Tag Archives: LGBTQ Youth

CBS News reports: Targeting issues about sexual orientation and gender identity, Florida joined three other states Monday in filing a federal lawsuit challenging a new Biden administration rule about sex-based discrimination in education programs. The lawsuit, filed by the attorneys general of Florida, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina and four organizations, seeks to block the rule that would help carry …

Denver’s NBC affiliate reports: The Colorado Supreme Court is allowing a local group to collect signatures for a ballot initiative that opponents believe would target LGBTQ+ students. The measure would require a public school representative to notify a student’s parents if they are experiencing gender incongruence. Opponents believe the measure could potentially “out” transgender students to their parents. “We believe …

ABC News reports: The American Library Association released its annual list of the top 10 most targeted books of 2023 on Monday, the majority of which were challenges because of their LGBTQ content. “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe topped the list for the third year in a row. The graphic memoir, which chronicles the author’s experience with sexuality and gender …

NPR reports: Prosecutors in Oklahoma say they will not pursue charges in the death of Nex Benedict. Bullying someone to attempt or complete suicide is a felony in Oklahoma, reported member station KOSU. But Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler says the fight was not one-sided and there’s not enough evidence to press charges. “Based upon the investigation of the …

Via press release from the White House: Jill and I are heartbroken by the recent loss of Nex Benedict. Every young person deserves to have the fundamental right and freedom to be who they are, and feel safe and supported at school and in their communities. Nex Benedict, a kid who just wanted to be accepted, should still be here …

ABC News reports: Oklahoma 16-year-old Nex Benedict died by suicide, according to an autopsy report released Wednesday by the state’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Benedict, a member of the 2SLGBTQ community, died one day after getting into a physical fight with several other students at Owasso High School. Benedict was nonbinary and went by they/them pronouns, according to …

CNN reports: A newly proposed law in Missouri could charge teachers and counselors with a felony and require them to register as sex offenders if they’re found guilty of supporting transgender students who are socially transitioning. Missouri state Rep. Jamie Gragg, a Republican, introduced HB 2885 last week. If passed and signed into law, the legislation would criminalize the act …

The Dallas Morning News reports: A Keller high school production of The Laramie Project — a play about the aftermath of the 1998 murder of a gay student in Wyoming — was canceled. Timber Creek High School parents received an email Friday night saying that students would no longer perform the show this spring. The email did not provide an …

NBC News reports: Authorities in Oklahoma will release video from inside the school where the family of an LGBTQ student said the teen was attacked and assaulted in a bathroom one day before their death, police said Wednesday. Hallway cameras inside Owasso High School West Campus show the student, Nex Benedict, before and after the Feb. 7 fight, Owasso Police …

Via press release from Penguin Random House: Carl Siciliano met Ali Forney—a Black nonbinary teenager overflowing with life—in 1994 while working at a daytime center for homeless youth in New York City. Nineteen years old and driven from home, Forney was the heart of the community, known for infectious laughter, fierce loyalty to friends, and an unshakeable faith in their …

The Daily Beast reports: A Russian court has sent a girl to jail for wearing rainbow-colored earrings shaped like frogs, according to multiple local reports. The press service for the Sormovsky District Court in the Nizhny Novgorod region confirmed to RBC News that the girl has been jailed for five days on charges of publicly displaying “the symbol of an …

USA Today reports: The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to decide if schools can bar transgender students from using a bathroom that reflects their gender identity, leaving in place a lower court ruling that allowed a transgender middle school boy in Indiana to use the boys’ bathroom. The case arrived at the Supreme Court against the backdrop of a shifting …

The Hill reports: A new rule requiring child welfare agencies to place LGBTQ children in “environments free of hostility, mistreatment, or abuse” based on the child’s sexual orientation, gender identity or expression is drawing opposition from Republicans. Studies have shown that LGBTQ young people are overrepresented in the child welfare system. Roughly 30 percent of foster youth identify as LGBTQ, …

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked key parts of an Iowa law that bans some books from school libraries and forbids teachers from raising LGBTQ+ issues. Judge Stephen Locher’s preliminary injunction halts enforcement of the law, which was set to take effect Jan. 1 but already had resulted in the removal of hundreds of books …

The Missouri Independent reports: Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey this week joined with 18 other states to oppose a proposed federal rule that aims to protect LGBTQ youth in foster care and provide them with necessary services. The attorneys general argue in a letter to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services that the proposed rule — which requires …

The Lynchburg News reports: The Lynchburg City School Board has voted not to accept a $10,000 grant from an LGBTQ-focused nonprofit, a possible temperature gauge for the board’s upcoming consideration of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s model policies on the treatment of transgender students. At its meeting Tuesday, the board voted 7-2 against accepting the grant from the nonprofit It Gets Better …

Metro Weekly reports: The National Football League and The Trevor Project have renewed their partnership through 2024, with the intent of providing educational and advocacy training to NFL staff on LGBTQ issues. As part of the partnership, which first began in 2021, the NFL will donate $100,000 to The Trevor Project, whose services include a crisis hotline, which LGBTQ youth …

NBC News reports: The Trevor Project, a national suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ youth, announced it is leaving X, formerly known as Twitter, because of “increasing hate & vitriol on the platform targeting the LGBTQ community.” “LGBTQ young people are regularly victimized at the expense of their mental health, and X’s removal of certain moderation functions makes …

First, a reminder about this nutjob: A Spotsylvania County school board member accused of increasing pay for the former interim superintendent pleaded not guilty Friday morning. Former school board chair and current member Kirk Twigg is being charged with one felony count of forging a public record and one misdemeanor count of tampering with a county record. School board member …

The Associated Press reports: People younger than 18 have been barred from visiting this year’s World Press Photo exhibition in Budapest, after Hungary’s right-wing populist government determined that some of its photos violate a contentious law restricting LGBTQ content. The prestigious global photo exhibition, on display in Hungary’s National Museum in Budapest, receives more than 4 million visitors from around …