Take Action

Join the US Justice Department webinar: “Protecting LGBTQI+ Communities from Hate-Motivated Attacks and Threats of Violence.” Join leaders from the Justice Department on Monday, June 17th at noon Eastern as they provide an overview of what the Civil Rights Division, FBI, and Community Relations Service have been doing to bolster community safety. Speakers will also provide information about steps to take in the event of an emergency, suspected hate crime, or threat of violence, and proactive measures to protect organizations, facilities, and communities. Please register in advance for this webinar!

Californians: 

Contact your representatives and tell them to vote YES on the SAFETY Act! AB1955, the SAFETY Act, will ban harmful forced outing policies in California schools and ensure that parents and educators have the resources they need to support LGBTQ+ students. Thank you to the 19 California chapters who endorsed the SAFETY Act! Now, let’s keep up the pressure by urging your representatives to vote YES!

New Hampshirites: 

Tell Governor Sununu to VETO anti-LGBTQ+ bills! The legislature passed several harmful bills, including an anti-trans athlete ban and a “Don’t Say LGBTQ+” bill. Tell Governor Sununu to protect LGBTQ+ kids and VETO these bills!

State Matters

Self-care note: While some of the following stories celebrate and affirm LGBTQ+ people, many cover legislation targeting the LGBTQ+ community, particularly trans and nonbinary 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 constraints; feel free to forward news about your state to [email protected] to consider for inclusion.

California - State Senate passes SAFETY Act. The bill, which would ban school districts from enacting forced outing policies, now heads to the State Assembly for approval. Call your Assembly members and tell them to vote YES!

San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously vote to declare the city a “sanctuary city” for gender-diverse and intersex people. San Francisco is the first major city in the country to declare itself a sanctuary for transgender and gender non-conforming people. 

Los Angeles County LGBTQ+ Commission to meet for the first time. Supervisor Hilda Solis will introduce the commission’s executive director, Sunitha Menon, and several commission members before the meeting is gaveled into session on June 18th.

New York - Nassau County to vote on anti-trans athlete ban. The County legislature is considering legislation to ban trans women from competing on sports teams that play in county-run facilities, codifying an executive order County Executive Bruce Blakeman promulgated in February. 

North Dakota - Judge denies request to block gender-affirming care ban. South Central Judicial District Judge Jackson Lofgren denied a request for a preliminary injunction to halt enforcement of the law. The case over whether the law is constitutional will proceed to trial in November. 

Oklahoma - State Supreme Court dismisses lawsuit from Tulsa massacre survivors. The last survivors of the 1921 race massacre, which left Tulsa’s black-majority Greenwood district in ruins and 300 people dead, were denied opportunity to seek reparations from the State.

South Carolina - Legislators insert anti-trans facility access ban in state budget. Should the Governor sign the budget, the policy of forcing trans students to use restrooms and locker rooms based on their sex assigned at birth will be in place for at least one year. 

Wisconsin - Stirling Mayor proclaims June Pride Month. Mayor Diana Merdian delivered the proclamation to PFLAG Sauk Valley.

Court Matters

Supreme Court dismisses case seeking to block access to mifepristone. The Supreme Court unanimously held that a group of physicians who sued the FDA over its decision to ease access to mifepristone, an abortifacient, lacked standing to sue. 

Federal Judge strikes down Florida’s gender-affirming care ban. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle invalidated much of the 2023 law prohibiting trans and no-binary youth from accessing medically necessary care, finding that “clear that anti-transgender animus” motivated legislators to approve the law.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rules Seattle Pacific University can pursue lawsuit against Washington State. The University, which is affiliated with the Free Methodist Church, is seeking to block the State of Washington from enforcing anti-discrimination laws against the school for barring staff from having same-sex relationships. 

Vigo County, Indiana School Corporation settles lawsuit concerning anti-trans bathroom ban. United States Magistrate Judge Mario Garcia approved the settlement, the details of which remain undisclosed.

Federal Matters

Bill to protect access to IVF blocked in the Senate. The Right to IVF Act, sponsored by Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Patty Murray (D-WA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ), aims to establish a nationwide right to IVF and other assisted reproductive technology, as well as to lower the costs of IVF treatment. The bill failed to clear the 60 vote filibuster hurdle.

Resolution to overturn Biden Administration's Title IX rule introduced in the Senate. Thirty-five Senators cosponsored the resolution introduced by Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS); an identical resolution was filed in the House on June 6th. 

Tennessee school district reaches settlement with DOJ over “racially hostile climate.” Federal investigators said Hawkins County, Tennessee students harassed a Black classmate, including calling him racist slurs, hitting him, and holding a mock “slave auction” to sell him to White peers. The Hawkins County School District agreed to overhaul its anti-harassment procedures by hiring a compliance officer, creating an electronic portal to track complaints, and reviewing anti-harassment efforts.

Federal judge blocks April 2024 Title IX rule. The Biden administration’s Title IX rule expanding protections for LGBTQ+ student has been temporarily blocked in four states after U.S. District Judge Terry A. Doughty granted a preliminary injunction against the Administration. Earlier in the week, another federal judge struck down the Administration's 2021 Title IX guidance in another case.

Global Matters

Ireland - Methodist Church in Ireland apologizes for lack of support to LGBTQ+ community and their families. The church also strongly condemned all forms of homophobia but did not reverse its ban on same-sex marriages.

Vatican City - Pope Francis again uses anti-gay slur in expressing opposition to openly gay priests. This comes just two weeks after the Vatican apologized for the pope’s use of an anti-gay slur in a meeting with bishops.

Media Matters

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Billy Porter kick off Capital Pride. Porter, who performed at the Capital Pride festival and concert, and Emhoff each emphasized the importance of the LGBTQ+ rights movement at a time when lawmakers in states across the country are pushing to curtail those rights.

Rev. James Lawson Jr., civil rights leader, dies at 95. Rev. Lawson was a close adviser to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who called Lawson “the leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world.”

Lynn Conway, trans computer scientist, dies at 86. Conway helped pioneer early supercomputers at IBM but was fired after she transitioned. She became an outspoken advocate for transgender people. 

Trans swimmer Lia Thomas loses legal battle against anti-trans athlete ban. Thomas attempted to challenge the World Aquatics effective ban on trans women competing in high-level swimming competitions, but was denied the opportunity to go to arbitration. This means Thomas will not have the opportunity to swim at the Summer Olympics in Paris in July, as she hoped to do.

ICYMI

GLMA, Castle Connolly release Top LGBTQ+ Doctors list. This year's honorees include 100 physicians from 44 specialties and 25 states who have excelled in their medical careers and demonstrated exceptional leadership, compassion, and commitment to improving LGBTQ+ health and well-being.

PFLAG National
(202) 467-8180 | [email protected]

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