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. Abortion rights ballot measures pass in seven states. In Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and New York, voters adopted ballot measures to protect abortion rights in their state constitutions. Similar ballot questions failed to secure enough support in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Marriage equality ballot measures pass in three states. Voters in California, Colorado, and Hawaii approved measures to remove language banning same-sex marriage from their state constitutions. These bans have been unenforceable since the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges. California - Gov. Newsom calls for a special session of the state legislature. The Governor called for lawmakers to convene a special session later this year to protect the state’s policies on climate change, reproductive rights, and immigration from the incoming Administration. Iowa - Aime Wichtendahl becomes state’s first openly trans legislator. Wichtendahl was previously the first openly trans person to be elected to any government body in Iowa when she won a seat on the Hiawatha City Council. Kentucky - Keturah Herron becomes state’s first openly LGBTQ+ woman elected to the state Senate. Senator-elect Herron is the first LGBTQ+ woman and the first LGBTQ+ woman of color ever elected to the state Senate. She was also the first openly LGBTQ+ woman elected to the state House, which she was elected to in 2022. Montana - State Rep. Zooey Zephyr re-elected. Representative Zephyr became the first openly trans person elected to the Montana Legislature. She was censured and barred from the House floor for almost the entirety of her term after forcefully defending medically necessary care for trans and non-binary youth in a floor debate. New York - Voters approve Proposition 1. The proposition amends the state constitution to bar discrimination based on gender identity and pregnancy outcomes. North Carolina - Josh Stein elected governor; Republicans lose supermajorities in state legislature. Attorney General Josh Stein was elected governor in a landslide election, succeeding two-term Governor Roy Cooper. Simultaneously, Republicans appear to have lost their veto-proof supermajority in the State House. | 
