LGBTQ+ Issues
Students, advocates frustrated with Biden administration’s slow response on Title IX changes
Democrats in Congress, students, and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups are growing frustrated with the Biden administration’s slow pace to finalize proposed updates to Title IX, the federal civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination in schools. More than 60 House Democrats sent a recent letter to Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, calling on the agency to act. […]
Executive order bans gender-neutral language in Arkansas government documents
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an executive order Thursday eliminating what she called “woke, anti-women words” from Arkansas government documents. The order prohibits “exclusionary, sexist language in official state government business,” citing XX chromosomes and the ability to “perform the miracle of birth” as what defines women. Sanders signed the order after a press conference […]
Full appeals court will hear Arkansas AG’s request to reverse ruling on transgender care for minors
The full 11-member 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed Friday to hear Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin’s appeal of a federal judge’s ruling that struck down the state’s ban on gender-affirming health care for transgender minors. Act 626 of 2021, known as the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act, prohibited physicians from providing “gender […]
In scrapping its LGBTQ-related travel ban, California pivots to ‘hearts and minds’
In September, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom officially repealed California’s 2016 ban on state-funded travel to states with laws targeting LGBTQ+ people. The idea behind the ban — which applied to bureaucrats, lawmakers, academics and even college athletes — was to use California’s economic heft to dissuade other states from enacting such laws. By that metric, […]
Judge denies motions in suit over Arkansas county’s library practices
A lawsuit against Crawford County officials over the placement of library books with LGBTQ+ themes remained active Tuesday after a federal judge in Fayetteville denied motions from both the plaintiffs and the county. Crawford County residents and library patrons Rebecka Virden, Nina Prater, Samantha Rowlett and their minor children sued the county judge, quorum court, […]
Arkansas AG Griffin asks full appeals court to reverse ruling on transgender care for minors
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin on Thursday asked the full 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis to hear his appeal of a federal judge’s ruling that struck down the state’s ban on gender-affirming health care for transgender minors. Act 626 of 2021, known as the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act, prohibited […]
Alabama transgender medicine ban: Attorneys want full rehearing on federal court ruling
Attorneys representing transgender youth challenging Alabama’s ban on medication used in gender-affirming care want a full federal appeals circuit to consider the case. GLBTQ Lawyers and Defenders (GLAD), part of the legal team representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement Monday that the request for an en banc hearing, coming a week after a three-judge […]
Federal appeals court lifts injunction against Alabama’s ban on medicine for transgender youth
A federal panel Monday allowed Alabama’s ban on medical care for transgender youth to go into effect, reversing an injunction a lower court judge issued last year. “The plaintiffs have not presented any authority that supports the existence of a constitutional right to ‘treat [one’s] children with transitioning medications subject to medically accepted standards,’” said […]
Federal judge blocks Georgia from enforcing ban on hormone therapy for transgender minors
Georgia families contemplating hormone therapy for their minor transgender children will have more time to make a decision after a federal judge temporarily blocked Georgia’s ban on the treatments Sunday. Georgia’s Senate Bill 140 went into effect July 1, preventing doctors from prescribing estrogen or testosterone to transgender people under 18, with exceptions for minors […]
Cobb School Board votes to fire teacher who read book about gender identity
Georgia’s Cobb County School District rejected the advice of a disciplinary tribunal Thursday night and terminated Katie Rinderle, the elementary school teacher who came under fire from some parents after reading a picture book touching on topics of gender fluidity. Speaking after the 4-3 party line vote, Craig Goodmark, an attorney representing Rinderle said the […]
Congress brought back earmarks. Now they’re one more point of drama in a divided House.
WASHINGTON — The new Republican chairwoman of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee said just before taking over the panel that she planned to “tweak” how the chamber earmarks spending for community projects — coveted state and local funding that members of Congress request. Some of those changes hinted at by Kay Granger of Texas have […]
Laws banning gender-affirming treatments can block trans youth from receiving other care
In some states, new laws banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth are dissuading health care providers from offering mental health services and other medical care that isn’t explicitly banned by those laws. In the first few weeks after Mississippi’s law went into effect in February, nurse practitioner Stacie Pace said she was fielding calls and […]