US Vice President Kamala Harris has spoken out in support of LGBTQ+ people in Africa, following the introduction of a devastating new law in Uganda that bans queer identities entirely.
The 49th vice president of the US made her stance clear on Monday (27 March) during a press conference in Ghana.
Standing alongside Ghana’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo, Harris said she felt “very strongly” about supporting the development of LGBTQ+ rights in Africa.
“I will also say that this is an issue that we consider and I consider to be a human rights issue and that will not change,” she continued.
Kamala Harris stands alongside Ghana president Nana Akufo-Addo. (Getty)
On 21 March, the East African nation of Uganda passed a draconian bill criminalising people who publicly identifying as LGBTQ+ after a short-lived debate by lawmakers.
Crowds of homophobic politicians applauded the passing of the law, which could see LGBTQ+ people face up to 20 years in jail. Furthermore, if they are found guilty of “aggravated homosexuality”, the death penalty could be invoked.
“A great deal of work in my career has been to human rights issues and equality issues across the board including, as it relates, to the LGBTQ+ community,” Harris added.
Elsewhere in the press session, President Akufo-Addo mentioned that a proposed anti-LGBTQ+ bill was currently making its way through the Ghanaian parliament, but that it “hasn’t been passed”.
“The attorney general has found it necessary to speak to the committee about it regarding the constitutionality or otherwise several of its provisions,” he said.
“At the end of the process, I will come in, but in the meantime, the parliament is dealing with it.”
Currently, provisions in Ghana’s criminal code consider “unnatural carnal knowledge” to be a misdemeanour, punishable by up to three years in prison.
Vice-President Harris began her seven-day tour in the West African nation, saying that she aims to strengthen partnerships across the continent.
During the conference, she also announced a $100 million fund aiming to tackle extremism in Ghana, Benin, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire and Togo.
A queer Ukrainian solider has called for same-sex marriage to be legalised in the country as LGBTQ+ soldiers “could die tomorrow” and their partners would have no legal rights in an “unfair” system.
Anna “Kajhan” Zyablikova, who is serving in the 47th Brigade of Ukraine’s armed forces, said same-sex marriage should be legalised to allow LGBTQ+ couples the same legal rights heterosexual couples are afforded.
This would include the right to make the decision of whether to keep their partner on life support.
The 30-year-old told the i paper: “We have no legal rights to do that and in the case of war, the inability to do this is a huge psychological issue.”
Following the invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, many Ukrainians married to ensure their partners would be protected in a time of huge uncertainty.
In November last year, Kyiv resident Leda Kosmachevskaya said she planned to marry her gay soldier friend so someone can “claim him if he dies” while fighting in the war.
‘Taking this opportunity from us is unfair’
Zyablikova added: “I feel like something is taken from me every time I see one of our soldiers is getting married, as I think of the fact that I can’t do it if I want to do it with a woman.”
“We can die any day, so everyone is trying to make all the decisions that are about relationships and communication.”
“People want to be able to support one another because we are so vulnerable now and we just want to have this back up plan and we’d be happy to do it for the people we love and care about.”
A petition was launched in 2022 which called for marriage equality to be introduced in Ukraine.
In August, President Volodymyr Zelensky responded to the petition, which was signed by thousands of people, and said he would work with the government to ensure “all people are free and equal in their dignity and rights” – but not until after the war with Russia ends.
Zyablikova, whose ex-girlfriend left her when Russia invaded Ukraine, said marriage is “a way of making your connection stronger”.
“Any person in Ukraine could die any night because those rockets are coming. When you feel like you’re not doing enough for the person you love, it’s suboptimal,” she said.
Joining the armed forces as an LGBTQ+ person has been harrowing for Zyablikova, who said Vladimir Putin had tried to portray queer people as “non-soldiers” fighting against “pure” Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine.
“That’s their main fairy tale, which is unfortunately working, it is really exploiting the homophobic narrative.”
The conflict has increased LGBTQ+ acceptance in Ukraine
Homosexuality has been legal in Ukraine since 1991 – the year the nation declared independence from the Soviet Union – but same-sex marriage and civil partnerships are currently not recognised.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian MP Inna Sovsun put forward a bill calling for same-sex partnerships to be legally recognised in the war-torn country.
Sharing the news that she had submitted the draft bill in a thread of tweets on 7 March, the MP cited the figure that “56 per cent of Ukrainians” support same-sex partnerships.
The proposed legislation was announced just two days after two KyivPride staffers told PA news agency that the conflict had unexpectedly resulted in more acceptance of LGBTQ+ people in Ukraine.
A transgender woman says she was assaulted and humiliated by a TSA agent at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
On Saturday, the woman posted a series of tweets describing the incident as well as a photo of herself crying in an airport bathroom. The alleged victim has since deleted the tweets and has made her Twitter account private.
The Biden administration just made travel a whole lot easier for transgender people with a series of policy changes. Retirement paperwork will get easier too.
“Hi, so a TSA agent at JFK punched me in the genitalia, yelled at me for having a penis (?) and humiliated me in front of everyone after i told her to please stop,” she wrote [LGBTQ Nation is not publishing her name to protect her privacy].
“She followed me into the women’s bathroom and began talking about me to a coworker while I sobbed in a stall,” she continued. “Anyone know what I can do?”
Screenshot A trans woman’s tweet describing an alleged assault by a TSA agent.
She later tweeted that she had been crying for an hour and that she was still experiencing physical pain as a result of the assault.
“I don’t want the tsa agent that hurt me fired,” she wrote. “I want her educated and the entirety of the tsa abolished altogether.”
Screenshot A trans woman’s tweet describing an alleged assault by a TSA agent.Screenshot A trans woman’s tweet describing an alleged assault by a TSA agent.
JFK’s official Twitter account later responded to the woman’s posts, requesting that she specify the terminal in which the incident occurred and asking for “any other details about this TSA agent that you are referring to,” according to Radar Online.
“We apologize again for your experience,” the airport’s account tweeted. “Your comments have been noted and shared.”
This isn’t the first time a trans person has accused the TSA of transphobia. In January, trans photographer Vincent-Natasha Gay reported severe mistreatment at the Orlando International Airport after a TSA agent performed a pat-down and loudly identified them as trans to fellow agents.
“The problem is that the TSA continually does not train their employees on how to respectfully pat down and talk to trans people,” Gay said.
In 2021, an Arizona trans woman posted a series of videos on TikTok detailing the humiliating experience of going through airport security.
“Can we talk about how horrible it is to travel while being transgender sometimes? I always have immense anxiety leading up to going through security,” Rosalynne Montoya said. “I totally recognize the privilege of having all of my documents correct. So, the gender marker on my license, for example, says female. But, going through the scanner, there’s a male scanner and a female scanner in the TSA checkpoint.”
“Going through the scanner, I always have an ‘anomaly’ between my legs that sets off the alarm,” she continued.
She described an incident in which she was forced to identify herself as trans to TSA agents after setting off a scanner’s alarm. An agent then asked her if she wanted to be patted down by a male officer.
“There is transphobia rooted into every system of power in this nation, so the root solution is to simply believe transgender people when they tell you who they are,” Montoya said in a subsequent post. “TSA needs to remove the gender settings from their scanners, and they should also believe me when I tell them that I’m a trans woman and that I don’t want to be pat down by a man or scanned as a man because I’m not one.”
In a statement to LGBTQ Nation following the January incident in Orlando, TSA said that it “recognizes the concerns of transgender/non-binary/gender nonconforming passengers with the security screening process, and the agency continues to implement the new algorithm on the Advanced Imaging Technology units to significantly reduce false alarms and improve efficiency for all passengers.”
The Los Angeles LGBT Center will host Drag March LA on Easter Sunday, April 9, 2023. The event for all ages and aims to mobilize against the oppressive anti-LGBTQ+ tidal wave that is currently sweeping through America.
The march will start at West Hollywood City Hall, located at 8300 Santa Monica Boulevard, at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Sweetzer Avenue and end at the LGBT Rainbow District.
There are already over 400 pieces of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation on the books—unsurprisingly, most of them target transgender people and drag performances too.
“Drag has always been political and gender has always been policed. LGBTQ+ people have always known (and shown) that there are many shades of the rainbow—and once again, it’s time for us to put them all on full display,” Los Angeles LGBT Center said in a statement. “We will not stand by while the far right seeks to roll back our rights.”
The event is in partnership with local LGBTQ+ organizations, faith groups, queer and trans activists, and the finest drag artists in the City of Angels.
10 a.m. Doors Open
11-11:40 a.m. Rally & Kickoff Performance
11:45 a.m. Demonstrators Get in Formation
12 p.m. March Begins
1 p.m. March Ends
Participants are encouraged to wear their best drag.
Guest speakers will include the activists and families from impacted states who are fighting anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. See below for a full list of supporters.
+1,000 guests expected to attend. Stay tuned for more on speakers + performers!
Want to get your organization involved? Sign up here
Supporters of Drag March LA include the following:
Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California
Bienestar Human Services
CA LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network
Equality California
LGBTQ Center Orange County
LGBTQ+ Community Center of the Desert
ProjectQ
Racial & Ethnic Mental Health Disparities Coalition (REMHDCO)
Radiant Health Centers
Rainbow Services, Ltd.
Somos Familia Valle
The National LGBTQ Institute on Intimate Partner Violence
A top White House ally plans to paint Republicans’ focus on issues around race, gender and sexual identity as part of a GOP strategy to undermine public education as White House officials debate how forcefully to engage in the so-called culture wars dominating the right.
In remarks prepared for the National Press Club on Tuesday, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten is expected to say state and local laws that ban certain types of books or restrict what can be taught in the classroom are “fueling hostility and fear” and aren’t serving students, parents or teachers, according to an advance copy of her speech provided to NBC News.
“What started as fights over pandemic-era safety measures has morphed into fear mongering — false claims that elementary and secondary schools are teaching critical race theory; disgusting, unfounded claims that teachers are grooming and indoctrinating students; and pronouncements that public schools push a ‘woke’ agenda,” Weingarten will say. “This is an organized and dangerous effort to undermine public schools.”
Weingarten will lay out steps that would address issues like mental health, school safety and learning loss from the coronavirus pandemic but also call for others to more forcefully push back against culture wars.
Legislation passed or pending in states across the country is designed to “create a climate of fear and intimidation” to allow conservative activists to advance an agenda that includes shifting funds for education away from public schools, Weingarten will say.
“Our public schools shouldn’t be pawns for politicians’ ambitions, or defunded and destroyed by ideologues,” she will say.
A senior White House official who spoke with Weingarten said her remarks focus primarily on education policy.
So far, the Biden administration has launched something of a scattershot response to the GOP’s culture war campaign, largely calling out specific bills as they move forward or addressing them in passing at events with relevant communities.
“Black history is American history,” Harris said. “And let us all be clear: We will not, as a nation, build a better future for America by trying to erase America’s past.”
Biden said at the event: “History matters. And Black history matters. I can’t just choose to learn what we want to know. We learn what we should know. We have to learn everything: the good, the bad, the truth and who we are as a nation. That’s what great nations do.”
The administration also hit back at DeSantis with an op-ed in the Tampa Bay Times this month by Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, who argued that classroom discussions about America are hampered “when politicians try to hijack them to promote their own partisan agendas.”
“Ironically, some of the very politicians who claim to promote freedom are banning books and censoring what students can learn,” Cardona wrote. “Parents don’t want politicians dictating what their children can learn, think and believe. That’s not how public education is supposed to work in a free country.”
A White House official pointed to the op-ed as an example of how the White House plans to engage on the issue — however intermittently — until Biden fully leans into the debate.
At some point, Biden will weigh in more fully, but as of now the White House sees it as a 2024 conversation and doesn’t believe he should be focused on it, the official said. “We don’t think this is the time,” the official said.
Biden’s wading into the debate could be seen as his going toe to toe with DeSantis, and the White House’s goal is for the president to appear above that. The official also said polling doesn’t suggest it is an issue Biden should give much attention, given it shows Americans’ top concerns are inflation, health care and their personal economic circumstances.
“I’m not naive and underestimate the potential of wedge issues in certain races. But the average voter is just so much more wary of bulls— issues,” a Biden adviser said.
Officials say to expect Biden for now to continue to focus on topics like manufacturing and supply chains. On Tuesday, he is launching an administration-wide “Investing in America” tour at a stop in North Carolina.
A Nebraska state senator is causing waves in the state legislature after a scathing speech where she told her Republican colleagues that she is done being polite with them since they’re attacking her family. Namely, her 12-year-old son, who is transgender.
“My son is trans,” said state Sen. Megan Hunt (D), vowing to filibuster every bill the legislature takes up until a trans medical ban proposed by a Republican is withdrawn. “And this bill, colleagues, is such an affront to me personally and would violate my rights to parent my child in Nebraska.”
Despite Democrats’ filibuster that has shut down the legislature, the GOP won’t give in and move on.
She was referring to L.B. 574, which would ban doctors from providing gender-affirming care to transgender people under the age of 19. The measure includes puberty blockers, meaning that trans youth would have to go through puberty associated with the wrong gender and live with its permanent effects if this bill passes.
The bill is called the “Let Them Grow Act,” a reference to how Republicans believe that gender-affirming care is dangerous – but only when transgender youth accesses it. The bill bans certain procedures for transgender youth but explicitly allows them if they’re performed on intersex youth in order to appear more like the sex a doctor assigns to them at birth.
The American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics have all rejected claims that gender-affirming care harms transgender children or adults.
“If this bill passes, all your bills are on the chopping block, and the bridge is burned,” Hunt said in her speech.
“People have said, ‘What if we go after your bills? What if we put a bunch of bills introduced by progressives up on the agenda? Are you going to filibuster those, too?’ Yes, because we’re not like you,” she said. “We have a principle and a value that actually matters that much to us that we’re willing to stand up for.”
“You really don’t get it. You’ve crossed a line and you’ve gone too far.”
Then she said she was done even pretending to be polite with people who want to take health care away from her son.
“Don’t say hi to me in the hall, don’t ask me how my weekend was, don’t walk by my desk and ask me anything. Don’t send me Christmas cards ― take me off the list,” Hunt said. “No one in the world holds a grudge like me, and no one in the world cares less about being petty than me. I don’t care. I don’t like you.”
“This hateful bill is not about policy,” she added on Twitter. “It is a basic human rights issue. The vote today will show us exactly which senators value the dignity, autonomy, and personhood of Nebraskans. Do not cross this line. Do not violate our rights.”
Legislation signed into law Friday will expand protections under the New Mexico Human Rights Act and remove the requirement that name changes be published in a newspaper.
Supporters of the two bills say they will strengthen LGBTQ rights by updating requirements that prohibit discrimination against protected classes and allowing people to more easily change their name to match their gender identity.
Marshall Martinez, executive director of Equality New Mexico, an advocacy group, said the legislation comes as the transgender community is targeted by hundreds of bills in other states. Just this week, Arkansas approved a bill restricting bathroom access at public schools.
“I am proud of our legislative champions, our fierce community activists and advocates, other organizations in New Mexico, and Governor Lujan Grisham who have said ‘this will not be that kind of state,’” Martinez said in a written statement.
House Bill 207 — jointly sponsored by five Democratic legislators — adds gender to the list of protected classes in the Human Rights Act and revises some definitions. It prohibits school districts, government agencies and public contractors from discriminating on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity, among other categories, when providing services.
“No one should be denied public services simply for being who they are,” state Rep. Kristina Ortez, D-Taos, said in a statement.
House Bill 31 eliminates a newspaper publication requirement for people petitioning the court to change their name.
Rep. Christine Chandler, a Los Alamos Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill, said it would protect people’s privacy.
“People seeking name changes are often doing so for reasons of personal safety or so they can live authentically as themselves,” she said.
For many years, we’ve relied on daily oral medications to treat HIV and to prevent HIV. But long-acting injectable options for both PrEP and treatment are an exciting new strategy that may increase acceptability, accessibility, and effectiveness. An injectable option is now available for both HIV treatmentand PrEP, and new research is showing how PrEP and treatment injections may transform our response to the epidemic.
Long-acting injections for prevention
Late in 2021, the FDA approved the first long-acting injectable option for PrEP. Named Apretude®, the medication is a long-acting version of the integrase inhibitor cabotegravir, and is delivered as an injection once every two months. Long-acting injectable cabotegravir has no limitations on which groups can use this method of HIV prevention, which is notable given some early PrEP studies which failed to show efficacy with cisgender women.
“Those of you who followed the PrEP literature know that there’s been a lot of controversy about how well oral PrEP works for vaginal exposures in cisgender women,” said Raphael Landovitz, MD, MSc, professor of medicine at UCLA Center for Clinical AIDS Research & Education, during “State of the Science” presentation on injectable PrEP. “A lot of people at the beginning said, ‘It doesn’t work for women, it can’t work for women,’ And it turns out that’s not true.”
The problem, Landovitz explained, is that the medicine that’s used for oral PrEP (TDF/FTC, brand name Truvada), “doesn’t get into the tissues of the genital tract [for cisgender women] as well as it gets into rectal tissue. So you have to have much better adherence to daily oral products to get protection for vaginal exposures… You need to be pretty well perfect in your daily adherence to the oral PrEP to get the vaginal protection.”
Injectable options may be a game-changer–particularly for cisgender women and with other folks who may struggle with adherence. In the HPTN 084 study, researchers found an 89% reduction in HIV infections among cisgender women provided with injectable cabotegravir PrEP compared to those offered oral TDF/FTC.
“In my mind, this is stunning. It’s mind blowing,” said Landovitz.
Photo: Prepared syringe of cabotegravir, courtesy of ViiV Healthcare
A recent PrEP study, presented at the 2023 CROI by Sybil Hosek, PhD, showed that injectable long-acting cabotegravir for PrEP could be a feasible option for younger sexually active adolescent cisgender women (12 – 17 years old). The young women in the study had “exceptional” adherence to injection visits, were very interested in long-acting HIV prevention medication, and most (92%) chose to continue taking injectable cabotegravir for PrEP over PrEP oral medication when given a choice.
During a report-back on the study presentation for Getting To Zero San Francisco, Hyman Scott, MD, MPH, said that although injection site reactions (pain, swelling) were common in the study, no participants discontinued the study early because of these reactions and the frequency of reactions decreased over time.
In terms of acceptability, “a lot of the young women talked about receiving injections to protect against HIV being easier than other methods,” said Scott.
It is of note that researchers do not yet have much data on injectable PrEP with people who inject drugs, and transmasculine and non-binary people. “Those are huge gaps in our understanding of how to use this product,” said Landovitz.
With Black men who have sex with men and Black trans women disproportionately affected by HIV in the U.S., a recent study by Hyman Scott, MD, MPH, and colleagues looked at the efficacy of injectable cabotegravir for PrEP among U.S.-based Black and African American participants enrolled in the HPTN 083 study.
Cabotegravir PrEP worked even better to prevent HIV infections than oral PrEP. Over the course of the study, there were 15 infections among those taking oral PrEP, and only 4 infections among those receiving injectable PrEP.
“This showed that this [injectable cabotegravir PrEP] is a highly effective intervention in that we see a really decreased incidence among those who are taking CAB-LA [long-acting cabotegravir PrEP],” said Scott.
Unfortunately, cost and affordability may be one thing that prevents widespread uptake of long-acting cabotegravir PrEP.
“All the insurance companies are playing hot potato by making people go through all sorts of hoops and bells and whistles to use it [long-acting injectable PrEP]. And I’m really concerned, particularly outside of the US as well, that it’s not going to be implementable,” said Landovitz.
Long-acting injections for treatment
For HIV treatment, Cabenuva (cabotegravir/rilpivirine) has been available as a once-monthly injection since early 2021, and new studies are evaluating the benefits that long-acting injectable treatments offer.
“The individuals who were taking the oral medications talked about some psychological social cycle issues, challenges with daily oral therapy,” said Dr. Scott. At the end of the study, 90% of participants preferred the injectable treatment option over daily oral medication, and reported benefits including “I don’t have to worry as much about remembering to take HIV medication every day,” and “I do not have to think about my HIV status every day.”
Another study presented at CROI by Monica Gandhi, MD, MPH, shared results from a real-world roll-out of injectable HIV treatment at the Ward 86 HIV Clinic in San Francisco. The clinic serves publicly insured people with high rates of mental illness (38%), substance use (39%), and unstable housing (34%), which may contribute to more difficulty in taking daily oral HIV medications.
Although more than 40% of people beginning injectable HIV treatment had detectable viral loads at the start of the study, nearly all (98%) achieved viral suppression. The vast majority of participants (74%) received on-time HIV treatment injections, and 100% of those who started the study virally suppressed remained virally suppressed during the study.
“This worked well within a patient population that included individuals who had not been virally suppressed,” said Scott. “I think this is going to be important as we move forward with the rollout of injectable treatment, as it shows that in a population that is more of a ‘safety net population,’ that you can have high success with this regimen.”
A final study that Dr. Scott highlighted during the Getting To Zero report-back addressed the question of whether injectable cabotegravir/rilpivirine could be administered in the thigh versus the gluteal (butt) muscle.
“If someone has gluteal implants, or gluteal injections in the gluteal region, then that’s a contraindication to administering medication in those sites,” he explained. Franco Felizarta and colleagues presented data from the ATLAS-2M study, which compared medication levels and patient preferences of thigh versus gluteal injections at CROI.
Levels of medication in the body were similar after thigh and gluteal injections, and about 30% of people preferred thigh injections over gluteal injections. Participants who preferred thigh injections said that the convenience and easy access to this site on the body was preferred. Thigh injection pain was frequently reported, however, after about 40% of all injections administered.
“Injection site reactions are variable. I think that the location in the thigh would make sense anatomically, but it might give you more symptoms,” said Scott.
Kentucky’s Democratic governor issued an election-year veto Friday of a sweeping Republican bill aimed at regulating the lives of transgender youths that includes banning access to gender-affirming health care and restricting the bathrooms they can use.
The bill also bans discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools and allows teachers to refuse to refer to transgender students by the pronouns they use. It easily passed the GOP-dominated legislature with veto-proof margins, and lawmakers will reconvene next week for the final two days of this year’s session, when they could vote to override the veto.
Gov. Andy Beshear said in a written veto message that the bill allows “too much government interference in personal healthcare issues and rips away the freedom of parents to make medical decisions for their children.”
In his one-page message, he warned that the bill’s repercussions would include an increase in youth suicides. The governor said, “My faith teaches me that all children are children of God and Senate Bill 150 will endanger the children of Kentucky.”
Beshear told reporters later Friday that transgender children and their parents were among the Kentuckians who contacted his office as he reviewed the legislation.
“I heard from children that believe this bill is picking on them, and asking — in many ways — why?” the governor said. “I told them that I was going to show them that there is at least one person in Frankfort that cares for all of our children in the commonwealth, no matter what.”
Beshear’s veto comes as he seeks re-election to a second term this year in Republican-trending Kentucky, and his veto could reverberate through the November election.
Republicans quickly pounced on the governor’s veto to try to portray him as out of touch with most Kentuckians on the culture wars issue.
“Andy Beshear thinks it’s okay for children to have access to life-altering sex change surgery and drugs before they turn 18,” state Republican Party spokesperson Sean Southard said in a statement. “Today, he revealed how radical he truly is.”
The legislation in Kentucky is part of a national movement, with state lawmakers approving extensive measures that restrict the rights of LGBTQ+ people this year, from bills targeting trans athletes and drag performers to measures limiting gender-affirming care.
In Kentucky, the expanded version that reached Beshear’s desk was rushed through both legislative chambers in a matter of hours on March 16 before lawmakers began an extended break. The fast-track work enabled lawmakers to retain their ability to override the governor’s veto. The action triggered outrage and tears among opponents unable to stop the legislation.
The bill’s supporters say they are trying to protect children from undertaking gender-affirming treatments that they might regret as adults. Research shows such regret is rare.
The repackaged measure would ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors. It would outlaw gender reassignment surgery for anyone under 18, as well as the use of puberty blockers and hormones, and inpatient and outpatient gender-affirming hospital services.
Doctors would have to set a timeline to “detransition” children already taking puberty blockers or undergoing hormone therapy. They could continue offering care as they taper a minor’s treatments, if removing them from the treatment immediately could harm the child.
“The American Medical Association reports that receipt of care dramatically reduces the rates of suicide attempts, decreases feelings of depression and anxiety and reduces substance abuse,” Beshear said in his veto message.
The bill would not allow schools to discuss sexual orientation or gender identity with students of any age.
Another key provision would require school districts to devise bathroom policies that, “at a minimum,” would not allow transgender children to use the bathroom aligned with their gender identities.
It also would allow teachers to refuse to refer to transgender students by the pronouns they use and would require schools to notify parents when lessons related to human sexuality are going to be taught.
Beshear said in his veto message that the bill would turn educators and administrators into “investigators that must listen in on student conversations and then knock on doors to confront and question parents and families about how students behave and/or refer to themselves or others.”
David Walls, executive director of The Family Foundation, condemned the veto, saying the bill seeks to protect children and their parents from “radical, politicized ideologies.” He said the bill would result in “setting policy in alignment with the truth that every child is created as a biological male or female and deserves to be loved, treated with dignity, and accepted for who they really are.”
After the bill passed the legislature, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky warned that it “stands ready” to challenge the measure in court if it becomes law.
When out NASCAR driver Zach Herrin recently returned to the track after a 10-year absence, corporations weren’t exactly knocking down his door to slap their logos on his racing suit. Even though his team has conversations “all day, all week, every month, all throughout the year” with various brands, they were constantly told Herrin doesn’t “fit” within the multimillion dollar marketing budgets of the companies.
This challenge wasn’t new for Herrin — auto racing isn’t known as the most inclusive of sports. Still, Herrin loves racing after being “practically raised on the track” and managed to turn a weekend hobby with his father into a career. Herrin also wanted to emulate his big brother, Josh, who became one of the few Americans to have competed in MotoGP’s Moto2 World Championships at a professional level.
“I was able to follow in [Josh’s] footsteps to determine what it would take to get to these levels,” Herrin says. “And my parents knew what it would take, as well, which ultimately led me to achieve that goal to start racing professionally at 16.”
Not long after taking the leap into the professional world, however, Herrin couldn’t deny there was “something different” about him, and something he’d never allowed himself to focus on while he’d kept his sights on his racing goals.
“I had this part of my identity that I was just kind of pushing to the side,” he said. “The motorsports industry can be pretty one sided at times, not very welcoming to all topics of gender, religion, sexuality, whatever it may be. It’s pretty much, ‘This is it, this is what motorsports is and what it’s supposed to be. If you don’t fit in, get out.’”
Although he’s long known NASCAR and its fans skew very conservative, Herrin slowly realized he wasn’t compatible with the closet.
“[Coming out] ultimately led me to walk away from everything we had worked toward,” he said. “I had felt happier making that decision. I was able to come out to my family and friends. And through this period, I’ve been able to grow this part of my identity, trying to express myself and how I want to be perceived in today’s world as a gay man.”
After nearly a decade away from the track, Herrin made his professional NASCAR debut in November. At the time, what was meant to be a multi-season partnership with a big brand fell through, taking him from multiple races to almost none in a blink, which left him feeling more than a little discouraged.
For the new season, Herrin teamed up with Lambda Legal, the oldest and largest national LGBTQ+ legal organization. Herrin initially reached out to the CEO, Kevin Jennings, who was reluctant at first about sponsoring him. Herrin stayed in contact, particularly tracking the work Lambda was doing to fight against Florida’s “don’t say gay” bill, which severely limits the discussion of LGBTQ+ issues in the state’s public schools. When Jennings discovered the first race of the season was in Florida — at the legendary Daytona International Speedway — he agreed to team up with Herrin and make a bold statement — showcasing one of NACAR’s only out drivers at one of the biggest races of the year in a state fighting against LGBTQ+ rights. On his uniform and car, Herrin proudly wore the Lambda Legal logo and spoke to media about Lambda’s mission and the dangers of “don’t say gay.”
“Zach represents such a positive role model for the full participation of LGBTQ+ people in sports on the national stage, while our community is facing more than 300 unconstitutional legislative proposals across the country. While we aren’t disclosing the financial details of our partnership, we can say that even high-profile LGBTQ+ athletes unfortunately do need financial support to run their race…Partnering with Zach represents a priceless opportunity to reach the general public and help them understand the cost of these attacks from state legislators across the country. And we hope that LGBTQ+ Floridians — especially young people, who have been targeted by Florida’s notorious ‘don’t say gay or trans’ law and efforts to ban all gender-affirming care — will be proud to find themselves represented on the track at Daytona.”
Herrin is leaning into his role as a role model for young LGBTQ+ people, especially those trying to break through in industries historically hostile to the community.
“I’m learning the struggles of LGBTQ+ people within the motorsports industry in NASCAR that have always been here, but I’ve never been able to connect with them,” he says. “Hearing the challenges that they’ve faced when they’ve gone to a race in the past, and it was a terrible experience for them, and they haven’t gone back since.”
Herrin commends NASCAR as a brand and corporation for “doing the right things” as of late — last year the organization released Pride merch (“Yascar,” NASCAR’s account tweeted) — but he says it still has room to learn.
“I hope that with time, and maybe with me helping bridge this massive community now, that this [outreach] is going to continue,” he says.
