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(D), vowing to filibuster every bill the legislature takes up until a trans medical ban proposed by a Republican is withdrawn.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.
“There has been an onslaught of attacks against our innocent children,” Kentucky state representative Lindsey Tichenor said as she put forth a bill banning drag performances to her state assembly.
She’s right about one thing. Our children are under attack, not from drag queens, though, but from hate and intolerance.
Another bill in Idaho would allow parents to be sued up to $10,000 for watching certain shows featuring “sexual content,” and many argue that the language wields a strategic undertone targeting drag shows. Both the Kentucky and Idaho bills have advanced out of committee, and momentum will likely carry them to their respective governor’s desks. In fact, a wave of Republican lawmakers introduced at least 26 bills to restrict drag events in 14 US states early in the 2023 legislative session.
Tennessee’s state legislature, however, moved the fastest.
On Thursday, March, Tennessee became the first state among the pack to sharply restrict drag performances. The state’s governor, Bill Lee, signed a bill banning the shows on public property and in places where minors could watch them. The bill, reading almost like a zoning law, prohibits drag performances within 1,000 feet of schools, public parks, or places of worship. Violators face misdemeanor charges in the first instance, punishable by a fine up to $2,500 and/or up to a year in jail, with more severe consequences for repeat offenders.
Some suggest that maybe the law won’t be as far-reaching as the authors of these bills would hope, according to the A.C.L.U. of Tennessee. “The law bans obscene performances, and drag performances are not inherently obscene,” Stella Yarbrough, the legal director of the A.C.L.U. of Tennessee, said in a statement.
The Tennessee bill defines drag performers as “male or female impersonators.” It’s this imprecise language that has civil rights leaders also concerned. It’s part of a subtle and sinister way to criminalize further just being trans, some suggest. What defines drag? Who will define a male or female impersonator? Will people be arrested for just walking down the street for being trans next? These are important questions that the Tennessee bill leaves open for contemplation, leaving the safety of our LGBTQ+ community up for debate.
“Perhaps it’s easier to make drag the bogeyman, because it’s seen as a profession,” San Francisco cabaret artist and performer Ryan Patrick Welsh (he/she/they) said. “It’s easier to attack a profession than it is to attack people, but actually nevermind we’re actually seeing both happen,” Ryan Patrick continued.
Making the anti-drag and anti-trans linkage even more apparent, Tennessee governor Bill Lee also recently signed separate legislation that bans transgender minors in Tennessee from receiving gender-affirming care like puberty blockers, hormones, and surgery. As Tennessee demonstrates the possible, there’s a dam of other restrictions to our civil rights ready to be unleashed, many fear.
“Also, it has nothing to do with kids,” Ryan Patrick continued. As a key member of the Baloney crew, known for powerful vocal performances and gender-bending dance moves, Ryan Patrick says, “My shows aren’t for kids,” Ryan Patrick says. “But these parents who argue they’re protecting their kids are using their kids as a shield for their transphobic ideas. It’s they themselves that don’t want to see drag. That’s what’s really going on.”
One hundred fifty years ago in San Francisco, Ryan Patrick’s performance would have been illegal. In 1863, as part of a broad anti-indecency campaign, San Francisco adopted a law that criminalized any person appearing in “dress not belonging to his or her sex.” In other words, anti-drag legislation isn’t new. The good news is that we’ve seen these sorts of attacks on our community before. These laws historically haven’t stood the test of time. We know how to mobilize and fight back just like the times before.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed two bills into law Wednesday that affect transgender minors in the state.
One bill, Senate File 538, prevents doctors from administering gender-affirming care to those under 18. The other, Senate File 482, prevents trans students from entering school bathrooms or changing rooms that correspond with their gender identities.
The new laws are part of a broader effort among conservative lawmakers throughout the country to restrict the rights of LGBTQ Americans, especially transgender people. So far this year, more than 400 such proposals have been filed in state legislatures, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
Supporters of the new Iowa laws say they are necessary to protect children’s safety while using school restrooms and to prevent minors from making medical decisions they may later regret. Critics and LGBTQ advocates argue that the bills will have “devastating consequences” for trans youths and their families.
“This is not the first time that a government has abused its power at the expense of a small group of people,” Mark Stringer, executive director of the ACLU of Iowa, said in a statement. “But in this case the target is children. That is shameful and cruel.”
Reynolds, a Republican who notably gave this year’s GOP response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment. But speaking at a press conference Tuesday, she voiced her support for the bill limiting gender-affirming care, arguing that more long-term research on the treatments is needed.
“We need to just pause; we need to understand what these emerging therapies actually may potentially do to our kids,” Reynolds said. “My heart goes out to them. I’m a parent, I’m a grandmother, I know how difficult this is. This is an extremely uncomfortable position for me to be in. I don’t like it. But I have to do what I believe right now is in the best interest of the kids.”
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. Charlie Neibergall / AP file
Care that is prohibited for minors under the new Iowa law includes puberty blockers, hormone therapy and transition-related surgeries.
Iowa’s transition-related health care law took effect immediately following the governor’s signature, making it the ninth state — joining Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Mississippi and Florida — to enact such restrictions.
Health care providers in the state who are already administering gender-affirming care to patients will have a 180-day grace period before they have to cease treatment.
The new law restricting transgender people’s bathroom use, which also took effect immediately, applies to multiperson restrooms and locker rooms at public and private elementary and secondary schools. Trans students who want to use single-person restrooms must obtain written consent from their legal guardians before receiving permission to do so.
The restroom law comes nearly seven years after the national controversy surrounding a similar bill in North Carolina. The North Carolina law, House Bill 2, was repealed in 2017 after sparking a massive political and financial fallout and prompting an NCAA boycott of the state.
So-called bathroom bills have seen a resurgence in recent months, according to a group of researchers who are tracking the flow of legislation targeting LGBTQ people. The group found that at least 14 states, including Iowa, weighed the measures so far this year. On Tuesday, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a similar bill into law.
Mike Beranek, president of the Iowa State Education Association, Iowa’s largest union association, denounced the new restroom measure.
“The Iowa Legislature has repeatedly targeted the most vulnerable students with rhetoric and legislation designed to suppress, out, target, ban, and censor Iowa’s LGBTQ+ student communities,” Beranek said in a statement Monday. “Despite these shameful attacks, the ISEA continues to stand with and fight for all our students.”
Iowa’s Senate also passed a bill Wednesday that mirrors Florida’s so-called Don’t Say Gay law and was introduced by Reynolds earlier this year.
Maryland’s newly-elected governor Wes Moore (D) ran on a promise to support legislation that would require state Medicaid plans to cover gender-affirming care. Now it looks like he’ll soon get a chance to make good on that promise.
On Monday, the state’s senate approved the Trans Health Equity Act in a 32–14 vote after the bill passed in the Maryland House of Delegates on Saturday. S.B. 460 now goes to Moore’s desk for a signature.
An anti-trans tweet about gender-affirming surgery led trans men to proudly share their scars.
The new law, introduced by Maryland Del. Anne Kaiser (D) last year, requires the Maryland Medical Assistance Program to “provide medically necessary gender-affirming treatment in a nondiscriminatory manner.” It also requires that “gender-affirming treatment be assessed according to nondiscriminatory criteria that are consistent with current clinical standards.” Among the treatments covered are hormone therapies, puberty blockers, and surgeries, as well as voice training, fertility preservation, and permanent hair removal.
“What is being said nationally about trans people are the same lies that were said about gays and lesbians 20 years ago,” said Kaiser, who became one of Maryland’s first openly gay legislators in 2002. “And that’s part of the reason I feel the passion and the connection to our trans brothers and sisters.”
Del. Kris Fair (D), a co-sponsor of the bill and chair of the Maryland Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, pointed to a 2018 Human Rights Campaign study that found that 60 percent of transgender and non-binary youth will attempt suicide by the age of 18 as a reason to make gender-affirming care more accessible.
“Individuals who are trans and nonbinary are struggling because society continues to put unnecessary layers of adversity in their place,” Fair told Baltimore public radio station WYPR. “Eventually, that adversity can become overwhelming for people. And these are simple solutions that we can take out of the way of trans and non-binary people to allow them to live a more authentic life, and to provide them with a sense of hope and optimism for their experience.”
Transgender advocacy organization Trans Maryland cheered the news in an Instagram post.
“This bill came about after we talked to thousands of trans Marylanders about what we need,” the post read. “And then our community and our allies kept pushing until we WON!”
Following in the footsteps of Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, more states in the US are seeking to restrict LGBTQ+ discussions in schools.
In at least 15 states, new laws aiming to stifle LGBTQ+ discussions in school are being considered. Data compiled by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) also found that some places are set to go even further than Florida with restrictions.
A new bill in Oregon would stop any sort of discussion on sexual identity in schools from kindergarten to the third grade without parental consent.
An Iowa bill that recently passed through the state House would stop discussions about gender identity and sexual orientation from kindergarten to sixth grade without parents being notified.
Legislation is also being considered in Alaska that would require parents to be notified two weeks in advance about lessons that would involve “gender identity, human reproduction or sexual matters”.
Multiple bills have been introduced in Florida; one of which would require teaching students that “sex is determined by biology and reproductive function at birth”.
The original ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill in Florida was signed into law in 2022. Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, accused anyone opposing it of “sloganeering”, and said they “support sexualising kids in kindergarten”, “support injecting woke gender ideology into second grade classrooms” and “support enabling schools to transition students to a different gender without the knowledge of the parent, much less without the parent’s consent”.
The bill bans LGBTQ+ topics from being discussed in classrooms, either by school staff or third parties between kindergarten and third grade. After third grade, these topics must be “age appropriate”, although the bill does not define this term.
Belief that ‘queer identities are a contagion’
According to non-profit think tank Movement Advancement Project, the Florida law has acted as a catalyst for bills across other states in the US which are currently being considered.
Gillian Branstetter, a communications strategist for the ACLU, said the new wave of anti-LGBTQ+ bills in schools would deny children equal chances to learn.
“These bills are predicated on the belief that queer identities are a contagion while straight, cisgender identities are somehow more pure or correct,” she said.
“In truth, every student has a right to have their own life stories reflected back at them and every student benefits from stories that serve as a window into the lives of people different from them.
“Censorship and homogeneity benefit no one while denying all students an equal chance to learn, grow and thrive.”
‘LGBTQ+ youth deserve better’
Following the signing of the original bill in Florida, Amit Paley, CEO of mental health and suicide prevention charity The Trevor Project, said in a statement at the time: “LGBTQ youth in Florida deserve better. They deserve to see their history, their families, and themselves reflected in the classroom.
“While I am saddened to see this harmful bill signed into law, I am inspired by the outpouring of support for LGBTQ students we have seen from parents, teachers, celebrities, and their peers.
“Social support is vital for suicide prevention, and I want to remind LGBTQ+ youth in Florida and across the country that you are not alone.”
The bill has seen fierce criticism not only from LGBTQ+ activists and the queer community, but from Joe Biden and his administration.
In a statement released in February 2022, Biden said: “I want every member of the LGBTQI+ community – especially the kids who will be impacted by this hateful bill – to know that you are loved and accepted just as you are.
Almost 23% of trans youth in the United States have lost access to gender-affirming care.
A new report from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) found that of the 300,000 trans youth ages 13 through 17, there are 66,600 living in states that have passed bans on this lifesaving care. And 84,700 more trans youth (28.2%) live in states that are currently considering bans.
The state is the fourth to pass a law prohibiting trans students from using bathrooms that match their gender identity.
According to the Movement Advancement Project, there are currently eight states that fully ban gender-affirming care for minors, along with one state (Arizona) that bans “best practice surgical care” for trans youth.
In the first few months of 2023, alone, gender-affirming care bans have become law in Mississippi, South Dakota, Tennessee, Arkansas, Iowa, and Utah, in addition to five other anti-trans bills.
Over the past few years, Republicans have focused their agenda on attacking equality for transgender youth, with a particularly chilling new Tennessee law requiring youth who have already started gender-affirming care to de-transition. Other states, like Oklahomaand Florida, are considering similar legislation.
These laws go against the best practices of trans-related pediatrics outlined by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the American Psychological Association. Numerous studies have shown that a lack of societal acceptance and access to gender-affirming care contribute to high rates of suicide among trans youth. And other studies have found that gender-affirming care actively lowers the risk of depression and suicide in trans youth.
And it’s more than just trans youth being targeted.
Over 400 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have already been filed this year – more than the total number filed in 2022. The American Civil Liberties Union tracks these hateful bills with a map that allows viewers to search by state, issue, or status. It says 14 have become law, 332 have advanced, 64 have been defeated, and 19 have been introduced.
