COURT MATTERS

Idaho’s transgender sports ban law to be challenged in federal court. The law, which prohibits transgender athletes from competing in sports consistent with their gender identity, will be challenged in federal court by the ACLU, ACLU of Idaho, and Legal Voice, on the grounds that it violates both the United States Constitution and Title IX, which bars discrimination on the basis of sex in any educational program that receives federal funding.

Masterpiece Cakeshop owner in court again for denying an LGBTQ+ customer. The owner, Jack Phillips, is being sued after refusing to serve a transgender woman who tried to order a trans-themed birthday cake from his shop. The lawsuit reports that a representative of the bakery told her that it “did not make cakes for sex changes.”

FEDERAL MATTERS

ICE to consider releasing vulnerable detainees on a “case-by-case” basis. The Acting Secretary of Homeland Security announced that vulnerable detainees would be considered on a “case-by-case” basis but did not say whether they would consider releasing detainees who are at heightened risk for COVID-19. ICE continues to face calls to release detainees with HIV and others with high risk on bases including age, pre-existing conditions and compromised immune systems.

REAL ID deadline extended to October 1, 2021. The Department of Homeland Security has announced that Americans will have an extra year to acquire a REAL ID driver’s license or ID card due to COVID-19. Many DMV offices have been forced to close or reduce services due to COVID-19, so many people have not been able to fulfill the in-person application requirement to receive their REAL ID status and marker on their driver’s license.

Gay and bisexual men still unable to donate blood and plasma despite newly revised FDA guidelines. Many gay and bisexual male donors are being turned away despite a blood shortage and need for blood and plasma with antibodies from COVID-19 survivors. While the FDA has loosened its rules on blood donations from men who have had sex with men in order to increase the blood supply during the pandemic, many who have tried to donate have been turned away, as many blood donation centers have not yet trained staffers or updated their computer systems to accommodate the newly revised rule. PFLAG National’s position remains that the FDA maintain a clean blood supply, cease targeting populations, including gay and bi men, and focus rather on behavior and that the FDA must follow the science, which shows that three months is longer than the evidence shows as needed as a period for celibacy before declaring blood safety. Reference to PFLAG National's testimony in 2014 at the last open FDA hearing addressing the blood donation ban is included here, presenting to the FDA’s Blood Products Advisory Committee (BPAC).

STATE MATTERS

Florida - City of Tallahassee unanimously passes conversion therapy ban. Tallahassee prohibited the use of so-called conversion therapy on minors and vulnerable adults within the city limits and mandated that city funds cannot be used for conversion therapy on any individual. Tallahassee’s conversion therapy ban is the most robust in the state of Florida. PFLAG Tallahassee strongly advocated for passage of this ordinance.

Maryland - House Committee holds hearing on LGBT Seniors Bill of Rights. PFLAG Metro DC is an active proponent of and coalition member for a bill being considered in the Maryland House to provide equal protections and rights to LGBTQ+ seniors. Stay tuned as this progresses.

Virginia - Governor Northam signs non-binary driver’s license bill into law. Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has signed a law which requires the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles to offer a non-binary designation on driver’s licenses. Virginia now joins 16 other states and the District of Columbia in offering a third gender marker option on state driver’s licenses and IDs. PFLAG Metro DC participated strong in the success of this legislation.

Governor signs first LGBTQ+-inclusive civil rights law in the South and the nation’s first in 2020. Governor Northam signed the Virginia Values Act into law, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, public and private employment, public accommodations, and access to credit. The law will go into effect on July 1st. PFLAG Metro DC was a strong contributor to this successful bill becoming law.

GLOBAL MATTERS

LGBTQ+ Communities Worldwide Plan Digital Pride Celebrations. More than 220 Pride events worldwide have been canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but organizers are finding innovative ways of reaching out to the LGBTQ+ community to provide alternative online spaces to celebrate. The world’s largest international Pride networks are organizing a Global Pride to be celebrated online on June 27th, which will include speeches from human rights activists, workshops, and performances. PFLAG National is working now to partner in an official capacity with the celebration, delivering virtually the hugs we’ve been offering at Prides since 1972.

Hungary - Bill would ban transgender individuals from legally changing gender. The proposal was included in a bill introduced on March 31 and many believe that it would violate previous Hungarian Constitutional Court rulings that affirmed that “the legal gender and name change for transgender people are a fundamental right.” Activists worry that transgender people, already one of the most vulnerable minorities, will face increased discrimination under this bill.

European lawmakers criticize Hungarian bill which would ban changes to legal sex on key documents. More than 60 European lawmakers wrote to Hungarian ministers to express their concern that transgender and intersex people risk being harassed and attacked if the proposed ban on changing sex on legal documents becomes law.

Indonesia - Indonesian police wil not bring murder charges in case of transgender woman burned to death. The suspects are accused of killing a transgender woman by dousing her with petrol and lighting her on fire. The woman died from burns sustained in the incident a few days later. The police will not bring murder charges, as they believe that the suspects did not burn the woman intentionally.

Panama - Transgender Panamanians alarmed by gender-based COVID-19 quarantine rules. Under the new rules to combat COVID-19 in Panama, men and women are only allowed out of the house on specific, separate days, and the police are checking the gender on ID cards of people in the streets. This has raised significant concern for transgender individuals, who may not have an ID that matches their gender. In Panama, transgender individuals can only change their gender marker on IDs if they can prove they have had gender-affirming surgery.

Peru - Court found Peruvian policy officers responsible for rape, torture of transgender woman. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has issued a ruling declaring that police officers in Casa Grande are responsible for raping and torturing a transgender woman. The woman later filed a formal complaint against them, which was dismissed. The ruling orders Peru to provide medical, psychological, and/or psychiatric treatment to the woman and to prosecute the officers who tortured her.

Poland - Parliament votes to delay controversial abortion and sex education bills. The controversial bills, which would criminalize sexuality education and effectively outlaw abortions. The two controversial pieces of legislation will be sent back to their respective committees.

Uganda - LGBTQ+ community raided in Uganda over concerns about social distancing. Twenty members of the LGBTQ+ community in Uganda have been detained after police raided the shelter and accused them of violating social distancing measures. However, LGBTQ+ rights leaders in the country have expressed concern that they were arrested because of their LGBTQ+ identities.

MEDIA MATTERS

Something to Talk About Live--a weekly live broadcast from PFLAG National--continues to bring in new viewers. Broadcast simultaneously via Facebook and YouTube, we offer content addressing LGBTQ+ concerns, focused primarily on diversity and inclusion, led by our Learning and Inclusion team. Join us live next Thursday, April 23rd, for a conversation with Metropolitan Community Church founder Reverend Troy Perry and Revolution church founder Rev. Jim Bakker.

Study shows that gender-affirming IDs help lower suicidal thoughts. A recent study published in the medical journal The Lancet has found that transgender people who have IDs that match their gender identity are 25% less likely to experience psychological distress or consider suicide.

Lesbian activist and icon Phyllis Lyon dies at 95. Lyon had been an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights since the 1950s, and was one of the original founders of the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian political and social organization in the nation. Lyon and her late wife, Del Martin, also began the publishing of a monthly magazine for a lesbian audience. Martin and Lyon were among the couples who sued for equal marriage rights in the case that led the California Supreme Court to allow same-sex marriage in 2008 and were the first same-sex couple married in San Francisco by then-Mayor Gavin Newsom shortly after.

Quarantined drag queens land TV show in Israel. Two drag queens, confined at home in Israel due to COVID-19, decided to broadcast a variety show from their apartment on Facebook. The show has been picked up by an Israeli TV network, where the two drag queens will be performing song-and-dance numbers and comedy routines.

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