparent Closet, which aims to provide clothing for “trans and exploring teens, youth, and young adults” but was quickly overwhelmed by anti-LGBTQ+ protestors.
The protests were reportedly planned by self-described “Christian fascist”Kelly Neidert, who was working with a group dubbed “Protect Texas Kids” according to Axios on Friday (23 September).
It further reported that anti-fascist counter-protestors had planned to blockade the neo-Nazi disruptors, who were reportedly wearing Nazi regalia and far-right paraphernalia.
Anti-fascists blared music from the trailer of the upcoming Little Mermaid film, which has been attacked by racists and far-right pundits for casting Black actor Halle Bailey as Ariel.
Authorities from the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Harris County Sheriff’s Department responded to the rising tensions by attempting to separate the two groups.
A video from journalist Jay R. Jordan shows a brief altercation in which the two groups spray what appears to be pepper spray at each other while armed police attempt to keep them separated on either side of the road where the church is located.
Further pictures revealed the disgusting signs brought by the Proud Boys, with one claiming that “LGBT is Talmud Jew s**t” while another reads “homosexuality is an abomination to mankind.”
This isn’t the first time that the First Christian Church has experienced homophobic harassment. As an LGBTQ-inclusive space, the organisation has seen three separate incidents of theft and vandalism charges in 2022 alone.
Its Facebook page is filled with cruel and homophobic messages insulting its members, with one saying it is “another false church leading people to hell instead of heaven.”
“This congregation has always been a place where what they value most about the teachings of Christianity is an openness and willingness for all people and the idea that Jesus came to love all,” reverend Heather Tolleson said to the Houston Chronicle. “We’re a representation of that love.”
When asked about the threat of anti-LGBTQ+ protestors prior to the event’s proceedings, she said: “Our first and foremost line of concern is everyone’s safety. All we want is for a safe and peaceful night to happen.
“We value diversity, and we know not everyone agrees with us,” Tolleson continued. “With that at heart, we have done what we needed to do to take care of and provide a safe environment.”
Harris County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Thomas Gilliland said that “it really is sad to see this kind of thing happening in Katy.
“Katy is such a diverse and welcoming community, and there are a lot of churches here. To know that this is happening to one of them is upsetting.”
Students across Virginia protested Tuesday in response to new guidelines putting restrictions on transgender students in the state’s public schools.
Walkouts are set to take place throughout the day at more than 90 middle and high schools in the state, according to student-run advocacy group Pride Liberation Project, which organized the statewide effort. As of noon on Tuesday, students in Woodbridge, Springfield, Manassas, McLean and other Virginia cities were waving rainbow picket signs and shouting, “Trans rights are human rights!”
“Trans students are students just like everybody else. We don’t want to be out here fighting for our rights and protesting — we want to be in calculus class and learning how to drive,” said Ranger Balleisen, a transgender senior at McLean High School in Fairfax County who helped organize the protests. “But, instead, we have to be here, because they’re trying to take away our rights.”
Earlier this month, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration rewrote Virginia’s model policies for the treatment of transgender students, mandating that all students use school facilities, including bathrooms or locker rooms, according to the sex they were assigned at birth. The policy revision also forbids trans students from changing their names and pronouns at school without a parent’s permission anddiscourages school staff from concealing students’ gender identities from their parents, regardless of whether a student prefers to keep their transition a secret.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin speaks during a news conference at the Capitol, in Richmond, Va., on Jan. 27, 2022.Steve Helber / AP file
Proponents welcomed the policy change, lauding the new measures for giving parents greater discretion over their child’s schooling experience. Parental rights in education was a central issue of Youngkin’s campaign for the Virginia governorship last year and was largely credited with sweeping him to victory.
“Parents should be a part of their children’s lives, and it’s apparent through the public protests and on-camera interviews that those objecting to the guidance already have their parents as part of that conversation,” Macaulay Porter, a spokeswoman for Youngkin, said in an email. “While students exercise their free speech today, we’d note that these policies state that students should be treated with compassion and schools should be free from bullying and harassment.”
The new guidelines are a sharp reversal from policies enacted last year by Youngkin’s Democratic predecessor, Ralph Northam. Northam’s guidelines said “school staff should abide by the student’s wishes” regarding names and pronouns. They also recommended that educators allow students to use school facilities, including bathrooms and locker rooms, that correspond with their gender identities. Additionally, the former rules advised that if a student did not want to share their gender identity with their family, “this should be respected.”
“When Barbara Johns walked out, people told her she should have stayed put too,” Virginia state Del. Danica Roem, who in 2018 became the first out trans person to be seated in a U.S. state legislature, tweeted, referring to the late civil rights leader who is credited with helping push the Supreme Court to deem racial school segregation illegal. “Student voices matter and #Virginia students today are following in her footsteps — and I know a lot of PWC parents are super proud of their kids for speaking up.”
Students have begun to walk out of Northern Virginia schools in protest of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed restrictions on transgender students’ rights.NBC News
When asked about the student walkouts at Tuesday’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reaffirmed the president’s commitment to the LGBTQ community.
“He believes transgender youth should be allowed to be able to go to school freely, to be able to express themselves freely, to be able to have the protections that they need to be who they are,” Jean-Pierre, who became the first openly LGBTQ White House press secretary earlier this year, told reporters.
Rivka Vizcardo-Lichter, a queer student at Oakton High School in Fairfax County and the lead organizer of the Pride Liberation Project, agreed. She added that since the new rules were drafted earlier this month, LGBTQ students across the state have turned to the group in distress.
“I’ve heard literally hundreds of stories telling me ‘I’m terrified for my own life,’” Vizacardo-Lichter said. “How are we supposed to focus on our classes — like calculus or biology — if we’re worried that our teachers are going to out us to our unsupportive parents?”
Vizcardo-Lichter, 15, added that the policies will exacerbate mental issues that disproportionately impact LGBTQ youths.
Nearly half of LGBTQ youths in the United States have “seriously considered” suicide in the past year, according a survey released earlier this year by LGBTQ youth suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization The Trevor Project. The same survey found that LGBTQ youth who found their school to be affirming reported lower rates of attempting suicide.
Youngkin’s office stressed that the new guidelines direct schools to prevent gender discrimination or harassment against all students and “attempt to accommodate students with distinctive needs, including any student with a persistent and sincere belief that his or her gender differs from his or her sex.”
Casey Calabia, a trans senior at McLean High School in Fairfax County who also helped organize the statewide protests, called Youngkin’s defense “tone deaf.”
“How can you stand there and say that this is for trans students when trans students are actively telling you — and as well as our allies left and right, both in the Virginia government and outside of it — these are going to hurt a non-inconsiderable portion of Virginia’s students?” Calabia asked, pointing to the protests.
The new guidelines are subject to a 30-day public comment period, which began Monday. Once the public comment period concludes, schools across the state will be required to adopt policies that are “consistent with” the new rules or “more comprehensive,” the document said.
As of Tuesday morning, more than 17,700 comments had been submitted.
CORRECTION (Sept. 27, 2022, 7:45 p.m. ET): An earlier version of this article misstated Rivka Vizcardo-Lichter’s role in the Pride Liberation Project. She’s the lead organizer, not the co-founder.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has vetoed a bill that would have helped low-income LGBTQ people gain easier access to treatment and prevention services for sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Newsom said he supported the STI Prevention & Treatment Fairness Act, but that there simply wasn’t enough funding to accomplish what it sought to do.
The bill, which was sponsored by Equality California, would have expanded access to STI health services to low-income people with confidentiality concerns (including LGBTQ people) through California’s Family Planning, Access, Care, and Treatment (PACT) program.
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But Newsom explained that the bill would expand the definition of “family planning” beyond the federal definition, “thereby creating a state-only program that creates significant ongoing General Fund cost pressure not accounted for in the budget.”
“With our state facing lower-than-expected revenues over the first few months of this fiscal year, it is important to remain disciplined when it comes to spending, particularly spending that is ongoing,” Newsom also noted in his veto message, adding that “Bills with significant fiscal impact, such as this measure, should be considered and accounted for as part of the annual budget process.”
Craig E. Thompson, CEO of the LGBTQ Health nonprofit APLA Health expressed disappointment in Newsom’s veto.
“As the latest data from the CDC makes clear, the STD epidemic is only growing worse in California and across the U.S. — with syphilis rates up nearly 28% in the last year alone,” Thompson told the Bay Area Reporter. “APLA Health will continue advocating for forward-thinking policy and funding initiatives to address this crisis, including ensuring that all LGBTQ+ Californians have access to convenient, low-cost sexual health services regardless of ability to pay.”
A historic number of LGBTQ candidates will appear on ballots across the country in November. At least 1,095 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people have run or are still running for office at all levels this year, up from 1,006 in 2020, according to data from the LGBTQ Victory Fund.
In New York, two gay candidates — Democrat Robert Zimmerman and Republican George Santos — are running to fill the seat vacated by Democrat Tom Suozzi in New York’s 3rd Congressional District. This will be the first time in U.S. history that two out LGBTQ congressional candidates are going head to head in a general election.
Though this race guaranteed to result in a win for a gay candidate, the outcome of the election will help determine whether Democrats hang on to their slim majority in the House.
‘It was going to happen sooner of later’
The odds of a faceoff between two gay candidates have gone up in recent years, because there’s been an increase in LGBTQ candidates at all levels of government.
“It was going to happen sooner or later,” said Donald Haider-Markel, a political science professor at the University of Kansas and the author of “Out and Running: Gay and Lesbian Candidates, Elections and Policy Representation.” “The question was always finding an LGBTQ Republican who can get support in a primary.”
Historically, there have been relatively few Republican LGBTQ candidates, though he said that Republican organizations like the Log Cabin Republicans have existed for a long time.
There are currently 11 openly LGBTQ people in Congress — two in the Senate and nine in the House — and they are all Democrats.
George Santos.George Santos for New York
Santos, who is hoping to flip the district red for his party, secured his party’s nomination in August for the second time. He ran against Suozzi in 2020 but lost in a general election.
Santos is the only openly LGBTQ Republican running for Congress this fall, according to the LGBTQ Victory Fund. If elected, he would be the first openly LGBTQ nonincumbent Republican elected to Congress. Two former GOP members of the House — Steve Gunderson of Wisconsin and Jim Kolbe of Arizona — won re-election as incumbents after coming out (or, in Gunderson’s case, being outed).
Santos said the historic nature of the race is “pretty incredible.”
“I think it shows that our country continues to be the bastion of progress and building equity for everybody,” he told NBC News.
Zimmerman said it would be “profoundly meaningful” to be the first LGBTQ member of Congress from Long Island and Queens.
“When I was a kid, you’d have never imagined a member of the LGBTQ community as a member of Congress,” he said. “I never dreamed that would be possible.”
‘We are very different’
While Santos and Zimmerman agree that their election is historic, that’s about all the two men agree on.
“Although we might share a sexual orientation … we are very different,” Santos said. “Robert Zimmerman aligns himself with the party that brought about the crisis of inflation.”
Santos emphasized the climbing costs of energy for some of his constituents. He also said he is also running to fight against “one party control in New York” that does not allow for “diverging opinions” on how to address the rising cost of living in his district, though he said he is prepared to work with his Democratic colleagues to find solutions.
“We need to work with the people who disagree with us,” Santos said. “I will represent the people who didn’t vote for me as much as the people who did.”
Robert Zimmerman at The Doubles Club in New York City on Dec. 13, 2018. Patrick McMullan via Getty Images file
Zimmerman slammed Santos for his support of former President Donald Trump, who he said advocated a “homophobic, bigoted,” agenda.
“I’m not running against any Republican. I’m running against a Republican that is part of the radical fringe. He is a MAGA candidate,” Zimmerman said, using the acronym for Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
Zimmerman said Santos’ support for Trump extends to participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, D.C.
“He defended the insurrectionists,” Zimmerman said.
In a February 2021 interview with Lara Trump, Santos said, “I was at the Ellipse on Jan. 6. That was the most amazing crowd, and the president was at his full awesomeness that day. It was a front-row spectacle for me.” The Ellipse, a 52-acre park south of the White House, was the location of the rally that preceded the attack on the Capitol building.
Santos denied participating in any insurrectionist activities.
“I was never on Capitol grounds on Jan 6. That is a lie,” he said. “Icame out very early to say it was a dark, dark day in our country and we needed a lot of healing after that.”
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When asked if he continues to support the former president, Santos said, “Donald Trump is not on the ballot.” He then criticized Zimmerman for focusing on the former president.
“I’m making this race about New York District 3 and the residents of New York, while Zimmerman is making this about Trump,” Santos said.
Bringing up Trump and Jan. 6 may be a good move for Zimmerman, as it may help increase turnout among Democratic voters: According to a recent NBC News poll, “threats to democracy” now beats cost of living as the top issue facing the country among voters.
“I think voters get it. I think people underestimate just how concerned voters are about having a democracy going forward,” Zimmerman said.
He also harshly criticized the Republican-sponsored anti-LGBTQ bills in the statehouses.
“I’ve been approached by so many parents of gay kids,” Zimmerman said. “The ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bills have a chilling effect well beyond the borders of Florida,” he added, referring to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, which limits classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity. That measure is one of more than 340 anti-LGBTQ bills Republican legislators have introduced this year, according to the Human Rights Campaign, the country’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group.
Many of these bills specifically target transgender people, limiting trans people’s ability to play sports, use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity and receive gender-affirming health care.
“The Republican Party has made attacking LGBTQ people, especially trans kids, a part of their platform this year,” said Albert Fujii, press secretary for the LGBTQ Victory Fund. “It is central to their philosophy on governing. That’s too bad.”
The LGBTQ Victory Fund, which is dedicated to supporting and electing LGBTQ people to public office, has endorsed Zimmerman in the race.
Santos said he sees no contradiction between his identity and his party’s politics.
“As a lifelong Republican, I have never experienced discrimination in the Republican Party,” he said. “I am an openly gay candidate. I am not shy.”
Abortion is another issue Zimmerman is pushing ahead of November. Zimmerman, who supports abortion rights, said the Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is a major issue for voters in his district.
“I saw in my primary — and it really was triggered by the reversal of Roe — an energy and activism and engagement that wasn’t there before,” he said. “It was a call to action for Democrats.”
According to last month’s NBC News poll, 58% of voters disapproved of the Supreme Court’s decision, versus 38% who approved.
This week, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., unveiled federal legislation that, if passed, would ban abortion after 15 weeks. It’s unclearwhether Graham will find much party support because the issue is likely to hurt them in competitive districts like New York’s 3rd.
In a September 2020 interview with The Island Now, a New York news website, Santos said, “I will vote to support the ban of abortion in the United States.” However, he told NBC News that he would “never advocate for a full ban.”
“There is not a scenario on earth where I would advocate for a full ban. The women in New York District 3 should not worry,” he said.
The decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, also contained a memo by Justice Clarence Thomas arguing the Supreme Court should reconsider its 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage.
“The Dobbs decision was a direct message to the LGBTQ community that ‘you are next up,’ and they are coming for us,” Zimmerman said.
As a result, House Democrats introduced the Respect for Marriage Act that seeks to codify same-sex marriage in federal legislation. The bill passed the Democrat-controlled House, but it faces an uncertain future in the Senate, where it needs at least 10 Republican votes to pass.
This week, Senate leaders decided to delay a vote on the bill until after the midterm elections.
Santos, who is married, said he supports codifying same-sex marriage in law but would not support a bill that forced religious institutions to contravene their beliefs.
“I am not for the state overstepping the church,” he said.
Forty-seven Republicans voted for the Respect for Marriage Act in the House, and Santos said “that shows that the Republican party is far from homophobic.”
With so many contentious issues at play, neither candidate expects sexual identity to be a deciding factor in November.
“The issue is not that both of us are gay,” Zimmerman said. “It’s what’s at stake nationally.”
