Tag Archives: LGBTQ Youth

Miami’s NBC affiliate reports: Declaring an LGBTQ history month used to be routine at the Miami-Dade County School Board. Not anymore. “We have to uphold state law, and it’s very clear what that law is,” said board member Monica Colucci [photo] at Wednesday night’s committee meeting. “Matters of gender identity and sexual orientation are family issues and are parental rights, …

Fort Worth’s ABC affiliate reports: A Fort Worth school district board meeting turned tense Tuesday night as parents and community members sounded off on books in school and the district’s decision to close libraries while they catalog books ahead of a new state law in September. The Fort Worth Independent School District last week confirmed they were closing their libraries …

The Guardian reports: For the past two years, book banning has been on the rise in schools and libraries across the US, mainly due to far-right pressure. Now the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is trying to fight back. It recently launched the Banned Book Program, granting free nationwide access to books restricted in schools or libraries. It functions …

ABC News reports: A government office in Hungary on Thursday levied a hefty fine against a national bookseller over a LGBTQ+ graphic novel, saying it violated a contentious law that prohibits the depiction of homosexuality to minors. The bookseller, Lira Konyv, is Hungary’s second-largest bookstore chain. It was fined 12 million forints ($35,930) for placing the popular “Heartstopper” by British …

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports: Two protesters offended by a Pride exhibit at the Rancho Peñasquitos Library have checked out nearly all the books in the display and vowed to keep them until the library eliminates what they call “inappropriate content” for children. The anti-gay protest is the latest example of a growing national backlash against Pride exhibits, which experts …

“I don’t think anything can replace parents when you’re talking about major decisions that are needs to be made by our children. And I will tell you this. I want all parents out there to think about something. How many other decisions do you want the government making for you in your home regarding your kids? I don’t want any …

The Los Angeles Times reports: Los Angeles school board President Jackie Goldberg pulled out an oversized children’s book titled “The Great Big Book of Families” and turned a public meeting into story time, her own not-so-subtle statement to critics of LGBTQ+ education. “In real life, families come in all sorts of shapes and sizes,” she read, as the text by …

Columbus’s NBC affiliate reports: Ohio lawmakers are advancing a bill allowing parents to opt their child of out school “sexuality” lessons, legislation opponents said is anti-LGBTQ+ and will force educators to out students. House Bill 8 — the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” — would require teachers to notify parents before teaching “sexuality content” and of any change in a student’s …

The New York Times reports: A federal judge in Florida ruled on Tuesday that three transgender children can be prescribed puberty blockers, despite a new state law that prohibits gender transition care for minors and adds new hurdles for adults who seek similar care. Though the ruling applied narrowly only to the three families that requested it, the judge wrote …

Bloomberg News reports: Consulting firm Deloitte LLC will donate $1 million to The Trevor Project, a LGBTQ mental-health nonprofit that supports youth in the community in times of crisis. Financed by the Deloitte Health Equity Institute, the donation will be distributed over the course of two years and will help fund the Trevor Project’s crisis counseling services, a web-based chat …

ABC News reports: A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows over one out of every four high school students in the United States identifies as LGBTQ. Using data it collected in 2021, the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) found that 74.2% of American high school students identified as heterosexual. The CDC surveyed …

Via email from LGBTQ youth advocate Carl Siciliano: Since stepping down as the Ali Forney Center’s Executive Director in 2020, I’ve been overseeing our efforts to support programs housing LGBTQ youth across the country and around the world. One group that I’ve worked especially closely with is the Warsaw House Foundation in Poland. They have recently begun to offer housing …

NPR reports: The U.S. Supreme Court refused Thursday to intervene in an ongoing case involving West Virginia’s law banning transgender girls from participating in girls sports teams at school. Conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented. The court’s action came on its emergency docket, sometimes dubbed the shadow docket because decisions are made without full briefing or argument, and …

The Dallas Morning News reports: LGBTQ Pride celebrations could be banned in Texas schools under legislation up for debate Tuesday. The bill from Republican Rep. Ken King bars public schools from organizing programs “dedicated to celebrating or providing special instruction regarding a sexual preference.” “Having sexually-oriented celebrations at school, for all grades, is teaching our kids a sexual ideology – …

The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports: The Iowa Senate passed a bill Wednesday restricting books and instruction related to LGBTQ identities in Iowa classrooms and libraries. Lawmakers changed language in Senate File 496 Wednesday, before passing it 34-16. The amendment to Gov. Kim Reynolds’ “parental rights” bill added requirements that school libraries not include materials which depict, visually or textually, any …

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports: HB 470 would forbid Kentucky schools from discussing sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression – a key component of “Don’t Say Gay” bills popping up across the country. Schools also would not be allowed to offer instruction on human sexuality or sexually transmitted diseases before sixth grade. Senate Bill 150, the sole “parents’ rights”-style bill …

The New York Times reports: The city’s overnight drop-in centers for homeless and runaway youth, which are serving a rising number of young people, received a jarring message last month: “Effective immediately, providers are required to discontinue the practice of allowing youth and young adults to sleep overnight.” At least one of the centers has responded in turn: no. Alexander …

The Mississippi Free Press reports: A bill that would prohibit transgender minors from accessing trans-inclusive health care could become law after the Mississippi House passed it by 78-28 vote. The bill, known as the “Regular Experimental Adolescent Procedures (REAP) Act,” would prohibit standard treatments such as hormone therapy and puberty-blocking drugs by barring public funds from going to “any entity, …

The New York Daily News reports: Henry Berg-Brosseau, a prominent transgender rights advocate and the son of Kentucky Sen. Karen Berg has died at the age of 24. His death was confirmed by the Democratic lawmaker in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. “Last Friday morning my son Henry died by suicide. He was a beloved son, brother, nephew, dog parent …

The Texas Tribune reports: The U.S. Education Department’s civil rights enforcement arm has launched an investigation into a North Texas school district whose superintendent was secretly recorded ordering librarians to remove LGBTQ-themed library books. Education and legal experts say the federal probe of the Granbury Independent School District — which stemmed from a complaint by the American Civil Liberties Union …