The Center for Disease Control’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report found that nearly 2% of all high schoolers identify as transgender; this report also confirms that transgender students need to be protected in and out of school. In school, transgender students are more likely to be victims of bullying, whether in person or online. They […]
Japan’s Supreme Court Upholds Law Requiring Sterilization to Legally Change Gender
The Japanese Supreme Court unanimously upheld Law 111, which requires transgender people looking to officially change their gender to undergo sterilization by removing their original reproductive organs, causing human rights and LGBT activists to immediately denounce the ruling. The Supreme Court denied Takakito Usui, a transgender man, an appeal against the 2004 law, citing that […]
LGBTQ Migrants are the First to Reach US Border
This week LGBTQ members from the migrant caravan were the first to reach the U.S. border in Tijuana, Mexico. LGBTQ members arrived at the border before the rest of the caravan because they were escaping discrimination and harassment from within the caravan itself as well as the dangers members faced traveling through Mexico. While fleeing […]
Election Night 2018 Historic for LGBTQ+ Candidates
A week after the midterm election, Kyrsten Sinema was declared the winner of the Arizona Senate election, making her the first openly bisexual person elected to Congress and Arizona’s first female Senator. After Tuesday’s election, the total number of LGBTQ+ members of Congress is now eleven, the first time that the number has reached double […]
Scotland Will be the First Country with LGBTGI-Inclusive School Curriculums
Scotland’s government recently accepted 33 recommendations on LGBTQI+ inclusive education and [tackling] LGBTQ+ bullying in schools, created by the Time for Inclusive (TIE) campaign. As a result, Scotland will be the first country in the world to include LGBTQI+ issues and history in school curricula. In a statement, Deputy First Minister John Swinney said, “our […]
Massachusetts Upholds a Law Protecting Transgender Residents
Massachusetts residents yesterday voted to uphold a law passed in 2016 that prohibited discrimination against gender identity in public spaces. This is the first state-wide vote to protect transgender individuals and the measure was upheld with over 67 percent of the vote. In 2016, an emergency law passed that immediately went into effect to outlaw […]
Tanzania Governor Launched Anti-Gay Surveillance Team
Yesterday, the LGBTQ+ community in Tanzania went on high alert after Paul Makonda, a governor in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, announced the creation of a surveillance team dedicated to hunting down LGBTQ+ people. According to Governor Makonda, the operation was launched to find, arrest, and “educate” gay people. The Independent reported that 1000 names have […]
DOJ Attacks Protections for Transgender Employees
This past Wednesday, The Department of Justice (DOJ) wrote in a brief to the Supreme Court that the 1964 Civil Rights Act federal workplace protections do not apply to transgender employees, arguing it is legal to discriminate based on gender identity. The DOJ submitted this brief as the Supreme Court decides if it will hear […]
Trump Administration To Attack Protections for Transgender Individuals
“The Trump Administration is once again doing everything in its power to carry out a mean-spirited attack on transgender individuals who deserve and need civil rights protections,” read a statement by the Feminist Majority Foundation. “This overt attack on trans lives is at odds with scientific fact, multiple federal court rulings, and the lived experiences of millions of Americans.”
Trump Administration to Deny Visas to Same-Sex Partners of UN Diplomats and Staff
At the beginning of the month, the Trump Administration unveiled a new policy requiring international United Nations staff, officials, and diplomats working at the UN headquarters in New York to marry their partners by the end of the year, otherwise their partners will be deported.
Court Upholds Rights of Transgender Student Under Title IX
Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Arenda Allens ruled in favor of former-high school student Gavin Grimm by refusing to dismiss his case against the Gloucester County School Board over the right of transgender students to use bathrooms that corresponds to their gender identity.
Title VII Covers Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation Says Court
On Monday, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that sexual orientation is protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination against employees based on sex.
Education Department Will No Longer Protect Trans Student from Bathroom Discrimination
The Department of Education told BuzzFeed News on Monday that they will no longer investigate or take action to protect transgender students who are denied access to the restroom that corresponds with their gender identity. The Department has yet to release an official statement.
Trump Administration to Protect Health Workers Denying Treatment on Moral Grounds
On Thursday, the Trump administration announced the creation of a new division at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that seeks to defend healthcare workers who choose to discriminate against patients who have had or who require certain medical procedures, such as abortions, due to moral or religious objections.
Arrests in Egypt After Display of LGBT+ Pride Flag
During a concert in Cairo on September 22, audience members waved an LGBT+ pride flag sparking an immediate response from the Egyptian government.
California Lawmakers Pass Bill to Protect Rights of LGBT Seniors
The LGBT Senior Bill of Rights, introduced by California State Senator Scott Wiener, was approved by the California State Assembly on Tuesday and will now move onto the Governor’s desk to be signed into law. SB 219, also referred to as the LGBT Seniors Bill of Rights, will protect seniors in nursing facilities from discrimination based […]
Marriage Equality Activist Edith Windsor Dies at 88
Edith Windsor, LGBTQ and civil rights activist, dies at 88 in Manhattan on Tuesday. After the death of her wife, Thea Spyer, in 2009, Windsor attempted to claim federal tax exemptions on her wife’s estate tax. Since same-sex marriage was not recognized by the federal government under the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Windsor was […]
Writer and Activist Kate Millett Dies at 82
Dr. Kate Millett, a groundbreaking feminist writer, artist and activist, died this week in Paris at 82. Millett’s 1970 book Sexual Politics became a cornerstone of the women’s liberation movement. In that text, originally prepared as a doctoral thesis by Millett at Columbia University, she exposed how patriarchy was woven into the fiber of society and its […]
Trump Reinstates Ban on Recruitment of Transgender Troops
President Trump issued a memorandum last week reinstating a ban on transgender individuals serving openly in the United States military and forbidding the Department of Defense from providing medical treatment related to healthcare for transgender service members.
Two Controversial Bills to Watch in Texas’s Special Legislative Session
There is less than nine days left in Texas’s special legislative session and two of the most controversial bills being considered have yet to make it to the Governor’s desk for signature.
