Alaska - Homer Library Board votes to keep LGBTQ+ books in child and young adult sections. Fifty-five books were requested to be moved to a different library section over their discussions or depictions of subjects related to sexual orientation and gender identity. The books will stay in the child and young adult section of the library, which the library director noted contained 12,500 titles, meaning the challenged books represent only 0.4% of the total youth collection. Arkansas - Arkansas House approves bill barring trans students from using bathrooms matching their gender identity. HB1556 would require multiple occupancy restrooms or changing areas at public schools and open-enrollment public charter schools to be separated based on a “student’s sex as identified on his or her original birth certificate issued at or near the time of his or her birth.” California - Orange Unified School District suspends digital library. Superintendent Edward Velasquez announced on January 29th that the digital library app, Sora, would be temporarily shut down after some parents raised concerns about the books that were available on the app. Santee YMCA trans-inclusive locker room policy gains right-wing attention nationwide. Rebecca Phillips, a 17-year-old Santee resident, spoke at a city council meeting on January 11th, and claimed she was “terrified” to encounter a trans woman in the YMCA locker room. Her testimony sparked a nationwide crusade against YMCAs among the far-right. Florida - Bill introduced to ban gay and trans panic defense. SB328 would prohibit defendants from using the discovery of someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity as a defense in a criminal trial. Kansas - Proposed legislation would give state funding to private and homeschooling. Some Kansas legislators see funding for non-public schools as a way to allow parents to avoid any instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity for their children. Mississippi - State Senate advances gender-affirming care ban. HB1125, which passed the House on January 19th, now awaits consideration by the full Senate before heading to Governor Tate Reeves’s desk. He is expected to sign the legislation if it passes the Senate, which would make Mississippi the fourth state to ban gender-affirming care for trans youth. At least 31 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced this session in Mississippi. Lawmakers introduced 31 bills targeting LGBTQ+ Mississippians this year, including gender-affirming care bans, and anti-LGBTQ+ curriculum bills. North Carolina - Gender-affirming care targeted in new bill. Five lawmakers filed HB43 on February 1st, which would outlaw hormone treatments and puberty blockers for anyone under 18 years old. Tennessee - State rejects CDC HIV funds that do not run through city Health Departments. After anti-LGBTQ+ provocateurs denounced gender-affirming care, the state declined $8.3MM in funding that reached community-based organizations focused on HIV prevention. PFLAG joins TEP to urge the CDC to fund CBOs directly. Lawmakers advance gender-affirming care bans and drag show bans. HB1 and SB1 would ban gender-affirming care for trans Tennesseans under 18 while HB9 and SB3 would classify drag shows as “adult cabaret performances” which would limit where drag could be performed. Utah - Governor Cox signs gender-affirming care ban into law. SB16 will ban hormone therapy and other gender-affirming care for nearly all trans Utahans under 18. Utah is currently the only state with an active gender-affirming care ban, as similar laws in Arkansas and Alabama have been enjoined. ACLU Utah and NCLR are expected to file a suit this month to block the law. Virginia - Anti-trans law unanimously rejected by lawmakers. The House Early Childhood/Innovation subcommittee unanimously voted down HB1434, which would have required trans students to obtain a court order to update their names on any school records and forcibly outed trans students to their parents. | 
