TAKE ACTION

We still need YOUR stories about why you oppose conversion therapy. Share your thoughts with us about the damaging and dangerous practice of so-called conversion therapy, which PFLAG National and PFLAGers across the country are working to end. We need you to be part of the process by raising your PFLAG voice!

Call your representatives and encourage them to support H.R. 306 to collect data on the use of deadly force by law enforcement. Support of this bill is one of PFLAG National’s priorities, especially in the wake of George Floyd’s death. LGBTQ+ people, especially transgender people, have been historically subject to police violence and brutality. This bill aims to hold law enforcement agencies accountable for acts of violence and decrease that violence.

COURT MATTERS

Gloucester County (Virginia) School Board defends bathroom ban on transgender students to a federal appeals court on May 26th. After last year’s U.S. District Court ruling in favor of Gavin Grimm, the school board has argued that its policies did not violate Grimm’s Constitutional rights as a transgender man because it alleges that the 14th Amendment and Title IX protect against discriminate based on sex, not gender identity.

Supreme Court allows Idaho prison inmate to continue towards gender-confirmation surgery while lawsuit moves forward. Experiencing gender dysphoria during her time in the men’s prison, Adree Edmo has finally been approved for pre-surgical treatments. Though she now battles an appeal by Idaho officials who contend that Edmo should not have access to a tax-funded surgical procedure over other Idahoans.

FEDERAL MATTERS

PFLAG National and other leading national LGBTQ+ organizations issue a joint statement to combat racial violence. The statement makes explicit commitments to embrace anti-racism and end white supremacy as integral components of realizing equality for LGBTQ+ people. It follows the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery.

Migrant families caught between pandemic and policy. People fleeing persecution and now crowded areas with high rates of COVID-19 cases struggle to stay with families at the US-Mexico border. Unaccompanied minors’ cases press on while parents’ cases are delayed due to the virus’s systemic impact.

The U.S. Department of Education combats Connecticut law and practice of non discriminating against trans athletes from competition. Despite state law letting athletes compete on the teams that match their gender, the DOE has determined in a decision that could force the state to halt the practice in order to receive state funds. Connecticut is one of 18 states, plus DC, that allows transgender athletes to compete in schools without restrictions.

STATE MATTERS

Arkansas - Area’s sole LGBTQ+ youth shelter abruptly shuts down in May. Known as Lucie’s Place, the shelter provided resources such as food and housing to surrounding queer youth and young adults. A series of events ending on April 30th made residents feel unsafe there due to reported staffers’ homophobic and transphobic remarks. Management characterizes closing the shelter as a difficult decision, especially at this time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Michigan - Ballot initiative to protect LGBTQ+ Michiganders from discrimination stalls due to COVID-19. The proposed amendment to the The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act needs 340,000 signatures to appear on the general election ballot in November as proponents are suing to extend the deadline. The amendment would affirm inclusive rulings by the Michigan Civil Rights Commission that deems sex discrimination to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

New York - State Senator Brad Hoylman turned away from donating blood. Despite the FDA shortening its moratorium on gay and bisexual men donating blood to three months of sexual abstinence on April 2nd, the Senator was barred from the New York Blood Center while following the new protocols. PFLAG National continues its work to demand a clean blood supply, to halt the discrimination of targeting by sexual orientation, and to urge assessment based solely on risk behavior for all people, not only gay and bisexual men.

Tennessee - Anti-trans HB1572 advances to committee. The bill would force elementary and secondary schools to place athletes on the teams that match their sex on their original birth certificate. Noncompliant schools would face a $10,000 fine and an immediate loss of state funds. PFLAG continues to fight this and all anti-LGBTQ+ bills.

GLOBAL MATTERS

Albania - Order of Psychologists prohibits conversion therapy. Counselors must be members of this organization to practice, which effectively bans the practice nationwide. Albania is the third nation in the European Union to ban conversion therapy.

Costa Rica - Expiration of same-sex marriage ban makes it the first Central American country to legalize marriage equality. The ban ended after a 2018 court ruling that found marriage equality unconstitutional and discriminatory. Daritza Araya Arguedas and Alexandra Quirós Castillo publicly wed as the country’s first legal LGBTQ+ spouses.

France - Law fighting online hate speech passes French parliament on May 27th amidst controversy. Content that discriminates based on “the grounds of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or disability” must be removed within 24 hours.

Marie Cau elected first openly transgender mayor in France. At age 55, she ran on platforms of ecological sustainability in the small village of Tilloy-lez-Marchiennes. Inaugurated May 23rd, she is eager to advance efforts of trans-visibility and environmental consciousness.

Hungary - Legislation passes to reverse legal recognition of trans and intersex people. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán pushed to change “sex,” which is the same as gender in Hungarian, to “sex assigned at birth.” President Janos Ader has not signed this law, but the law will still go into effect due to the vote to grant PM Orbán unlimited power to stop COVID-19.

Zambia - President Edgar Lungu pardons gay couple sentenced to 15 years in prison. Originally condemned for having sex by colonial era legislation in November, Japhet Chataba and Steven Samba were released along with 3,000 other prisoners in light of Africa Freedom Day on May 25th.

MEDIA MATTERS

LGBTQ+ people observe the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia on May 17. This year’s IDAHOBIT theme was “Breaking the Silence.” Observants urged allies and leaders to stay aware of the impact of COVID-19 on LGBTQ+ people.

Calvin Klein launches their #ProudInMyCalvins campaign despite in-person Pride cancellations. The models come from across the world, becoming the representation they did not have as LGBTQ+ youth. Calvin Klein is proudly supporting PFLAG National as a year-round partner, kicking off with this campaign, as well as OutRight Action International and their COVID-19 LGBTIQ+ Global Emergency Fund.

McKinsley LaKeith Lincoln, a Black gay man, is killed in an apparent hate crime in Louisiana. His family reported him missing on May 15th. Hours later, police found his body with a gunshot wound. His mother, Pamela Lincoln, said her son was an “openly gay man and was the target of harassment and discrimination.” Lincoln’s death comes at a time when violence against Black, LGBTQ+, and Black LGBTQ+ people is surging.

The trailer for Love, Victor premieres. The 10-episode series is an adaptation of the 2018 gay coming-of-age, coming out movie Love, Simon, on which PFLAG National partnered. The series premieres on Hulu on June 19th, and PFLAG National again plans to partner in support of the series.

15 LGBTQ+ art shows can now be viewed virtually. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many LGBTQ+- themed art exhibitions planned for 2020 have not been accessible; however, certain galleries have made some exhibits available online.

LGBTQ+ Activist, Author and Playwright Larry Kramer passes away at age 84. He founded ACT UP and the Gay Men’s Health Crisis. His activism spanned both demonstrations and media representation. His play, The Normal Heart, broke ground in representing the impacts of the AIDS crisis. PFLAG National Executive Director Brian K. Bond shared a statement from PFLAG, which is included in part in the NY Times article linked above, and in full on PFLAG’s social media accounts.

Fast Company introduces first Queer50. In collaboration with Lesbians Who Tech and Allies, Fast Company introduced the first-ever list of 50 LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary innovators in business and tech. Transgender women are bountiful on the list, including Raquel Willis, a writer, editor, activist, and daughter of PFLAG National Board member Marilyn Willis, along with PFLAG friends Janet Mock and Angelica Ross.

Pixar Studio’s first gay character featured in new short film, ‘Out’. Directed by Steven Clay Hunter, the nine-minute animated short covers the storyline of a gay man coming out to his parents and moving in with his partner, promoting messages of love and acceptance.

Tallahassee police officer fatally shoots Tony McDade, a Black trans man. As a content warning, much of the media coverage of his death misgenders him. PFLAG National mourns the death of Tony McDade and strives to end violence against trans people of color.

Dastan Kasmamytov postpones next climb but stays committed to summiting each continent’s tallest mountain. The Kyrgyzstan-born climber has found peace in the mountains after enduring so-called conversion therapy. His goal of flying a rainbow flag across the world is to increase representation of LGBTQ+ people.