Tag Archives: trans issues

The Associated Press reports: The sponsor of Tennessee’s new law requiring businesses and government facilities to post signs if they let transgender people use the bathrooms of their choice now says owners and officials who refuse could face up to six months in jail — a penalty that went unmentioned during legislative hearings and debate. Republican Rep. Tim Rudd, who …

The Associated Press reports: Alabama lawmakers ended their legislative session without a vote on one of the most controversial bills before them: a measure to outlaw gender-affirming medical treatments for transgender minors. The Senate-passed bill died on the final night of the legislative session after it was placed at the end of a debate agenda that lawmakers did not have …

The Advocate reports: Tennessee businesses and other public spaces will soon have to put up warning signs if they allow transgender people to use the restrooms and changing rooms aligning with their gender identity. That’s under a bill signed into law Monday by Republican Gov. Bill Lee, just three days after he signed another anti-trans “bathroom bill,” that one regulating …

CNN reports: Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a so-called controversial bathroom bill into law Friday, according to the state General Assembly website. In addition to this so-called bathroom bill, Lee also signed a transgender sports bill into law in March that requires students to prove their sex at birth in order to play middle and high school sports. Tennessee lawmakers …

Tennessee’s legislature has passed an anti-trans bathroom bill and in a Tennessean op-ed ostensibly calling on Gov. Bill Lee to veto the item, the local Log Cabin Republicans chapter first lays out their anti-LGBT “bona fides” in order to convince right wingers that they’re all on the same side. An excerpt: LGBT leftists tend to hate us because we put …

The Associated Press reports: The U.S. will protect gay and transgender people against sex discrimination in health care, the Biden administration announced Monday, reversing a Trump-era policy that sought to narrow the scope of legal rights in sensitive situations involving medical care. The action by the Department of Health and Human Services affirms that federal laws forbidding sex discrimination in …

The Guardian reports: Montana’s governor has signed a bill that bans transgender athletes from competing on school and university sports teams that correspond with their gender. Greg Gianforte’s signing on Friday makes Montana the latest Republican-controlled state to approve such legislation. Conservative lawmakers in state capitols across the US have proposed more than 80 laws this year targeting trans people, …

The Associated Press reports: Conservative Republican legislators in Kansas failed Monday to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a proposed ban on transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s school sports. The Senate’s vote to override Kelly was 26-14, leaving backers of the measure one short of the necessary two-thirds majority and blocking an attempt in the House. Idaho enacted …

ABC News reports: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) on Wednesday signed into law a bill that prohibits transgender female athletes from playing on women’s sports teams in public middle schools, high schools and universities. The bill cleared the state House last month in an overwhelming 78-20 vote before passing the state Senate in a closer 18-15 vote on April …

The New Jersey Advance reports: A vice principal at a Monmouth County school is under investigation after a social media post shows him angrily throwing a cup of beer at restaurant patrons in Atlantic County this past weekend. The drink toss by Michael Smurro occurred after his wife argued with patrons over an apparent transgender woman using the women’s bathroom …

The Montgomery Advertiser reports: Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday signed a bill banning transgender youth from playing public school sports of the gender with which they align. The legislation is one of several bills targeting transgender youth in the Alabama Legislature this year. The bills have drawn protests from transgender youth, their families and advocates, and will likely lead to …

Roll Call reports: The Housing and Urban Development Department recommitted to Obama-era protections that ensure transgender people experiencing homelessness can stay in shelters that correspond with their gender identities. The department on Thursday withdrew a proposal put forward under President Donald Trump last year that would have rolled back the protections in HUD’s 2012 Equal Access rule for transgender and …

Topeka’s ABC News affiliate reports: Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced Thursday she has vetoed a proposed ban on transgender athletes from playing on school sports teams for girls and women. The bill was originally approved by the Republican-controlled House and Senate in early April. “This legislation sends a devastating message that Kansas is not welcoming to all children and their …

The Bismarck Tribune reports: Gov. Doug Burgum on Wednesday vetoed a bill restricting transgender girls in K-12 sports. The bill had passed the House 69-25 and the Senate 27-20 after conference committee amendments. House Bill 1298, brought by Rep. Ben Koppelman, R-West Fargo, sought to prohibit public elementary and secondary schools from “knowingly” allowing a student to participate on a …

Just in via press release: Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, Jr., today announced the Office’s new policy to decline-to-prosecute prostitution and unlicensed massage, and appeared virtually in Manhattan Criminal Court and moved to dismiss 914 Prostitution and Unlicensed Massage cases – in line with the Office’s new policy – preventing unnecessary future contacts with the criminal justice system, eliminating the …

Tallahassee’s CBS News affiliate reports: A proposal that would make it more difficult for transgender athletes to compete on girls’ and women’s high-school and college teams stalled Tuesday in a state Senate panel. With the 2021 legislative session scheduled to end April 30, Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Kelli Stargel, who is sponsoring the Senate’s version of the transgender athlete bill, said …

PBS reports: The rights of transgender Americans has been a growing topic of debate on sports fields, in state capitols and in Congress. The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy organization, says more than 30 state legislatures have proposed more than 115 bills that would limit transgender rights, from participation on sports teams to access to medical care. But two-thirds …

Tallahassee’s NBC News affiliate reports: The Florida House on Wednesday passed a bill that would ban transgender females from competing girls’ and women’s high school and college sports. The bill passed with a vote of 77-40 after a heated debate. The bill would make participation in athletics contingent on determining a students’ “biological sex,” which is a disputed term that …

NBC News reports: The NCAA Board of Governors released a statement Monday that it will not host championships in places that discriminate against transgender athletes. “The NCAA Board of Governors firmly and unequivocally supports the opportunity for transgender student-athletes to compete in college sports. This commitment is grounded in our values of inclusion and fair competition,” the statement read in …

The Hill reports: Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said on Sunday that his decision to veto the transgender youth healthcare ban was a “message of compassion and conservatism,” saying it aligned with his conservative belief in limited government. Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Hutchinson acknowledged the blowback he has received from his party for his veto of the …