| | There’s Still Time to Join Us at Learning With Love: The 2025 PFLAG National Convention Registration closes on September 30th! Join us for plenaries, special guest speakers, and six different workshop tracks covering Communications; Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; Resilience; Trans and Nonbinary Inclusion; and Underserved Communities; along with a Chapter Skills track, just for PFLAG chapter leaders. You’ve only got until September 30th to register. Wondering about the details? We’ve got you covered. Hotel information will be provided in your registration confirmation! Don’t wait—register TODAY at: pflag.org/2025convention. Have questions? Reach out to us at [email protected]! |
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|  | | Here is a sample of what’s going on around the country. You can share news from your state with [email protected] for possible inclusion in a future newsletter. Alabama - “Don’t Say LGBTQ” bill prefiled for 2026 legislative session. State Representative Mack Butler (R-Rainbow City) prefiled HB 23, which would ban discussions of gender identity as well as the display of pride flags and other related symbols in public classrooms. Alabama already censors classroom discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through fifth grade. Florida - State Surgeon General announces plan to end all vaccine mandates. Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced in a press conference with Gov. DeSantis that he planned to end all vaccine mandates in the state, including for children to attend public schools. The announcement was immediately criticized by public health experts, including the President of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association. Texas - Legislature passes anti-trans facilities ban bill. The State Senate gave final approval to SB 8 on September 3rd after concurring to changes to the bill made by the State House. The bill requires government entities, localities, schools, and universities to adopt policies prohibiting transgender people from using bathrooms, locker rooms, and other sex separated facilities aligning with their gender identity. Gov. Abbott is expected to sign the bill. Harris County Commission approves grant to host Gay Softball World Series in Houston. The County Commission approved a $500,000 grant to International Pride Softball to host the Gay Softball World Series in Houston from September 21st to 27th. The event has been held in Texas three times in the past 10 years, and International Pride Softball has routinely received state grant money to put on its World Series. This year, however, Gov. Greg Abbott rejected the grant proposal, leaving Harris County to step in. |
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| | | Federal judge rules that National Guard, Marine Corps deployment to Los Angeles was illegal. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled that Trump violated the Posse Comitatus Act by deploying 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to Los Angeles in June. The Posse Comitatus Act is a 19th-century law which bans the use of soldiers for civilian law enforcement activities. Federal judge declines to block Idaho bathroom ban. Federal District Judge David Nye rejected a request for a preliminary injunction from two transgender college students who are trying to block enforcement of HB 264, which requires colleges, universities, prisons, and domestic violence shelters to segregate sex-separated facilities by sex assigned at birth. |
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| | | To inform your activism, advocacy, and media work, please use our Executive Order explainers and resources web page. Justice Department considering potential ban on transgender people owning guns. The U.S. Department of Justice officials have been discussing a potential ban on transgender people owning guns following the mass shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school. Officials in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel and Office of the Attorney General are considering whether being transgender could be considered a mental illness that could, under existing firearm regulations, disqualify someone from possessing a firearm (mainstream psychiatrists do not consider being transgender a mental illness). While the White House confirmed these discussions are happening, such a policy is “not on the docket” for the Administration. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) attacks “lifestyle” of openly gay former CDC official. Demetre Daskalakis, MD, MPH, resigned as Director of the Center of Immunization and Respiratory Diseases on August 27th. On September 2nd, Senator Paul said that Daskalakis, who is openly gay, “should have never had a position in government” due to his “risky” lifestyle and that Americans would “discount his opinion.” Appropriations Committee releases draft funding bill cutting all domestic HIV prevention programs. The draft FY 2026 appropriations bill includes $1.7 billion of funding cuts for domestic HIV prevention, treatment, and care programs. This would eliminate federal funding for HIV prevention programs including the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative program the Trump Administration pushed for in Trump’s first term. HIV/AIDS activists demonstrate near the White House. 100 HIV/AIDS activists protested near the White House on September 2nd, demanding the Trump Administration fully fund PEPFAR, which funds HIV/AIDS prevention programs in Africa. Transgender federal employees facing difficult environment under Trump Administration. Transgender employees are speaking out about the impact anti-trans executive actions are having on their lives, including a new policy that will exclude gender-affirming care from coverage under federal employee health benefits. |
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| | | Burkina Faso - Junta passes law banning homosexuality. The ruling junta unanimously passed a law punishing “perpetrator[s] of homosexual or similar practices” with between two and five years in prison. Netherlands - Parliament considers conversion therapy ban. Amendments to the bill aimed at garnering a parliamentary majority in support of the legislation – such as defining what would and would not be prosecuted as illegal conversion therapy efforts – could potentially allow the bill to pass, which was seen as unlikely earlier this year. United Kingdom - Openly lesbian army veteran receives apology for dismissal. Linda Garnham was discharged from the army for her sexual orientation. The government sent her an apology letter for her dismissal as well as a ceremonial beret. Vatican City - Pope Leo meets with Rev. James Martin. Father Martin is the author of a book urging Catholic leaders to engage and welcome the gay community, and leads an online news site dedicated to LGBT Catholics. He met with the Pope at the Apostolic Palace and Martin reported that the Pope “wants everyone in the church to feel welcome…His approach to LGBTQ Catholics is a continuation of Pope Francis' legacy." |
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