Warning: While some of the following stories describe legislative actions to celebrate and affirm LGBTQ+ people, many cover legislation targeting the LGBTQ+ community, particularly trans and non-binary youth. Please be kind to yourself and use your discretion while reading this section. Advisory: State news is representative but not exhaustive due to space constraint; feel free to forward news about your state to [email protected] to consider for inclusion. California - Lawmakers vote to end state-funded travel ban to states with anti-LGBTQ+ laws. In 2017, the state banned state-funded travel to states with anti-LGBTQ+ laws, including 26 states. The assembly has passed legislation to end the ban, which created challenges for officials, workers, scholars, and college sports teams. The bill which ends the travel ban will also establish an outreach and advertising campaign in states previously on the travel ban list to promote pro-LGBTQ+ messages. Florida - Lake Worth Beach becomes “sanctuary city” for LGBTQ+ community. The city council of Lake Worth Beach voted unanimously in favor of creating a “sanctuary city,” the first municipality in Florida to do so. Michigan - Statue to honor first openly gay person elected to public office in the US. Kathy Kozachenko became the first openly gay person elected to public office in the country when she won her race for City Council in Ann Arbor in 1974 - three years before Harvey Milk was elected City Supervisor in San Francisco. Statues for Equality is partnering with the city of Ann Arbor to design and construct the monument, which will be placed on the City Hall grounds. Missouri - Washington University halts medically-necessary care for trans and non-binary youth. Washington University Health Center announced on September 11th that it will stop prescribing puberty blockers and hormones to patients under 18. While new legislation banning gender-affirming care for Missouri minors included an exemption for those already receiving care, it also exposed providers to “unsustainable liability” via a newly created legal cause of action. Washington University announced it would refer all existing patients to new providers. Ohio - Cleveland Catholic diocese adds policy to limit LGBTQ+ expression in schools under its jurisdiction. The diocese passed a policy on August 30th affecting 84 Catholic schools in Northeast Ohio that prohibits gender-affirming names and pronouns for trans and non-binary students, staff, and volunteers; bans same-sex couples at school dances; bans expression or celebration of LGBTQ+ identity on their clothes or in their conduct, including rainbow flags and other Pride symbols; and prohibits students, staff, and volunteers from seeking medically necessary gender-affirming care. Oklahoma - Free Mom Hugs organizes first conference in Oklahoma City. The inaugural conference attracted more than 400 attendees; speakers included PFLAG National CEO Brian K. Bond, Chasten and Pete Buttigieg, and nonbinary Oklahoma state Rep. Maureen Turner. Tennessee - Olivia Hill becomes first openly trans person ever elected to public office in the state. Ms. Hill was elected to one of the at-large seats on the Metro Nashville Council on September 14th. Ms. Hill stated that “[her election] is a great step in the right direction to hopefully educate some people about how valid trans folks are and that we're here and that we're not going away.” Texas - State attempted nation’s greatest number of book bans in 2022. According to the American Library Association (ALA), Texas has attempted to ban 2,349 titles in 2022, making it the state with the highest number of book ban attempts at approximately 93. Virginia - Governor Glenn Youngkin pardons man who was arrested during school board meeting. Gov. Youngkin announced that he will pardon the father of a student who protested during a school board meeting in 2021 where he was protesting against state-mandated protection for transgender students, defending his daughter who allegedly endured a sexual assault incident in her high school bathroom. | 
