COURT MATTERS

President Biden pledges diverse slate of federal court nominees. The President is expected to nominate Ketanji Brown Jackson to the DC Circuit Court as early as the week of March 15th and has pledged to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court calls off upcoming arguments over Medicaid work requirements. The Biden Administration requested this dismissal because it plans not to implement work requirements for Medicaid.

Biden administration requests Supreme Court to dismiss case over abortion “gag rule.” The previous Administration barred federally funded health care providers in the Title X family planning program from referring patients for abortions. Acting Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar petitioned the Court on March 12th to dismiss the case.

FEDERAL MATTERS

Senate Judiciary Committee holds hearing on the Equality Act. The hearing, held on March 17th, featured PFLAG National Board Member Dr. Edith Guffey, MSW, as a witness for the Equality Act.

Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee advances nomination of Dr. Rachel Levine. The committee historically advanced Dr. Levine’s nomination as Assistant Secretary of Health in a bipartisan 13-9 vote.

Rep. Deb Haaland confirmed as Secretary of the Interior, the first Native American Cabinet Secretary in U.S. history. On March 15th, the Senate in a bipartisan 51-40 vote confirmed the Congresswoman, who is a member of New Mexico's Laguna Pueblo tribe, to lead the Interior Dept.

Xavier Becerra confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services. On March 18th, the Senate voted 50-49 to confirm Mr. Becerra, who currently serves as California’s Attorney General.

House passes two immigration reform bills. On a bipartisan vote, the House of Representatives voted Thursday to pass an immigration reform package, including a bill to grant citizenship to “DREAMers” and a bill which would give a path to citizenship to undocumented farm workers.

House approves reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). VAWA, which first passed in 1994, protects and provides resources for victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence. The reauthorization includes provisions strengthening existing protections for trans women to access women's shelters and serve in prisons that match their gender identity, and passed on a bipartisan 244-172 vote.

Companion bill to the “For the People Act” introduced in the Senate as S.1. The bill includes provisions making it easier to register and vote, prevent gerrymandering, improve election cybersecurity, and reform campaign finance, among other initiatives.

STATE MATTERS

Note: Members of PFLAG can take action on all active bills targeting the trans community at the state level. Visit pflag.org/protecttranskids to take action in your state today.

Arkansas - The Arkansas legislature is considering a trans athlete ban. SB354, the so-called "Fairness in Women's Sports Act," reverses a decade-old ruling by the NCAA and rules made by the Arkansas Activities Association that would allow transgender athletes to play sports based on their gender identity..

Florida - Florida joins 25 other states with trans athlete ban bills. HB1475 would ban trans athletes from competing with peers of their own gender through college.

Kansas - The Kansas Senate passes trans athlete ban bill. The proposal now goes to the House. Gov. Laura Kelly called the bill “regressive.”

Mississippi - Gov. Tate Reeves signs trans athlete ban into law. The so-called “Mississippi Fairness Act” requires schools to designate teams by sex assigned at birth and prohibits transgender student athletes from participating in school sports in accordance with their gender identity. Mississippi is the first state to pass such a measure into law this year.

North Dakota - Sponsor of trans athlete ban has ties to anti-LGBTQ hate group. Rep. Ben Koppelman (R-West Fargo) is the sponsor of HB1298, which would ban trans youth from participating in school sports according to their gender identity. He is also a signatory on the "Promise to America's Children," which is run in part by an anti-LGBT extremist hate group.

Pennsylvania - Philadelphia mayor appoints trans woman to lead Office of LGBT Affairs. Celena Morrison is the first openly trans person to lead any office in Philadelphia City government.

South Carolina - South Carolina State Representative Cezar McKnight introduces new anti-trans healthcare ban bill. McNight (D- Kingstree) and 23 cosponsors introduced the so-called “South Carolina Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act,” which bill bans doctors from giving gender affirming care to patients under 18. Doctors who do give their patients this care would face felony charges.

Texas - Houston becomes first Texas city to add a certification for LGBT-owned businesses in city contracting. Mayor Sylvester Turner signed an executive order creating the certification during an event with the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce and its Houston affiliate. The Chamber will manage the certification process.

Wisconsin - Dozens march in Madison for trans rights. The marchers, who demostrated on March 12th, were protesting a set of bills that would ban transgender athletes from girls' and women’s sports in Wisconsin.

GLOBAL MATTERS

Belgium - Belgian prime minister flies Pride flag outside his office. This gesture was tied to a police investigation of the killing of a 42-year-old gay man in Antwerp.

Canada - LGBT activists accuse a Regina pastor of spreading hate against the gay and transgender communities. Pastor Terry Murphy of Victory Church made multiple comments that many are calling hateful on a sermon broadcast on social media, including “We had the start of the cultural push to normalize homosexuality...Normalizing this behaviour that, before then, was not considered normal. (It) was considered abnormal…”

EU - European Parliament declares the European Union an "LGBTQ Freedom Zone.” The resolution passed in response to localities in Poland labelling themselves "LGBTQ ideology-free zones.” The Polish government announced a proposal to completely ban adoption for same-sex couples just hours before the European Parliament's resolution passed. The French European Affairs Minister called on the European Commission to start legal proceedings against Poland saying, “We need to use every possible tool to sanction these behaviors that are against our values and our rules.”

Ghana - Ghana's first LGBT community centre closes after less than 2 months of operations. The center opened in Accra, the Ghanian capitol, in January and following anti-LGBT protests against the community space, the center closed on February 25th.

Tunisia - A Tunisian court sentences prominent LGBT rights activist to six months in prison. The court punished Rania Amdouni for shouting outside a police station after officers refused to register her harassment complaint. She is being held in a women’s prison in Manouba, west of Tunis, where her lawyer said she has faced harassment by prison guards due to her gender expression.

UK - UK Equalities Minister Liz Truss promises the government will ban gay conversion therapy "shortly.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said people should "be in no doubt we will deal with this issue.”

YOU'RE INVITED

You’re invited to “Trans Rights Priorities for the Biden Administration,” a panel hosted by the UMass Amherst Stonewall Center and Clark University’s Women’s and Gender Studies Program. To be held on Monday, March 29 at 5:30pm ET/2:30pm PT, the panel will feature Mara Keisling, Shannon Minter, Kylar Broadus and others, and will discuss how trans leaders are hoping to make gains during the Biden administration. The event is free, and registration is required.

MEDIA MATTERS

Elliot Page featured on the cover of TIME Magazine. Page opened up about their experience as a trans man and their struggle to come out in an interview with the magazine.

The Vatican declares the Catholic Church won't bless same-sex unions. The Vatican’s orthodoxy office issued a formal response to a question about whether Catholic clergy have the authority to bless gay unions. The response distinguished between the church’s welcoming and blessing of gay people, which was upheld, and same sex marriages, which the Vatican rejected.

Catholic University’s LGBTQ+ student organization fights for recognition from university administration. CUAllies has been fighting for official recognition from the university administration since its founding in 2009.

LGBTQ+ people face disproportionate job loss and mental health issues during pandemic. The Kaiser Family Foundation study found that 56% of LGBT adults reported that they or someone they know lost their job during the pandemic compared with 44% of non-LGBT adults. Additionally, three-fourths of LGBT people say the pandemic has negatively impacted their mental health, with 49% saying the impact has been major. While 49% of non-LGBT people reported the same negative impact, only 23% called it major.