| |  | | | This is the first issue of Policy Matters since the new Administration took the oath of office two days ago. With this new Administration comes a variety of new opportunities at the Federal, State, and local levels to enact helpful legislation and to prevent harmful bills from passing. We also have a number of legal cases coming up in courts across the country—including at the U.S. Supreme Court—that could help, or harm, our LGBTQ+ loved ones. Today, we take a look at The First 100 Days of the Biden-Harris Administration, as well as a look ahead at what PFLAG will be working on and fighting for. | | | | Mayor Pete Buttigieg is President Biden’s nominee for Transportation Secretary. If confirmed, Buttigieg would be the first openly gay American confirmed to lead a U.S. Cabinet department. For LGBTQ+ people, especially LGBTQ+ youth, the importance of this kind of inclusion and visibility cannot be overstated. As evidenced in his hearing, Mayor Buttigieg comes prepared with the skills and plans to help our cities, suburbs, and rural communities build back better by rebuilding critical infrastructure, creating jobs, and improving the quality of life for all people living in the United States. Call or email your two Senators and tell them to swiftly vote YES to confirm Mayor Buttigieg as the Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation. [Please note that, as of this writing, new Senators will need to be called, as their email addresses are not yet listed.] | | | | In addition to the Executive and Legislative branches of our government, the LGBTQ+ community relies on the Judicial branch to deliver justice. The following are just two cases on which we have worked and are expecting rulings; there are many more to come, not just at the Supreme Court, but in other courts across the country. - Cases at the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS).
- Senate Confirmation of Nominated Judges. Supreme Court justices, court of appeals judges, and district court judges are nominated by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate for lifetime appointments, as stated in the Constitution. When appropriate, and in concert with organizations focused on judicial issues, PFLAG National will join in coalition, mobilize advocacy, and weigh in.
| | | | PFLAG National is following President Biden’s First 100 Days very closely, watching as he takes inclusive action, and fighting to ensure that the concerns of our families are prioritized, including LGBTQ+ Civil Rights, Education, Healthcare, Immigration, Veterans Affairs, and Housing. PFLAG applauds President Biden for his early executive orders implementing the Bostock decision, reversing the former President’s prohibition of diversity and inclusion trainings in government agencies and contractors, ending the Muslim ban, preserving and strengthening the DACA program for undocumented residents brought to the US as children, and others. Here is a comprehensive list--on the official White House site--of the Executive Orders signed to date by President Biden. In The First 100 Days, PFLAG National will pursue passage of: - The Equality Act (HR 5) is expected to be introduced in the House in the next few weeks, with action in the Senate to follow later. PFLAG National will work to get the Equality Act passed by both chambers of the 117th Congress and signed into law by the President. The Equality Act will be the same bill text (linked above) as it was in the 116th Congress.
- The For the People Act (HR 1) has been introduced. The bill includes provisions on voting access and justice for LGBTQ+ people, other marginalized communities and our families.
PFLAG National Ongoing Federal Priorities: - Ending discrimination. PFLAG National will work for the full implementation across all federal agencies’ civil rights offices of SCOTUS’s Bostock decision.
- Title IX support, safety and well-being for LGBTQ+ students. PFLAG National will continue working to create comprehensive and robust guidelines for trans and nonbinary students as well as advocating for the Safe Schools Improvement Act, not yet introduced, but active in the 116th Congress.
- Data-driven response to COVID-19. PFLAG National will work to drive education and awareness of public health measures being implemented to combat COVID-19 at the national, state, and local levels. President Biden’s comprehensive COVID-19 plan was rolled out on Day 2, and many Executive Orders on Day 1 gave evidence-based actions to take regarding prevention, including vaccine education and access, and a mask mandate.
- Advocating for inclusive and comprehensive healthcare. PFLAG National will:
- Work with the Administration to remove discrimination and allow healthcare coverage for people with pre-existing conditions in accordance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Section 1557;
- Work to end discrimination against gay and bisexual men in regards to the FDA blood donation policy;
- Advocate for the use of science-based practices in HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment, services, and research.
- Immigration reform. PFLAG National will work in support of an immigration system that:
- Transgender military service. PFLAG National has consistently fought to establish open military service for Transgender people, which we will advocate to establish in the First 100 Days by Executive Order. We will then work with the Administration through enactment and implementation to protect trans service members and their dependents.
- Reducing anti-transgender violence. PFLAG National will work to establish an interagency working group to prioritize study of and action to address the epidemic of violence and murder of transgender people, especially Black and Latina/x women and nonbinary people.
- LGBTQ+ Data Collection. PFLAG National will advocate for uniform federal data collection to be prioritized, inclusive of LGBTQ+ people, across federal agencies.
- Banning conversion therapy. PFLAG National will continue to work to prohibit the harmful practice of conversion therapy by recognizing it as consumer fraud as a business practice.
| | | | PFLAG National continues its focus on blocking potentially harmful bills and passing helpful ones at the state and municipal levels. Here are PFLAG National state (and municipal) priorities for the year ahead. Anti-Transgender Legislation PFLAG National offers the #TransKids#SoFierce resource toolkit--with easy-to-use messaging and FAQs--for chapters to employ as they prepare to advocate for transgender and nonbinary youth. - Anti-transgender healthcare access bills. Some states have bills that criminalize transition-related care for transgender youth, targeting either parents or medical providers.
- Anti-transgender youth sports participation bills. These bills focus on denying trans students the right to play school sports on teams that align with their gender identity, restricting participation with their peers, and preventing them from opportunities for teamwork and collegial lessons built through participation in sports.
- “License to Discriminate” bills. At the core of most states’ discriminatory or harmful bills targeting LGBTQ+ people is a desire to use the freedom of religion as a license to discriminate.
Conversion Therapy Bans Conversion therapy is still legal in 29 states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming PFLAG National is working with the PFLAG Chapter Network, and in coalition with other organizations, to fight harmful bills and push supportive bills, both at the state and municipal levels. Anti-Discrimination Ordinances While advocating strongly in every zip code for the federal Equality Act, some locales are also advocating for inclusive anti-discrimination bills to include employment, housing, healthcare and other rights afforded to other populations. In 2021, North Carolina is leading the nation by already having secured local anti-discrimination ordinances in Durhan (city), Chapel Hill, Hillsborough, Orange County, Carrboro, and Greensboro, with a battery of others in queue and on the way. Stay tuned for more good news on this front. | | | | While PFLAG National is an organization focused on LGBTQ+ equality and justice in the United States, there are ways we participate globally in support of the health and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ people everywhere. - State Department International Visitor Leadership Program. PFLAG National is always asked to participate in the U.S. State Department’s International Visitors Leadership Program, where LGBTQ+ organizational or educational leaders visit the U.S., usually traveling to multiple states and D.C., seeking best practices to carry back to their home countries. While COVID-19 will prevent in-person meetings, the new Administration is expected to revive this program, and PFLAG National will work to support parents and families who want to get involved in LGBTQ+ support and advocacy in their own countries. This program has led to the development of global PFLAG organizations in many countries around the world. We will also seek again a State Department LGBTQ+ Special Envoy executive.
- PFLAG National Publication Licensing Program. PFLAG National licenses its publications to global organizations, who translate them, make them culturally relevant, use them locally, and then offer those translated versions back to PFLAG National to provide them to people from their countries who are in the U.S.
- Fight for LGBTQ+ non-discrimination internationally through legislation such as the GLOBE Act and PEPFAR, the global HIV and AIDS treatment and services program.
| | | | | | | | PFLAG National
1625 K St NW Suite 700 | Washington, District of Columbia 20006
(202) 467-8180 | [email protected] | | | | | | | | | | | |
