Learning With Love: The 2025 PFLAG National Convention takes place next week, October 10-12; as such, there will not be an issue of Policy Matters next Friday.

Beginning Friday, October 17th, we’ll be launching a *NEW* Friday newsletter, PFLAG Takes Action, which will provide advocacy opportunities, uplift the incredible work of PFLAGers taking action across the country, and also continue delivering the critical policy updates you rely on for your own advocacy work. 

We’re excited to share this new weekly update with you, every Friday!

Take Action

Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week kicks off on Sunday, October 5th. PFLAG National is a proud member of a coalition working to end censorship. Visit the coalition website to learn more about the week and discover ways you can take action in the fight against book bans.

Floridians 

Join Parenting With Pride and PFLAG National for a legislative advocacy training on October 9th at 6pm ET. In this session, you’ll learn strategies for building relationships with elected officials, speaking up at school board meetings, and advocating effectively for LGBTQ+ people and their families. 

Texans 

Join our friends at TENT for their Know Your Rights Tour! TENT will be visiting cities across the state this fall hosting community teach-ins and creative workshops for trans folks and their supporters. During each teach-in, TENT will review bills from this year’s legislative sessions, share tools to stay safe, and cultivate community. Sign up to attend a Know Your Rights event today! 

State Matters

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.

California - Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoes bill updating health education standards. Governor Newsom vetoed AB 86, which would have updated standards for health education for students in elementary and middle school to include teachers’ ability to introduce the concept that gender does not always match sex assigned at birth. The Governor said in his veto message that he thought the bill should not be considered until after the state concluded a study looking at the health education curricula. 

Anti-LGBTQ+ activist disrobes at school board meeting. The Moms for Liberty member was testifying before Davis Joint Unified School District’s Board of Education against the Board’s policy of allowing trans students to use bathrooms and locker rooms aligned with their gender identity when she began taking off her clothes. She stripped down to her underwear and tried to put on a school P.E. uniform; the meeting was quickly called into recess. 

Minnesota - U.S. Department of Education says Minnesota Department of Education, High School League are violating Title IX. Federal officials say that Minnesota’s policy of allowing trans athletes to compete in women’s and girl’s sports violates the Administration’s interpretation of Title IX. 

Texas - Texas Tech chancellor limits university classroom discussions of transgender, nonbinary people. Chancellor Tedd Mitchell issued a letter instructing the system’s five universities to follow the President’s executive order recognizing only male and female sexes, Gov. Greg Abbott’s letter directing state agencies to “reject woke gender ideologies,” and a new state law that requires a strict binary definition of gender for the collection of vital statistics.

Federal Matters

Federal government shuts down. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 750,000 federal workers will be furloughed during the shutdown. In a press briefing on September 30th, the President appeared to blame trans people, in part, for the shutdown, saying Congressional Democrats “want transgender for everybody.” The delay is due to an impasse on healthcare insurance premiums and support programs, including WIC, for pregnant individuals and their children.

Marginalized individuals risk erasure due to Trump Administration's funding incentive to key universities. The Administration sent letters to 10 universities offering priority access for federal funding if their administrators sign onto the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.” The compact, among other things, asks these universities to “adopt a strict definition of gender,” to ban trans women from women’s bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams, and to cancel all race-specific scholarships. 

Trump Administration scrubs transgender people from federal threat assessment reports. Memos and reports authored by the Department of Homeland Security and other federal law enforcement agencies to describe potential threats at Pride events erased inclusion of transgender people, mentioning only “the LGB+ community,” rather than the “LGBTQ+ community.” 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) bars doctors from writing referrals for medically necessary care for transgender veterans. Doctors at the VA had already been barred from providing gender-affirming surgeries for veterans, but the Administration is now instructing doctors at the VA to stop providing forms and support letters referring veterans to private medical providers for gender-affirming care.

Court Matters

Supreme Court term begins October 6th. The justices will hear a case this term regarding the constitutionality of states banning conversion practices – for which NCLR filed an amicus brief that includes PFLAG National – and a case about banning trans athletes. 

Supreme Court rules Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her position temporarily. The Court ruled on October 1st that Cook must be allowed to remain on the Fed’s Board of Governors, at least until the Court hears oral arguments in the case surrounding her firing last January. 

Federal appeals court rules Department of Education can fire civil rights staff. The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on September 29th that the Department can proceed with firing almost half its civil rights staff.

Global Matters

Australia - Gay Malaysian man gets protective visa to stay in Australia. The Homa Affairs Department initially rejected the man’s application for a protective visa, saying he did not provide enough evidence that he was gay. However, an administrative review tribunal reversed the decision, saying the man is gay and could face persecution in Malaysia. 

Canada - Government warns citizens with nonbinary gender markers on their passports that they may be denied entry to the U.S. A new government travel advisory for the United States reads “While the Government of Canada issues passports with a ‘X’ gender identifier, it cannot guarantee your entry or transit through other countries.”

Slovakia - Parliament passes constitutional amendment recognizing only two sexes, limiting adoption. Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government managed to pass the amendment through parliament with a bare majority.

Media Matters

GLMA Executive Director Alex Sheldon named in Time 100 list. PFLAG National CEO Brian Bond wrote that Sheldon “is the kind of leader who, in the face of unimaginable vitriol, brings the facts. They rise to the occasion time and again, leading GLMA to support providers dedicated to improving health for LGBTQ+ people.” 

World Gay Rodeo returns to Reno for 50th Anniversary. The event will take place from October 9th through October 12th. 

Pro golfer Rory McIlroy subjected to homophobic slur at Ryder Cup. One spectator hurled a homophobic slur at McIlroy, who promptly having the spectator removed from the premises. 

Openly trans woman named Miss Universe Vietnam. Nguyen Huong Giang, a Vietnamese reality star, was named Miss Universe Vietnam in a historic first. 

Norman Jones, inaugural winner of Miss Gay America pageant, dies at 79. Jones, better known by his drag name, Norma Kristie, was a pioneer in the queer scene of Little Rock, Arkansas. Jones was crowned Miss Gay America Emeritus in 1972.

PFLAG National
(202) 467-8180 | [email protected]

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