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The Midterm Elections are in 10 days! Before you head out to cast your vote, do you know if your state requires voter ID, or the hours and location of your polling place? Get ahead of the curve, and ready with a plan to vote. Having a plan to vote makes it more likely you'll make it to the polls, so make a plan to vote (if you haven't cast your ballot already) and be ready for Election Day next week!

Court Matters

Supreme Court to take up religious freedom case involving anti-LGBTQ+ web designer. Lorie Smith, a Colorado-based web-designer, refuses to work on websites for same-sex couples in contravention of Colorado’s anti-discrimination law. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Smith’s argument; SCOTUS will hear the case on appeal on December 5th.

SCOTUS to hear affirmative action cases. The Supreme Court agreed to take up two cases challenging affirmative action policies at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. The anti-affirmative action group, Students for Fair Admissions, argues that the Court must ban the consideration of race in college admissions, as the affirmative action process discriminates against Asian-American student applicants. Stay tuned to PFLAG media channels as the rally at SCOTUS for affirmative action evolves.

Justice Thomas temporarily blocks a Georgia DA’s office from compelling Sen. Lindsey Graham to testify in election interference case. Justice Thomas’s October 24th order temporarily stops the Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney's Office from forcing Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to testify in their probe of allegations of interference in the 2020 election. The order halts ongoing litigation surrounding the probe while the Supreme Court weighs Sen. Graham's request that SCOTUS quash his subpoena.

Oral arguments in federal court begin in case over Arkansas' transgender healthcare ban. U.S District Judge Jay Moody will hear arguments from four trans youth and two doctors that the healthcare ban is unconstitutional and should be struck down. 

Federal judge rejects challenge to “Don’t Say Gay” law. U.S. District Judge Wendy Berger on Oct. 20th dismissed a lawsuit brought by LGBTQ+ students and their families to Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay'' law. Judge Berger ruled that the plaintiffs had not shown evidence that the law would prevent students from discussing their lives or family structures, or prevent students and parents from wearing Pride shirts to school events.

Federal Matters

Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) introduces national "Don't Say Gay" bill. The “Stop the Sexualization of Children Act” would bar any federal funding for “sexually oriented” programs, events, or literature for children under age 10. 

Ashton B. Carter, Sec. of Defense under Pres. Obama, dies at 68. Under Secretary Carter, combat roles opened for women for the first time in 2015, and transgender servicemembers were allowed to serve openly.

State Matters

Connecticut - Stonington Board of Education votes to formally allow Pride flags in classrooms. The resolution, which passed on October 25th, permits the display of Pride flags in schools and calls on the district to review its policies to ensure they prohibit anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination in the next 30 days. PFLAG Hartford strongly supported the resolution. 

Florida - Board of Medicine votes to ban gender affirming care. On October 28th, the State Board of Medicine voted to change standards of care in Florida to bar physicians from providing hormone therapy or any gender affirming surgeries to trans Floridians under 18. Jennifer Solomon and other PFLAGers testified before the Board urging them not to take this harmful action.

Idaho - Bill drafted to ban drag performances from public venues. Blaine Conzatti, president of the Idaho Family Policy Center, promised that the bill will be introduced at the beginning of the next legislative session in January. 

New York - Governor Hochul signs bill expanding assistance for LGBTQ+ seniors. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill requiring the state Office for the Aging to consider “gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, and HIV status” when determining needs for assistance, along with disability, language barriers, and other socio-economic factors. 

North Carolina - Cherokee County Board of Education votes to forfeit all girls’ volleyball games against team with trans player. A Macon County player allegedly suffered an injury during a play involving the trans girl on the Highlands School team from Cherokee County. 

Tennessee - Lawmakers announce they will introduce trans healthcare ban in next legislative session. The State House and Senate Majority Leaders announced the pending introduction of the healthcare ban at a rally against gender-affirming care at Vanderbilt University Medical Center on October 21st. Vanderbilt announced earlier that it would suspend providing such care following online attacks and threats against the hospital but has since continued providing gender-affirming care.

Global Matters

Mexico - Final Mexican state legalizes same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage is legal nationwide in Mexico following a vote in Tamaulipas on Wednesday to approve the practice. Three other Mexican states also voted to legalize same-sex marriage this month. 

Russia - Lawmakers grant preliminary approval to broad anti-LGBTQ+ “propaganda” law. The bill, which would ban advertising, media and online resources, books, films, and theater productions containing LGBTQ+ content, passed the first of three reading in the lower house of the Russian parliament. Such a ban already exists for content intended for those under 18, but this bill would widen the ban to include content for all Russians. 

Singapore - Singapore bans screening of LGBTQ+ film. The Singaporean government announced #LookAtMe will not be released in Singaporean theaters because its LGBTQ+ content has “potential to cause enmity and social division in Singapore’s multi-racial and multi-religious society.”

Slovakia - Rally held in Bratislava to honor two murdered gay men. The rally took place on October 14th, two days after two young gay men were murdered outside a popular gay bar, an incident which is being investigated as a hate crime. Slovakian President Zuzana Caputova joined the rally and apologized to the country’s LGBTQ+ community “for not being able to feel safe in Slovakia.”

UK - Rishi Sunak becomes the UK's first Hindu and first South Asian Prime Minister. Mr. Sunak was chosen to lead the ruling Conservative Party after Liz Truss resigned six weeks into her term as Prime Minister. He begins his premiership with a very mixed record on LGBTQ+ rights.

Media Matters

Leslie Jordan dies at 67. He is known for his TV acting roles in “Will & Grace'' and “American Horror Story.” Beloved by all who knew him, Leslie Jordan was an advocate for several southern LGBTQ+ organizations and wanted to make “visibility a priority.” 

Sam Smith and Kim Petras become first openly nonbinary and trans artists to reach number one on the Billboard charts. Their hit song “Unholy” reached the number one spot on the Billboard’s Hot 100 on October 24th after spending three weeks in the top ten.

Byron Perkins becomes first active HBCU football player to come out as gay. Division 1 Hampton University junior-year defensive back, Bryon Perkins is the first active football player from a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) to come out as gay.

José López Duvont crowned Mr. Gay World 2022. He is the first Puerto Rican and first person from the Americas to win the pageant.

ICYMI

US Trans Survey is officially OPEN: Encourage all trans people to be counted. USTS is the largest survey for the trans community in the country, and the 2022 survey can be completed in Spanish or English. PFLAG National is an official partner for the National Center for Transgender Equality’s USTS survey. In its first week, the survey has already been completed by more than half of the full number of nearly 28,000 participants in the 2015 issue.

Student loan forgiveness applications now formally open. The student loan forgiveness application form is live on studentaid.gov. Individuals are eligible to apply for up to $20,000 in debt forgiveness. Apply by mid-November in order to receive debt relief before the student debt repayment pause expires on December 31, 2022.

PFLAG National 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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