FEDERAL MATTERS

Affordable Care Act Open Enrollment begins today, November 1. PFLAG National remains a sponsor of Out2Enroll.org which features fact sheets, enrollment tools and other information to help LGBTQ+ people and their families secure health insurance during this 2019 period, which ends on December 15th. In 2018, for the first time, enrollments declined over prior year. Watch PFLAG social media during open enrollment to encourage everyone to get covered.

Senate Resolution to roll back Administration rule allowing states to ignore parts of ACA fails 43-52. On October 30th, the Resolution attempted unsuccessfully to halt a rule that makes it easier for states to opt out of certain requirements of the ACA and to prioritize less expensive, less inclusive plans than ones offered under the ACA. The rule opens a window for health insurance companies to refuse to cover people with pre-existing conditions. A federal circuit court in New Orleans is expected to rule in the coming days or weeks on an administration-backed lawsuit to overturn the entire health care law. Stay tuned to PFLAG media channels for updates as this progresses.

The National Park Service revoked its proposal to make protesters pay for onsite security. NPS announced on October 28th that they will withdraw the proposal, noting objections from organizations saying they would be burdened by extraordinary costs payable to the federal government.

State Department human rights advocacy commission holds first meeting. October 23rd marked the inaugural meeting of the Commission on Unalienable Rights and is committed to fundamental human rights and extending the U.S.’s legacy as a nation without peer in upholding freedom and human dignity. View the State Department note announcing the meeting.

Rep. Katie Hill (CA-25) resigns as U.S. Representative ahead of investigation. Listen to her resignation speech given on the House Floor. The openly bisexual former Member of Congress was a Co-Chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus.

STATE MATTERS

Mississippi - Harmful HIV criminalization law affects man in Mississippi. The man who allegedly did not disclose that he is HIV positive to a sexual partner was arrested. The sexual partner has not been tested to determine their HIV status, but the reporting sexual partner being HIV positive is not required for such laws to be enforced.

Virginia -  Hollins University, a women's college, will now let its transgender male students graduate. Under a 2007 policy, Hollins lets transgender men adopt a male identity, but if they take hormones or have surgery, they must leave the college that semester. Under the new policy, they will be permitted to stay and graduate. Hollins  has also changed its admissions policy. It will now admit students who “consistently live and identify as women, regardless of the gender assigned to them at birth.” Transgender men and nonbinary students are not admitted.

GLOBAL MATTERS

St. Lucia - Eastern Caribbean LGBT organization files suit to combat anti-LGBT laws in five countries. The five countries are Barbados, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE) filed the suit on November 1st.

Taiwan - Five months after legalizing same-sex marriage, 200,000 people march in Taiwan Pride. Fewer than 300 people marched in its first Pride march in 2003.

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