Take Action

Fight back against anti-LGBTQ+ censorship! Join PFLAG National and Red, Wine & Blue for a PFLAG National-exclusive session of RWB’s Troublemaker Training: Book Ban Edition on May 3rd and May 8th. Hear from those on the ground already doing the work, learn effective organizing practices, and discover new ideas to make your voice heard in your community. PFLAG National and Red Wine & Blue are partnering for this great opportunity so you can show up for your local school board meetings and advocate for accurate and inclusive education. 

Register now for the session that works best for your schedule; both sessions will have the same content:

Tuesday, May 3rd, 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT

Saturday, May 7th, 1:00pm ET/10:00am PT

Court Matters

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson becomes the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. The Senate confirmed Justice Jackson in a 53-47 vote after 23 hours of questioning during her confirmation hearings in March. 

Arkansas Supreme Court upholds restrictive voting laws. Opponents consider the four laws in question--Act 249, Act 736, Act 728, and Act 973--restrictive to the voting process. These laws require ID submission for provisional ballots, and absentee ballot signatures checked against voter registrations. They also prohibit anyone from standing within 100 feet of a polling place except to vote, and change the deadline for mail-in ballots.

Iowa Supreme Court finds the state discriminated against transgender employee. The state denied healthcare coverage for medically necessary gender-affirming surgery and banned the employee from using the restrooms and locker room that match his gender identity. The Court found that this violates the Iowa Civil Rights Act, which was amended in 2007 to protect trans people from workplace discrimination.

Federal Matters

Senators will introduce LGBTQ+ business protection act. Senators Alex Padilla and Kirstin Gillibrand introduced the House-passed LGBTQ+ Business Equal Credit Enforcement and Investment Act, which would help enforce fair lending practices in accord with SCOTUS’s 2020 Bostock decision by requiring financial institutions to collect data on the self-identified sexual orientation and gender identity of business owners. 

Chairman of House Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Subcommittee holds hearing on book banning and censorship in schools and public libraries. The House Oversight Committee’s Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, chaired by Rep. Jamie Raskin(MD-8), held a hearing to discuss national efforts to ban books in schools and public libraries. PFLAG National provided background information to the Committee to prepare.

DOJ warns states’ Attorneys General that anti-trans bills might violate federal law. The Justice Department sent a letter to all state attorneys general stating that blocking transgender minors from receiving gender-affirming healthcare might violate federal law. The letter also signaled that the DOJ is prepared to support existing lawsuits against states and to seek legal action against this kind of legislation. 

LGBTQ+ Ukranians hold rally in front of White House. Arranged by the group LGBTQ+ Ukrainians in America founded by PFLAG friend Bogdan Globa, the protesters--including his mother and PFLAG friend Helen Globa--called for the Biden administration to grant LGBTQ+ Ukrainians Temporary Protected Status. The bond with LGBTQ+ Ukrainian people began with a PFLAG National delegation visiting Ukraine in 2015 for the first post-revolution LGBTQ+ parents’ conference.

Biden meets with Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus. The meeting took place in the White House as part of Biden’s efforts to connect with the diversity Caucuses in Congress. They mainly discussed the Equality Act, which would extend federal protections against LGBTQ+ discrimination. 

Poll indicates that most U.S. adults oppose anti-LGBTQ+ education policies. New polling data from a Trevor Project/Morning Consult poll indicates that the majority of U.S. adults oppose banning LGBTQ+ books and classroom discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity, and blocking students from accessing LGBTQ+ resources. It also found that most U.S. adults think that transgender youth should have access to gender-affirming healthcare.

Report predicts nearly 17,000 Americans will request new “X” gender marker on passports this year. The new gender designation is available as of April 11th. Estimates predict that demand for the new designation will spike this month, according to a report by the Williams Institute.

State Matters

In the last year, we’ve seen a marked rise in anti-LGBTQ+ action in state and local governments. Many states are introducing legislation targeting trans youth, and local schools and libraries are being pressured into censoring LGBTQ+ history and stories. Visit pflag.org/protecttranskids to take action against anti-trans bills in your state today. 

Want to take action and not sure where to start? Please contact Patrick Cochran, Advocacy and Policy Engagement Senior Coordinator.

Alabama - Governor Kay Ivey signs two anti-LGBTQ+ bills. PFLAG family is one of two plaintiff families in lawsuit fighting back. The governor signed bills considered the most harmful and harsh of state anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ laws. HB 322 bans transgender students from using bathrooms and other facilities corresponding to their gender identity and bans discussions of LGBTQ+ identity in schools. SB 184 criminalizes gender-affirming care for anyone under 19 and risks a 10-year sentence for parents or physicians. Families of trans teens and physicians who provide gender-affirming care are challenging SB 184 in a federal lawsuit.

Arizona - Governor Ducey signs bill allowing foster and adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ+ couples. SB1399 allows third party child welfare agencies operating as government contractors to make decisions about potential foster parents and adopters based on their religious beliefs, including discriminating against LGBTQ+ families.

California - Los Angeles bans official travel to Florida and Texas over anti-LGBTQ+ policies. The LA County Board of Supervisors voted to ban all county business travel to Florida and Texas due to their recent anti-LGBTQ legislation and the targeting of trans youth. 

Florida - LGBTQ+ groups in Florida file lawsuit over “Don’t Say Gay” law. The lawsuit, which states that the law violates the right to free speech, was filed on behalf of Equality Florida against Governor Ron DeSantis. 

Kentucky - Legislature overrides Governor's veto of trans sports bill. Gov. Andy Beshear had vetoed the bill last week, which prohibits transgender girls and women from playing on girls’ sports teams. The law takes effect immediately.

New York - NYC Mayor Eric Adams announces billboard campaign inviting LGBTQ+ Floridians to move to NYC. The campaign denounces the recently passed “Don’t Say Gay” bill and invites LGBTQ+ Floridians to “...come to a city where you can say and be whoever you want.” 

Ohio - “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” bill introduced in House. Legislators introduced HB 616 into the House, which would limit classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity. Violations could cause suspension for educators and loss of state funds for schools. It also bans other “divisive” concepts, citing Critical Race Theory and the 1619 Project. 

Oklahoma - Governor signs bill making abortion illegal. SB 612 makes perfoming an abortion a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. It was signed into law by Governor Kevin Stitt on April 13th.

Pennsylvania - House passes trans sports ban. HB972, which would prevent transgender women from playing on girls’ and women’s sports teams in K-12 schools, is now on its way to the Senate. 

South Carolina - House passes so-called “Right of Conscience” bill, allowing medical professionals to deny care that goes against personal beliefs. House Bill 4776, also called the “Medical Ethics and Diversity Act,” would allow doctors to deny care to patients based on the provider’s personal beliefs. 

House passes trans sports ban, despite almost 1,000 amendments. Representatives who opposed the bill tried to keep it from passing by adding the amendments, but the bill still passed 82-28. HB1084 would bar transgender students from participating in girls’ or women’s sports in public schools and colleges. 

Tennessee - Senate passes two trans sports bans. One is on its way to the House and one is on its way to the Governor. SB1861 bans transgender athletes from participating in middle and high school sports that correspond to their gender identity. HB2316 would extend this ban to college sports. Both remove funding from schools that do not comply with the laws.

Global Matters

Hungary - Anti-LGBTQ+ Prime Minister Orban declares election victory. Once the results are confirmed, this will be the prime minister’s fourth consecutive term. The LGBTQ+ community in Hungary has been a target of his party for years, including restrictions on LGBTQ+ books and information about LGBTQ+ issues.

India - First out transgender woman appointed to National Culture Fund council and executive committee. Oorvasi Gandhi is an activist who has worked for the transgender community in Tamil Nadu, helping them gain property rights and basic facilities for more than two decades. She was also the first person allowed to inherit property under the Transgender Persons Protection of Rights Act of 2019. 

United Kingdom - Government passes so-called conversion therapy ban excluding transgender people. The UK government passed a partial ban on so-called conversion therapy, but just for gay, lesbian, and bisexual+ individuals, leaving members of the transgender vulnerable to these harmful practices. More than 80 LGBTQ+ rights groups pulled out of the U.K. government’s first global LGBTQ+ conference in protest of the exclusion of transgender people from the ban. Religious leaders also spoke out, urging the prime minister to include trans people in the ban on so-called conversion therapy. 

Zimbabwe - Law decriminalizing HIV transmission passed. The president of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, signed a law with a clause that removed criminal penalties for individuals who, knowingly or unknowingly, transmit HIV to their sexual partners. Prior to this legislation, HIV transmission could result in up to 20 years in prison.

Media Matters

Disney heir speaks out against anti-LGBTQ bills, comes out as transgender. Charlee Corra (he/they), who is a member of the Disney family, announced the family would match donations to HRC to combat anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. 

LGBTQ+ groups say FIFA is ignoring soccer fans’ concerns. LGBTQ+ fan groups are concerned about the safety of LGBTQ+ fans at the World Cup, which is being held in Qatar this year. There has yet to be a statement or acknowledgement of these concerns from FIFA, and members of the Qatari government have issued warnings that rainbow flags could be confiscated at the tournament.

HRC removes Fox from list of “preferred employers” for LGBTQ+ workers. The HRC Corporate Equality Index lists companies that effectively support their LGBTQ+ employees. Recent coverage of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and stories that perpetuate stigma against transgender individuals have caused HRT to remove Fox completely from the list. 

LGBTQ+ scientists pressure NASA to rename James Webb space telescope. Due to the long-standing evidence that NASA administrator James Webb was involved in persecuting LGBTQ+ federal employees in the 1950s and 1960s, LGBTQ+ scientists are pressuring NASA to rename the space telescope. NASA’s Astrophysics Advisory Committee stated that the investigation into Webb’s involvement in LGBTQ+ persecution is still ongoing.

Apple lobbies against anti-LGBTQ+ laws. The company has sent lobbyists to oppose legislation in Iowa, Florida, Texas, and at least six other states. They have also encouraged other large companies to publicly push back against the wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. 

Game Designer Rue Dickey raises over $400,000 for transgender rights in Texas. Dickey, who has been writing tabletop games since 2019, gathered other game designers to create a bundle of games to sell to benefit the Transgender Education Network of Texas and the Oganización Latina de Trans en Texas. The bundle of 493 games raised over $400,000 in support of these two organizations.

The PFLAG National Advocacy, Policy, and Partnerships Team is always here to support you with your work, so please don't ever hesitate to reach out to us for assistance.

Yours in PFLAG power,

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