| | Thank you to everyone who made our first Love Votes week of Action a success! We still have one more opportunity to take action THIS week. Join us this Saturday, September 28th, from 1:00-2:30 PM for an exciting volunteer training! You’ll get hands-on experience with our peer-to-peer organizing tool, designed to help you connect with your network to ensure they’re registered to vote and encourage them to pledge to be a PFLAG voter. Don't miss this opportunity to make a difference! Register now! ICYMI This week we hosted October’s PFLAG Academy Online, PFLAG Votes 2024: Know Your Rights as a PFLAG Voter. We had a dynamic conversation on voting rights and how to combat threats to democracy with Jessica Jones Capparell, Interim Director of Advocacy and Litigation for the League of Women Voters of the United States. Check it out. Stay tuned for more opportunities to take action with PFLAG in October. It is going to take all of us to get out the vote this election! Kentuckians Thank Governor Beshear for banning conversion therapy! The governor has taken an important step in protecting LGBTQ+ youth in Kentucky by signing an executive order banning conversion therapy. This harmful and discredited practice has no place in the Bluegrass State - or anywhere else. Thank the governor for protecting LGBTQ+ youth! |
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|  | | Here is a sample of what’s going on around the country. Please be kind to yourself and use your discretion while reading this section. You can share news from your state with [email protected] for possible inclusion in a future newsletter. Anti-trans state laws linked to increase in suicide attempts among trans and non-binary youth. In a study published in the Nature Human Behavior journal, states that adopted anti-transgender laws – including bathroom bans, healthcare bans, and anti-trans athlete bans – saw up to a 72% increase in suicide attempts among trans and nonbinary youth. PFLAG enhances protective factors in homes and communities through our support, education and advocacy efforts. Florida - PFLAG Safety Harbor hosts Love Votes panel. The chapter created a terrific “Love Votes” video following a discussion, entitled “Nonpartisan conversations representing diverse intersectionalities of our LGBTQ+ and allied Community.” The panel was made up of leaders from Tampa Bay Black lesbians, LGBT Latinos of Tampa Bay, Latina Lesbians of Tampa Bay, TransNetwork, Rainbow Family Wellness and Florida Freedom to Read. Nevada - PFLAG Silver City, others organize Silver City Pride Festival. The Pride celebration included voter registration efforts. Wisconsin - Muskego-Norway School Board removes anti-discrimination protections for trans, non-binary students. The school board voted to remove references to gender identity from its anti-discrimination policy on September 23rd. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction encourages, but does not require, schools to adopt nondiscrimination policies that include gender identity and expression. |
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| | | | Reported hate crimes rose in 2023, with one in five (20%) against the LGBTQ+ community. The FBI released data showing that, while violent crime overall fell from 2022 to 2023, reported hate crimes rose over the same period, up 16% on the basis of gender identity and 23% on the basis of sexual orientation. Federal government shutdown averted. Congress overwhelmingly passed a short-term spending bill to avoid a government shutdown on October 1st. The bill funds the federal government through December 20th, and does not include federal voter registration restrictions many conservatives demanded. Architect of the Capitol publishes list of single-occupancy bathrooms. The list covers all publicly accessible single-occupancy bathroom stalls both in the U.S. Capitol Building itself and in the House and Senate Office buildings. President Biden signs anti-gun violence executive order. The executive order, signed on September 26th, directs federal agencies to improve school-based active shooter drills and to combat machine gun conversion devices and unserialized, 3D-printed firearms. Dr. Jill Biden headlines United Nations LGBTI Core Group event. The First Lady gave a speech to the U.N. LGBTI Core Group on September 23rd in which she said “We’re not going to stand for hate, discrimination, and violence in our own country...We won’t stand for it anywhere in the world.” The LGBTI Core Group is made up of the European Union and more than three dozen countries that have pledged to support LGBTQ+ and intersex rights. Many school districts failing to implement new Title IX rule. While the 2020 rule change is still in place, the new Title IX rule is blocked from being enforced in 26 states, but even in states where the new rule is in effect, the Department of Education is receiving complaints about school districts failing to implement the new rules protecting LGBTQ+ students. |
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