Federal Matters Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2019 to be introduced in Senate on September 24th. While Rep. Linda Sanchez (CA-38) introduced SSIA in the House on May 9th, the Senate bill will be introduced by Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA) on Tuesday, Sep. 24th. PFLAG National endorses this bill and includes it in One Voice Can Change the World Advocacy guide. Sec. of Education Betsy DeVos attends roundtable at Pennsylvania Catholic school that has an anti-trans student policy. This follows Sec. DeVos in 2017 withdrawing protections for transgender students in public schools and in 2018 ceasing investigation into civil rights complaints from transgender students banned from using bathrooms conforming with their gender identity. This report follows Sec. DeVos's visit to the Harrisburg school on Sep. 19th. Court Matters Federal Judge threw out lawsuit filed against Southern Policy Law Center (SPLC). U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington, D.C. ruled on September 13th that the Center for Immigration Studies’ lawsuit is devoid of any allegation that SPLC made a false statement about the Center. The suit alleged that SPLC’s leaders tried to financially destroy one of the organizations that it labeled as a hate group. State Department sued by Maryland gay couple for refusing to acknowledge their daugther's U.S. citizenship, despite the fact that they are legally married. Roee Kiviti was born in Israel and naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1993 and his husband Adiel Kiviti was born in Israel and naturalized as a U.S. citizen in January 2019. They were married in California in 2013 and lived abroad until 2015. They have two children by surrogacy in Canada; the three-year-old son is recognized as a U.S. citizen, but the daughter born in February 2019 is not because State recognizes only one parent to have a biological connection to the daughter. State refuses to acknowledge same-sex marriages as legal. Stay tuned to PFLAG media channels as this develops. State Matters Arizona - In a 4-3 opinion, The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a Phoenix-based small business that refused to produce wedding invitations for LGBTQ+ couples. The case began in May 2016, after a small business claimed that a Phoenix anti-discrimination law violated their artistic and religious freedom. They filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court. California - LA County is the first local government body in the U.S. to pass historic motion requiring the Medical Examiner/Coroner to collect sexual orientation and gender identity data. The motion requires investigation of violent deaths, including suicides, hate crimes and homicides, to determine if they involve the LGBTQ+ community. The motion requires regular reports back to the Supervisors so that they can develop better prevention and safety policies. Colorado - Gov. Jared Polis awards six recipients of the Colorado Governor's Citizenship Medal, including Tim Gill. Gov. Polis, the first openly gay person elected governor in the U.S. and a friend of PFLAG, will present on October 12th six Medals to recognize Colorado’s remarkable leaders for their impact on their communities, including one to Tim Gill, the openly gay Colorado-based philanthropist and founder in 1994 of the pro-LGBTQ+ Gill Foundation. Florida - “Ex-gay” industry, now using the name “Changed Movement” held rally at Orlando’s Lake Eola amphitheater, where the Pulse community memorial event occurred. Two Pulse survivors were among the speakers and founded a ministry that they say does not practice conversion therapy but both claim to be “overcomers” of homosexuality and thanked parents who prayed for their homosexual children “not to come back to them, but for us to come back to Jesus.” Other Freedom Marches were held in DC and Minneapolis as well as Orlando. Kansas - The 19th reported murder of a transgender American occurred on September 13th in Kansas City, when Ja’leyah-Jamar, an African-American transgender woman, was shot to death. Police and media reports misgendered and deadnamed her, but local activists confirmed that she was a transgender woman. Massachusetts - Greater Boston PFLAG and PFLAG National testified at Joint House Committee hearing on September 10th. The PFLAG chapter featured a panel of young adults who identify and non-binary and PFLAG National’s Diego Sanchez also testified in favor of H. 3664, which would provide for a gender neutral designation “X” on state documents and identifications. Also on-hand was the chapter’s new Interim ED Ellen Sturgis. North Carolina - Missing transgender woman's body found burned beyond recognition in Charlotte. On September 17th, 55-year-old transgender woman Bubba Smith was identified as the person whose body was discovered by an insurance adjuster following a mysterious house fire on July 27th. Global Matters Cuba - Cuban government prevents LGBTI activist from traveling to the U.S. On August 15th, Leandro Rodriguez Garcia, director of the Cuban Foundation for LGBTI Rights, an independent advocacy group, was prevented from leaving the country and texted the Washington Blade reporter and PFLAG friend, Michael Lavers. Czechoslovakia - Supporters of same-sex marriage demonstrate in Prague. Several hundred people convened in the center of Prague on September 16th to show support for the bill to allow same-sex marriage in the Czech Republic. If approved, it would make the Czech Republic the first post-communist state to permit same-sex marriage. Great Britain - Hundreds parade through London for its inaugural Trans Pride march on September 14th. More than 1,500 people participated in the parade which organizers said was a protest against a perceived lack of rights and a celebration of community. More than half of British adults support primary school LGBT lessons, research shows. Commissioned by Stonewall, the report shows that 60% of the 1,000 British adults surveyed believe it’s right to teach pupils about different kinds of families, including same-sex parenting. Jamaica - Jamaica records the most incidents of human rights violation compared to its Caribbean neighboring countries. Totaling 505 from August 2013-2018, most of the violence was against males (52.1%) with females having reported 33.5% of the cases. Transgender women reported nine times the number of cases as transgender men, and one case disclosed no gender. Guyana had the second-highest (404) followed by Suriname (315). Rwanda - Well-known gospel singer comes out as gay and shocks many Rwandans. Friends of Albert Nabonibo would not disclose their names to reporters, describing the news of him coming out on a Christian YouTube channel as shameful and anguishing. LGBT Rwandans genderally keep a low profile, and Nabonibo told the AP that he came out in order to live normally. Serbia - Openly lesbian Serbian Prime Ministter Ana Brnabic and her partner attend LGBT Pride Parade in Belgrade on September 15th. While thousands joined the parade in the capital, dozens protested before the parade began. Media Matters PFLAG National's Latinx Heritage Month video makes the news. The video features members of PFLAG En Espanol in Los Angeles and is directed by award-winning filmmaker Nick Oceano, whose feature directorial debut “Pedro,” the MTV biopic about AIDS activist Pedro Zamora (a cast-member of MTV’s “The Real World”) was nominated for several awards. Political media beacon and veteran Cokie Roberts dies at 75. A long-time ABC News and founding NPR media champion for the unheard or mistreated, including LGBTQ+ people and their parents and families, Cokie Robers will be missed. Transgender individuals subjected to conversion therapy more at risk of psychological distress than their non-trans peers, study finds. A new study published in monthly, peer-reviewed JAMA Psychiatry by the American Medical Association, analyzed more than 27,000 transgender adults. Prince Harry praises rugby star Gareth Thomas for disclosing his HIV status. Gareth Thomas revealed that he is HIV positive, driven by a tabloid’s threat to reveal that publicly. Thomas seized the opportunity to commit to tackle stigma in an emotional video statement on BBC Wales. Truth Wins Out creates video to showcase openly gay Orlando elected official who survived "Ex-Gay" program. Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan, Central Florida’s first openly gay elected official, disclosed to TWO's Wayne Besen that she is an ex-gay program survivor. NBC's “Saturday Night Live” cuts ties with Shane Gillis over past offensive remarks. After comedian Gills was named among three new SNL cast members, several of his past podcasts with racist, homophobic and misogynistic remarks were circulated. The network apologized for its failure to live up to its vetting standards and took swift action to dismiss him from the cast. | 
