As Republican attacks on transgender people continue nationwide, five Democratic House representatives have introduced a Transgender Bill of Rights that would protect trans and non-binary people.
The bill would ban discrimination against gender identity and expression in public accommodations, employment, housing, and credit. The bill would also ensure access to gender-affirming medical care — including abortion and contraception — and would ban forced surgery on intersex children and infants. Intersex individuals are often subject to unnecessary genital surgeries before they can provide informed consent.
The bill would ban so-called “conversion therapy,” the pseudoscientific form of mental torture that purports to turn trans and non-binary people cisgender. The bill would also invest in community services to prevent anti-trans and anti-nonbinary violence as well as mental health services to assist survivors of violence and other community members.
Last, the bill would require the U.S. attorney general to designate a liaison within the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to enforce the civil rights of transgender people.
The bill was introduced by Democratic Representatives Pramila Jayapal (WA), David Cicilline (RI), Marie Newman (IL), Mark Takano (CA), and Ritchie Torres (NY). Cicilline, Takano, and Torres are out as gay. Newman, who just lost her primary election to a moderate, has a transgender daughter, and Jayapal has a non-binary child. The bill has 83 co-sponsors.
Between January and May of 2022, Republicans in state legislatures across the country introduced more than 300 anti-LGBTQ bills, most of them targeting transgender youth, Takano said. Many of the anti-trans bills try to block youth access to sports, school sports and gender-affirming care — all of which can increase mental distress and suicidal ideation among trans people.
“Our transgender and non-binary siblings are hurting,” said Cicilline, Chair of the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus. “Across the country, radical right-wing Republicans have introduced hundreds of bills attacking the LGBTQ+ community — particularly transgender and nonbinary youth — to score political points…. As Members of Congress we need to not just condemn these efforts but also put forward a vision of what equality truly looks like.”
Newman said, “The ability for trans folks to live free from discrimination is quite literally a life-and-death issue. This legislation is especially crucial right now, as right-wing extremists have grown increasingly vicious and targeted in their harassment of transgender Americans, both through the legislative process and outside of it.”
The bill also has the support of 26 LGBTQ and allied organizations including the Human Rights Campaign, the Movement Advancement Project, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the National Center for Transgender Equality, the National Immigrant Justice Center, and PFLAG National.
While the bill is unlikely to find the 10 Republican senators necessary to bypass the chamber’s filibuster, it still provides a roadmap for other states, cities, and organizations looking to protect trans and non-binary people’s civil rights.
As Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law — or what critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law — comes into effect Friday, some of the state’s public school districts have begun rolling out new policies to limit LGBTQ issues and identities from being discussed in the classroom.
On Tuesday night, the Leon County School Board unanimously approved its “LGBTQ Inclusive School Guide,” which includes a provision to alert parents if a student who is “open about their gender identity” is in their child’s physical education class or with them on an overnight school trip.
“Upon notification or determination of a student who is open about their gender identity, parents of the affected students will be notified of reasonable accommodation options available,” the guidelines read. “Parents or students who have concerns about rooming assignments for their student’s upcoming overnight event based on religious or privacy concerns may request an accommodation.”
Representatives of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association accused school officials Monday of verbally warning educators not to wear rainbow articles of clothing, to remove pictures of their same-sex spouses from their desks andto remove LGBTQ safe space stickers from classroom doors. The district’s legal department confirmed in a statement provided to the teachers’ association that covers the Orlando area that staff who come into contact with students in kindergarten through third grade were cautioned concerning LGBTQ issues.
And late last month, the School District of Palm Beach County sent out a questionnaire to its teachers, asking them to review all course material and flag any books with references to sexual orientation, gender identity or race, a Palm Beach County high school special education teacher, Michael Woods, told NBC News. Several weeks prior, the district removed two books — “I Am Jazz” and “Call Me Max” — which touch upon gender identity, he said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the Parental Rights in Education bill at Classical Preparatory School in Shady Hills, Fla. on Mar. 28, 2022.Douglas R. Clifford / AP file
The so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, HB 1557, bans “instruction” about sexual orientation or gender identity “in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.” A provision in the law also requires school staff to alert parents on “critical decisions affecting a student’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being,” which many advocates have interpreted as a method to force educators to out their gay or trans students. In cases where teachers “believe that disclosure would result in abuse, abandonment, or neglect,” they are exempt from doing so.
Lawmakers who support the legislation — which Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed in March — have repeatedly stressed that it will only apply to children in kindergarten through third grade and is about giving parents more jurisdiction over their young children’s education. They have also contended that it will not prohibit teachers and students from talking about their LGBTQ families or bar classroom discussions about LGBTQ history, including events like the 2016 attack at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando.
But critics and legal experts have said that the broad language of the law could open school districts and teachers to lawsuits from parents who believe any conversation about LGBTQ people or issues is “not age appropriate.” (Parents will be able to sue school districts for alleged violations, damages or legal fees.)
The state’s Department of Education is expected to release more information on the parameters of its standards later this summer. In an interview in April with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, DeSantis suggested the standards would apply the law beyond third grade and added “things like woke gender ideology have no place in the schools, period.”
State Rep. Carlos Smith, a Florida Democrat who is gay and has been an outspoken critic of the new law, said he was “not surprised” by the policies and guidelines being announced by schools in the state.
“We talked about this from the beginning,” he said. “What’s happening right now — with the censorship of rainbow flags and school districts preparing to basically push LGBTQ students and teachers into the closet — is exactly what we said would happen with the ‘Don’t Say Gay law.’”
When asked if the governor wanted to respond to school districts’ new guidelines on LGBTQ issues that appear to supersede the parameters of the new law, DeSantis’ press secretary, Christina Pushaw, said the state Department of Education is responsible for working with school districts to implement policies.
“This is not something the governor himself does,” she wrote in an email.
Members and supporters of the LGBTQ community attend the “Say Gay Anyway” rally in Miami Beach, Fl .,on March 13, 2022.Chandan Khanna / AFP via Getty Images file
Beyond Florida, five other states — all of them in the South — have enacted laws that limit instruction or discussions about LGBTQ people or issues in school, and at least 32 other states have proposed such measures so far this year, according to according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ think tank that has been tracking the bills.
Smith stressed that these policies will have consequences for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students, pointing to the disproportionately high rates of suicide attempts among the nation’s LGBTQ youths. A survey this year by The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization, found that nearly 50% of the 35,000 LGBTQ youths surveyed said they seriously considered suicide within the last year.
“Creating safe spaces for LGBTQ kids in schools is a matter of life or death,” Smith said. “Ron DeSantis is creating toxic environments in our classrooms that can have devastating consequences for queer youth, and he does not care. It’s all about politics for him.”
In a letter addressed to the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association, the district’s general counsel claimed a number of statements about what the Parental Rights in Education law would prohibit are not accurate, including a claim that “safe space stickers will be removed from classroom doors.” However, the letter then states it is “recommended that the safe space stickers be removed from K-3 classrooms so that classroom instruction did not inadvertently occur on the prohibited content of sexual orientation or gender identity.”
“Out of one side of their mouth, they’re saying it’s not accurate, and out of the other side, they’re saying, ‘Yeah, you might want to be careful,’” Clinton McCracken, the president-elect of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association, said.
He expressed overall frustration with the new law and said his district’s attempt to clarify the legislation created even more confusion.
“So, which is it? Are teachers in K through eight supposed to go back into the closet, according to our legal team? Or are they allowed to act like every other heterosexual teacher who has a picture of a spouse on their desk?”
In Palm Beach County, Woods, who is gay, said that after receiving the questionnaire from school officials to flag course material or books with LGBTQ references, many of his colleagues are nervous they’ll be reprimanded if they miss something.
“I’ve had colleagues say to me, ‘Well, I’m just going to pack all of my books away and not have any out at all,’” he said. “That sounds like a knee-jerk reaction, but when you’re in that situation, it’s just one more stressor that you’re going to put on yourself. And is that really the hill you want to die on?”
Some LGBTQ teachers in school districts where guidelines have yet to be issued are even less sure of what they can or cannot say and wear next school year.
Brian Kerekes teaches math at a high school in Osceola County, which has yet to issue guidance for complying with the new law. Without guidelines in place, he worries that mistakes are bound to happen. Recently, he said, a staffer was asked to remove a “genderbread person” — an animated diagram used to teach children about gender identity — from his office.
“We’re just caught in the middle trying to figure out what is and isn’t OK while still trying to do what is our primary function, which is supporting our students and giving them a safe space to learn,” he said. “It’s going to be a mess.”
Kerekes said he also anticipates school districts will start letting go of teachers who are accused of violating the law even if they are found to have done nothing wrong. He points to the fact that all of the state’s public school teachers are hired on a year-to-year contractual basis and that the law prohibits school districts from recouping legal fees in cases where they win.
“Even if an investigation turns out to be bogus, a principal could still decide that it just isn’t worth having the teacher around anymore and just drop them,” he said. “I just worry that we’re going to be spending our time on nonissues instead of doing our jobs.”
One of Poland’s top courts has ruled that monstrous “LGBT-free zones” in the country must be scrapped in four municipalities in a stunning victory for LGBTQ+ rights.
The ruling, which was passed on Tuesday (28 June), orders various local authorities that declared themselves free of “LGBT ideology” in 2019 to reverse their position.
Since their declaration, the European Commission has had its eyes on Poland, saying that the zones may violate European Union law regarding discriminatory legislation on the grounds of sexual orientation.
A legal challenge from the Polish Human Rights Ombudsman initially prompted a ruling that nine reviled “LGBT-free zones” must come to an end – until right-wing think-tank Ordo luris successfully appealed against five of them.
In a social media post, the group Poland’s Campaign Against Homophobia wrote: “Today’s decision… is a great victory for democracy, human rights and respect for people.”
Removing Poland’s self-proclaimed “LGBT-free zones” has been a long process for pro-LGBTQ+ activists, with two being scrapped in early May for a “gross violation of the law”. Several were scrapped only due to the threat of losing EU funding.
The initial resolution in April 2019 declared that LGBTQ+ rights aim to “annihilate” the “values shaped by the Catholic Church” and vowed to fight against so-called “homo-propaganda.”
Several other districts in Poland followed suit, with Ryki County in Lublin passing their resolution in an attempt to “protect children, young people, families and Polish schools”.
Equality Parade 2022 in Warsaw, Poland (Photo by Piotr Lapinski/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The country’s capital recently celebrated Pride with Ukraine’s KyivPride in a single parade on Saturday (25 June). More than 300 members of the Ukrainian LGBTQ+ rights group joined the parade after being unable to gather in their own country due to the Russian invasion.
LGBTQ+ activists in the region have been a major help for Ukrainian refugees looking to escape the invasion. The country’s efforts has won praise from both the United Nations and from Pope Francis.
As we celebrate the immeasurable contributions of LGBTQI+ people during Pride month and commemorate the 53rd anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, we must also renew our commitment to advancing a more equitable America for our LGBTQI+ communities.
Seven years ago, the Supreme Court made marriage equality the law of the land, but despite this progress, over half of U.S. states can still deny LGBTQI+ people in the United States basic freedoms. LGBTQI+ individuals can still be denied a rental home or a wedding cake, simply because of who they love or how they identify.
Even worse, conservative lawmakers in state legislatures across the country are passing extreme bills targeting LGBTQI+ communities. These Republican-sponsored measures directly attack LGBTQI+ youth—their identity, dignity, and even access to basic health care.
The historic inequities faced by the LGBTQI+ communities and the uptick of radical, anti-LGBTQI+ attacks demand a coordinated federal response. But for far too long, policymakers have lacked the data necessary to craft and implement public policy that serves LGBTQI+ people in the United States.
While the federal government currently collects some data on LGBTQI+ people, it falls dramatically short.
The American Community Survey only accounts for cohabitating same-sex couples—meaning that it does not capture more than 5 in 6 LGBTQI+ adults.
That is why the U.S. House of Representatives passed the LGBTQI+ Data Inclusion Act last week in a historic bipartisan vote of 220-201.
The bill would require federal surveys to include questions pertaining to sexual orientation, gender identity, and variations on sex characteristics on a voluntary, confidential basis. By doing this, the LGBTQI+ Data Inclusion Act would ensure that lawmakers and federal agencies have the comprehensive data they need to advance polices that better serve LGBTQI+ people.
Solid data on sexual orientation and gender identity in federal surveys will help lawmakers craft policies to remedy the disparities faced by LGBTQI+ individuals—particularly LGBTQI+ people of color, who are disproportionately impacted by these disparities. More comprehensive and inclusive federal data could help remedy systemic inequities in unemployment, health care, housing instability and more.
Earlier this month, President Biden issued a groundbreaking executive order to advance equality for LGBTQI+ people across the United States — including by expanding the collection of data pertaining to LGBTQI+ people in the United States. This legislation would expand the ability of our federal agencies to follow the President’s directive so that we can craft policies tailored to the specific needs of our LGBTQI+ communities.
As parents, we also championed this legislation because it will help parents across the country better understand LGTBQI+ youth and their experiences. LGBTQI+ youth deserve the best available data-driven information and resources to validate their experiences, protect them from harm, and help them thrive. Together, we’ll be able to provide these resources for LGBTQI+ youth who are higher risk of depression and attempted suicide.
The LGBTQI+ Data Inclusion Act is a long overdue step in the right direction, and it could not have been possible without the tireless work of LGBTQI+ organizations and activists. More than 150 LGBTQI+ groups and allies have helped shape this bill to ensure that Congress enacts the most comprehensive and effective legislation possible.
Policymakers have a duty to lift LGBTQI+ voices and ensure our LGBTQI+ constituents are all seen, heard, and counted. The House made history this Pride month and passed the LGBTQI+ Data Inclusion Act, we urge our colleagues in the Senate to do the same.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D) is a member of the U.S. House from Arizona; Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney(D) is a member of the U.S. House from New York.
Members of the LGBTQ+ community in the United States have spoken out about their own abortion experiences after Roe v Wade was struck down.
The Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling which legalised abortion across the country, on 24 June, meaning that it will now be up to individual states to decide their own abortion laws.
In a 213-page majority opinion, the Supreme Court justices wrote: “The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.”
he ruling mobilised protests across the US, and several LGBTQ+ people have raised the point that trans men, queer women, and non-binary people sometimes also need abortions, and they do not want to be left out of the conversation.
Nikki, a 38-year-old queer woman from Colorado, said she told her religious family members about her experience with abortion after the Roe v Wade ruling was announced. She is “terrified” that her “rights as a queer woman will be eroded next”.
She told PinkNews: “I’m livid about the ruling. I’m mad that it happened. I’m furious at the Democrats for not getting it together quickly enough to use their majority to protect Roe federally.
“I’m exhausted of having my rights and freedoms dictated by a bunch of old white men (and the occasional woman).”
Nikki added that she is now concerned that LGBTQ+ rights could be at risk, after Judge Clarence Thomas, in his legal opinion coinciding with the overturning of Roe v Wade, called on his colleagues on the Supreme Court to “reconsider” rulings that currently protect the right to contraception, same-sex relationships, and same-sex marriage.
She said: “Trans men and non-binary people have been left out of the conversation almost entirely, even by supposedly ‘progressive’ voices.
“I’m currently dating a trans woman. I worry for her safety, and I worry that I won’t be able to marry who I love unless it falls within a ‘hetero-looking’ relationship.”
(Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Theo, 20, from Minnesota, said that they are considering moving to a “safer state” after the Roe v Wade news.
Theo is trans-masculine and non-binary, and as well as going through an abortion at aged 14, they worry about further law changes affecting same-sex marriage, or their ability to access gender-affirming surgeries.
“Just because we no longer align with the gender that we have were assigned does not make us irrelevant in a conversation that regards our own bodily matters,” they told PinkNews.
Theo added: “My concern immediately came after Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed; she was a strong and ever-present voice in women’s rights… I always knew that Roe v Wade was on the docket despite what people told me.
“Since I have begun transitioning and started to pass more as man, I have lost my voice in this movement. I have had an abortion… butpeople have told me that my voice doesn’t matter… that I am safe because no one is coming for LGBTQ+ people next. Roe v Wade is just the beginning.
“I am also extremely fearful for the overturn of same-sex marriage as well… I fear that I will never be able to be with someone that I love because of this.”
Amit Paley, CEO and executive director of LGBTQ+ charity The Trevor Project said in a statement: “The Supreme Court’s decision… is causing many people to experience a wide range of concerns for bodily autonomy, LGBTQ rights, and public health, including mental health.
“The Trevor Project’s polling has found that nearly 70% of LGBTQ+ young people say efforts to restrict access to abortion often gave them stress or anxiety.
“Overturning Roe v Wade will allow states to further restrict and regulate essential health care and reduce access to the already limited number of LGBTQ+ competent providers in many parts of the country, posing a threat to the health and safety of young LGBTQ people.
“The Trevor Project will not stop fighting to establish true, lived equality for LGBTQ+ people.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hinted at the possibility of legislation to codify the right of same-sex couples to marry, which many fear is in danger after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, as part of an effort to secure “freedoms which Americans currently enjoy.”
Pelosi suggested such legislation could be in the works in a “Dear Colleague” letter on Monday to fellow members of the House Democratic caucus addressing plans for congressional action after the ruling last week in Dobbs v. Women’s Health Organization, which eliminated the right for women to access an abortion.
The concurrence of U.S. Associate Justice Clarence Thomas is a core component of the letter from Pelosi, who expressed consternation about his rejection of finding unenumerated rights under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
“It is still appalling to me that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court would agree that a Constitutional right does not exist if it was not spelled out explicitly and in public when the 14th Amendment was ratified over 150 years ago,” Pelosi said. “While this extremist Supreme Court works to punish and control the American people, Democrats must continue our fight to expand freedom in America. Doing so is foundational to our oath of office and our fidelity to the Constitution.”
Thomas said in his concurring opinion he welcomes vehicles that would allow the court to revisit other major decisions, such as the Griswold decision guaranteeing the right to contraceptives; the Lawrence decision decriminalizing sodomy for same-sex couples and others; and the Obergefell decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.
Although Pelosi doesn’t explicitly say she’ll introduce legislation on same-sex marriage, she brought up “access to contraception and in-vitro fertilization to marriage equality,” then added, “Legislation is being introduced to further codify freedoms which Americans currently enjoy. More information to follow.”
“It is clear from how Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell stacked the Supreme Court that elections have ramifications,” Pelosi said. “It is essential that we protect and expand our pro-choice Majorities in the House and Senate in November so that we can eliminate the filibuster so that we can restore women’s fundamental rights – and freedom for every American.”
Any legislation seeking to codify marriage equality would have to get around marriage being an issue administered by the states under the guidelines of the U.S. Constitution. In the past, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) has introduced the Respect for Marriage Act, which would have required the federal government to recognize same-sex marriage and states to recognize same-sex marriage performed elsewhere.
Pelosi’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment on the possibility of marriage legislation or the timeline for U.S. House approval of such a measure. Nadler’s office also didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Despite having a constitution that explicitly protects LGBTQ and intersex South Africans, homophobic attacks remain pervasive in the country.
Mpho Falithenjwa, 14, died by suicide earlier this month after he was bullied because he was gay, according to his sister who spoke with MambaOnline, a local LGBTQ and intersex publication. South Africa’s LGBTQ and intersex community is wondering how an incident like this can be averted from happening again.
“We believe that the untimely passing of Mpho was mainly because of societal pressure, because of how society made it impossible for Mpho to come out without fear or prejudice, so what happened to Mpho really saddens us as activists it saddens us as Access Chapter 2 but over and above it saddens us as a country that 26 years after officially signing this Constitution as a country, we still have to grapple with issues of addressing the victimization of homophobia and transphobia subjected to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and it happened a time when we are reflecting and commemorating international Pride,” said Mpho Buntse of Access Chapter 2, a South African LGBTQ and intersex rights organization.
“Moreso, it brings eyes into the country to question the credibility of our Constitution because it cannot be that we have a Constitution that embraces the 2SLGBTQIA+ community yet it still makes it difficult for people to live without prejudice so this was conversion practice in the making because of the pressure that Mpho was given by society to conform to what society believes Mpho is as compared to what Mpho believes he is,” added Buntse. “What happened to self-affirmation? Generally as a country I think we really need to take a stance, a very strong stance in fighting and confronting issues of transphobia and homophobia from a place of policy more than anything.”
Ruth Maseko of the Triangle Project called for more stringent measures to be taken against any form of bullying.
“There are many forms of bullying, verbally, physically and emotionally, it is abusive and should never be tolerated. Nobody should stand by no matter who you are, what your position is or what your age is and watch another person being bullied,” said Maseko. “Moreover, a deep concern for us is that the ages of perpetrators of hate crimes have been young. What are we passing on to our young people? What messages are we giving them, that makes it okay to start calling people names and excluding people because of who they are?”
Falithenjwa’s death by suicide is the latest case to send shockwaves across South Africa.
Human Rights Watch statistics indicate at least 20 LGBTQ and intersex people were reported killed in South Africa between February and October 2021. The international NGO indicates many of them were either beaten or stabbed to death because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
“We cannot keep losing young lives just based on who they are and how they identify. It’s hard when you are young and feel that you are not accepted and then bullied, and nobody does anything to stop bullying wherever it happens,” said Maseko. “That person then turns that hate inwards and ends their own life before their life has even really begun. Why? Just because of who that person is? Words have the ability to cause this outcome and it is devastating that a young person feels like they can no longer go on because of someone else’s words.”
Maseko added it is “not acceptable and should not be tolerated.”
“Our children should be learning in their homes that it is never okay to do this to others. Children should not engage in prejudice,” said Maseko. “If they have learnt it, because none of us are born with prejudice, they have the ability to unlearn it. In schools, where it is evident that someone is the target of bullying on any grounds, immediate action should be taken.”
Most people identify as male or female, but others don’t feel they fit into a fixed gender category. For instance, you or someone you know might feel somewhere “in-between” a man or a woman or beyond the gender spectrum altogether.
If you feel like you don’t belong within a certain category, you might be non-binary. But how do you know for sure? Read on to learn more about non-binary as a gender identity.
A non-binary person is someone who doesn’t identify as a man or woman. Instead, they might identify with one or two more gender identities, which may change over time.
Every non-binary person identifies with the term in a unique way. Non-binary people might also identify as genderfluid, androgynous, agender, bigender, or non-conforming.
How Can You Tell If You’re Non-Binary?
It can be challenging to define what non-binary means to you, especially because the term itself is so broad. For instance, the differences between non-binary, genderqueer, or genderfluid can be confusing because each term is defined similarly.
However, there are some questions you can ask yourself that can make your journey towards self-discovery much clearer.
Do you align with the sex and gender-based attributes you were assigned at birth as well as those of other sexes?
Do you feel like you are neither a man nor a woman? Do you feel like you are both?
Do you constantly change your mind about your gender identity?
Do you adhere to more than one set of pronouns?
Are you comfortable dressing in any type of clothing?
If you answered “yes” to most or all of these questions, you could be non-binary. However, only you can say who you really are.
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Misconceptions About Being Non-Binary
Because being non-binary means different things to different people, there are many misconceptions about this gender identity.
You Can’t Have Other Gender Identities
You can identify as non-binary and another gender. For instance, if you are non-binary and transgender, you might undergo gender-affirming surgery to feel more “at home” with your body but still identify with other genders. Not to mention, how you relate to your body and gender can change over time.
You Can Tell Someone In Non-Binary By Appearance
There is no such thing as “looking non-binary.” While many people believe you have to dress androgynously to be non-binary, you can wear whatever you feel expresses you best. After all, cis women don’t have to wear skirts the way cis men don’t have to wear pants. The bottom line is people’s presentations are not inherently gendered.
Non-Binary People Use Only They/Them Pronouns
Non-binary people can have a variety of pronouns, especially if their gender identity frequently changes. Some non-binary people are comfortable with any pronoun, while others use only one specific set. The best way to learn someone’s pronouns is to ask them.
Non-Binary People Have A Fixed Sexual Orientation
Sexual orientation and gender identity are two different things. The former refers to what genders a person is attracted to, while the latter describes what gender you identify as. If you are non-binary, you can be attracted to many different genders.
Non-Binary People Are “Born Into The Wrong Body”
While it’s common for non-binary people to experience body dysmorphia, not all of them feel they are born into the wrong body. In most cases, non-binary people feel they are born into the wrong gender based on others’ misconceptions.
Non-Binary Is A Third Gender
Some people think you can either be male, female, or non-binary. However, it is not a third gender. In fact, it surpasses the binary entirely and can be a mix of genders. Some non-binary people might even consider themselves genderless.
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How To Support Your Non-Binary Friends
Discovering that someone is non-binary doesn’t mean you have to change the way you treat them. However, self-discovery isn’t always easy – keeping these tips in mind can make others feel supported and heard.
Ask people what their pronouns are and use them correctly.
Be open to being educated.
Do not make assumptions about people’s genders according to how they act, speak, or dress.
Use someone’s preferred name – do not bring up their dead name.
Do not ask someone to explain why they are non-binary. If they are comfortable, they will share this information with you willingly.
Don’t expect to be rewarded for treating a non-binary person with respect.
The Bottom Line
The non-binary experience can be confusing, so educating yourself, unlearning assumptions, and having open discussions with others can make your journey more enriching and comfortable.
If you want to learn more about exploring your gender identity or how to treat others on the same journey, LGBTQ+ Nation has more in store for you.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has expressed interest in loosening libel and defamation laws to allow an anti-LGBTQ hate church to sue an organization that called them out as a hate group.
Thomas, who supports ending same-sex marriage in the U.S., expressed this interest in his recent dissent disagreeing with the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the anti-LGBTQ church’s case.
He was the lone dissenter to comment on the court’s recent refusal to hear a lawsuit brought by D. James Kennedy Ministries, an evangelical Christian media company that operates the Florida-based Coral Ridge Ministries (CRM).
CRM sued the Southern Poverty Law Center (SLPC) for libelous defamation after SLPC listing CRM as a hate group. CRM said that in 2017, the online retailer Amazon cited the SLPC’s listing as a reason to block CRM from participating in its AmazonSmile program. The program lets Amazon users to donate to nonprofit organizations. (AmazonSmile has a history of allowing other anti-LGBTQ groups to fundraise through its platform.)
The SLPC noted that the church was founded by Rev. D. James Kennedy, a man who promoted the anti-gay works of R.J. Rushdoony, a man who supported the death penalty for homosexual “abominators.” Kennedy’s 1989 CRM newsletter included photos of kids along with the tagline, “Sex With Children? Homosexuals Say Yes!”
In 2009, CRM hired anti-gay activist Robert Knight as a senior writer. Knight has opposed letting “pansexual, cross-dressing” homosexuals serve openly in the military. Knight has written that gay marriage “entices children to experiment with homosexuality” and said that acceptance of homosexuality leads to “a loss of stability in communities, with a rise in crime, sexually transmitted diseases and other social pathologies. Still another is a shortage of employable, stable people,” the SLPC noted.
When CRM sued SLPC, a federal district court judge dismissed CRM’s defamation claim because Supreme Court precedent says that a libel charge must prove malicious intent. CRM couldn’t, but they appealed the judge’s decision anyway. The group received a second legal defeat in July 2021 when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld the lower court’s dismissal, Law & Crime reported.
“We hold that the district court was correct in finding that Coral Ridge’s interpretation of Title II would violate the First Amendment by essentially forcing Amazon to donate to organizations it does not support,” the three-judge panel wrote in its decision.
The Supreme Court declined to hear CRM’s case on Monday. In his dissent, Thomas wrote that the SPLC “caused Coral Ridge concrete financial injury by excluding it from the AmazonSmile donation program.” He also said that the court should revisit the “actual malice” standard in libel cases established by the Supreme Court’s 1964 decision in New York Times v. Sullivan.
In that case, the then-Montgomery, Alabama Public Safety Commissioner L.B. Sullivan sued The New York Times for publishing an ad that had several factual inaccuracies about the local police. Since his post oversees police action, the ad defamed him by proxy, he argued.
The court ruled that the First Amendment allows newspapers to defame public officials, even with false statements, as long as they don’t act with “actual malice.” Actual malice was defined as making a false statement to deliberately harm another person or with reckless disregard for whether a statement is true or false.
The court’s ruling sets U.S. libel law from that of other countries, such as the United Kingdom. In the U.K., libel law requires that one must simply prove that a false statement has harmed one’s reputation, regardless of intent.
In his dissent, Thomas wrote, “This case is one of many showing how New York Times and its progeny have allowed media organizations and interest groups ‘to cast false aspersions on public figures with near impunity.’”
He said that the Supreme Court justices who decided the New York Times case issued “policy-driven decisions masquerading as constitutional law.” He added that the justices “never even inquired whether ‘the First or Fourteenth Amendment, as originally understood, encompasses an actual-malice standard.’”
Thomas’ willingness to weaken libel laws follows his stated wish to overturn previous Supreme Court decisions legalizing access to contraceptives and same-sex marriage rights as well as the 2003 ruling that struck down anti-sodomy laws as discriminatory against gay people.
In his footnote on the recent ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, Thomas wrote that the Supreme Court “erroneously” decided in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision to treat abortion as a fundamental right that should be free from government interference, something known in legal terms as “substantive due process.”
Thomas wrote, “We should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents. We have a duty to ‘correct the error’ established in those precedents… For that reason, in future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold [the case that granted the right to contraception] Lawrence [the case that struck down anti-sodomy laws], and Obergefell [the case that legalized marriage equality].”
The most recent round of primary elections this week saw wins for LGBTQ lawmakers in at least three states ahead of November’s general election.
Former meteorologist Eric Sorensen won the Democratic primary for Illinois’s 17th Congressional District, putting him on track to be the first out LGBTQ lawmaker ever elected to Congress from the state. He’ll face off against Republican nominee Esther Joy King in November in a race that the New York Times is calling a toss-up.
In Colorado, incumbent Gov. Jared Polis (D) will defend his seat against Republican nominee Heidi Ganahl. The only out gay man elected governor of a U.S. state, Polis ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Elsewhere in the state, incumbent state Rep. Brianna Titone (D), the first transgender person to serve in the Colorado legislature, will now face Republican nominee Christina Carlino in the race to represent Colorado’s 27th congressional district.
Oklahoma state Rep. Mauree Turner (D), the first nonbinary person elected to any state legislature, handily beat challenger Joe Lewis in the Democratic primary, and will now go on to face independent Jed Green in the general.
In Utah, state Sen. Derek Kitchen (D), the only out LGBTQ member of the state’s legislature, leads challenger Dr. Jennifer Plumb by two points. That primary has not yet been called.
Tuesday’s elections also saw Rep Marie Newman (D-IL) lose her race against fellow incumbent Rep. Sean Casten. The two lawmakers found themselves competing in the same district after Illinois legislators redrew the state’s congressional map. Newman, whose daughter is transgender, was seen as the more progressive of the two Representatives. The defeat would seem to bring to an end her ongoing battle with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), whose office is located across from hers, over a trans Pride flag Newman posted outside her door.
Meanwhile, anti-LGBTQ extremist Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) won her primary after denouncing the separation of church and state, one of the cornerstones of American democracy.
“And I’m tired of this ‘separation of church and state’ junk, that’s not in the Constitution. It was in a stinking letter and it means nothing like what they say it does,” Boebert recently told the crowd at the Cornerstone Christian Center in Basalt, Colorado.
