| | Submit Your Comments On Gender-Affirming Care to the FTC 26 states have anti-trans healthcare bans, with more states trying to pile on with anti-trans discrimination. Now, the federal government is trying to criminalize medically necessary healthcare for trans, nonbinary, and intersex youth. It’s time to take action in support of our loved ones. The FTC is using its regulatory authority to target medically necessary care for transgender youth. The FTC held a hearing on July 9th on this issue, where the agency demonstrated clear pre-existing bias against this care. We need folks to submit comments to the FTC and tell them that transgender people are real, they deserve affirming medical care, and that care should be available without government interference. Visit pflag.org/gac_ftc for important guidance on submitting federal comments and then submit your comment today! Learning With Love DEI and Resilience Workshop Tracks Our DEI workshops will include A radicalBLend on Identity + Inclusion, where attendees will explore the definition of intersectionality and its impact on queer youth of color and their families; African Queerness and Intersectionality, where participants will expand their understanding of intersectionality and decolonization, explore how to create safer, more inclusive spaces for LGBTQ+ Africans, and amplify stories with pride and purpose; and First, Do No Further Harm: Addressing Implicit Bias in the Workplace, Classroom, and Doctor’s Office, an honest, action-oriented conversation about implicit bias and how it shows up in workplaces, classrooms, and healthcare settings. Our Resilience workshop track will include Leading with Joy to Drive Meaningful Change, where participants will learn how to use joy as a tool and encourage and empower new allies and advocates to step into their power and make a difference; Recharge & Rewire: How to Show Up Stronger Without Burning Out, an interactive workshop designed to help you step out of the burnout cycle and reclaim your sense of agency and resilience; and What We Know May Harm Us: A Joy-Fueled Path to Courageous Love, where you’ll gain practical strategies for engaging in joyful resistance, building inclusive communities, and protecting your own spirit in the face of opposition Don’t wait—spaces are filling up fast! Register TODAY at pflag.org/2025convention. |
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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. Delaware - John Brady, first openly gay elected official in the state, dies at 66. John Brady was elected to register in chancery, recorder of deeds, and clerk of the peace in Sussex County. In the latter role, he performed the first legal same-sex marriages in Delaware in 2013. Florida - Hillsborough County Public Schools removes LGBTQ+ book from the shelves. “Trans Mission: My Quest to a Beard” was removed from school libraries after state Education Commissioner Stasi Kamoutsas publicly demanded the book be taken off the shelves. Minnesota - Teenage girl files discrimination case against Buffalo Wild Wings after a server asked her to prove her gender. Gerika Mudra, who is a cisgender girl, says she went to use the women’s bathroom at the restaurant and a server followed her into the bathroom, tried to get Mudra to leave the bathroom, and forced Mudra to unzip her sweatshirt and show the server her (clothed) breasts to prove her gender. Gender Justice filed a discrimination complaint on Mudra’s behalf with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR). North Carolina - Atrium Health announces it will cease providing medically necessary care to trans and nonbinary youth under 19. Atrium Health’s parent company, Advocate Health, revised its policies to “no longer provide or prescribe gender-affirming care medications for patients under age 19.” Ohio - Proposed allot questions relating to equal rights, same-sex marriage allowed to move forward. The Ohio Ballot Board allowed organizers to begin collecting signatures on two proposed ballot measures in an effort to get both questions in front of voters. One proposed question would amend the state constitution to forbid discrimination based on 12 different protected characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. The other would repeal the state’s dormant constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Virginia - Loudon County schools to maintain trans inclusive policies. The Loudon County School Board voted 6-3 to maintain its policies allowing trans students to use facilities matching their gender identity, despite an order from the U.S. Department of Education for the district to change the policy. The Board stated that the Department of Education’s order created “a direct tension between federal agency guidance and binding judicial authority.” |
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| | | To inform your activism, advocacy, and media work, please use our Executive Order explainers and resources web page. References to LGBTQ+ people removed from State Department human rights report. The 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices made no mention of Uganda’s “Anti-Homosexuality” law, high rates of murders of transgender people in Brazil, or the anti-LGBTQ+ “propaganda” law in Hungary. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reposts video of pastor advocating for reinstatement of laws criminalizing homosexuality. On August 7th, Hegseth shared a CNN interview with his church’s pastor Doug Wilson on his X (formerly, Twitter) account. Wilson shared in the interview that U.S. states should re-criminalize bans on consensual sex between same-sex partners. Wilson also claimed that slavery, in some cases, promoted “affection between the races,” and that the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, should be repealed. Hegseth attended the recent opening of Wilson’s Christ Church in Washington, DC. |
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