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  • Bud Light fumbles, but experts say inclusive ads will stay

    Bud Light fumbles, but experts say inclusive ads will stay

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    Bud Light may have fumbled its attempt to broaden its customer base by partnering with a transgender influencer. But experts say inclusive marketing is simply good business — and it’s here to stay.

    “A few years from now, we will look back on this ‘controversy’ with the same embarrassment that we feel when we look back at ‘controversies’ from the past surrounding things like interracial couples in advertising,” said Sarah Reynolds, the chief marketing officer for the human resources platform HiBob, who identifies as queer.

    On April 1, transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney posted a video of herself cracking open a Bud Light on her Instagram page. She showed off a can with her face on it that Bud Light sent her — one of many corporate freebies she gets and shares with her millions of followers.

    But unlike the dress from Rent the Runway or the trip to Denmark from skincare brand Ole Henriksen, the backlash to the beer can was fast and furious. Three days after Mulvaney’s post, Kid Rock posted a video of himself shooting cases of Bud Light. Shares of Bud Light’s parent, AB InBev, temporarily plunged.

    This week, Anheuser-Busch — AB InBev’s U.S. subsidiary — confirmed that Alissa Heinerscheid, its vice president of marketing, and her boss, Daniel Blake, are taking a leave of absence. The company won’t say when they will return or whether they’re being paid.

    For some, the partnership went too far at a time when transgender issues — including gender-affirming health care and participation in sports — are a divisive topic in state legislatures.

    “Whether the issue is trans people or anything else, the majority of consumers are pretty vocal about the fact they don’t want brands lecturing them or stuffing politics or social issues down their throat,” said John Frigo, the head of digital marketing for Best Price Nutrition. “If you sell beer, just make beer and leave it at that.”

    But others — including Heinerscheid herself — say reaching out to younger and more diverse consumers is crucial. According to a 2021 Gallup poll, 21% of people in Generation Z identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, compared to 3% of Baby Boomers. Gallup has also found that younger consumers are the most likely to want brands to promote diversity and take a stand on social issues.

    “I had a really clear job to do when I took over Bud Light. And it was, this brand is in decline. It’s been in decline for a very long time. And if we do not attract young drinkers to come and drink this brand, there will be no future for Bud Light,” Heinerscheid said last month in an episode of Apple’s “Make Yourself at Home” podcast.

    Bud Light and Mulvaney declined requests to talk to The Associated Press for this story.

    Bud Light has long been America’s best-selling beer. But its U.S. sales are down 2% so far this year, part of a long-running decline as younger consumers flock to sparking seltzers and other drinks, according to Bump Williams Consulting. Those sales declines accelerated rapidly in April. The week ending April 15, Bud Light’s sales dropped 17% compared to the same week a year ago. Meanwhile, rivals Miller Lite and Coors Lite both saw their sales jump more than 17%.

    Marketing experts say it’s possible Bud Light’s experience will cause other brands to rethink using transgender people in their advertising. Joanna Schwartz, a professor at Georgia College and State University who teaches a course on LGBTQ+ marketing, said companies will still want to reach transgender consumers and their supporters, but might shift to social media and more targeted ads.

    “They’re walking an extremely fine line. They want to appeal to everyone, but that includes people who don’t like each other,” Schwartz said of Bud Light.

    Still, Schwartz said, there are plenty of brands that have successfully featured transgender or non-binary people in their marketing. In 2016, Secret deodorant ran an ad featuring a transgender woman in a bathroom stall, debating whether to walk out and face other women at the sink. Pantene shampoo has run ads and short films supporting transgender people in 2021 as part of its Hair Has No Gender project. And Coca-Cola’s 2018 Super Bowl ad featured young people using different pronouns to describe themselves.

    Thomas Murphy, an associate professor of branding at Clark University, said he tells brands that want to be inclusive to run ads with real people who can talk about the company’s efforts.

    “They can have employees who say, ‘I love Bud Light. I have worked here for 20 years, there are inclusive programs and I came here because I wanted a company that would embrace me,’” he said. “Who couldn’t see and hear that person and say, ‘What a great company’?”

    Instead, Bud Light wound up alienating even transgender customers because it didn’t support Mulvaney after the boycott calls began, Schwartz said. Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth issued a statement on April 14 but it didn’t specifically mention the controversy.

    “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people,” Whitworth said.

    By comparison, Nike — which also faced some boycott threats after sending workout clothes to Mulvaney — supported the transgender community in an Instagram post, encouraging followers to be kind and inclusive. Nike didn’t respond to requests for comment.

    Manveer Mann, an associate professor of marketing at the Feliciano School of Business at Montclair State University, said Bud Light should have anticipated the backlash and had a plan in place to handle it.

    Nike learned that lesson in 2018, when it featured football player Colin Kaepernick — who had protested police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem — in its ads. Mann said Nike briefly faced boycott threats, but it stood by Kaepernick and its sales quickly recovered.

    Mann thinks Bud Light’s sales will ultimately recover, too. But in the meantime, it’s alienating everyone, she said.

    “The communication from Bud Light is not clear. Is this coming from your value set or are these things just trending?” Mann said. “You have to know what your values are and what are the values of the customers you are trying to reach.”

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  • Bud Light fumbles, but experts say inclusive ads will stay

    Bud Light fumbles, but experts say inclusive ads will stay

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    Bud Light may have fumbled its attempt to broaden its customer base by partnering with a transgender influencer. But experts say inclusive marketing is simply good business — and it’s here to stay.

    “A few years from now, we will look back on this ‘controversy’ with the same embarrassment that we feel when we look back at ‘controversies’ from the past surrounding things like interracial couples in advertising,” said Sarah Reynolds, the chief marketing officer for the human resources platform HiBob, who identifies as queer.

    On April 1, transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney posted a video of herself cracking open a Bud Light on her Instagram page. She showed off a can with her face on it that Bud Light sent her — one of many corporate freebies she gets and shares with her millions of followers.

    But unlike the dress from Rent the Runway or the trip to Denmark from skincare brand Ole Henriksen, the backlash to the beer can was fast and furious. Three days after Mulvaney’s post, Kid Rock posted a video of himself shooting cases of Bud Light. Shares of Bud Light’s parent, AB InBev, temporarily plunged.

    This week, Anheuser-Busch — AB InBev’s U.S. subsidiary — confirmed that Alissa Heinerscheid, its vice president of marketing, and her boss, Daniel Blake, are taking a leave of absence. The company won’t say when they will return or whether they’re being paid.

    For some, the partnership went too far at a time when transgender issues — including gender-affirming health care and participation in sports — are a divisive topic in state legislatures.

    “Whether the issue is trans people or anything else, the majority of consumers are pretty vocal about the fact they don’t want brands lecturing them or stuffing politics or social issues down their throat,” said John Frigo, the head of digital marketing for Best Price Nutrition. “If you sell beer, just make beer and leave it at that.”

    But others — including Heinerscheid herself — say reaching out to younger and more diverse consumers is crucial. According to a 2021 Gallup poll, 21% of people in Generation Z identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, compared to 3% of Baby Boomers. Gallup has also found that younger consumers are the most likely to want brands to promote diversity and take a stand on social issues.

    “I had a really clear job to do when I took over Bud Light. And it was, this brand is in decline. It’s been in decline for a very long time. And if we do not attract young drinkers to come and drink this brand, there will be no future for Bud Light,” Heinerscheid said last month in an episode of Apple’s “Make Yourself at Home” podcast.

    Bud Light and Mulvaney declined requests to talk to The Associated Press for this story.

    Bud Light has long been America’s best-selling beer. But its U.S. sales are down 2% so far this year, part of a long-running decline as younger consumers flock to sparking seltzers and other drinks, according to Bump Williams Consulting. Those sales declines accelerated rapidly in April. The week ending April 15, Bud Light’s sales dropped 17% compared to the same week a year ago. Meanwhile, rivals Miller Lite and Coors Lite both saw their sales jump more than 17%.

    Marketing experts say it’s possible Bud Light’s experience will cause other brands to rethink using transgender people in their advertising. Joanna Schwartz, a professor at Georgia College and State University who teaches a course on LGBTQ+ marketing, said companies will still want to reach transgender consumers and their supporters, but might shift to social media and more targeted ads.

    “They’re walking an extremely fine line. They want to appeal to everyone, but that includes people who don’t like each other,” Schwartz said of Bud Light.

    Still, Schwartz said, there are plenty of brands that have successfully featured transgender or non-binary people in their marketing. In 2016, Secret deodorant ran an ad featuring a transgender woman in a bathroom stall, debating whether to walk out and face other women at the sink. Pantene shampoo has run ads and short films supporting transgender people in 2021 as part of its Hair Has No Gender project. And Coca-Cola’s 2018 Super Bowl ad featured young people using different pronouns to describe themselves.

    Thomas Murphy, an associate professor of branding at Clark University, said he tells brands that want to be inclusive to run ads with real people who can talk about the company’s efforts.

    “They can have employees who say, ‘I love Bud Light. I have worked here for 20 years, there are inclusive programs and I came here because I wanted a company that would embrace me,’” he said. “Who couldn’t see and hear that person and say, ‘What a great company’?”

    Instead, Bud Light wound up alienating even transgender customers because it didn’t support Mulvaney after the boycott calls began, Schwartz said. Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth issued a statement on April 14 but it didn’t specifically mention the controversy.

    “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people,” Whitworth said.

    By comparison, Nike — which also faced some boycott threats after sending workout clothes to Mulvaney — supported the transgender community in an Instagram post, encouraging followers to be kind and inclusive. Nike didn’t respond to requests for comment.

    Manveer Mann, an associate professor of marketing at the Feliciano School of Business at Montclair State University, said Bud Light should have anticipated the backlash and had a plan in place to handle it.

    Nike learned that lesson in 2018, when it featured football player Colin Kaepernick — who had protested police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem — in its ads. Mann said Nike briefly faced boycott threats, but it stood by Kaepernick and its sales quickly recovered.

    Mann thinks Bud Light’s sales will ultimately recover, too. But in the meantime, it’s alienating everyone, she said.

    “The communication from Bud Light is not clear. Is this coming from your value set or are these things just trending?” Mann said. “You have to know what your values are and what are the values of the customers you are trying to reach.”

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  • Lizzo brings drag queens on stage, protesting Tennessee law

    Lizzo brings drag queens on stage, protesting Tennessee law

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    Lizzo filled her stage with drag queens in a concert Friday night in Knoxville, Tennessee, in a glittery protest against the state’s legislation against public drag performances

    KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — In a concert Friday night in Knoxville, Tennessee, Lizzo filled the stage with drag queens in a glittery protest against the state’s legislation designed to restrict drag performances in public.

    While performing at Thompson-Boling Arena, the Grammy-winning “Juice” singer brought out a number of drag performers, including Aquaria, Kandy Muse, Asia O’Hara and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo. On Saturday, Lizzo posted videos on Instagram from the show, including comments to the crowd that referenced the pending law.

    In February, Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed the legislation against “adult cabaret” in public or in front of minors. A federal judge temporarily blocked the law in late March, saying it was too vaguely written. Civil rights groups have criticized the law as a violation of free speech.

    The Tennessee law is part of a wider Republican effort to restrict drag shows and other LGBTQ+ public gatherings.

    “In light of recent and tragic events and current events, I was told by people on the internet, ‘Cancel your shows in Tennessee,’ ‘Don’t go to Tennessee,’” Lizzo said during the Friday concert. “Their reason was valid, but why would I not come to the people who need to hear this message the most?”

    “Why would I not create a safe space in Tennessee where we can celebrate drag entertainers and celebrate our differences?” added Lizzo.

    ____

    This story corrects the name of drag performer Vanessa Vanjie Mateo.

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  • Lizzo brings drag queens on stage, protesting Tennessee law

    Lizzo brings drag queens on stage, protesting Tennessee law

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    Lizzo filled her stage with drag queens in a concert Friday night in Knoxville, Tennessee, in a glittery protest against the state’s legislation against public drag performances

    KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — In a concert Friday night in Knoxville, Tennessee, Lizzo filled the stage with drag queens in a glittery protest against the state’s legislation designed to restrict drag performances in public.

    While performing at Thompson-Boling Arena, the Grammy-winning “Juice” singer brought out a number of drag performers, including Aquaria, Kandy Muse, Asia O’Hara and Vanessa Vanji. On Saturday, Lizzo posted videos on Instagram from the show, including comments to the crowd that referenced the pending law.

    In February, Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed the legislation against “adult cabaret” in public or in front of minors. A federal judge temporarily blocked the law in late March, saying it was too vaguely written. Civil rights groups have criticized the law as a violation of free speech.

    The Tennessee law is part of a wider Republican effort to restrict drag shows and other LGBTQ+ public gatherings.

    “In light of recent and tragic events and current events, I was told by people on the internet, ‘Cancel your shows in Tennessee,’ ‘Don’t go to Tennessee,’” Lizzo said during the Friday concert. “Their reason was valid, but why would I not come to the people who need to hear this message the most?”

    “Why would I not create a safe space in Tennessee where we can celebrate drag entertainers and celebrate our differences?” added Lizzo.

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  • Conservative Robinson joins race for N. Carolina governor

    Conservative Robinson joins race for N. Carolina governor

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    ALTAMAHAW, N.C. — Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson formally entered next year’s gubernatorial race at a rally Saturday, with the sharp-spoken social conservative saying North Carolina neads a leader like him who can relate to the challlenges and desires of working people.

    Elected the state’s first Black lieutenant governor in 2020 in his frst run for political office, Robinson would make similar history if he wins the governorship.

    “I’m running for governor because we the people of North Carolina need someone who understands us,” Robinson told roughly 1,000 supporters at the event at a speedway in Alamance County, about a half-hour from where he grew up. “We don’t need another politician who’s spent their life climbing the political ladder.”

    Robinson’s entry was anticipated for well over a year, with the Greensboro native heavily hinting at a run in speeches and fundraising appeals. The 54-year-old also released an autobiography that talked about a childhood of poverty, financial challenges as an adult, his religious beliefs and his late entry into politics.

    Other competitors are also lining up to try to succeed Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who is barred by the state consitution from seeking a third consecutive term.

    Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein announced his bid in January. Republican State Treasurer Dale Folwell also got in the race, last month. And former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., is preparing to enter in the coming weeks, according to Tim Murtaugh, a spokesperson for a consulting firm advising Walker.

    Robinson’s popularity among the Republican base and flush coffers put him squarely at the top of the list of candidates for a GOP primary. But others have questioned whether his aggressive, conservative style and blunt comments about LGBTQ+ rights, abortion and the role of women make him the party’s best choice to win a general election in a closely divided state.

    Despite Republican success in controlling the state legislature, the GOP has won the governor’s office just once since 1992, back in 2012.

    The office of lieutentant governor has been considered for several decades as a stepping stone to the state’s highest office. But since the late 1960s, only three of them — all Democrats — have made the leap to governor.

    Robinson held the event at Ace Speedway, which defied Cooper’s executive order in 2020 limiting outdoor crowds to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The track’s owners are still fighting the Cooper administration in court over its temporary closure.

    Robinson’s 35-minute speech Saturday included addressing fiscal matters like inflation, school safety and supporting law enforcement. But the choice of venue reinforced his narrative as an anti-establishment candidate looking out for average folks.

    “I was supposed to be crushed by racism as a Black man in the South,” he said under rain showers. “I have a chance to be a symbol to others in humble beginnings, and despite what anyone else may tell you, you can achieve anything.”

    A former factory worker and day care operator, Robinson gained public attention from a viral video of his 2018 anti-gun control speech to the Greensboro City Council about attempts to cancel a local gun show.

    “I think he’s honest. I think he’s straightforward. I think he’s worked hard for where he is today,” said Ruthann Harris, 78, of Elon, who attended the rally.

    “I think he’ll listen to the people,” said Nim Harris, her husband.

    Robinson critics have pointed to speeches he has made in conservative churches and on radio shows that touched on his antipathy to LGBTQ+ activism and support for banning abortion.

    In one address at a church in 2021, Robinson said, “There’s no reason anybody anywhere in America should be telling any child about transgenderism, homosexuality, any of that filth.”

    Robinson hasn’t apologized for such remarks, saying that he wasn’t attacking the LGBTQ+ community but rather that it was a judgment on reading materials in public schools. He also has said he can separate his religious views from the responsibilities of office.

    Robinson said Saturday he wants to make North Carolina a “destination state for life,” which he said includes his support for prohibiting abortions once an ultrasound first detects fetal cardiac activity, typically about six weeks after fertilization. State law currently bans nearly all abortions after 20 weeks.

    Gubernatorial rivals already have been pushing back at Robinson even before the formal announcement.

    Stein’s campaign-opening video accused Robinson of wanting “to tell you who you can marry, when you’ll be pregnant and who you should hate.” And Folwell said last month that Robinson has spent his time in the political spotlight “attacking people instead of attacking the important problems that our citizens are facing.”

    As for Walker, it was his distribution of Robinson’s 2018 speech that helped vault him to fame. But Robinson endorsed Ted Budd for U.S. Senate last year rather than Walker, who finished a distant third to Budd in the GOP primary. Budd endorsed Robinson in a video message aired at Saturday’s rally.

    In a statement this weekend, Walker said he understands the desire of his supporters “to nominate a Republican who can hold up under the scrutiny a candidate for governor will undergo.”

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  • For transgender kids, a frantic rush for treatment amid bans

    For transgender kids, a frantic rush for treatment amid bans

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    SALT LAKE CITY — As a third grader in Utah, mandolin-playing math whiz Elle Palmer said aloud what she had only before sensed, telling a friend she planned to transfer schools the following year and hoped her new classmates would see her as a girl.

    Several states northeast, Asher Wilcox-Broekemeier listened to punk rock in his room, longing to join the shirtless boys from the neighborhood playing beneath the South Dakota sunshine. It wasn’t until menstruation started, and the disconnect with his body grew, that he knew he was one of them.

    Both kids’ realizations started their families on a yearslong path of doctors, therapists and other experts in transgender medicine.

    Now teenagers, their journeys have hit a roadblock.

    Republican lawmakers across the country are banning gender-affirming care for minors. Restrictions have gone into effect in eight states this year — including conservative Utah and South Dakota — and are slated to in at least nine more by next year.

    Those who oppose gender-affirming care raise fears about the long-term effects treatments have on teens, argue research is limited and focus particularly on irreversible procedures such as genital surgery or mastectomies.

    Yet those are rare. Doctors typically guide kids toward therapy or voice coaching long before medical intervention. At that point, puberty blockers, anti-androgens that block the effects of testosterone, and hormone treatments are far more common than surgery. They have been available in the United States for more than a decade and are standard treatments backed by major doctors’ organizations including the American Medical Association.

    The new laws have parents scrambling to secure the care their kids need. They worry what will happen if they can’t get the medications they’ve been prescribed, especially as their kids start puberty and their bodies change in ways that can’t be reversed.

    “My body’s basically this ticking time bomb, just sitting there waiting for it to go off,” said Asher Wilcox-Broekemeier, now 13. ___

    Elle remembers her first day at the school after she transferred. Before leaving, she came downstairs in rainbow sparkle-embroidered cowboy boots her mother worried would only spur bullies. Taunts from kids at Elle’s prior school drove her into depression so deep she had suicidal thoughts.

    But on that first day, a boy told Elle he loved her boots. Some kids bullied her, but classmates and teachers were far more supportive than at her prior school. Elle discovered new passions in hip hop and drama class, and she settled into a new school and a truer version of herself. She started to see a therapist as her uncertainty about how she fit in the gender spectrum grew more pressing.

    Elle came out as a transgender girl in fifth grade. Now in seventh, she planned to start hormone treatment this summer so potential side effects wouldn’t interfere with her life during the school year, especially her team’s extracurricular math competitions.

    But then Utah’s Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed a gender-affirming care ban in January. In a compromise, the law let kids keep taking medications if they were already on them. So Elle’s mom rushed to get her treatment months earlier than planned, as did other parents.

    The waitlist at one Utah clinic swelled to six months. Doctors were confronted with difficult decisions about who to get in for appointments.

    Elle’s medication arrived in the mail just before Utah’s law went into effect. A small stick implanted in Elle’s forearm is slow-releasing hormone blockers to prevent the effects of male puberty from taking hold. Eventually she may be prescribed estrogen, and she and her parents will have to navigate the next steps, and whether they’ll find doctors to continue her care.

    At least for now, they have a reprieve.

    “It feels like we can breathe again now,” Cat Palmer said. ___

    There’s no relief for Asher Wilcox-Broekemeier’s family — not yet.

    When Asher began menstruating, he felt a terrifying disconnect between how his body was changing on the outside and how he felt inside.

    Elizabeth began researching online to understand what was going on with her son, while Asher’s father, Brian, looked to doctors for expertise. With referrals from his longtime pediatrician, Asher met with therapists and doctors who helped explore his history, personality and feelings over his whole life.

    Nearly two years ago, doctors prescribed puberty blockers and birth control to slow breast development, regulate menstruation and lower the pressure of his disconnect with his body.

    He’s 13 now, and finds solace in music to ground him in a world of occasional bullying and constant mistaken pronouns. He practices Blink-182’s “All the Small Things” on guitar, plays trumpet in the school band and is rehearsing various singing roles for the Cinderella school musical. When he’s not thinking about testosterone to lower his voice or eventually getting top surgery, he looks forward to playing in the high school marching band next year.

    Asher still struggles with moments of gender dysphoria. Friendships that were once strong fizzled after Asher came out as transgender. Parents have disinvited him from their houses out of fears he’s a “bad influence.”

    But his parents have noticed his emotions stabilize through his treatment.

    “From a parent’s view, I see him as being able to be himself authentically, which is wonderful for him,” Elizabeth said.

    Now he and his parents worry they’ll have to start over.

    In February, South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem signed a law banning the medications and procedures that doctors have increasingly prescribed for transgender teens.

    Asher’s current doctors in South Dakota won’t be able to prescribe his medications, so the family is looking for a new doctor in neighboring Minnesota, where the Democratic governor has signed an executive order explicitly protecting gender-affirming care for minors. They’re hoping to find a clinic close enough they can drive to appointments and don’t have to pay for hotel stays.

    The planning has been time-consuming. Logistical questions to their current South Dakota doctors for referrals have gone unanswered. They want to beat whatever onslaught of patients from other states enacting similar bans will bring to providers in Minnesota, but also want to maintain as much normalcy for Asher as they can.

    The sudden twists in Asher’s trajectory makes him question why his health care is of concern to politicians.

    “Even though trans people don’t make up a big percent of the population doesn’t mean that we’re not part of it still,” Asher said. ___

    The full consequences of the bans on care for minors aren’t yet clear.

    Dr. Nikki Mihalopoulos, an adolescent medicine doctor in a Salt Lake City specialty clinic with transgender teens, worries the new laws will make families too scared to seek help and doctors too scared of losing their licenses to provide care.

    In the middle are kids like Elle and Asher.

    Multiple studies have shown that transgender youth are more likely to consider or attempt suicide and less at risk for depression and suicidal behaviors when able to access gender-affirming care.

    Both sets of parents are trying to shelter their kids from the stress and anxiety caused by the recent changes in the laws.

    After years of worrying about their kids’ safety and mental health, they still fear what could happen if they can’t find the drugs their kids have been prescribed.

    “My kid being OK is my number one priority. I know what the suicide rate is. I do not want my child to be a statistic,” Cat Palmer said of Elle.

    ___

    Biraben reported from Pierre, South Dakota.

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  • Atlanta trans woman Koko Da Doll, documentary subject, slain

    Atlanta trans woman Koko Da Doll, documentary subject, slain

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    ATLANTA — Koko Da Doll, an Atlanta woman who gained notice in a documentary about transgender Black women and the dangers they face, was shot to death in Atlanta this week, her sister said.

    Kilya Williams and other relatives said police told them the 35-year-old transgender woman, also known as Rasheeda Williams, appears to have been shot Wednesday after leaving an apartment complex west of downtown Atlanta. Her body was found on a sidewalk adjoining a strip mall across a busy street.

    Atlanta police on Friday released surveillance video of a person in a sports jersey walking up to the entrance of an apartment building. Authorities said detectives wanted to identify the person “to assist with the current investigation on the homicide.”

    Koko had gained notice earlier this year when she and others appeared in the documentary “Kokomo City,” describing her life as a transgender woman, her interactions with Black men as a sex worker, and the threats of violence she sometimes faced.

    “I feel like she wanted to get her story out,” Williams said. “She’s not ashamed of who she was. Because if she was ashamed of it, she would have never did the documentary. She was proud of who she was because she came from a loving, accepting family.”

    “Kokomo City” director D. Smith wrote in a statement on Instagram that she wanted to make a movie “to show the fun, humanized, natural side of Black trans women” and not focus on “trauma or the statistics of murder of transgender lives.”

    “But here we are again, Smith wrote. ”It’s extremely difficult to process Koko’s passing, but as a team we are more encouraged now than ever to inspire the world with her story, to show how beautiful and full of life she was.”

    Relatives said Koko had been jubilant about the movie.

    “That’s all she would talk about,” Williams said. “She just wanted to change her life around and help people.”

    “Kokomo City” won a NEXT Innovator Award and an audience award at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and also won an award at the 2023 Berlin Film Festival. It’s scheduled to be presented Saturday at the Atlanta Film Festival and Magnolia Pictures plans to release the film widely later this year.

    “I will be the reason there’s more opportunities and doors opening for transgender girls,” Koko wrote on her Instagram account in January during the Sundance festival in Utah.

    “Thank you so much. What you’ve done here for me is going to save a lot of lives,” Koko wrote.

    Fellow cast members reacted with shock to her death.

    “My sister you are gone but you will NEVER be forgotten! I am struggling right now to grasp the fact that we just spoke and now you aren’t here by my side!,” wrote Dominque Silver on Instagram. “WE WILL GET JUSTICE FOR YOU AND PLEASE PROTECT BLACK TRANS WOMEN AT ALL COST!”

    Atlanta police said Friday that they are investigating whether Koko’s shooting as well as the deaths earlier this year of two other transgender women should be classified as hate crimes.

    “We understand the impact violence has on all our communities and we understand some acts of violence bring about legitimate concerns of whether the incident was motivated by hate.”

    The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ rights group, tracked at least 38 transgender people nationwide who were killed in 2022.

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  • Transgender lawmaker silenced by Montana House speaker

    Transgender lawmaker silenced by Montana House speaker

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    HELENA, Mont. — Montana’s House speaker on Thursday refused to allow a transgender lawmaker to speak about bills on the House floor until she apologizes for saying lawmakers would have “blood on their hands” if they supported a bill to ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth, the lawmaker said.

    Rep. Zooey Zephyr, who was deliberately referred to using male pronouns by some conservative lawmakers demanding her censure, said she will not apologize, creating a standoff between the first-term state lawmaker and Republican legislative leaders.

    Speaker Matt Regier refused to acknowledge Zephyr on Thursday when she wanted to comment on a bill seeking to put a binary definition of male and female into state code.

    “It is up to me to maintain decorum here on the House floor, to protect the dignity and integrity,” Regier said Thursday. “And any representative that I don’t feel can do that will not be recognized.”

    Regier said the decision came after “multiple discussions” with other lawmakers and that previously there have been similar problems.

    Democrats objected to Regier’s decision, but the House Rules committee and the House upheld his decision on party-line votes.

    “Hate-filled testimony has no place on the House floor,” Republican Rep. Caleb Hinkle, a member of the Montana Freedom Caucus that demanded the censure, said in a statement.

    Zephyr said she stands by what she said about the consequences of banning essential medical care for transgender youth.

    The bill would ban transgender minors in Montana from receiving puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones or surgical procedures. Those are treatments for gender dysphoria, the clinically significant distress caused by feeling that one’s gender identity does not match one’s biological sex. Medical professionals who provided such care would lose their medical licenses for at least a year.

    “When there are bills targeting the LGBTQ community, I stand up to defend my community,” Zephyr said. “And I choose my words with clarity and precision and I spoke to the real harms that these bills bring.”

    Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte has indicated he will sign the bill.

    Regier also declined to recognize Zephyr Thursday when she rang in to speak about another bill, which was unrelated to LGBTQ+ issues and seeks to reimburse hotels that provide shelter to victims of human trafficking.

    “The speaker is refusing to allow me to participate in debate until I retract or apologize for my statements made during floor debate,” Zephyr said.

    The issue came to a head Tuesday when Zephyr, the first transgender woman to hold a position in the Montana legislature, referenced the floor session’s opening prayer when she told lawmakers if they supported the bill, “I hope the next time there’s an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands.”

    She had made a similar comment when the House debated the bill the first time.

    House Majority Leader Sue Vinton rebuked Zephyr on Tuesday, calling her comments inappropriate, disrespectful and uncalled for.

    Later, the Montana Freedom Caucus issued its censure demand in a letter that called for a “commitment to civil discourse” in the same sentence in which it deliberately misgendered her in the same sentence. The caucus also misgendered Zephyr in a Tweet while posting the letter online.

    “It is disheartening that the Montana Freedom Caucus would stoop so low as to misgender me in their letter, further demonstrating their disregard for the dignity and humanity of transgender individuals,” Zephyr said in a statement Wednesday.

    Zephyr also spoke emotionally and directly to transgender Montanans in February in opposing a bill to ban minors from attending drag shows.

    “I have one request for you: Please stay alive,” Zephyr said then, assuring them she and others would keep fighting and challenge the bills in court.

    The legislature has also passed a bill stating a student misgendering or deadnaming a fellow student is not illegal discrimination, unless it rises to the level of bullying. Deadnaming is calling a transgender person by their previous name when they have changed their name as part of their gender transition.

    At the end of Thursday’s House session, Democratic Rep. Marilyn Marler asked that the House majority allow Zephyr to speak on the floor going forward.

    “This body is denying the representative … the chance to do her job,” Marler said.

    Majority Leader Vinton, before moving for adjournment, said: “I will let the body know that the representative … has every opportunity to rectify the situation.”

    The House meets again Friday afternoon.

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  • North Carolina GOP closes in on transgender athlete ban

    North Carolina GOP closes in on transgender athlete ban

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    RALEIGH, N.C. — A prohibition on transgender girls playing on female sports teams in North Carolina schools cleared a second legislative chamber this week when the state Senate approved a bill Thursday.

    The passage means the Republican-dominated General Assembly appears poised to work out in the coming weeks a final compromise that would limit athlete participation and send it to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who is a strong supporter of LGBTQ+ rights.

    The House approved a similar bill Wednesday. Legislators who back the competing measures expressed optimism that differences can be hammered out.

    “I believe that the Senate sponsors and the House sponsors will be able to work through that,” House Speaker Tim Moore told reporters.

    Cooper’s office criticized the measure, saying politicians shouldn’t get involved in these decisions. The GOP now holds veto-proof majorities in both the Senate and House after a former House Democrat switched parties earlier this month. The margins on this week’s floor votes suggest any Cooper veto could be overridden.

    At least 20 other states have imposed similar limits on transgender athletes at the K-12 or collegiate level. Also Thursday, the U.S. House passed a bill to bar federally supported schools and colleges from allowing any athlete whose biological sex assigned at birth was male from competing on girls’ or women’s sports teams.

    Supporters of North Carolina’s legislation said during the Senate debate that the measure was designed to ensure cisgender girls have fair competitions and to protect their safety.

    “We want to protect women’s sports,” said Sen. Joyce Krawiec, a Forsyth County Republican and bill sponsor during debate before the Senate’s 29-18 party-line vote. “We want our women and our girls to be able to compete against each other, and may the best girl or woman win.”

    Senate Democrats who opposed to the measure agreed with parents of transgender children and their advocates who said in committee meetings this week that the bill would harm already vulnerable students.

    “This bill does nothing to make our schools safer or help our students to succeed,” said Sen. Natalie Murdock, a Durham County Democrat. “Unfortunately, here we go again, waging culture wars with targets on the backs of children.”

    Both bills state that “a student’s sex shall be recognized based solely on the student’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” It would apply to sports involving competing middle and high schools and intramurals. The bills contain no information on how the policies would be enforced. Students could sue on allegations that they were harmed by a trans student violating the restrictions.

    The House wants to apply the athlete eligibility restrictions to college and university teams as well. The measure also would place athlete eligibility limits on trans boys and cisgender girls, preventing them from playing on teams designated for male athletes if there was no comparable girls’ team, except for wrestling.

    The North Carolina High School Athletic Association, which runs athletic competitions for over 400 mostly public schools, already has a process by which transgender athletes can play sports based on their gender identities. The association confirmed Thursday that it had received 18 such gender-waiver requests since its policy was instituted before the 2019-20 school year. Sixteen requests have been approved, with 14 of them from cisgender girls requesting to play on boys’ teams, the association said.

    Republican leaders ran the measures through committees this week, hearing from female athletes who say they’ve been harmed physically or psychologically by transgender women participating in their sports. That included Riley Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer known for criticizing an NCAA decision allowing transgender swimmer Lia Thomas to compete against her in a women’s championship race.

    Three House Democrats joined all Republicans present Wednesday in voting for the measure. The GOP supporters included Rep. Tricia Cotham of Mecklenburg County, who was a Democrat until her recent party switch. She has been a longtime advocate for LGBTQ+ rights.

    Senate Democrats also warned Thursday that enacting the restrictions could lead to economic blowback from corporations similar to what happened in North Carolina following passage in 2016 of the “ bathroom bill ” involving transgender people. The law was partially repealed in 2017.

    “We don’t need to go back to that nightmare,” Cooper spokesperson Sam Chan said in a statement. ”Instead, lawmakers should be making sure we fix the teacher shortage, invest in schools and fund more quality child care.”

    Senate Majority Leader Paul Newton, of Cabarrus County, said he didn’t expect a repeat of the financial fallout following the 2016 law if this legislation was enacted, calling the bill “common sense.” Newton also called on the state’s business community to “strengthen its back.”

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  • Ugandan president refuses to sign LGBTQ bill, seeks changes

    Ugandan president refuses to sign LGBTQ bill, seeks changes

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    KAMPALA, Uganda — President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda has refused to sign into law a controversial new bill against homosexuality that prescribes the death penalty in some cases, requesting that it should be amended.

    Museveni’s decision was announced late Thursday after a meeting of lawmakers in his ruling party, almost all of whom support the bill approved by lawmakers last month.

    The meeting resolved to return the bill to the national assembly “with proposals for its improvement,” a statement said.

    Museveni condemned homosexuality during the meeting in the capital, Kampala, charging that “Europe is lost. So they also want us to be lost,” according to footage released by public broadcaster UBC.

    Museveni also praised lawmakers for approving the bill, which has drawn international condemnation.

    “I congratulate you for that strong stand,” he said in the released video. “It is good that you rejected the pressure from the imperialists. And this is what I told them. Whenever they come to me I say, ‘You, please shut up.’”

    A spokesman for the presidency said Museveni is not opposed to the punishments proposed in the bill but wants lawmakers to look into “the issue of rehabilitation.”

    “(Museveni) told the members that he had no objections to the punishments but on the issue of rehabilitation of the persons who have in the past been engaged in homosexuality but would like to live normal lives again,” spokesman Sandor Walusimbi said on Twitter. ”It was agreed that the bill goes back to parliament for the issues of rehabilitation to be looked at before he can sign it into law.”

    Homosexuality is already illegal in the East African country under a colonial-era law criminalizing sex acts “against the order of nature.” The punishment for that offense is life imprisonment.

    Museveni is under pressure from the international community to veto the bill, which needs his signature to become law. The U.S. has warned of economic consequences if the legislation is enacted. A group of U.N. experts has described the bill, if enacted, as “an egregious violation of human rights.”

    Amnesty International in a statement earlier on Thursday had urged Museveni to veto what the group described as a “draconian and overly broad” bill.

    “The passing of this appalling bill is a heart-breaking moment for the LGBTI community and their loved ones in Uganda,” Agnes Callamard, the group’s leader, said in the statement. “Nobody should ever be criminalized for their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

    The bill enjoys wide support in Uganda, including among church leaders and others who have called for a harsh new law targeting homosexuals. It was introduced by an opposition lawmaker who said his goal was to punish the “promotion, recruitment and funding” of LGBTQ activities in the country. Only two of 389 legislators present for the voting session opposed the bill.

    The bill prescribes the death penalty for the offense of “aggravated homosexuality,” and life imprisonment for “homosexuality.”

    Aggravated homosexuality is defined as cases of sexual relations involving people infected with HIV as well as minors and other categories of vulnerable people.

    Jail terms of up to 20 years are proposed for those who advocate or promote the rights of LGBTQ people.

    A suspect convicted of “attempted aggravated homosexuality” can be jailed for 14 years and the offense of “attempted homosexuality” is punishable by up to 10 years, according to the bill.

    Anti-gay sentiment in Uganda has grown in recent weeks amid press reports alleging sodomy in boarding schools, including a prestigious one for boys where a parent accused a teacher of abusing her son.

    The decision in February of the Church of England to bless civil marriages of same-sex couples also has angered many in Uganda and elsewhere in Africa, including some who see homosexuality as imported from abroad.

    Homosexuality is criminalized in more than 30 of Africa’s 54 countries.

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  • 5 indicted in NY for scheme to drug, kill and rob men

    5 indicted in NY for scheme to drug, kill and rob men

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    NEW YORK — Julio Ramirez, a 25-year-old social worker, died in a taxi of an overdose last April after leaving a bar in Manhattan with a group of men. Relatives grew suspicious when they discovered money missing from his bank account.

    A month later, John Umberger was found dead in a townhouse after leaving a nightclub so incapacitated that he had to be helped by several companions, police say.

    Umberger’s family suspected foul play, doubting that the 33-year-old political consultant visiting New York City from Washington, D.C., would have purposely taken a lethal dose of drugs. Suspicions heightened when his bank account, too, appeared to have been drained.

    A grand jury indictment unsealed Tuesday names five men in connection to the drugging deaths of Ramirez and Umberger as part of a criminal operation to steal money. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said the group targeted men at bars and clubs — befriending them and then plying them with potent and dangerous drugs. When their victims became incapacitated, they were robbed of their wallets and cellphones, which were used to make purchases and digitally siphon money from their bank accounts.

    The medical examiner’s office last month ruled both deaths were the result of “drug-facilitated thefts” and homicides. Lab tests showed both men had fentanyl, cocaine and lidocaine, among other substances, in their systems when they died.

    “There were numerous victims in this pattern of crimes,” said NY Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell during a Tuesday news conference announcing the arrest of five suspects wanted in connection with the operation that led to the men’s deaths.

    “They were targeted for robberies, and many of the victims are from our LGBTQIA-plus community,” Sewell said.

    The grand jury indictment unsealed Tuesday charged Jayqwan Hamilton, 35; Robert Demaio, 34; Jacob Barroso, 29; Andre Butts, 27; and Shane Hoskins, 30, for robbery and conspiracy to commit the robberies. All were charged with identity theft and grand larceny.

    Hamilton and Demaio were charged with two counts of murder, while Barroso was charged with one murder count.

    A sixth defendant, Eddie Ashley, who had been previously arrested, was separately indicted in connection with a single robbery incident.

    “Their motive, we allege, was simple: To make money,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.

    “They approached people, leaving bars and nightclubs late at night, engaged them in conversation and offered them illicit and dangerous substances,” Bragg said. “The defendants use these substances as weapons to incapacitate their victims, giving them an opportunity to steal their phones and credit cards in the subsequent hours and days after each incident.”

    The alleged crimes did not appear to specifically target gay men, Bragg said. However, the neighborhood where the criminal enterprise focused attacks has a high concentration of LGBTQ+ residents.

    Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain, said he recognized the heightened anxiety being felt by some of the city’s residents.

    “We want to send a message to our LGBT community that we understood the trauma that you experienced during this time,” he said, adding that authorities will “investigate any potentiality of a hate-crime component to this.”

    Police say they have identified at least five killings, including Umberger and Ramirez, attributed to different groups that while using similar tactics, seemed to be operating independently.

    Not all victims were gay men, officials said.

    In March 2022, Nurbu Sherpa, a 29-year-old chef, was found dead on the sidewalk after leaving a bar where he had been celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. The Manhattan district attorney said at least one suspect has been charged in Sherpa’s killing and that of Ardijan Berisha, 26, who had passed out on a sidewalk with a friend in July after drinking at a bar on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

    Other men have since come forward with stories about being drugged by strangers and waking up to find money gone. Police urged others to report similar incidents.

    Chief of Detectives James Essig said investigators have looked into 17 similar incidents between September 2021 and August 2022, when men were befriended in bars or nightclubs and offered narcotics or marijuana.

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  • Top US Navy admiral defends non-binary sailor amid some Republican criticism | CNN Politics

    Top US Navy admiral defends non-binary sailor amid some Republican criticism | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The top US Navy admiral ardently defended a non-binary sailor on Tuesday amid some criticism from Republican lawmakers, saying he is “particularly proud of this sailor.”

    The sailor, LTJG Audrey Knutson, had their story shared on the Navy’s Instagram page last week. In a short video, Knutson said they are proud to serve as non-binary, especially because their grandfather served in the Navy as a gay man in World War II. During a deployment last fall aboard the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, Knutson said their highlight was reading a poem to the whole ship at an LGBTQ spoken word night. The Instagram video garnered nearly 17,000 likes.

    Subsequently, Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, tweeted a portion of the clip with the caption, “While China prepares for war, this is what they have our US Navy focused on.” On Tuesday, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a Republican from Alabama, continued attacking the video, telling the Senate Armed Services Committee he had “a lot of problems with the video.”

    But Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday defended the sailor, emphasizing that it’s the job of a commanding officer to build a warfighting team.

    “I’ll tell you why I’m particularly proud of this sailor,” Gilday told the hearing. “So, her grandfather served during World War II, and he was gay and he was ostracized in the very institution that she not only joined and is proud to be a part of, but she volunteered to deploy on Ford and she’ll likely deploy again next month when Ford goes back to sea.”

    Gilday used female pronouns to refer to Knutson but the Navy told CNN Knutson’s pronouns of choice are non-binary.

    “We ask people from all over the country, from all walks of life, from all different backgrounds to join us,” Gilday said, “and then it’s the job of a commanding officer to build a cohesive warfighting team that’s going to follow the law, and the law requires that we be able to conduct prompt, sustained operations at sea. That level of trust that a commanding officer develops across that unit has to be able to be grounded on dignity and respect, and so … if that officer can lawfully join the United States Navy, is willing to serve and willing to take the same oath that you and I took to put their life on the line, then I’m proud to serve beside them.”

    Some Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill have attacked the military for being too “woke,” claiming it has been one of the causes of the military’s poor recruiting numbers, despite a recent Army survey showing only 5% of potential recruits were concerned about “wokeness.”

    Last month, Republican Rep. Cory Mills and several others went after the Defense Department on its diversity, equity and inclusion training at a House Armed Services Subcommittee hearing on military personnel. Mills said, “We absolutely 150% can out-pronoun every single one of our adversaries, and China and Russia I’m sure are quaking in their boots over this.”

    In response, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Gil Cisneros said diversity and equal opportunity training have been a part of the military for decades.

    At another hearing in early-March with the military’s top enlisted leaders, Sgt. Maj. Of the Army Michael Grinston stressed that the military’s focus remains on combat lethality, even with additional training on diversity and inclusion.

    “There is one hour of equal opportunity training in basic training, and 92 hours of rifle marksmanship training,” Grinston said at the time. “And if you go to [One Station Unit Training], there is 165 hours of rifle marksmanship training and still only one hour of equal opportunity training.”

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  • Transgender adults brace for treatment cutoffs in Missouri

    Transgender adults brace for treatment cutoffs in Missouri

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    Ellie Bridgman spent her Thursday night shift at a local gas station in Union, Missouri, planning for the day she’ll lose access to gender-affirming treatments the transgender and nonbinary 23-year-old credits with making “life worth living.”

    A first-of-its-kind emergency rule introduced this week by Missouri’s Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey will impose numerous restrictions on both adults and children before they can receive puberty-blocking drugs, hormones or surgeries “for the purpose of transitioning gender.”

    Transgender rights advocates have vowed to challenge the rule in court before it takes effect April 27. But promises of swift legal action have done little to ease the worries of trans Missourians like Bridgman who say it may be time to flee the state.

    Before gender-affirming medical treatments can be provided by physicians, the regulation requires 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 at least 18 months. Patients also would first have to be screened for autism and “social media addiction,” and any psychiatric symptoms from mental health issues would have to be treated and resolved.

    Some individuals will be allowed to maintain their prescriptions while they promptly receive the required assessments.

    Bridgman, who uses she/they pronouns, is autistic and has depression. She said she sees only two options: move across the country, away from all her friends and family, to a state that protects access to gender-affirming care, or accept the serious health risks that could come with illegally buying hormones online.

    She headed to a pharmacy Friday afternoon to pay out of pocket for all her remaining refills.

    “Placing restrictions on transitioning for people with depression is just a way for them to completely bar us from transitioning at all,” Bridgman said. “For lots of trans people, dysphoria is the cause of depression. You can’t treat the depression without treating the underlying dysphoria.”

    Before Bridgman started hormone replacement therapy last summer, she said “life felt meaningless” and suicidal thoughts crowded her head. Gender-affirming care was her “last chance at life,” she said.

    The regulation comes as Republican lawmakers across the country, including in Missouri, have advanced hundreds of measures aimed at nearly every facet of transgender existence, with a particular emphasis on health care.

    At least 13 states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for minors. Bills await action from governors in Montana, North Dakota and neighboring Kansas, and nearly two dozen other states are considering legislation to restrict or ban care.

    National groups advocating for LGBTQ+ rights contend the Missouri regulation — based on a state law against deceptive and unfair business practices — goes further than most restrictions enacted elsewhere.

    Three states have imposed restrictions on gender-affirming care via regulation or administrative order, but Missouri’s regulation is the only one that also limits treatments for adults.

    Cathy Renna, a spokesperson for the National LGBTQ Task Force, said the rule demonstrates how Republicans are now successfully broadening the scope of gender-affirming care restrictions beyond minors, which advocates had been warning about for months.

    “When they see one thing work in one state, they’ll try to replicate it in another,” Renna warned.

    Bailey’s restriction comes after a former employee at a transgender youth clinic in St. Louis alleged that physicians at the Washington University Transgender Center were rushing to provide treatment without appropriate patient assessment.

    Bailey said he is investigating the clinic but has not yet issued a report. The claims of mistreatment have been disputed by others, including another former employee and patients. Neither Bailey nor the university responded to phone and email messages seeking comment.

    Dr. Meredithe McNamara, an assistant professor of pediatrics specializing in adolescent medicine at the Yale School of Medicine, said evidence widely supports maintaining access to hormone therapy and other gender-affirming care.

    As part of a consent process, Bailey’s rule requires that patients be shown materials containing nearly two dozen specific statements raising concerns about gender-affirming treatments — a practice doctors like McNamara have denounced as a form of conversion therapy.

    “There is no evidence that shows that psychotherapy as the only treatment is effective,” she said.

    Stacy Cay, an autistic trans woman in Kansas City, has been stockpiling vials of injectable estrogen in anticipation of restrictions. The 30-year-old comedian and model realized she only required a small dose and has saved up enough estrogen to last about a year. When that runs out, she will have to travel across state lines to fill prescriptions or consider moving elsewhere.

    Cay said her persistent depression will cut off her access to hormones under the regulation and that her autism diagnosis could complicate her path to receiving future care. While the regulation does not specify whether autism disqualifies a person for gender-affirming care, it does mandate an assessment.

    A 2020 study from natural sciences journal Nature Communications estimated that transgender and gender-diverse people, or those whose gender expressions do not conform to gender norms, are 3-6 times more likely to be autistic compared to cisgender people. They were also more likely to have other developmental and psychiatric conditions, including depression.

    “They know a lot of us are autistic, and it’s part of their strategy to paint us as unstable — that we can’t be trusted to make our own medical decisions,” Cay said.

    Attorneys from Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union say they plan to challenge the new rule in court.

    Missouri falls under the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — the same court that upheld a preliminary injunction last year preventing Arkansas from enforcing a first-in-the-nation ban on trans children receiving gender-affirming treatments. Federal judges have also blocked enforcement of a similar law in Alabama.

    Republican legislators leading Missouri’s effort to ban gender-affirming treatments for minors said Friday that they have no plans to expand their legislation to include adults.

    Separate bills passed by the Missouri House and Senate would ban treatments for children younger than 18 but would impose no restrictions for adults who are covered by private insurance or willing to pay for their own health care.

    “I believe it is detrimental to a person’s body, probably even their psyche, to go through treatments like that,” said state Sen. Mike Moon, lead sponsor of the Senate legislation. “Adults have the opportunity to make decisions such as these.”

    ___

    Schoenbaum reported from Raleigh, North Carolina, and Lieb reported from Jefferson City. Associated Press editor Jeff McMillan contributed from Scranton, Pennsylvania.

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  • Missouri rules part of rapid push to limit trans health care

    Missouri rules part of rapid push to limit trans health care

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    LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The push to restrict health care for transgender people has expanded beyond children, with Missouri placing new limits on gender-affirming care for both adults and minors.

    The restrictions highlight how rapidly states’ efforts targeting the rights of transgender people have grown this year, despite new obstacles from the courts and the Biden administration.

    Here’s what’s happening:

    WHAT’S THE STATUS OF BILLS TARGETING TRANSGENDER PEOPLE?

    More than 450 bills have been introduced in statehouses around the country this year targeting transgender people, which LGBTQ+ advocates say is a record number.

    They include bans on gender-affirming medical care for minors and restrictions on the types of restrooms transgender people can use. Lawmakers have also been advancing measures restricting classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity, and bills that would out transgender students who want teachers to address them by the pronouns they use.

    WHAT RESTRICTIONS ARE IN PLACE?

    The rules announced Thursday by Missouri’s Republican attorney general place several new restrictions on when someone could receive gender-affirming care. They include 18 months of therapy and would require any mental health issues such as depression or anxiety be resolved before anyone could receive care. It also requires documentation of three years of “persistent and intense” gender dysphoria before treatment can begin.

    The rules, which are set to take effect April 27, are believed to be the first limits placed by a state on gender-affirming care for adults. LGBTQ+ advocates have condemned the move and have vowed legal action.

    Missouri is one of three states that has banned or restricted gender-affirming care via regulations or administrative orders. Two Florida boards have banned the care for minors. Texas’ governor has ordered child welfare officials to investigate reports of children receiving such care as child abuse, though a judge has blocked those investigations.

    At least 13 states have now enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for minors: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Utah, South Dakota and West Virginia. Bills await action from governors in Kansas, Montana and North Dakota. All but three of the laws were enacted this year.

    Federal judges have blocked enforcement of bans in Alabama and Arkansas, and nearly two dozen states are considering bills this year to restrict or ban care. A new law signed last month by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders aims to effectively reinstate Arkansas’ ban by making it easier to sue providers of such care for minors.

    Republican states like Oklahoma have also threatened some funding for hospitals that offer gender-affirming care.

    In North Dakota, Republican Gov. Doug Burgum this week on Tuesday signed new laws that effectively prohibit transgender girls and women from joining female sports teams in K-12 and college. At least 21 states have enacted such laws.

    There’s also been a resurgence this year of bills prohibiting transgender people from using restrooms that align with their gender identity, six years after North Carolina repealed its bathroom law. Republican lawmakers in Kansas last week sent Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly a bill that would impose some of the broadest bathroom restrictions, and appear to have enough votes to override an expected veto.

    Sanders this week signed a bathroom bill that was scaled back following complaints from transgender people and their families. The law makes it a crime for a transgender person to use a restroom that aligns with their gender identity, but only if a minor of the opposite sex is present and if they’re in the bathroom for sexual purposes.

    Sanders has already signed a law prohibiting transgender people at public schools from using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity.

    WHAT’S HAPPENING IN COURT?

    There have been two major court victories recently protecting the rights of transgender people, even as the flood of legislation continues.

    The U.S. Supreme Court last week allowed a 12-year-old transgender girl in West Virginia to continue competing on her middle school’s girls sports teams while a lawsuit over a state ban continues. Also last week, a federal judge ruled that an Indiana school district didn’t violate a former music teacher’s rights by pushing him to resign after the man refused to use transgender students’ names and gender pronouns.

    Lawsuits have also been filed in recent weeks challenging bans on gender-affirming care for minors in Indiana and Florida.

    More action could be on the way soon. A federal judge who blocked Arkansas’ gender-affirming care ban for minors is considering whether to strike down the prohibition as unconstitutional.

    WHAT HAS HAPPENED WITH RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSGENDER ATHLETES?

    A proposed rule released last week by the Biden administration would forbid schools and colleges from enacting outright bans on transgender athletes but still allows teams to create limits in certain cases.

    The plan has sparked outrage from conservatives but also has drawn criticism from some trans rights activists who note it could still prevent transgender athletes from competing on teams that align with their gender identity.

    The proposed rule, which still faces a lengthy approval process, establishes that blanket bans would violate Title IX, the landmark gender-equity legislation enacted in 1972.

    Schools that receive federal funding could still adopt policies that limit transgender students’ participation, particularly in more competitive high school and college sports.

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  • Missouri to restrict transgender care for minors, adults

    Missouri to restrict transgender care for minors, adults

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    COLUMBIA. Mo. — Missouri’s attorney general announced new restrictions Thursday on transgender care for adults in addition to minors in a move that is believed to be a first nationally and has advocacy groups threatening to sue.

    Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced plans to restrict transgender health care weeks ago, when protesters rallied at the Capitol to urge lawmakers to pass a law banning puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries for children. But the discussion was focused on minors, not adults.

    Missouri Attorney General spokeswoman Madeline Sieren clarified in a statement later in the day that adults also would be covered.

    “We have serious concerns about how children are being treated throughout the state, but we believe everyone is entitled to evidence-based medicine and adequate mental health care,” Sieren said.

    The rule, which incudes a required 18 months of therapy before receiving gender-affirming health care, is set to take effect April 27 and expire next February.

    The ACLU and Lambda Legal said in a joint statement that they would “take any necessary legal action” and urged those affected to call.

    “The Attorney General’s so-called emergency rule is based on distorted, misleading, and debunked claims and ignores the overwhelming body of scientific and medical evidence supporting this care,” the statement said.

    Robert Fischer, the spokesman for the LGBT rights groups PROMO, said he was not aware of similar restrictions elsewhere.

    “He’s essentially attacking the entire trans community at this point,” Fischer said of Bailey. “It’s no longer just about children.”

    The National Center for Transgender Equality called the order “deeply wrong” in a tweet, adding that “trans people of all ages across the state of Missouri deserve access to health care.”

    The restrictions are in response to a former employee’s allegations of mistreatment at a transgender youth clinic in St. Louis run by Washington University. Bailey is investigating the center.

    “My office is stepping up to protect children throughout the state while we investigate the allegations and how they are harming children,” Bailey said in a statement.

    University spokespeople didn’t immediately respond to phone or email messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.

    Moving forward, doctors who provide gender-affirming health care must first provide them a lengthy list of potential negative side effects and information warning against those treatments, according to a copy of the rule released Thursday.

    Health care providers will need to ensure “any psychiatric symptoms from existing mental health comorbidities of the patient have been treated and resolved” before providing gender-affirming treatments under the new rule. Physicians also must screen patients for social media addiction, autism and signs of “social contagion with respect to the patient’s gender identity.”

    The FDA approved puberty blockers 30 years ago to treat children with precocious puberty — a condition that causes sexual development to begin much earlier than usual. Sex hormones — synthetic forms of estrogen and testosterone — were approved decades ago to treat hormone disorders or as birth control pills.

    The FDA has not approved the medications specifically to treat gender-questioning youth, but they have been used for many years for that purpose “off label,” a common and accepted practice for many medical conditions. Doctors who treat transgender patients say those decades of use are proof the treatments are not experimental.

    Critics have raise concerns about children changing their minds. Yet the evidence suggests detransitioning is not as common as opponents of transgender medical treatment for youth contend, though few studies exist and they have their weaknesses.

    Bailey’s rule was released the same day Missouri’s Republican-led House voted to ban access to transgender-related health care for minors.

    The House voted 103-52 along mostly party lines in favor of the ban, although the bill’s passage seems uncertain in the Senate.

    The House proposal is stricter than what was passed by the GOP-led Senate, where Democrats have more influence through the use of stall tactics.

    Senators compromised to exempt care for minors whose treatment is already underway. The Senate bill also would expire after four years.

    The House version includes no exceptions for current treatments and would remain in effect indefinitely.

    Republican Senate leaders said it’s unlikely that the House version will make it through the Senate.

    “We’ve already passed legislation on this issue out of the Senate,” Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden said. “We would expect the House to appreciate how hard and difficult it was and to take up our bill and pass it.”

    Both the House and Senate proposals would ban inmates and prisoners from accessing gender-affirming surgeries and would end coverage of any gender-affirming treatments for Missouri patients on Medicaid, the federal health insurance program.

    The Human Rights Campaign have condemned the legislation in a statement, describing gender-affirming care as medically necessary.

    At least 13 states have now enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for minors: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Utah, South Dakota and West Virginia. Bills are awaiingt action from governors in Kansas, Montana and North Dakota. Federal judges have blocked enforcement of laws in Alabama and Arkansas, and nearly two dozen states are considering bills this year to restrict or ban care.

    House debate on the bill became emotional as some Democrats argued the ban on health care will hurt transgender children.

    “You are erasing my grandchild,” said St. Louis Democratic Rep. Barbara Phifer, whose grandson is transgender.

    Republican sponsor Rep. Brad Hudson, of Cape Fair, criticized Democrats for threatening to end political partnerships and friendships with Republicans over the bill.

    Hudson said his bill “seeks to protect kids” and that it’s unfair that Democrats are describing it as hateful towards transgender children.

    “A yes vote is a vote to protect kids from sex-change drugs and surgeries,” Hudson said.

    ——

    Associated Press writer David A. Lieb contributed to this report from Jefferson City, Missouri.

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  • Sorority sister anonymity barred in Wyoming transgender suit

    Sorority sister anonymity barred in Wyoming transgender suit

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    CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Seven women who have sued to challenge the admission of a transgender woman to their sorority at the University of Wyoming can’t remain anonymous in court, a judge has ruled in a case highlighting tension over belonging for transgender people in the least-populated state.

    The women must refile their lawsuit with their real names by April 20, U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson in Cheyenne wrote Thursday.

    “The bottom line is this. Lawsuits are public events, and the public, especially here, has an important interest in access to legal proceedings,” Johnson wrote. “Plaintiffs may not levy serious accusations without standing behind them.”

    The seven women identify themselves only as “Jane Does” in their lawsuit filed March 27 accusing Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority of breaking its own rules while admitting the transgender woman last fall. The sorority national office pressured the University of Wyoming chapter to violate those rules, the lawsuit alleges.

    The transgender woman, identified in the lawsuit only by the pseudonym “Terry Smith,” also is a defendant. Johnson is not requiring disclosure of her identity.

    The women suing said they needed anonymity for privacy and safety reasons, including a likelihood of threats and harassment due to the lawsuit. Johnson ruled that they didn’t meet the legal standard for anonymity, however.

    An attorney for the seven women, John Knepper, declined to comment Friday on Johnson’s order but said he planned to file a court document responding to it soon.

    Smith declined to comment in an email Friday.

    The lawsuit claims her presence in the Kappa Kappa Gamma house made some sorority members uncomfortable. Smith would sit on a couch for hours while “staring at them without talking,” the lawsuit alleges.

    The lawsuit asks Johnson to declare Smith’s sorority membership void and to award unspecified damages. The damages should reflect the local chapter’s decline in financial stability and donations because of Smith’s induction last fall, the lawsuit alleges.

    Kappa Kappa Gamma officials declined to comment Friday on Johnson’s order. Executive Director Kari Kittrell Poole has said previously the lawsuit contains numerous false allegations.

    Smith, 21, doesn’t live among the 44 women currently residing in the Sorority Row house because of housing commitments elsewhere, according to the lawsuit.

    The University of Wyoming campus in Laramie has a long history of wrangling with LGBTQ+ issues since the murder of gay freshman Matthew Shepard in 1998 drew attention to them nationwide. Wyoming, along with South Carolina, is one of just two states that has not adopted a hate-crimes law since Shepard’s murder.

    Republican Gov. Mark Gordon recently allowed a ban on transgender athletes in precollege interscholastic athletics to become law without his signature.

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  • Biden sports plan angers transgender advocates, opponents

    Biden sports plan angers transgender advocates, opponents

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    A Biden administration proposal to forbid outright bans on transgender athletes sparked outrage from conservative leaders while also angering trans rights activists who note schools could still prevent some athletes from participating on teams that align with their gender identity.

    The proposed rule, which still faces a lengthy approval process, establishes that blanket bans, like those that have been approved in at least 20 states, would violate Title IX, the landmark gender-equity legislation enacted in 1972. But schools could still adopt policies that limit transgender students’ participation, particularly in more competitive high school and college sports.

    Under the proposal, it would be much more difficult for schools to ban, for example, a transgender girl in elementary school from playing on a girls basketball team. But it would also leave room for schools to develop policies that prohibit trans athletes from playing on more competitive teams if those policies are designed to ensure fairness or prevent sports-related injuries.

    Imara Jones, a trans woman who created “The Anti-Trans Hate Machine” podcast, said the proposal shows that President Joe Biden is attempting to “straddle the fence” on a human rights issue ahead of an election year by giving legal recourse to schools that bar some trans athletes from competition.

    “The Biden Administration framed their proposal as a ban on blanket discrimination against trans athletes. But actually, it provides guidelines for how schools and universities can ban trans athletes legally,” Jones said in a statement.

    U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, also offered pointed criticism, saying in a tweet that the plan was “indefensible and embarrassing.”

    Erin Reed, a prominent trans activist and researcher, said the proposal “alarmingly” echoes right-wing talking points, which argue that trans participation could increase injuries and take away scholarship opportunities from female athletes who are cisgender, meaning their gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth. She worries school boards and lawmakers will use it to justify bans.

    Extensive research is virtually nonexistent when it comes to determining whether adolescent trans girls have a clear athletic advantage over cisgender girls.

    “I can’t read this any other way than a betrayal,” Reed said in a tweet. “This entire document is worse than doing nothing.”

    Sean Ebony Coleman, a trans activist and founder of the LGBTQ+ center Destination Tomorrow in New York, said policymakers — particularly on a national level — need to completely rule out any option for trans people to be further ostracized.

    “While it hypothetically prevents across-the-board bans, it offers enough gray area for discrete gender policing and demonization to occur, specifically on a local level,” Coleman said.

    Still, some transgender athletes welcomed the proposal as an important first step toward protecting trans kids’ access to sports.

    “I would love to see protections expanded to include elite and collegiate sports, but this seems like a good start,” said Iszac Henig, a trans man and competitive swimmer at Yale University. “Trans athletes should have the ability to compete on the team of their choice if their athletic skills allow it.”

    Doriane Coleman, a law professor at Duke University, said the proposal allows for schools that receive federal funding to “still choose to have male and female sports teams” and makes sense compared with the “one-size-fits-all approach” found in some states.

    “You wouldn’t be able to make the same argument for kindergarten or elementary school sport that you can make for elite high school and college sport under this two-part test,” Coleman said.

    A way that the federal government, states and advocacy groups can avoid “piecemeal legislation” is by making clear “there is a body of evidence to support generalizable sex-specific eligibility standards for each sport at each level of development,” she said.

    The proposal was quickly assailed by many Republican leaders who said they were ready to fight the plan in court.

    “South Dakota will not allow this to stand,” Gov. Kristi Noem tweeted. “We will lead. We will defend our laws.”

    Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall issued a statement suggesting the state might also try to challenge the federal rule. Alabama lawmakers in 2021 approved legislation that bans trans women and girls from participating on female sports team in K-12 schools. It was also one of 20 states that filed a lawsuit in 2021 seeking to halt directives that extend federal sex discrimination protections to LGBTQ+ people.

    “I have made myself abundantly clear to the Biden Administration that he will NOT impose his radical policies on Alabama athletes. He will NOT destroy athletic competition for our young women & girls. In Alabama our law protects girls’ sports. Stay tuned!” Marshall said in a statement.

    The public will have 30 days to comment on the proposal after it is published in the Federal Register. After that, the U.S. Department of Education will review the comments and decide whether any changes are needed before issuing a final rule.

    ___

    Murphy reported from Oklahoma City, and Schoenbaum reported from Raleigh, N.C. Associated Press writers Carole Feldman in Washington, D.C., Erica Hunzinger in Denver, Kimberly Chandler in Montgomery, Ala., Pat Eaton-Robb in Hartford, Conn., and John Hanna in Topeka, Kan., contributed.

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  • GOP’s DeSantis visits Whitmer’s Michigan, the ‘anti-Florida’

    GOP’s DeSantis visits Whitmer’s Michigan, the ‘anti-Florida’

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    LANSING, Mich. — Ahead of a highly anticipated presidential announcement, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visited Michigan for his first appearance this year in the battleground state transformed by Democratic majorities under high-profile Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

    The visit put the contrasting leadership styles of the Republican and Democrat on display after they scored landslide 2022 reelection victories that vaulted them to be their parties’ brightest emerging stars.

    In Florida, DeSantis and the GOP-dominated Legislature have moved the state further right, waging a culture war on what the governor has called “woke” agendas. In Michigan, Whitmer has led the way on codifying abortion rights and advancing sweeping gun reform with Democrats in full control for the first time in decades.

    Whitmer has been a top ally to President Joe Biden and a kind of proxy for his leadership in their party — and what’s possible under Democrats. DeSantis is one of the top potential candidates looking to unseat Biden next year.

    Thursday’s visit was also one of DeSantis’s first out-of-state appearances since former President Donald Trump was indicted. With all eyes on Trump, others vying for the GOP nomination have found it difficult to gain much notice.

    Trump frequently targets DeSantis — a similarity the governor shares with Whitmer, who Trump labeled “that woman from Michigan” during his presidency. Recently, Trump has ramped up his DeSantis criticism, saying during a rally in Waco on March 25 that the Florida politician was disloyal and “dropping like a rock.”

    DeSantis began Thursday’s tour by speaking at a GOP event in center of the state. He avoided mentioning Trump but criticized Biden, who he called “weak” and “controlled by the most left party elements of his own party.”

    DeSantis told the crowd he brought “a message of optimism based on what we’ve done in the free state of Florida,” while outlining his “bold agenda.” He drew distinct policy comparisons to Michigan in the areas of education and COVID-19 lockdowns.

    “I do remember during COVID people fleeing those lockdowns in Michigan,” DeSantis said. “People were treated very, very poorly and parents were upset with the schools and everything else, and they would tell me this.”

    State Rep. Bill G. Schuette, a Midland-area Republican, described Michigan as the “anti-Florida” as he introduced DeSantis.

    Since Florida’s legislative session began in early March, DeSantis has worked to expand the state’s so-called Don’t Say Gay law, ban diversity and equity programs at public universities and eliminate concealed carry restrictions. The state has also begun passing a six-week abortion ban backed by DeSantis.

    DeSantis is scheduled to speak Thursday night at Hillsdale College, a small, Christian classical liberal arts college in southern Michigan. He called the school a “model” for his transformation of Florida’s New College, a small liberal arts school he said is indoctrinating students with leftist ideology and should be revamped into a more conservative institution.

    The Midland event drew over 100 demonstrators outside. Michigan Board of Education President Pamela Pugh, a graduate of Florida A&M, attended the protest and said demonstrators were sending DeSantis a message that“the hatemongering ends” in Michigan. One protester’s sign also dubbed Michigan “the anti-Florida.”

    Potentially the fifth state to hold its Republican primary, Michigan could prove pivotal for the GOP presidential nomination winner. Michigan House Republican Speaker Bryan Posthumus flew to Florida in December to deliver a letter signed by 18 other state House Republicans encouraging DeSantis to run for president.

    “When he becomes an actual candidate, I will be doing another letter saying we endorse you for President of the United States of America,” Posthumus told The Associated Press.

    Michigan voters have overwhelmingly rejected Republicans in the seven years since Trump won the state. Democrats control the statewide offices of governor, attorney general and secretary of state in addition to holding majorities in the Legislature.

    With full control of the Statehouse for the first time in 40 years, Michigan Democrats have prioritized further protecting reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights that are being rolled back in Republican-led states across the nation.

    On Wednesday, Whitmer signed legislation repealing a 1931 abortion ban after voters in November enshrined rights to the procedure in their constitution.

    She called out Florida and other Republican-led states for taking steps to pass “un-American, anti-free and, frankly, sickening” abortion laws.

    Often saying that “bigotry is bad for business,” the Michigan governor said the state’s liberal measures will help attract socially-conscious businesses and new talent. Last month, Michigan became the first state in nearly 60 years to repeal a union-restricting law known as “right-to-work.”

    Some business advocates disagree, saying Florida proves otherwise. It was one of the first states to implement a “right-to-work” law that allows employees to opt out of paying union dues and fees, and began advancing legislation last week that would ban automatic paycheck deductions for members.

    In terms of job growth, Michigan increased by 2.1% over the past year, coming in 35th in the nation. Florida was tied for second at 4.6%. Florida saw the largest population increase of any state from 2021 to 2022 — at 1.9% — while Michigan’s population slightly decreased over the same period.

    Still, “most of these movements reflect long-term trends that are tied to climate and economics more than politics,” said Brad Hershbein, a senior economist at the nonpartisan W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.

    “Florida has been growing over decades, no matter which party controlled the governor’s office, mostly because of its climate and zero income tax,” Hershbein said.

    Gun legislation, an increasingly polarizing issue following multiple school shootings to start the year, has also differed greatly in Michigan and Florida.

    DeSantis and Republicans have begun rolling back restrictions that were implemented after the 2018 school shooting in Parkland. DeSantis signed a bill Monday that will allow carrying concealed guns without a permit. He has said he wants to allow people to openly carry guns.

    In Michigan, Democrats are close to passing an 11-bill gun safety package that Whitmer has said she will sign, including red flag laws and safe storage requirements, following a shooting at Michigan State University in February.

    ___

    Associated Press writer Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee, Florida, contributed to this report.

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  • Indiana, Idaho governors sign bans on gender-affirming care

    Indiana, Idaho governors sign bans on gender-affirming care

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    INDIANAPOLIS — Republican governors in Indiana and Idaho have signed into law bills banning gender-affirming care for minors, making those states the latest to restrict transgender health care as Republican-led legislatures continue to curb LGBTQ+ rights this year.

    Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed legislation Wednesday that will prohibit transgender youth from accessing medication or surgeries that aid in transition and mandate those currently taking medication to stop by the end of the year.

    Idaho Gov. Brad Little had signed legislation Tuesday evening that criminalizes gender-affirming care for youth.

    More than a dozen other states are considering bills that would prohibit transgender youth from accessing hormone therapies, puberty blockers and transition surgeries, even after the approval of parents and the advice of doctors. Other proposals target transgender individuals’ everyday life — including sports, workplaces and schools.

    “Permanent gender-changing surgeries with lifelong impacts and medically prescribed preparation for such a transition should occur as an adult, not as a minor,” Holcomb said in a statement about the Indiana bill.

    The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed a lawsuit rapidly after Holcomb signed the Indiana legislation — something the group had promised to do after Republican supermajorities advanced the ban this session. The American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho announced Wednesday it also planned to sue over that state’s new law.

    The Indiana ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of four transgender youth and an Indiana doctor who provides transgender medical treatment. It argues the ban violates the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection guarantees as well as federal laws regarding essential medical services.

    “The legislature did not ban the various treatments that are outlined,” said Ken Falk, the ACLU of Indiana legal director. “It only banned it for transgender persons.”

    Under the Indiana law that takes effect July 1, doctors who offer gender-affirming care to minors would be disciplined by a licensing board. And under the Idaho law set to go into effect next January, providing hormones, puberty blockers or other gender-affirming care to people under age 18 would be a felony crime.

    “In signing this bill, I recognize our society plays a role in protecting minors from surgeries or treatments that can irreversibly damage their healthy bodies,” Little wrote. “However, as policymakers we should take great caution whenever we consider allowing the government to interfere with loving parents and their decisions about what is best for their children.”

    Supporters of the legislation have contended the banned care is irreversible or carries side effects. They argue that only an adult — and not a minor’s parent — can consent to the treatments.

    But opponents say such care is vital and often life-saving for trans kids, and medical providers say most of the procedures are reversible and safe. Transgender medical treatments for children and teens have also been available in the U.S. for more than a decade and are endorsed by major medical associations.

    “When I started hormone therapy, it made me feel so much better about myself,” said Jessica Wayner, 16, at an Indiana House public health committee hearing last month.

    At least 13 states have laws banning gender-affirming care for minors: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Utah, South Dakota and West Virginia. Federal judges have blocked enforcement of Alabama and Arkansas’ laws.

    The GOP-led Kansas Legislature on Wednesday also overrode Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a bill to ban transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports from kindergarten through college.

    Nineteen other states have imposed restrictions on transgender athletes, most recently Wyoming.

    The Arkansas Senate also sent a bill Wednesday to Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders that would not allow schools to mandate its employees call transgender students by their preferred name or pronouns.

    In some states where Democrats control the legislature, lawmakers are enshrining access to gender-affirming health care. Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a bill Wednesday that protects providers of gender-affirming health care against potential civil and criminal prosecution.

    Dr. Molly McClain, who provides gender-affirming health care to patients of all ages, said the new legislation sends a message to people exploring their identity in ways that may not conform to gender norms.

    “It says you are seen, you are safe, you are precious, and your access to health care will be protected here,” said McClain, who teaches medicine at the University of New Mexico. “I think that that sends a huge message to trainees” in the medical field.

    ___

    Associated Press writers contributed to this report — Tom Davies in Indianapolis; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho.

    ___

    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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  • Johnson elected Chicago mayor in victory for progressives

    Johnson elected Chicago mayor in victory for progressives

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    CHICAGO — Brandon Johnson, a union organizer and former teacher, was elected as Chicago’s next mayor Tuesday in a major victory for the Democratic Party’s progressive wing as the heavily blue city grapples with high crime and financial challenges.

    Johnson, a Cook County commissioner endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union, won a close race over former Chicago schools CEO Paul Vallas, who was backed by the police union. Johnson, 47, will succeed Lori Lightfoot, the first Black woman and first openly gay person to be the city’s mayor.

    Lightfoot became the first Chicago mayor in 40 years to lose her reelection bid when she finished third in a crowded February contest.

    Johnson’s victory in the nation’s third-largest city capped a remarkable trajectory for a candidate who was little known when he entered the race last year. He climbed to the top of the field with organizing and financial help from the politically influential Chicago Teachers Union and high-profile endorsements from progressive Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Sanders appeared at a rally for Johnson in the final days of the race.

    Taking the stage Tuesday night for his victory speech, a jubilant Johnson thanked his supporters for helping usher in “a new chapter in the history of our city.” He promised that under his administration, the city would look out for everyone, regardless of how much money they have, whom they love or where they come from.

    “Tonight is the beginning of a Chicago that truly invests in all of its people,” Johnson said.

    Johnson, who is Black, recalled growing up in a poor family, teaching at a school in Cabrini Green, a notorious former public housing complex, and shielding his own young kids from gunfire in their West Side neighborhood.

    He referenced civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and the Rev. Jesse Jackson and called his victory a continuation of their legacies. He also noted that he was speaking on the anniversary of King’s assassination.

    “Today the dream is alive,” Johnson said, “and so today we celebrate the revival and the resurrection of the city of Chicago.”

    It was a momentous win for progressive organizations such as the teachers union, with Johnson winning the highest office of any active teachers union member in recent history, leaders say. For both progressives and the party’s more moderate wing, the Chicago race was seen as a test of organizing power and messaging.

    Johnson’s win also comes as groups such as Our Revolution, a powerful progressive advocacy organization, push to win more offices in local and state office, including in upcoming mayoral elections in Philadelphia and elsewhere.

    Vallas, speaking to his own supporters Tuesday night, said that he had called Johnson and that he expected him to be the next mayor. Some in the crowd seemed to jeer the news, but Vallas urged them to put aside differences and support the next mayor in “the daunting work ahead.”

    “This campaign that I ran to bring the city together would not be a campaign that fulfills my ambitions if this election is going to divide us,” Vallas said.

    In a statement, Lightfoot also congratulated Johnson and said her administration will collaborate with his team during the transition.

    Johnson and Vallas were the top two vote-getters in the all-Democrat but officially nonpartisan February race, which moved to the runoff because no candidate received over 50%.

    On Tuesday, Johnson took many of the predominantly Black southern and western areas where Lightfoot won in February, along with the northern neighborhoods where he was the top-vote getter back then, according to precinct-level results released by election officials. Vallas did well in the northwest and southwest areas that are home to large numbers of city employees, just as he did in February.

    The contest surfaced longstanding tensions among Democrats, with Johnson and his supporters blasting Vallas — who was endorsed by Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the chamber’s second-ranking Democrat — as too conservative and a Republican in disguise.

    Both candidates have deep roots in the Democratic Party, though with vastly different backgrounds and views.

    After teaching middle and high school, Johnson helped mobilize teachers, including during a historic 2012 strike through which the Chicago Teachers Union increased its organizing muscle and influence in city politics. That has included fighting for non-classroom issues, such as housing and mental health care.

    Vallas, who finished first in the February contest, was the only white candidate in that nine-person field. A former Chicago budget director, he later led schools in Chicago, New Orleans, Philadelphia and Bridgeport, Connecticut.

    Among the biggest disputes between Johnson and Vallas was how to address crime. Like many U.S. cities, Chicago saw violent crime increase during the COVID-19 pandemic, hitting a 25-year high of 797 homicides in 2021, though the number decreased last year and the city has a lower murder rate than others in the Midwest, such as St. Louis.

    Vallas, 69, said he would hire hundreds more police officers, while Johnson said he didn’t plan to cut the number of officers, but that the current system of policing isn’t working. Johnson was forced to defend past statements expressing support for “defunding” police — something he insisted he would not do as mayor.

    But Johnson argued that instead of investing more in policing and incarceration, the city should focus on mental health treatment, affordable housing for all and jobs for youth. He has proposed a plan he says will raise $800 million by taxing “ultrarich” individuals and businesses, including a per-employee “head tax” on employers and an additional tax on hotel room stays.

    That plan is no sure thing, as some members of the City Council and the state Legislature — whose support would be needed — already have expressed opposition.

    Resident Chema Fernandez, 25, voted for Johnson as an opportunity to move on from what he described as “the politics of old.” He said he saw Vallas as being in line with previous mayors such as Rahm Emanuel, Lightfoot and Richard M. Daley, who haven’t worked out great for places like his neighborhood on the southwest side, which has seen decades of disinvestment.

    “I think we need to give the opportunity for policies that may actually change some of our conditions,” Fernandez said.

    ___

    Associated Press journalist Teresa Crawford in Chicago and chief elections analyst Chad Day in Washington contributed.

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