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Tag: lgbtq people

  • Texas Legislature OKs ban on gender-affirming care for minors

    Texas Legislature OKs ban on gender-affirming care for minors

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    Texas would soon become the largest state to ban gender-affirming care for minors under a bill now headed to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott

    ByPAUL J. WEBER Associated Press

    AUSTIN, Texas — Texas would become the largest state to ban gender-affirming care for minors under a bill sent Wednesday night to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who has previously ordered child welfare officials to investigate such treatment as abuse.

    The bill cleared the GOP-controlled Legislature after a final vote in the Senate over the objections of Democrats, who used parliamentary maneuvers in recent weeks to delay passage but could not derail it entirely.

    Texas is now poised to join at least 17 other states that have enacted similar bans.

    Abbott’s office did not return an email seeking comment Wednesday night. Last year, Abbott became the first governor to order the investigation of families who were receiving care. The investigations were later halted by a Texas judge.

    Every major medical organization, including the American Medical Association, has opposed the bans and supported the medical care for minors when administered appropriately.

    Texas is among a number of states where Republican lawmakers have given priority status this year to measures limiting the rights of transgender people. Earlier Wednesday, the Texas House also gave preliminary approval to a bill that puts restrictions on transgender college athletes.

    Transgender rights activists have disrupted the Texas House with protests from the chamber gallery, which have led to state police forcing demonstrators to move outside the building.

    Earlier this month, a Texas hospital’s care for transgender minors came under investigation by state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who said he was seeking evidence of alleged “potentially illegal activity” without elaborating.

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  • More companies help with fertility care, but it is still out of reach for many

    More companies help with fertility care, but it is still out of reach for many

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    Jessica Tincopa may leave the photography business she spent 14 years building for one reason: to find coverage for fertility treatment.

    After six miscarriages, Tincopa and her husband started saving for in vitro fertilization, which can cost well over $20,000. But the pandemic wiped out their savings, and they can’t find coverage for IVF on their state’s health insurance marketplace. So, the California couple is saving again, and asking politicians to help expand access.

    “No one should ever have to go through this,” Tincopa said.

    Infertility, or the inability to get pregnant after a year or more of trying, is a common problem. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that it affects nearly one in five married girls or women between the ages of 15 and 49.

    Yet coverage of fertility treatments can be hard to find in many corners of health insurance even as it grows briskly with big employers who see it as a must-have benefit to keep workers.

    It’s a divide researchers say is leading to haves and have nots for treatments, which can involve a range of prescription drugs and procedures like artificial insemination or IVF, where an embryo is created by mixing eggs and sperm in a lab dish.

    “It is still primarily for people who can afford to pay quite a bit out of pocket,” said Usha Ranji, associate director of women’s health policy at KFF, a nonprofit that studies health care issues.

    Clouding this picture are insurer concerns about cost as well as questions about how much fertility coverage should be emphasized or mandated versus helping people find other ways to build families, such as adoption.

    “If you’re going to offer one, there should be a corollary and maybe even more significant benefits for adoption,” medical ethicist Dr. Philip Rosoff said.

    A total of 54% of the biggest U.S. employers — those with 20,000 workers or more — covered IVF in 2022, according to the benefits consultant Mercer. That’s up from 36% in 2015. Walmart started offering coverage last fall and banking giant JPMorgan began this year.

    Many businesses that offer the coverage extend it beyond those with an infertility diagnosis, making it accessible to LGBTQ+ couples and single women, according to Mercer.

    The benefits consultant also said there’s big growth among employers with 500 or more workers, as 43% offered IVF coverage last year. But coverage gets spotty with smaller employers.

    Lauderhill (Florida) Fire Rescue Lt. Ame Mason estimates she and her husband have spent close to $100,000 of their own money on fertility treatments over the past few years, including several unsuccessful IVF attempts. Mason and her husband both work for the same department.

    Her brother-in-law also has a fertility issue. He works for a bigger fire department in nearby Palm Beach County and got coverage. Mason said that couple has a son.

    “It’s pretty wild. You could work a county away and have coverage,” Mason said. “There’s nothing regulating it … both government jobs.”

    Twenty-one states have laws mandating coverage of fertility treatments or fertility preservation, which some patients need before cancer treatments, according to the nonprofit patient advocacy organization Resolve. Of those states, 14 require IVF coverage.

    But most of these requirements don’t apply to individual insurance plans or coverage sold through small employers.

    “People tell us that their biggest barrier to family building is lack of insurance coverage,” Resolve CEO Barbara Collura said, adding that some insurers don’t view the care as medically necessary.

    The state and federally funded Medicaid program for people with low incomes limits coverage of fertility issues largely to diagnosis in several states, according to KFF, which says Black and Hispanic women are disproportionately affected. States also can exclude fertility drugs from prescription coverage.

    “By not covering this for poor folks, we’re saying we don’t want you to reproduce,” said medical ethicist Lisa Campo-Engelstein of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. She noted Medicaid programs do cover birth control and sterilization procedures like vasectomies.

    In California, Tincopa says she has talked to both state and federal legislators about creating some sort of option for people to purchase individual insurance with the coverage.

    The state Senate is weighing a bill that would require coverage of fertility treatments, including IVF, for large employers. But the California Association of Health Plans opposes it, just as it opposed similar bills in recent years, because of how much it might cost.

    Spokeswoman Mary Ellen Grant noted independent analysis has shown that bills like this could increase premiums by as much as $1 billion in the state. She also said it would create a coverage gap because it wouldn’t apply to the state’s Medicaid enrollees.

    “This is not about the treatment itself,” she said. “It’s strictly based on the increased costs for our members. It would impact everybody regardless of whether they received the benefit.”

    But large fertility cost estimates often overstate how many people will use the benefit, said Sean Tipton, of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. He also said most people with fertility problems don’t need IVF.

    Tipton, who has advocated for benefit mandates in several states, said he expects to see fertility treatment coverage grow, especially with small employers who may need to offer it to attract and keep workers.

    Any states that decide to require fertility treatment coverage should also require support for adoption, said Rosoff, a retired Duke University medical school professor. He said “fairness and justice” dictate doing so, adding that adoption promotes the social good of finding homes for children.

    Many companies that have expanded fertility benefits also support adoption.

    Ame Mason’s employer helps with neither.

    Mason said she has thought about adoption, but will stick with IVF for now — scrimping wherever they can and working overtime as much as possible to pay for it. They’ve found a doctor in Florida after traveling to Barbados for care that was slightly less expensive.

    Plus, she and her husband are seeing improvements in their most recent IVF attempts. This makes her reluctant to stop trying.

    “We keep getting that glimmer of hope,” she said.

    ___

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Florida teacher says she is under investigation after showing 5th grade class Disney movie with gay character | CNN

    Florida teacher says she is under investigation after showing 5th grade class Disney movie with gay character | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A fifth-grade teacher said she is being investigated by the Florida Department of Education after she showed her students “Strange World,” a 2022 animated Disney movie featuring a character who is biracial and gay.

    Jenna Barbee is a teacher in Hernando County’s Winding Waters K-8 school. “I am the teacher that’s under investigation with the Florida Department of Education for indoctrination for showing a Disney movie,” Barbee said in a TikTok post over the weekend.

    In the post, Barbee explained she played the Disney movie to a class which was partially full after a day of standardized testing. She also said she had previously-signed permission slips from all the parents, allowing the students to watch a movie rated PG.

    According to Barbee, a parent then complained and reported her to the state Department of Education.

    The parent who reported her, who is also a member of the Hernando County School District Board, complained to the principal about the movie not being appropriate for students, according to Karen Jordan, spokesperson for Hernando County Schools. Jordan also provided CNN with a copy of the announcement from the school district to parents.

    “Yesterday, the Disney movie ‘Strange World’ was shown in your child’s classroom,” the school district said. “While not the main plot of the movie, parts of the story involves a male character having and expressing feelings for another male character. In the future, this movie will not be shown. The school administration and the district’s Professional Standards Dept is currently reviewing the matter to see if further corrective action is required.”

    The complaint is part of Florida’s controversial legislation, signed last year by Gov. Ron DeSantis, banning certain instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom. DeSantis and other supporters pushed the measure as a form of “parental rights,” while opponents said it tried to erase LGBTQ people from schools and dubbed the law “Don’t Say Gay.”

    The law initially banned instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten through third grade or in a way deemed not age-appropriate for all other grades, but it has since been expanded to limit such information all through high school. Teachers who violate the state policy can be suspended or have their teaching licenses revoked.

    Disney was among those who spoke out against the law last year, spurring DeSantis and Florida Republicans to retaliate against the entertainment company by targeting their control over the land in and around its theme parks.

    The animated film “Strange World,” released last year, told the story of a family of explorers and starred the voices of Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid and Lucy Liu. The movie also featured Disney’s first-ever out-gay character, voiced by comedian Jaboukie Young-White.

    On May 9, Barbee addressed the school board members during public comment at a meeting. In attendance was the parent who had complained, school board member Shannon Rodriguez, she acknowledged during the meeting.

    “A school board member, an elected official of power, who was supposed to be nonpartisan, is allowed to present to the public that she is Christian and that God appointed her to the board. And yet it is indoctrinated that I showed a Disney movie. I’m a first-year teacher,” said Barbee.

    The teacher told district board members the movie was in no way sexual and was tied to the current lesson plan of the environment and ecosystems.

    Barbee claimed in the meeting Rodriguez “came to my school took me away from my students to tell me how bad and wrong I was.”

    At the end of the school board meeting, Rodriguez said she called the state department of education regarding the incident, which prompted the state investigation. She said her daughter is in Barbee’s class.

    She said at the district meeting Barbee broke school policy because she did not get the specific movie approved by school administration and said the teacher is “playing the victim.”

    “It is not a teacher’s job to impose their beliefs upon a child: religious, sexual orientation, gender identity, any of the above. But allowing movies such as this assist teachers in opening a door, and please hear me, they assist teachers in opening a door for conversations that have no place in our classrooms,” Rodriguez said.

    Rodriguez said “as a leader in this community, I’m not going to stand by and allow this minority to infiltrate our schools … God did put me here,” she said.

    CNN has reached out to Rodriguez and Hernando County School District and the Florida Department of Education for comment.

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  • A law that cancels cancel culture? This country is considering it | CNN

    A law that cancels cancel culture? This country is considering it | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Cancel culture, the online trend of calling out people, celebrities, brands and organizations – rightly or wrongly – for perceived social indiscretions or offensive behaviors, has become a polarizing topic of debate.

    To some, it’s an important means of social justice and holding powerful figures to account. But to others, it’s often “misused and misdirected” and has become a form of mob rule.

    But one country wants to put an end to the deeply contested online phenomena by introducing what legal experts and observers say would be the world’s first law against cancel culture – raising alarm among rights activists who fear that such legal powers could be used to stifle free speech.

    Over the past year, Singapore’s government has been “looking at ways to deal with cancel culture,” a spokesperson told CNN – amid what some say is a brewing culture war between gay rights supporters and the religious right following the recent decriminalization of homosexuality in the largely conservative city-state.

    Authorities said they were “examining existing related laws and legislation” after receiving “feedback” from conservative Christians who expressed fears about being canceled for their views by vocal groups online.

    “People ought to be free to express their views without fear of being attacked on both sides,” law minister K Shanmugam said in an interview with state media outlets in August.

    “We should not allow a culture where people of religion are ostracized (or) attacked for espousing their views or their disagreements with LGBT viewpoints – and vice versa,” he added.

    His comments came ahead of the historic repealing of a colonial-era law that criminalized gay sex – even if it was consensual.

    “We cannot sit by and do nothing. We have to look at the right boundaries between hate speech and free speech in this context,” Shanmugam said. “There could be wider repercussions for society at large where public discourse becomes impoverished… so we plan to do something about this.”

    In a statement to CNN, his law ministry said the impact of online cancel campaigns could be “far reaching and severe for victims.”

    “(Some) have been unable to engage in reasonable public discourse for fear of being attacked for their views online… and may engage in self censorship for fear of being made a target of cancel campaigns,” a ministry spokesperson said.

    The first thing any law tackling cancel culture must do, would be to define the act of canceling – an extremely complex challenge according to legal experts, given how contentious cancel culture can be.

    The phrase first originated from the slang term “cancel,” referring to breaking up with someone, according to the Pew Research Center, and later gained traction on social media. The Center published a study around the cancel phenomenon in 2021 which revealed deep public division across demographic groups in the United States – from the very meaning of the phrase as well as what cancel culture represents.

    According to Eugene Tan, an associate law professor from the Singapore Management University (SMU), there remains “no accepted definition” of canceling and as such, any proposed law would have to be “very clearly defined and worded.”

    “What does it mean when a person claims to be canceled? How would alleged victims show proof of being canceled?” said Tan, who once served as a nominated member of the Singapore Parliament.

    “All too often, incidents are interpreted, described or remembered by people in different ways. The lack of precision could result in the law being over inclusive, covering acts which it shouldn’t,” added Tan. “But if the definition is limiting, the law could be under inclusive and not cover crucial acts when it should,” said Tan.

    Law and home affairs minister K Shanmugam is one of the city-state's most powerful and influential political figures.

    Given how most cancel cases take place online, the new law would also have to be specially drafted with the internet in mind and likely involve cooperation from social media giants, lawyers in Singapore told CNN.

    “A cancel law will have to involve the platforms on which people typically discuss or propagate anything related to cancellation and where materials are published,” said Ian Ernst Chai, a lawyer who once served as a deputy public prosecutor in Singapore’s Attorney General’s Chambers.

    Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok could possibly be asked to police users or comply with court orders to a certain extent, Chai said – and this could also include taking down posts and tweets deemed to be “in infringement of the law.”

    Special legal mechanisms would also be needed to identify perpetrators (‘cancelers’), said other legal experts. “With cancel culture, things can spread immediately online and people’s reputations can be ruined in a matter of hours,” said criminal lawyer Joshua Tong.

    “It is clear that traditional legal processes are not suitable for cancel scenarios and a different process must be used. The (new) law could contain sections like intervention mechanisms to stop cancel campaigns before they gather steam,” added Tong.

    In Singapore’s case, there are also already several laws governing the internet which include an anti fake news bill – punishable with fines of up to 50,000 Singapore dollars ($38,000) or possible prison sentences of up to five years – as well as laws governing cyberbullying and doxing.

    So a cancel law would have to be one that’s very distinct in nature.

    The drafting of new laws could take months or even years and would have to be passed in Parliament, Singapore legal experts said.

    While the government did not provide further details when asked about what a new law dealing with cancel culture would look like or when it could be expected – critics have raised concerns over what they say could result in further restrictions on freedom of speech and expression in Singapore.

    “It sounds like yet another intimidation tactic by the government against those on the ground trying to raise their voices to demand accountability and change,” said Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch.

    “If a person or a group says hateful and discriminatory things against gay and trans people for example, others should be allowed to call them out and rebut what was said – this isn’t ‘cancel culture’, it’s social discourse and any modern, democratic society should be able to handle that without overbearing state interference.”

    Free speech advocate Roy Ngerng said a law against cancel culture would be “dangerous.”

    In 2015, Ngerng was sued for defamation by the Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong over a critical blog post he had written about the country’s national pensions plan. Ngerng lost his job at a national hospital as a result and said he was also harassed online.

    “The government’s strategy has been systematic from the beginning – canceling people like activists, journalists and opposition politicians who they deem disagreeable,” he told CNN.

    “They have adapted laws for use during the Internet era and perhaps seeing how fast conversations move on social media has prompted them to create a new law to stamp out cancel culture – prevent conversations from moving too quickly,” he said.

    “We shouldn’t be worried about conversations being canceled – we should be more worried about the government coming up with new laws and ways to cancel Singaporeans.”

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  • With Missouri ban on gender-affirming care likely, Kansas City Council approves sanctuary status

    With Missouri ban on gender-affirming care likely, Kansas City Council approves sanctuary status

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    Officials in Missouri’s largest city approved a resolution Thursday to declare it a sanctuary for people seeking or providing gender-affirming care, defying state lawmakers who voted a day earlier to ban such care for minors and restrict it for some ad…

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Officials in Missouri’s largest city approved a resolution Thursday to declare it a sanctuary for people seeking or providing gender-affirming care, defying state lawmakers who voted a day earlier to ban such care for minors and restrict it for some adults.

    Democratic Mayor Quinton Lucas praised the 12 to 1 vote, saying the city is committed to being a “welcoming, inclusive, and safe place for everyone, including our transgender and LGBTQ+ community.”

    Kansas City’s new, sanctuary status sets it apart as a Democratic-leaning city in a state with a Republican governor and GOP-controlled Legislature. Similar actions have been taken in cities that oppose state actions to restrict rights for transgender people, as in Austin, Texas.

    GOP Gov. Mike Parson is expected to sign into law the ban on gender-affirming care, joining at least 16 other states that have enacted similar laws restricting or banning such care for minors.

    The resolution also comes as a judge considers a proposed emergency rule from Republican state Attorney General Andrew Bailey that would require adults and children to undergo more than a year of therapy — and fulfill other requirements before they could receive gender-affirming treatment.

    A committee signed off Wednesday on the resolution, which says the city will not prosecute or fine any person or organization that seeks, provides, receives or helps someone to receive gender-affirming care such as as puberty blockers, hormones or surgery.

    It also says that if the state passes a law or resolution that imposes criminal or civil punishments, fines, or professional sanctions in such cases, personnel in Missouri’s largest city will make enforcing those requirements “their lowest priority.”

    Republican state lawmakers across the U.S. who’ve attacked gender-affirming care as part of a larger effort to roll back LGBTQ+ rights have argued that they’re protecting children from decisions they may later regret. But gender-affirming care for minors has been available in the U.S. for more than a decade and is endorsed by major medical associations.

    “This is an important first step in Kansas City’s commitment to trans and nonbinary people,” Merrique Jenson, founder of Transformations KC, said in a written statement after the vote. “I look forward to trans leaders and Kansas City working together to address the health disparities in our communities and ways we can have sustainable funding & programming reaching all trans people.”

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  • Kansas City considers becoming LGBTQ sanctuary city

    Kansas City considers becoming LGBTQ sanctuary city

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    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City Council committee will consider a resolution on Wednesday that would designate the city as a sanctuary for people seeking or providing gender-affirming care, even as the state’s attorney general is proposing a new restrictions on the procedures for adults and children.

    The resolution, which was proposed by LGTBQ advocates in Kansas City, says the city will not prosecute or fine any person or organization that seeks, provides, receives or helps someone receive gender-affirming care such as as puberty blockers, hormones and surgery.

    It also says if the state passes a law or resolution that imposes criminal or civil punishments, fines, or professional sanctions in such cases, Kansas City personnel will make enforcing those requirements “their lowest priority.”

    The resolution comes as a judge is considering a proposed emergency rule from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey that would require adults and children to undergo more than a year of therapy and fulfill other requirements before they could receive gender-affirming treatments such as puberty blockers, hormones and surgery as puberty blockers, hormones and surgery.

    If the council’s Transportation, Infrastructure and Operations Committee passes the resolution it could go before the Kansas City Council on Thursday.

    Council member Andrea Bough, who co-sponsored the resolution with Mayor Quinton Lucas and councilman Eric Bunch, said that Bailey’s proposed rule is part of a larger effort by Republican-controlled legislatures in Missouri and across the country to pass bills restricting the rights of LGBTQ residents, particularly transgender people.

    Bough said members of the city’s LGBTQ Commission reached out to supporters in city government for some type of response to several anti-LGBTQ proposals in this year’s Missouri Legislature.

    “There comes a time when you have to speak up and say to our LGTBQ residents, especially children, who are wondering if their city and state are accepting of them, we have to stand up right now and say, ‘Yes, you are welcome in Kansas City, we will protect you.’”

    Justice Horn, chair of the LGBTQ Commission, said the resolution is one of many steps needed to help transgender, non-binary and other LBGTQ residents of the Kansas City metro areas.

    “We don’t know if these state laws are going to be signed, if the attorney general’s order is going to be approved,” Horn said. “We didn’t want (the state) to come after us, we want to be proactive and do what we can to protect the community. The basic message is that folks need to know we are going to do everything we can to ensure they have access to care.”

    The resolution also says city personnel will not arrest or detain anyone sought by another jurisdiction for seeking gender-affirming care, respond to requests for information from other jurisdictions, or collect any civil penalties in such cases.

    Horn and Bough noted that Kansas City’s police force is controlled by a state-appointed Board of Police Commissioners and any possible criminal charges in gender-affirming cases would be filed by the county prosecutor rather than city prosecutors — both of which could make enforcing the resolution problematic.

    “To some extent, we recognize that it may have some limitations. … It’s a statement of our policy and our goals and will hopefully send a message to those within our jurisdiction how we hope others will act as well,” Bough said.

    Bailey sought to impose his rule on April 27, prompting a lawsuit on behalf of transgender people. St. Louis County Judge Ellen Ribaudo initially granted a temporary restraining order and scheduled a hearing for May 11. That hearing was later delayed until July 20.

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  • Comment on transgender issue roils Kentucky governor’s race

    Comment on transgender issue roils Kentucky governor’s race

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    FRANKFORT, Ky. — A prominent GOP candidate roiled the hotly contested primary race for Kentucky governor with a comment that if elected, “we will not have transgenders in our school system,” angering LGBTQ advocates in a state that has enacted laws limiting the rights of transgender youth.

    Former U.N. Ambassador Kelly Craft made the comment in response to a question during a telephone town hall Monday night. She did not specify what policy actions she envisioned involving transgender students, but her campaign weighed in Tuesday when asked to respond.

    “Of course Kelly was referring to the woke ideologies being pushed in our schools,” her campaign said in a statement. “She has been advocating for the best for all children this entire campaign.”

    Craft’s comments were swiftly denounced as “desperate and disgusting” by Chris Hartman, executive director of the Fairness Campaign, a Kentucky-based LGBTQ advocacy group.

    Craft is waging a combative contest against state Attorney General Daniel Cameron as part of a 12-candidate field vying for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in the May 16 primary. Craft’s running mate, state Sen. Max Wise, sponsored a sweeping law aimed at transgender youth this year.

    “Her claim that she and Wise will somehow purge transgender kids from Kentucky schools is nothing more than an unhinged political promise she can’t keep,” Hartman said.

    “None of the other candidates are railing this hard against LGBTQ youth because it won’t work, except to harm trans kids,” he added.

    The nominee is expected to challenge Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who is seeking reelection to a second term in the GOP-trending state and faces nominal opposition in his party’s primary. Other Republican contenders include state Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, state Auditor Mike Harmon, retired attorney Eric Deters and Somerset Mayor Alan Keck.

    Craft spent an hour fielding questions reportedly submitted by callers across Kentucky, with topics including her stand on gun rights, abortion and fighting illegal drugs.

    One question asked Craft how she’d “combat the transgender agenda” in classrooms. Craft noted that Wise sponsored the measure dealing with, among other things, school bathroom policies, curriculum and which pronouns are used to refer to transgender students.

    Craft added: “Under a Craft-Wise administration, we will not have transgenders in our school system.”

    She later doubled down in answering the same question, saying: “Under a Craft-Wise administration, we will not have transgender.”

    Throughout the campaign, Craft has railed against what she claims are “woke” ideologies infiltrating Kentucky public schools, pledging to lead efforts to overhaul the state education department if elected. With her remarks about transgender children, Craft upped the ante in her culture-war messaging.

    The question is whether the strategy will pay off against a field of staunchly conservative candidates. Craft has put millions of her family’s fortune into a barrage of TV advertising.

    “There’s no doubt that that issue polls very, very well with core Republican primary voters,” GOP political consultant T.J. Litafik said by phone Tuesday. “The danger that any candidate faces is going so extreme to win a very small primary vote that you can’t get back to the middle for a general election.”

    The Kentucky legislation is part of a widespread movement, along with Republican state lawmakers in other states who have approved extensive measures that restrict the rights of LGBTQ people.

    The debate about transgender issues is likely to continue into Kentucky’s fall campaign for governor.

    Beshear vetoed the sweeping measure that banned gender-affirming medical care for trans youth — one of many provisions affecting young transgender people. Beshear said the legislation amounted to government overreach into parental rights in making medical decisions for their children.

    “My faith teaches me that all children are children of God,” the governor said in his veto message.

    The GOP-dominated legislature overrode the veto.

    Other parts of the measure require school districts to devise bathroom policies that, “at a minimum,” would not allow transgender children to use the bathroom aligned with their gender identities. It allows teachers to refuse to refer to transgender students by the pronouns they use and requires schools to notify parents when lessons related to human sexuality are going to be taught.

    Several Kentucky families with transgender children recently filed a federal lawsuit challenging the sections banning puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender youths. The suit didn’t take aim at other sections dealing with school policies.

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  • Transgender youth sue over Montana gender-affirming care ban

    Transgender youth sue over Montana gender-affirming care ban

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    HELENA, Mont. — Two transgender children, their parents and two health care providers filed a lawsuit Tuesday arguing that a Montana law that would ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth is unconstitutional.

    The ban on puberty blockers, hormone treatment and surgical procedures applies only to transgender youth being treated for gender dysphoria, but that same care can be provided to cisgender adolescents for any other purpose, according to the complaint filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Montana and Lambda Legal.

    The ban serves no purpose other than to “intentionally burden a transgender person’s ability to seek necessary care to align their body with their gender identity,” the complaint states. It asks a state judge to block enforcement of the law, which is to take effect on Oct. 1.

    “The new law provides commonsense protections for Montana children — who can’t even enter into contracts or buy cigarettes or alcohol — from harmful, life-altering medications and surgeries,” said Emily Flower, spokesperson for Attorney General Austin Knudsen.

    Opposition to the bill by Democratic Rep. Zooey Zephyr — the first openly transgender female lawmaker to serve in the Montana Legislature — triggered a series of events that eventually led to her being banned from the House floor for the final days of the 2023 session.

    The Republican-controlled Montana Legislature passed the bill and Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed it late last month. Montana is one of at least 16 states with laws to ban such care, despite protests from the families of transgender youth that the care is essential.

    “It is mentally and physically painful to feel like you are trapped in the wrong body,” Jessica van Garderen, the mother of a 16-year-old transgender daughter, said in a statement. “Going through puberty for the wrong sex is like having your body betray you on a daily basis. The only treatment we have found to be effective and give our daughter hope again is hormone therapy.

    “Taking away this crucial medical care is inhumane and a violation of our rights,” van Garderen said.

    The complaint argues that the new law interferes with parental rights and is unconstitutional because it violates the plaintiffs’ right to privacy, their right to seek health care and the right to human dignity.

    Supporters of the ban, including bill sponsor Republican Sen. John Fuller, said minors should not be allowed to undergo irreversible, life-changing procedures before they are adults and are old enough to understand the consequences and give legal permission.

    “Just living as a trans teenager is difficult enough, the last thing me and my peers need is to have our rights taken away,” plaintiff Phoebe Cross, a 15-year-old transgender boy, said in a statement. “The blatant disrespect for my humanity and existence is deeply unsettling.”

    Under the new law, health care providers who provide such care could lose their medical licenses for at least a year and be subject to lawsuits for up to 25 years after any treatment was provided.

    The bill also prohibits public money, such as Medicaid, from being used to pay for such care.

    Federal judges in Alabama and Arkansas have blocked laws that sought to ban gender-affirming care. The Department of Justice joined a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of transgender parents and their children against a similar ban in Tennessee.

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  • Pride organizers keep eye on drag laws ahead of festivals

    Pride organizers keep eye on drag laws ahead of festivals

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    HARTFORD, Conn. — Tennessee organizers booked more than 50 drag entertainers for next month’s Midsouth Pride festival in Memphis now that the state’s new law placing strict limits on cabaret shows is temporarily on hold.

    But they are being cautious, making adjustments to performances should the limits of the first-in-the-nation law essentially banning drag from public property or in the presence of minors kick in before June celebrations.

    “As soon as this stuff started making its way, I immediately started coming out with plans to be able to counteract that,” said longtime festival organizer Vanessa Rodley. “Because, at the end of the day, we can’t put on an event that then segregates a huge portion of our community, right? We just can’t do that. So you have to find ways around it.”

    The show must go on.

    Organizers of Pride festivals and parades in mostly conservative states where there’s been a broader push targeting LGBTQ+ rights have been under increasing pressure to censor their events. They’re taking steps like editing acts and canceling drag shows in order to still hold their annual celebrations of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer identity in today’s contentious climate.

    In some cases, they are trying navigate broad legislative language that can equate drag performances and story hours with “adult-oriented performances that are harmful to minors,” as in the Tennessee law. In other places, Pride organizers have had to fight for local permits that were pro forma in past years, facing off with critics at local city council meetings who oppose drag.

    Most Pride organizations are busy “doing their homework” and investigating how legislation popping up around the country may impact their events, said Ron deHarte, co-president for the U.S. Association of Prides. And in more progressive states like California, this year’s Pride events will be an opportunity to make a larger statement and raise awareness about the LGBTQ+ community, he said.

    “Our members attract more than 20 million people in the United States to their events every year,” deHarte said. “So when you talk about the collective impact that Pride organizers can have, not only in their community but across the country, it is powerful.”

    Bills to limit or ban drag were filed in more than a dozen states. The only other state set to enact a law is Florida, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign a bill.

    Kayla Bates, a founder of ELGbtq+, an organizer of the community Pride festival and parade in Elgin, Illinois, said she expects a large turnout for the inaugural event given the legislation targeting transgender rights and drag shows elsewhere.

    “I think people want to really make it known that they back us and that we should feel safe and protected in our community,” she said.

    Often held in June, Pride events began as way to commemorate the uprising by New York’s LGBTQ+ communities in 1969, known as the Stonewall rebellion, and as a way to celebrate the LGBTQ+ rights movement.

    In New York City, a Pride rally planned for June 17 and a parade on June 25 will have a national theme: “Strength in Solidarity.” Sue Doster, co-chairperson of NYC Pride, said they’re putting a spotlight on the transgender community and drag queens, targets of the recent legislation in conservative states.

    “They’re attacking these people because they’re less likely to stand up and fight back, which is why it’s important that we all come together in solidarity and speak up when we see these injustices,” she said.

    Backlash against transgender individuals, drag performances and Pride events is not new. Last year, 31 members of a white supremacist group were arrested near an Idaho Pride event after they were found packed into the back of a U-Haul truck with riot gear.

    This year, the Pride Alliance of the Treasure Coast in Port St. Lucie, Florida has reacted to possible legislation, canceling a planned gay pride parade and restricting other events to people 21 years and older.

    The Pride festival in Hutchinson, Kansas, has also adjusted its program and secured a new venue after losing its original one when a local business owner posted a video on social media decrying the event, which included a drag queen story hour, as depraved.

    “Our event is completely family friendly,” said Hutchinson Salt City Pride chair Julia Johnson.

    Meanwhile, organizers in the Nashville, Tennessee, suburb of Franklin, opted not to include drag performances in their Pride celebrations so they can work with local officials to get other events permitted.

    In Naples, Florida, Pride organizers agreed they wouldn’t allow drag performers to be tipped on stage, and later announced that the drag show portion of its festival will be held at an indoor venue because of safety concerns.

    In Memphis, drag entertainers plan to not change costumes mid-performance or accept tips from the audience if the limits are reinstated.

    Even in progressive-leaning Massachusetts, there’s been debate about whether a drag show could be part of a Pride celebration in the small town of North Brookfield, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Boston. The three-member select board had rescinded a previous vote and determined a drag show violated restrictions on “adult entertainment.” Last week, the town’s lawyer said the event could take place on the town common as planned after the ACLU got involved.

    Support for the community is also making a difference. In Iowa, the Cedar Falls Mayor Rob Green, this week reversed his controversial decision not to sign a proclamation declaring June as Pride Month. He wrote on Facebook that he signed the proclamation out of concern for the safety and health of LGBTQIA+ residents after hearing stories and receiving letters from constituents.

    “I learn a lot from these kind of letters and very much appreciate the opportunity to re-examine my assumptions and thought processes,” he wrote.

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  • Indiana governor signs bills targeting LGBTQ students

    Indiana governor signs bills targeting LGBTQ students

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    INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s governor on Thursday signed a bill that would require schools to notify a parent if a student requests a name or pronoun change at school, one of the final bills approved in a legislative session that had targeted LGBTQ+ people in the state, especially students.

    Critics worry the law could out transgender children to their families and erode trust between students and teachers while supporters have contested the legislation keeps parents empowered and informed about their children when at school.

    Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb’s approval of the legislation comes in a year when GOP-led legislatures around the country are seeking to curb LGBTQ+ rights, specifically targeting trans people’s participation in sports, workplaces and schools, as well as their access to health care.

    Recently, Florida Republicans on Wednesday also approved a bill that would prevent students and teachers from being required to use pronouns that don’t correspond to someone’s sex, a bill Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign into law. Meanwhile, at least 16 states, including Indiana,have banned or restricted access to gender-affirming care such as hormones, puberty blockers, and surgeries.

    Indiana’s name and pronouns law, which goes into effect July 1, would require school officials to provide written notification to a child’s parent or guardian within five business days of the child asking to be called a different “pronoun, title, or word,” according to the bill. It also prohibits, from prekindergarten through third grade, instruction on “human sexuality,” something that is not defined in the bill.

    “I believe in parental rights,” Holcomb said in a statement Thursday. “I also just believe its commonsense that sex education should not be taught in prekindergarten through third grade.”

    Holcomb also signed into law on Thursday a bill that could make it easier to ban books from public school libraries, staff at which would be required by July 1 to publicly post a list of books they offer and provide a complaints process for community members.

    Schools and librarians could also no longer argue, as a legal defense, that the texts in their libraries have “educational” value. The law would still allow them to argue the text has literary, artistic, political or scientific value.

    Those who supported the legislation expressed concern that sexually inappropriate or “pornographic” materials are available to children in school libraries. Critics, however, said the legislation could open the door to banning books or criminal prosecutions of librarians simply because some people don’t like the topics of the texts, particularly those with LGBTQ+ themes.

    The law “improves transparency,” Holcomb said in a statement, adding he was “happy that these decisions will continue to take place at the local level.”

    ___

    Arleigh Rodgers is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/arleighrodgers.

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  • LGBTQ+ lawmaker to GOP: ‘I’m literally trying to exist’

    LGBTQ+ lawmaker to GOP: ‘I’m literally trying to exist’

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    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — State Sen. Shevrin Jones can often be seen at the Florida Capitol greeting staff and colleagues with a smile or laugh, but when he’s alone it’s a different story.

    “The outward expression is to show God’s love. That’s what I was taught,” said Jones, a Democrat. But, he said, “I have enough tears in my car to fill a lake.”

    For Jones, who is gay, the past two years have been emotionally draining as Florida passed a flurry of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

    More than 200 LGBTQ+ lawmakers across the country feel just like Jones, at a time when anti-gay and anti-transgender legislation is flourishing — as if they are under personal attack, and that they need to continually defend their community’s right to exist. The issue exploded into the national spotlight last week when Montana Republicans voted to bar Democratic Rep. Zooey Zephyr, who is transgender, from the House floor after a standoff over gender-affirming medical care for minors.

    The ACLU is tracking nearly 470 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in 16 states, most with Republican-controlled Legislatures. Texas, Missouri and Tennessee alone account for more than 125 such bills; Florida has ten.

    In the leadup to a possible presidential campaign, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gained national attention for proposing and signing a bill to ban class discussion on sexual orientation and gender identity, which opponents have called “Don’t Say Gay” legislation. While DeSantis and other GOP leaders have increasingly waded into the culture wars, as part of their political toolbox, the emotions on both sides are ratcheted up.

    “I actually have a policy of no longer crying in Tallahassee,” said Florida Rep. Michele Rayner-Goolsby. “I will cry when I go home.”

    Rayner-Goolsby is a lawyer currently in a Master of Divinity program who was raised with a strong religious background. She’s also the first Black lesbian lawmaker in the statehouse to be out.

    “I’m literally trying to exist,” she said. “The harsh things we’re saying are in defense of our life. The harsh things that they’re saying are to prop up a governor’s political ambition, and their desire and quest for power.”

    In some cases, LGBTQ+ members who have deep faith are pitted against GOP members saying God doesn’t make mistakes, and that there are only two genders. There are also LGBTQ+ members with children who have faced derision and been told that children at large need to be protected from their community.

    In Texas, there are three bills that would classify providing gender-affirming care to minors as a form of child abuse.

    Other conservative states have followed Florida’s example with bills that restrict trans people’s access to gender-affirming care, bathrooms that correspond with their gender and LGBTQ+ books, as well as the ability to socially transition at school and to play sports at high school and college.

    It’s put pressure on LGBTQ+ lawmakers who are encountering opposition, misunderstanding and even hate among their Republican colleagues.

    North Dakota Sen. Ryan Braunberger, a Democrat of Fargo, said it’s “frustrating” and “maddening” to be a gay lawmaker in a Legislature where anti-LGBTQ+ bills are debated and most of his colleagues are voting to pass them.

    When he was serving on a committee this session and conversation shifted to a bill prohibiting drag shows in public spaces, Braunberger said that a colleague wanted to make it illegal for people to host drag shows in their own homes.

    “They want to eliminate members of the LGBTQ+ community from existing,” he said. “It’s what the extreme right is pushing for … It represents a small but powerful part of the Legislature. And I fear that if we don’t stand up against it, that it will continue to grow.”

    While LGBTQ+ lawmakers only compose a small fraction of state Legislatures, their numbers are growing, according to the group Out For America.

    Statehouse debate about LGBTQ+ rights has increasingly descended into personal attacks and ran counter to the traditional practices of maintaining decorum and respect for one’s colleagues.

    During a recent committee debate in Florida, Republican Rep. Webster Barnaby called trans people “demons,” “mutants” and “imps.” In Kansas last year, Republican Rep. Cheryl Helmer made headlines for saying in an email that she didn’t want to share a bathroom with a transgender colleague.

    The targeted colleague, Democratic Rep. Stephanie Byers was the state’s only transgender lawmaker and decided last year to not seek reelection.

    After Byers testified against a bill banning transgender athletes from girls and women’s sports, a Republican colleague pulled her aside to say he was sorry that Byers had to listen to bill supporters.

    Still, he went on to vote for the bill.

    The next day, Byers said the lawmaker told another member of what’s called the Kansas “queer caucus” that he couldn’t look himself in the mirror.

    “It’s the same thing I think for every LGBTQ+ legislator, in no matter what state they serve in,” Byers said. “You don’t know what you can trust. When they say, ‘I like you, I love you and I’m glad you’re here,’ is that honest? Or is standing at the well and berating LGBTQ+ people, is that the honest person?”

    For Florida Sen. Jones — the first Black gay lawmaker in the state — repeatedly hearing “I love you, but” from people he socializes with and works alongside is depressing, even more so when an anti-LGBTQ+ message carries religious undertones. Despite advice that he wouldn’t win reelection, he came out in 2018 and still won his seat.

    While difficult, he said he is determined to fight hate with love.

    “I pray more now than ever, and I believe in my heart that God loves me more than ever. I hate how they treat people, “ Jones said of Republican lawmakers crafting these bills. ”I hate what they’re doing to the transgender community, I hate what they’re doing to immigrants. I hate it all. But it is not my job to hate them. It is not my job to do anything but love them.”

    ___

    AP writers John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, and Arleigh Rodgers in Indianapolis and Trisha Ahmed in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

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  • San Francisco to repeal boycott of anti-LGBTQ+ states

    San Francisco to repeal boycott of anti-LGBTQ+ states

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    SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco is repealing a ban on city-funded travel to 30 states that it says restrict abortion, voting and LGBTQ+ rights after determining the boycott is doing more harm than good.

    The Board of Supervisors voted 7-4 on Tuesday to repeal a section of the city’s administrative code that prohibits staff from visiting and city departments from contracting with companies headquartered in the states, which include Texas, Florida and Ohio.

    California, meanwhile, is considering the repeal of a similar law.

    City supervisors will hold a second and final vote next Tuesday. Mayor London Breed is expected to sign the measure.

    The progressive city passed the boycott in 2016, after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. At first, the boycott applied only to states that it considered restricted the rights of LGBTQ+ people. Later, the list was expanded to include states that limit access to voting and abortion.

    The idea was to exert economic pressure on those conservative states. Instead, a report released last month by the city administrator concluded that the policy was raising costs and administrative burdens for the city. Because of restrictions, there were fewer bidders for city work and that ending the boycott might reduce contracting costs by 20% annually, the report concluded.

    In addition, the city had approved hundreds of exemptions and waivers for some $800 million worth of contracts, the report said.

    Meanwhile, “no states with restrictive LGBTQ rights, voting rights, or abortion policies have cited the city’s travel and contract bans as motivation for reforming their law,” the review concluded.

    The measure “was a well-intentioned effort at values-based contracting but ultimately did not accomplish the social change it sought to effect,” Board President Aaron Peskin, who co-sponsored the repeal, said in a statement. “Instead, this onerous restriction has led to an uncompetitive bidding climate and created serious obstructions to everything from accessing emergency housing to being able to cost-effectively purchase the best products and contracts for the City.”

    Scott Wiener, a former supervisor-turned-state senator who authored the original ban, agreed that the measure hadn’t produced the intended results.

    “We believed a coalition of cities and states would form to create true consequences for states that pass these despicable, hateful laws,” the San Francisco Democrat said in a statement. “Yet, as it turned out, that coalition never formed, and the full potential impact of this policy never materialized. Instead, San Francisco is now penalizing businesses in other states — including LGBTQ-owned, women-owned, and people of color-owned businesses — for the sins of their radical right wing governments.”

    In addition, city staff have been unable to fly to many states for cooperative work on issues ranging from HIV prevention to transportation, Wiener said.

    Similar problems have led California to consider mothballing its own 2016 ban on state travel to states it deems discriminate against LGBTQ+ people.

    California now bans state-funded travel to nearly half of the country following a surge of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in mostly Republican-led states.

    The prohibition means sports teams at public colleges and universities have had to find other ways to pay for road games in states like Arizona and Utah. And it has complicated some of the state’s other policy goals, like using state money to pay for people who live in other states to travel to California for abortions.

    Last month, state Senate leader Toni Atkins announced legislation that would end the ban and replace it with an advertising campaign in those states that promotes acceptance and inclusion for the LGBTQ+ community. The bill would set up a fund to pay for the campaign, which would accept private donations and state funding — if any is available.

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  • LGBTQ+ lawmaker to GOP: ‘I’m literally trying to exist’

    LGBTQ+ lawmaker to GOP: ‘I’m literally trying to exist’

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    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — State Sen. Shevrin Jones can often be seen at the Florida Capitol greeting staff and colleagues with a smile or laugh, but when he’s alone it’s a different story.

    “The outward expression is to show God’s love. That’s what I was taught,” said Jones, a Democrat. But, he said, “I have enough tears in my car to fill a lake.”

    For Jones, who is gay, the past two years have been emotionally draining as Florida passed a flurry of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

    More than 200 LGBTQ+ lawmakers across the country feel just like Jones, at a time when anti-gay and anti-transgender legislation is flourishing — as if they are under personal attack, and that they need to continually defend their community’s right to exist. The issue exploded into the national spotlight last week when Montana Republicans voted to bar Democratic Rep. Zooey Zephyr, who is transgender, from the House floor after a standoff over gender-affirming medical care for minors.

    The ACLU is tracking nearly 470 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in 16 states, most with Republican-controlled Legislatures. Texas, Missouri and Tennessee alone account for more than 125 such bills; Florida has ten.

    In the leadup to a possible presidential campaign, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gained national attention for proposing and signing a bill to ban class discussion on sexual orientation and gender identity, which opponents have called “Don’t Say Gay” legislation. While DeSantis and other GOP leaders have increasingly waded into the culture wars, as part of their political toolbox, the emotions on both sides are ratcheted up.

    “I actually have a policy of no longer crying in Tallahassee,” said Florida Rep. Michele Rayner-Goolsby. “I will cry when I go home.”

    Rayner-Goolsby is a lawyer currently in a Master of Divinity program who was raised with a strong religious background. She’s also the first Black lesbian lawmaker in the statehouse to be out.

    “I’m literally trying to exist,” she said. “The harsh things we’re saying are in defense of our life. The harsh things that they’re saying are to prop up a governor’s political ambition, and their desire and quest for power.”

    In some cases, LGBTQ+ members who have deep faith are pitted against GOP members saying God doesn’t make mistakes, and that there are only two genders. There are also LGBTQ+ members with children who have faced derision and been told that children at large need to be protected from their community.

    In Texas, there are three bills that would classify providing gender-affirming care to minors as a form of child abuse.

    Other conservative states have followed Florida’s example with bills that restrict trans people’s access to gender-affirming care, bathrooms that correspond with their gender and LGBTQ+ books, as well as the ability to socially transition at school and to play sports at high school and college.

    It’s put pressure on LGBTQ+ lawmakers who are encountering opposition, misunderstanding and even hate among their Republican colleagues.

    North Dakota Sen. Ryan Braunberger, a Democrat of Fargo, said it’s “frustrating” and “maddening” to be a gay lawmaker in a Legislature where anti-LGBTQ+ bills are debated and most of his colleagues are voting to pass them.

    When he was serving on a committee this session and conversation shifted to a bill prohibiting drag shows in public spaces, Braunberger said that a colleague wanted to make it illegal for people to host drag shows in their own homes.

    “They want to eliminate members of the LGBTQ+ community from existing,” he said. “It’s what the extreme right is pushing for … It represents a small but powerful part of the Legislature. And I fear that if we don’t stand up against it, that it will continue to grow.”

    While LGBTQ+ lawmakers only compose a small fraction of state Legislatures, their numbers are growing, according to the group Out For America.

    Statehouse debate about LGBTQ+ rights has increasingly descended into personal attacks and ran counter to the traditional practices of maintaining decorum and respect for one’s colleagues.

    During a recent committee debate in Florida, Republican Rep. Webster Barnaby called trans people “demons,” “mutants” and “imps.” In Kansas last year, Republican Rep. Cheryl Helmer made headlines for saying in an email that she didn’t want to share a bathroom with a transgender colleague.

    The targeted colleague, Democratic Rep. Stephanie Byers was the state’s only transgender lawmaker and decided last year to not seek reelection.

    After Byers testified against a bill banning transgender athletes from girls and women’s sports, a Republican colleague pulled her aside to say he was sorry that Byers had to listen to bill supporters.

    Still, he went on to vote for the bill.

    The next day, Byers said the lawmaker told another member of what’s called the Kansas “queer caucus” that he couldn’t look himself in the mirror.

    “It’s the same thing I think for every LGBTQ+ legislator, in no matter what state they serve in,” Byers said. “You don’t know what you can trust. When they say, ‘I like you, I love you and I’m glad you’re here,’ is that honest? Or is standing at the well and berating LGBTQ+ people, is that the honest person?”

    For Florida Sen. Jones — the first Black gay lawmaker in the state — repeatedly hearing “I love you, but” from people he socializes with and works alongside is depressing, even more so when an anti-LGBTQ+ message carries religious undertones. Despite advice that he wouldn’t win reelection, he came out in 2018 and still won his seat.

    While difficult, he said he is determined to fight hate with love.

    “I pray more now than ever, and I believe in my heart that God loves me more than ever. I hate how they treat people, “ Jones said of Republican lawmakers crafting these bills. ”I hate what they’re doing to the transgender community, I hate what they’re doing to immigrants. I hate it all. But it is not my job to hate them. It is not my job to do anything but love them.”

    ___

    AP writers John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, and Arleigh Rodgers in Indianapolis and Trisha Ahmed in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

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  • DIY trans care evades barriers in Missouri, other states

    DIY trans care evades barriers in Missouri, other states

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    JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — With her insurance about to run out and Republicans in her home state of Missouri ramping up rhetoric against gender-affirming health care, Erin Stille nervously visited a foreign pharmaceutical site as a “last resort” to ensure she could continue getting the hormones she needs.

    Stille, 26, sent a $300 bank transfer to a Taiwan-based supplier for a 6-month supply of estrogen patches and androgen-blocking pills. For three weeks she feared she’d been scammed but breathed a sigh of relief when a large package arrived at her home in St. Peters.

    “It’s definitely a little scary,” Stille said. “Taking a chance like this, I could have my money stolen and there’s not much I can do about it. But I figured, at this point, that the benefits outweigh the risks.”

    Stille, and others nationwide, are scrambling to form contingency plans as Republican politicians rapidly erode access to the gender-affirming treatments many credit as life-saving.

    Fears became even more pronounced in Missouri this month after Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued a first-of-its-kind emergency rule that places strict restrictions on that care for minors — and adults.

    While some doctors say self-medicating trans health care is dangerous, Stille is among a growing population who say they see no other option.

    If enacted, the Missouri rule will require people to have experienced an “intense pattern” of documented gender dysphoria for three years and to have received at least 15 hourly sessions with a therapist over 18 months or more before receiving puberty blockers, hormones, surgery or other treatment.

    Patients also must first be screened for autism and “social media addiction,” and any psychiatric symptoms from mental health issues will have to be treated and resolved. Some people will be able to maintain their prescriptions while undergoing the required assessments, which aren’t affordable for many.

    Some transgender Missourians and health care providers sued to overthrow the rule, and a St. Louis judge pushed back its effective date from last Thursday to Monday at 5 p.m. as she weighs whether to block its enforcement as the lawsuit proceeds in court. A ruling is expected Monday.

    Bailey has touted the rule as a way to shield residents, especially minors, from what he describes as experimental treatments, but puberty blockers and sex hormones have been prescribed for decades and are widely considered medically necessary for many trans people.

    Some gender-affirming treatment providers in Missouri are already planning to cut back on care.

    Vivent Health Interim President and CEO Brandon Hill said doctors are worried about meeting documentation requirements for new patients, so clinics in St. Louis and Kansas City will only provide gender-affirming health care to current patients. Vivent Health provides HIV-focused and LGBTQ+ friendly health care in St. Louis, Kansas City and other states.

    “Do-it-yourself hormone replacement therapy” has become an increasingly common way for trans residents of restrictive states to avoid involuntarily stopping hormone treatment. Trans people like Stille have been discreetly circulating a comprehensive a guide and a digital master list of hormone suppliers, some more reliable than others, through social media.

    This online marketplace, known as the gray market, is comprised of unregulated suppliers who sell legitimate medications, sometimes name-brand, outside the distribution channels authorized by the manufacturers. Some trans people in GOP-controlled states that have not yet enacted bans are buying from these suppliers to build an emergency stockpile.

    But self-administering hormones without adequate supervision can be “extraordinarily dangerous,” especially for those taking testosterone, said Dr. Robert Lash, chief medical officer at the Endocrine Society, which represents specialists who treat hormone conditions.

    Although taking testosterone can help trans men develop some desired physical features, it also increases their risk of a blood clot or stroke. Lash said doctors need to closely monitor a patient’s red blood cell count, lipids and liver function and adjust their dosage accordingly. Estrogen use can also increase risk of blood clots, he said.

    “These are powerful medications with a lot of effects on a lot of body systems, not all of which are good,” Lash said. “Taking these hormones on your own is just an invitation to running into problems. People need to be extraordinarily careful when using them and really shouldn’t without medical supervision.”

    He cautioned against taking hormones from any unregulated pharmacy, veterinary source or overseas provider.

    Even for those willing to assume the risks, not all trans people have the same level of access. Trans men like Levi Sobel, a 30-year-old from Springfield, are finding it much more difficult to source testosterone than other hormones.

    Testosterone is classified in the U.S. as a Schedule III controlled substance, along with ketamine and some opioids, and is subjected to more regulations that the typical prescription drug.

    Sobel said unregulated testosterone providers are “pretty much nonexistent” in the U.S., and it’s unwise to buy from international sellers because of the higher likelihood of the hormone being seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

    “This makes it essentially impossible for me to stockpile in the same ways my transfeminine friends can,” Sobel said. “The best I can do to stretch it is to make sure I’m using every last drop from every vial.”

    Stacy Cay, an autistic trans woman and comedian in Kansas City, has already saved up enough injectable estrogen to last about a year. The more she can stockpile, the more time she has to prepare her plan to relocate if the emergency rule isn’t blocked in court, she said.

    “This feels like the end of Kansas City being my home,” Cay said. “It feels like it’s being taken away.”

    Others, like Ellie Bridgman, a gas station attendant in Union, are employing a unique strategy to stockpile hormones. The 23-year-old, who said the attorney general’s rule would cut off her treatment access because she’s autistic and has depression, started injecting only a half dose of estrogen before her routine blood tests so her hormone levels would read low.

    This led her doctor to increase her prescription.

    Bridgman said she may consider decreasing her dosage to conserve medication or supplement her supply with an unregulated purchase. Stockpiling is her “No. 1 priority.” Without hormone replacement therapy, she said, “the suicidal thoughts and ideation comes back stronger than ever. This is my lifeline.”

    ___

    Schoenbaum reported from Raleigh, North Carolina.

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  • Conflict over transgender rights simmers across the US

    Conflict over transgender rights simmers across the US

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    As transgender people have increasingly gained acceptance and visibility, conservative lawmakers have zeroed in on restricting their rights: keeping transgender children off girls’ sports teams and out of certain bathrooms, and blocking them from receiving gender-affirming medical care.

    In response, a growing number of Democratic-controlled states officials have moved to protect such rights, especially access to gender-affirming care.

    In developments this week, one governor is telling lawmakers they’ll have to return for a special session if they fail to pass some restrictions, two others signed protections into law and a transgender lawmaker was barred from a Statehouse floor amid a standoff with colleagues.

    THE BIG PICTURE

    The push by conservatives has mushroomed over the last few years and become, alongside abortion, a major theme running through legislative sessions across the country in 2023.

    Six states have laws or policies in effect barring minors from receiving puberty blockers or hormone therapy. Similar provisions have been adopted but paused by courts in three more. They’ve been signed into law but haven’t yet taken effect in another eight. And one more bill is awaiting a governor’s signature.

    ___

    THE CENTER OF DEBATE

    In Missouri, the gender-affirming care battle is playing out in the Legislature and in court.

    Earlier this month Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey used an emergency rule to impose restrictions on both children and adults before they can receive such care. Just before it was to take effect this week, a judge halted enforcement until at least Monday and said she could push the date back further while legal challenges are considered.

    Gov. Make Parson, also a Republican, said he would call a special legislative session if lawmakers fail to pass bills that would restrict transgender rights by May 12.

    The GOP-controlled Legislature is on board but not in agreement over exceptions such as whether treatment for people already receiving puberty blockers or hormones would be allowed to continue.

    ___

    BANNED FROM THE HOUSE FLOOR

    Montana House Republicans barred a Democratic transgender colleague from the floor of the chamber for the rest of the legislative session as punishment.

    Zooey Zephyr had told Republicans there would be “blood on your hands” — an expression frequently used in politics — if they approved a ban on gender-affirming care for minors. The bill passed, though it has not yet been signed into law.

    Zephyr’s situation, which echoed the ouster of two Tennessee lawmakers from that state’s Legislature for a protest over gun policy this year, has turned her into a political cause for liberals nationwide.

    She spent the first day of her exile this week battling to use a bench in a Statehouse hallway.

    ___

    THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WEIGHS IN

    The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday filed a lawsuit challenging Tennessee’s law, scheduled to take effect July 1, banning transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming care.

    The federal government said “no person should be denied access to necessary medical care just because of their transgender status.”

    Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kristen Clarke sent a letter last month to all state attorneys general warning them that federal law protects transgender youth against discrimination.

    ___

    ACCESS PROTECTED

    Governors’ signatures in Minnesota and Washington on Thursday made them the latest of at least nine states with laws protecting access to gender-affirming care. Vermont lawmakers passed bills with similar provisions this week, though they haven’t been signed.

    The measures aim to shield patients, health care providers and other actors from punishment or investigations into whether they violated gender-affirming care and abortion bans in states that have them.

    So far, officials have not been trying to reach across state lines to enforce bans.

    ___

    DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS IN KANSAS

    The Republican-controlled legislature in Kansas fell one vote short this week of overriding Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a ban on gender-affirming care for minors.

    But lawmakers overrode other vetoes of restrictions on rights for transgender people. One blocks them from using restrooms that correspond with their gender identities at schools, prisons, domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers.

    At least eight other states have bathroom restrictions, but most of them apply only at schools.

    ___

    ROLING BACK A LIBERAL CITY’S BOYCOTT

    San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to repeal a measure barring city staffers from making business trips to states with restrictions on abortion, voting and LGBTQ+ rights.

    The 2016 policy also blocked the city government from doing business with companies headquartered in those states.

    Officials said it was doing more harm than good. Instead of exerting pressure on those states, it was raising costs for San Francisco.

    A final vote is expected on Tuesday. California is considering a repeal a similar measure at the state level.

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  • DeSantis’ overseas trip overshadowed by fight with Disney

    DeSantis’ overseas trip overshadowed by fight with Disney

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    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hoped his first international trade mission would generate lucrative business deals and boost his foreign policy resume ahead of an expected presidential run. Instead, he faced questions about losing ground to former President Donald Trump and being taken to court by Walt Disney World.

    The trip reflected the intensifying pressure confronting DeSantis as some of his allies grow increasingly anxious about his White House prospects. Within a few short years, he rose from relatively a relatively obscure congressman to Trump’s leading Republican rival by embracing the former president’s cultural grievances without the constant tumult.

    But it turns out DeSantis isn’t immune from drama. Facing questions this week about his standing within the GOP and his fight with Disney, he’s sometimes appeared agitated, reinforcing concerns within corners of his own party about his readiness for the rigor of presidential politics. Some in the GOP said that rather than burnish his image as a fighter, the confrontation with Disney over an anti-LGBTQ law and the theme part’s right to self-governor is becoming a distraction.

    “My goal would be for this spat to end. They’ve been our longtime partner,” said Republican state Sen. Joe Gruters, the immediate past chair of the state GOP and a Trump supporter. “We should be focused in a positive way on helping our job creators.”

    Speaking in Israel, DeSantis expressed confidence in his actions and is showing no sign of letting the Disney issue go.

    “I don’t think the suit has merit, I think it’s political,” said DeSantis, whose political team has used the Disney fight to raise money. “The days of putting one company on a pedestal with no accountability are over in the state of Florida.”

    The fight has been going on for more than a year. It began when Disney spoke out against legislation that would prevent discussion of sexual preference and gender identity in grades K-3. DeSantis responded by accusing Disney of being “woke” and calling lawmakers to Tallahassee to punish Disney by stripping it of a decades-old right to make development and expansion decisions on its own.

    “There’s a new sheriff in town,” DeSantis said last year when he announced plans to get back at Disney. And in his new book, he boasted about outsmarting the company.

    But some are questioning who is outsmarting who as Disney waited until the governor was out of the country before suing him, claiming that he’s retaliating against the state’s largest private employer for simply speaking an opinion.

    Democratic state Sen. Linda Stewart, whose district is near Disney, said she understands that DeSantis made big headlines when he first stood up to Disney, and that it rallied his core supporters. But the longer the feud drags on, the more it could backfire.

    “I’m betting on Disney. They probably have more money and lawyers than the state of Florida,” Stewart said. “As he progresses on, people are getting mad at him. The citizens of Florida do not like him going after family-friendly, economic development for the community. People don’t want government involved in business.”

    Stewart says that DeSantis’s anti-Disney comments are getting more petty. The governor this month pointed out that the Disney district the state took over controls a lot of undeveloped land. He told reporters that the land could go to a prison, a competing theme park or some other project.

    “Really? A prison? A nuclear plant? A new theme park? I mean, what kind of rationale is he putting out there?” Stewart said. “It doesn’t even make any sense.”

    DeSantis is eyeing a presidential campaign launch once the state legislature wraps up its session next month. As that moment nears, public familiarity with the governor is improving. Just 24% of U.S. adults say they don’t know enough to rate him in the April AP-NORC poll, compared with 30% in October and 42% in July 2021.

    Still, that increased familiarity has translated almost entirely to increased negative views toward DeSantis: 45% have an unfavorable view of him, up slightly from 40% in October and 30% in July 2021.

    Overall favorable ratings for DeSantis have largely remained the same: 31% say that have an unfavorable opinion of him in the new poll. Unfavorable ratings, however, are concentrated among Democrats.

    Among Republicans, 63% now say they have a favorable view of DeSantis, a tick up from 57% in October. The shift is concentrated among moderate and liberal Republicans, who have grown more familiar with him.

    With that shift, favorable ratings of DeSantis (63%) and Trump (68%) are largely similar among Republicans. Trump’s unfavorable ratings are slightly higher than DeSantis’ (30% vs 20%), while more say they are unfamiliar with DeSantis than Trump. Overall, about half of Republicans say they have a favorable view of both men.

    There’s an open question of whether the continuation of the Disney fight will dent DeSantis’ political standing. Now that it’s in court, the lawsuit will keep popping up in headlines if DeSantis eventually enters the presidential race.

    DeSantis’ own U.S. senator and predecessor as governor, Republican Rick Scott, told Fox Business that he agrees with DeSantis on the law Disney spoke out against, but he said he hopes the feud will die down.

    “What I hope is that cooler heads are going to prevail here,” Scott said Wednesday. “We’ve got to figure out how to solve this problem, how to make sure Disney continues to grow in our state, how Disney continues to invest and add more jobs.”

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  • DeSantis’ overseas trip overshadowed by fight with Disney

    DeSantis’ overseas trip overshadowed by fight with Disney

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    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hoped his first international trade mission would generate lucrative business deals and boost his foreign policy resume ahead of an expected presidential run. Instead, he faced questions about losing ground to former President Donald Trump and being taken to court by Walt Disney World.

    The trip reflected the intensifying pressure confronting DeSantis as some of his allies grow increasingly anxious about his White House prospects. Within a few short years, he rose from relatively a relatively obscure congressman to Trump’s leading Republican rival by embracing the former president’s cultural grievances without the constant tumult.

    But it turns out DeSantis isn’t immune from drama. Facing questions this week about his standing within the GOP and his fight with Disney, he’s sometimes appeared agitated, reinforcing concerns within corners of his own party about his readiness for the rigor of presidential politics. Some in the GOP said that rather than burnish his image as a fighter, the confrontation with Disney over an anti-LGBTQ law and the theme part’s right to self-governor is becoming a distraction.

    “My goal would be for this spat to end. They’ve been our longtime partner,” said Republican state Sen. Joe Gruters, the immediate past chair of the state GOP and a Trump supporter. “We should be focused in a positive way on helping our job creators.”

    Speaking in Israel, DeSantis expressed confidence in his actions and is showing no sign of letting the Disney issue go.

    “I don’t think the suit has merit, I think it’s political,” said DeSantis, whose political team has used the Disney fight to raise money. “The days of putting one company on a pedestal with no accountability are over in the state of Florida.”

    The fight has been going on for more than a year. It began when Disney spoke out against legislation that would prevent discussion of sexual preference and gender identity in grades K-3. DeSantis responded by accusing Disney of being “woke” and calling lawmakers to Tallahassee to punish Disney by stripping it of a decades-old right to make development and expansion decisions on its own.

    “There’s a new sheriff in town,” DeSantis said last year when he announced plans to get back at Disney. And in his new book, he boasted about outsmarting the company.

    But some are questioning who is outsmarting who as Disney waited until the governor was out of the country before suing him, claiming that he’s retaliating against the state’s largest private employer for simply speaking an opinion.

    Democratic state Sen. Linda Stewart, whose district is near Disney, said she understands that DeSantis made big headlines when he first stood up to Disney, and that it rallied his core supporters. But the longer the feud drags on, the more it could backfire.

    “I’m betting on Disney. They probably have more money and lawyers than the state of Florida,” Stewart said. “As he progresses on, people are getting mad at him. The citizens of Florida do not like him going after family-friendly, economic development for the community. People don’t want government involved in business.”

    Stewart says that DeSantis’s anti-Disney comments are getting more petty. The governor this month pointed out that the Disney district the state took over controls a lot of undeveloped land. He told reporters that the land could go to a prison, a competing theme park or some other project.

    “Really? A prison? A nuclear plant? A new theme park? I mean, what kind of rationale is he putting out there?” Stewart said. “It doesn’t even make any sense.”

    DeSantis is eyeing a presidential campaign launch once the state legislature wraps up its session next month. As that moment nears, public familiarity with the governor is improving. Just 24% of U.S. adults say they don’t know enough to rate him in the April AP-NORC poll, compared with 30% in October and 42% in July 2021.

    Still, that increased familiarity has translated almost entirely to increased negative views toward DeSantis: 45% have an unfavorable view of him, up slightly from 40% in October and 30% in July 2021.

    Overall favorable ratings for DeSantis have largely remained the same: 31% say that have an unfavorable opinion of him in the new poll. Unfavorable ratings, however, are concentrated among Democrats.

    Among Republicans, 63% now say they have a favorable view of DeSantis, a tick up from 57% in October. The shift is concentrated among moderate and liberal Republicans, who have grown more familiar with him.

    With that shift, favorable ratings of DeSantis (63%) and Trump (68%) are largely similar among Republicans. Trump’s unfavorable ratings are slightly higher than DeSantis’ (30% vs 20%), while more say they are unfamiliar with DeSantis than Trump. Overall, about half of Republicans say they have a favorable view of both men.

    There’s an open question of whether the continuation of the Disney fight will dent DeSantis’ political standing. Now that it’s in court, the lawsuit will keep popping up in headlines if DeSantis eventually enters the presidential race.

    DeSantis’ own U.S. senator and predecessor as governor, Republican Rick Scott, told Fox Business that he agrees with DeSantis on the law Disney spoke out against, but he said he hopes the feud will die down.

    “What I hope is that cooler heads are going to prevail here,” Scott said Wednesday. “We’ve got to figure out how to solve this problem, how to make sure Disney continues to grow in our state, how Disney continues to invest and add more jobs.”

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  • Amid Ukraine war, pope to give vision for Europe in Hungary

    Amid Ukraine war, pope to give vision for Europe in Hungary

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    BUDAPEST, Hungary — Pope Francis will outline his vision for the future of Europe during a three-day visit to Hungary that started Friday, with Russia’s war in Ukraine, migration flows and Hungary’s tense relations with Brussels looming large over the pontiff’s weekend journey.

    Hungarian officials say Francis’ pilgrimage was designed primarily to let the pope minister to the country’s Catholic community and to encourage its members in their faith. But with the war unfolding next door and Hungary butting heads with other European Union nations over rule of law issues and LGBTQ+ rights, Francis’ words and deeds in the heart of Europe will carry strong political undertones.

    After landing at Budapest’s Liszt Ferenc International Airport, Francis met with President Katalin Novak and Prime Minister Viktor Orban. He was set to deliver his main political speech to Hungarian authorities and diplomats later Friday.

    He will have chance to speak to Hungarian society and Europe at large in his final event Sunday, when he is scheduled to address academic and cultural figures at Budapest’s Catholic University.

    In between, Francis is set to meet with some of the 35,000 Ukrainian refugees who have remained in Hungary after 2.5 million fled across the country’s border with Ukraine early on in Russia’s invasion. It will be another opportunity for Francis to raise immigration as a topic and and to reiterate his belief that European countries should, within their means, open their arms and borders to people fleeing poverty as well as conflicts.

    Orban is a populist whose hard line on migration is well known. In 2015-2016, Hungary built a razor wire fence on its border with Serbia to stop people from entering. However, Francis has expressed appreciation for Hungary’s recent welcome of Ukrainian refugees.

    Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Francis would use his time in the heart of Europe to look to the continent’s future.

    “It’s difficult to not think about the European Union and all of Europe,” Bruni said of the trip. He noted that the “passion” for Europe had perhaps faded over the years and that Francis aimed to revive “the Europe of peoples, with its own history and responsibility in the commitment to global peace.”

    For the 86-year-old pontiff, the visit will once again test his frail health after he spent four days in the hospital last month with bronchitis. While Hungarian officials had hoped Francis would travel around the country, the Vatican opted to keep him in Budapest, where he spent seven hours in 2021 to close out a church congress.

    The visit comes as the European Union’s parliament continues to put pressure on Hungary to counter what EU lawmakers consider a deterioration in the rule of law and democratic principles under Orban’s government, including rolling back the rights of LGBTQ+ people.

    The four biggest groups in the European Parliament have called on the EU’s executive commission to withhold pandemic recovery funds for Hungary until liberal democracy principles are met.

    The European Commission has accused Orban for years of dismantling democratic institutions, taking control of the media and infringing on minority rights, allegations the prime minister has denied.

    Hungary’s Constitution, approved unilaterally by Orban’s right-wing populist Fidesz party in 2011, outlaws same-sex marriage, and the government has prohibited same-sex couples from adopting children. The government has also outlawed the depiction of homosexuality or divergent gender identities to minors in media content.

    Catholic doctrine also prohibits same-sex marriages, but Francis has backed legal protections for people in same-sex unions. He has long ministered to gay and transgender Catholics, while blasting “gender ideology” as an alleged form of the West’s ideological colonization of the developing world.

    In a move linked to the pontiff’s visit, Hungry’s president on Thursday commuted the prison sentences of several members of a far-right Hungarian group convicted of executing political acts of terrorism. The group’s members have frequently harassed members of the LGBTQ+ community.

    In a statement, Novak wrote that Francis’ visit “is a special occasion for the head of state to exercise her power of pardon.” She referred directly to those members of the radical Hunnia Movement group, which espouses anti-EU, irredentist views and was linked to Molotov cocktail attacks on the homes of Socialist government officials between 2007 and 2009.

    Hungary’s ambassador to the Holy See, Eduard Habsburg, said he thinks Hungary is actually upholding Europe’s founding ideals better than many of its EU partners.

    “Hungary has stayed true to the values that have always been the values of the European Union, which is family, faith, Christian, Judeo-Christian roots, sovereignty and all these things,” Habsburg said. “And you sometimes have the idea that … some of these have been lost in the western parts of Europe.”

    With Francis traveling closer to Ukraine than at any time since Russia invaded Ukraine, the war will also be front and center during his visit. He plans to visit a Greek Catholic church that delivered aid to Ukrainian refugees.

    Francis, who met with Ukraine’s prime minister at the Vatican on Thursday, is likely to repeat his call for a peaceful resolution of the war and to express solidarity with the Ukrainian people.

    Orban has called for a cease-fire but been lukewarm in his support of Ukraine, refusing to supply Kyiv with weapons and threatening to veto EU sanctions against Moscow while maintaining Hungary’s strong dependence on Russian energy.

    While there was speculation that Francis might meet with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill while in Budapest, no such meeting is planned, according to the Rev. Csaba Torok, the parochial administrator for the Cathedral of Esztergom and coordinator of Catholic programming on state media.

    Francis held an unprecedented meeting with Kirill in 2016 and had hoped to pursue a second encounter, but Kirill’s support for Russia’s invasion put the plans on indefinite hold. ___

    Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

    ___

    Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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  • Indiana bill could make book banning in schools easier

    Indiana bill could make book banning in schools easier

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    INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers on Thursday gave their final approval to a bill that could make it easier to ban books from public school libraries.

    The bill would require school libraries to publicly post a list of books they offer and provide a complaints process for community members. Schools and librarians could also no longer argue, as a legal defense, that the texts in their libraries have “educational” value. The law would still allow them to argue the text has literary, artistic, political or scientific value.

    “That’s how I would describe educational, by the way,” GOP Rep. Martin Carbaugh said before the House voted 70-27 in favor of it.

    The language was derived from a Senate proposal that passed in February and had come up in various other bills this session. It was added Thursday to a House bill related to student assessments and received quick approval from the House and Senate. The bill now heads to to Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb.

    Those who supported the legislation expressed concern that sexually inappropriate or “pornographic” materials are available to children. Critics, however, said the legislation could open the door to banning books simply because some people don’t like the topics, as well as criminal prosecutions of educators for providing such books.

    “Do we really want some parents choosing books for what other kids are reading or not reading?” Democratic Sen. J.D. Ford, the state’s only openly gay legislator, said Thursday. “I still think it’s a slippery slope.”

    Republican state Rep. Becky Cash insisted the bill “protects the schools.”

    “I hope that as this plays out, people will realize that,” she told The Associated Press.

    Democratic Rep. Renee Pack spoke to lawmakers about her daughter, Leah Johnson, whose book “You Should See Me In A Crown” was declared “obscene” by the Oklahoma attorney general’s office.

    “Why, Leah, do you write these books?” Pack said she asked her daughter, whose book is about a Black girl who falls for her competition for prom queen.

    Pack said her daughter’s response was that “it was horrible and confusing, growing up and not seeing me and who I was represented in literature. So this is my way of letting young people know you are not alone, no matter what anybody tells you.”

    The bill was subsequently approved by the Senate 39-10.

    Republican Sen. Jim Tomes, the author of the Senate bill that passed the chamber in February, told lawmakers earlier this session that parents had brought him several inappropriate books in their libraries, among them “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe, a coming-of-age story about gender and sexuality, which was the most “challenged” book of 2022 for the second year in a row, according to the American Library Association.

    Attempted book bans and restrictions on libraries have surged, setting a record in 2022, according to a recent report by the ALA. The vast majority of complaints have come from conservatives, directed at works with LGBTQIA+ or racial themes, according to Deborah Caldwell-Stone, who directs the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.

    “We all know, in this room, there is no pornography in our schools,” Indiana Democratic Rep. Matt Pierce said Thursday. “What it is, is young adult fiction that talks about lesbians and gays and people that are different than some of us, and it’s giving us a realistic portrayal of the challenges and the burdens and the struggles that those minorities face.”

    ___

    Arleigh Rodgers is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/arleighrodgers.

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  • Cosmetic to critical: Blue states help trans health coverage

    Cosmetic to critical: Blue states help trans health coverage

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    PORTLAND, Ore. — For most of her life in New Mexico, Christina Wood felt like she had to hide her identity as a transgender woman. So six years ago she moved to Oregon, where she had readier access to the gender-affirming health care she needed to live as her authentic self.

    Once there, Wood, 49, was able to receive certain surgeries that helped her transition, but electrolysis, or permanent hair removal, wasn’t fully covered under the state’s Medicaid plan for low-income residents. Paying out-of-pocket ate up nearly half her monthly income, but it was critical for Wood’s mental health.

    “Having this facial hair or this body hair, it doesn’t make me feel feminine. I still look in the mirror and I see that masculine person,” she said. “It’s stressful. It causes anxiety and PTSD when you’re having to live in this body that you don’t feel like you should be in.”

    That is likely about to change. Oregon lawmakers are expected to pass a bill that would further expand insurance coverage for gender-affirming care to include things like facial hair removal and Adam’s apple reduction surgery, procedures currently considered cosmetic by insurers but seen as critical to the mental health of transitioning women.

    The wide-ranging bill is part of a wave of legislation this year in Democratic-led states intended to carve out safe havens amid a conservative movement that seeks to ban or limit gender-affirming care elsewhere, eliminate some rights and protections for transgender people and even bar discussion of their existence in settings such as classrooms.

    More than a half-dozen states, from New Jersey to Vermont to Colorado, have passed or are considering bills or executive orders around transgender health care, civil rights and other legal protections. In Michigan, for example, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last month signed a bill outlawing discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation for the first time in her state.

    “Trans people are just being used as a political punching bag,” said Rose Saxe, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBT and HIV Project. “Denying this health care doesn’t make them not trans. It just makes their lives much harder.”

    Gender-affirming care includes a wide range of social and medical interventions, such as hormone treatments, counseling, puberty blockers and surgery.

    Oregon’s bill would bar insurers and the state’s Medicaid plan from defining procedures like electrolysis as cosmetic when they are prescribed as medically necessary for treating gender dysphoria. It also would shield providers and patients from lawsuits originating in states where such procedures are restricted.

    “We’re actually very committed to accessibility of coverage. Because you can say something is legal, but if it’s not truly affordable or accessible, that is not a full promise,” said Democratic state Rep. Andrea Valderrama, the bill’s chief sponsor.

    Access to procedures such as electrolysis is also necessary as a matter of public safety, said Blair Stenvick, communications manager for the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Basic Rights Oregon.

    “Facial hair can be a trigger for harassment,” Stenvick said, and being able to present as a woman “helps folks to not get targeted and identified as a trans person and then attacked.”

    The bill has sparked fervent debate, with hundreds of people submitting written testimony both for and against it and an emotionally charged public hearing at the Capitol in Salem last month that went on for several hours. The Democratic-controlled House is expected to vote on the bill Monday over Republican opposition before it heads to the Senate, which is also dominated by Democrats.

    Oregon’s measure mirrors a nationwide trend in Democratic-led states.

    Shield protections similar to what is being proposed in Oregon have been enacted this year in Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey and New Mexico, and other bills are awaiting the signatures of Govs. Jay Inslee in Washington and Tim Walz in Minnesota. California, Massachusetts and Connecticut passed their own measures last year. They largely bar authorities from complying with subpoenas, arrest warrants or extradition requests from states that have banned gender-affirming treatments.

    Meanwhile a measure passed last month by lawmakers in Maryland would expand the list of procedures covered by Medicaid, and Democratic Gov. Wes Moore has said he plans to sign it.

    And lawmakers in Nevada’s Democratic-held Legislature are also pushing to expand gender-affirming health care and develop policies regarding the treatment of transgender prisoners, among other things.

    The series of bills face an uncertain fate under Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who has shied away from the anti-transgender rhetoric and policy proposals that fellow GOP officeholders and candidates across the country have embraced. Lawmakers have just over a month to vote on them before the legislative session ends in June. But regardless of their outcome, an open debate over transgender health care protections in the important swing state promises to further heighten national attention on the issue.

    “They know that this is not a political stunt,” state Sen. Melanie Scheible, the bill’s sponsor and member of Nevada’s newly formed LGBTQ+ Caucus, said of the governor’s office. “I’m not trying to give them a bill to veto just so I can complain about it later.”

    Some opponents of gender-affirming health care say they’re concerned that young people may undergo certain physical transition procedures that are irreversible or transition socially in settings such as schools without their parents’ knowledge.

    Advocates for gender-affirming health procedures counter that they can be, literally, a matter of life or death.

    Kevin Wang, medical director for the LGBTQI+ Program at Swedish Health Services in Seattle, said such care alleviates the depression, anxiety and self-harm seen in patients with gender dysphoria. Studies show that transgender people, particularly youth, consider and attempt suicide at higher rates than the general population.

    “These are not aesthetic procedures,” Wang said. “Accessing these services can be absolutely life-saving because we’re preventing future harm.”

    Some legal experts, however, warn that laws that protect gender-affirming care but lack strong enforcement mechanisms or funding to investigate violations may not result in meaningful change.

    For example, Oregon already bars insurance companies from discrimination on the basis of gender identity. And the state agency overseeing health insurance rules already requires companies to cover procedures deemed medically necessary by a doctor to treat gender dysphoria and bars them from defining them as cosmetic.

    But insurers have rarely faced major consequences for violations, said Ezra Young, a civil rights attorney and visiting assistant professor of law at Cornell Law School.

    “Where’s the task force that’s going to enforce the law?” Young said. “Where are the lawyers that are going to do this? Where is the funding to educate insurance adjusters that they can’t do this?”

    “If you’re leaving it to relatively poor transgender people to litigate a case in court … that’s not a meaningful remedy.”

    Christina Wood, the transplant to Oregon, said she was lucky to have had the resources and ability to move to a state where she could more easily complete her transition, compared with other states that have fewer protections.

    “It’s scary to live in this world right now. But … I’m not going to back down, and I’m going to advocate for people in my situation,” Wood said.

    “I never had a voice when I was younger. Christopher never had a voice. Christina has a voice. And so that’s what I plan to do.”

    ___

    Associated Press writers Gabe Stern in Carson City, Nevada, Joey Cappellitti in Lansing, Michigan, and Brian Witte in Baltimore contributed to this report.

    ___

    Rush and Stern are corps members for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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