Take Action

Georgians

Tell your state reps to vote NO on SB 30 and SB 185. The Georgia State Senate passed two bills to take away healthcare from trans and nonbinary youth: SB 30 and SB185. We need your help to make sure these bills don’t pass the House, too. Contact your representative TODAY and tell them to vote NO on these harmful bills!

Kentuckians

Tell your state senator to vote NO on HB 495. The State House passed a bill to repeal Governor Beshear’s executive order banning conversion therapy – and added a prohibition on state Medicaid funding for gender-affirming care to an already horrible bill. Tell your state senator to protect Kentucky kids and vote NO!

Wisconsinites 

The election for the new Wisconsin Supreme Court justice is taking place on APRIL 1st. This critical seat could be the deciding vote on important issues in the coming years, including LGBTQ+ rights. Visit MyVote.WI.gov. and make your voting plan today!

State Matters

Here is a sample of what’s going on around the country. Please be kind to yourself and use your discretion while reading this section. You can share news from your state with advocacy@pflag.org for possible inclusion in a future newsletter. 

California - Gov. Newsom gets pushback for comments about trans athletes. Gov. Newsom invited right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk onto the Governor’s podcast, where Newsom said he believed it was unfair to have trans athletes competing in women’s sports. Los Angeles LGBT Center CEO Joe Hollendoner, members of the state legislature, and others criticized the Governor’s comments, with Hollendoner saying, “We demand that Governor Newsom immediately apologize for the harm he has caused, meet with transgender advocates to educate himself on this important issue, and prove that he is aligned with the LGBTQ+ community and not Trump’s hate-mongering.” 

Michigan - State House of Representatives passes resolution endorsing anti-trans athlete ban. The resolution, which passed on a bipartisan vote of 66-43 on March 12th, urged the Michigan High School Athletic Association to ban trans girls from girl’s sports. 

Montana - Anti-trans bills defeated. A bill to give individuals a right to sue a venue which holds a public drag show was defeated on a bipartisan vote of 55-44, and another bill which would have allowed trans children to be removed from the custody of their affirming parents was defeated 71-27. These votes came after floor speeches and other work by openly trans State Representative Zooey Zephyr and openly nonbinary State Representative SJ Howell to defeat the proposals. 

New Hampshire - Executive Council promotes openly trans National Guard captain after a delay. The promotion was held up for over a month, which Executive Councilor David Wheeler said was due to the President’s executive order barring trans servicemembers in the military. 

Pennsylvania - Lawsuit filed in state court to undo anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ Pennsylvanians. The lawsuit aims to block the Pennsylvania Human Rights Commission from investigating complaints of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Plaintiffs also hope to use the lawsuit to ban trans girls from competing in girls sports. 

South Dakota - State Senate passes anti-trans bathroom ban. The bill passed 27-6, and would ban trans people from using public restrooms or changing rooms aligned with their gender identity. 

Texas - State Senate considers anti-trans document change ban bill. SB 406 would ban changes to the gender marker on birth certificates except in cases of clerical errors or in the case of intersex children. The State Affairs Committee held a hearing on the bill on March 10th. 

West Virginia - State Senate passes anti-trans bills. The Senate passed two anti-trans bills on March 6th: SB 299 would make the state’s gender-affirming care ban for trans and nonbinary youth even stricter; and SB 154 forces public school teachers to out trans and nonbinary students to their parents. 

Wyoming - Gov. Mark Gordon signs two anti-trans facilities bans into law. SF 62 bans trans students from using bathrooms and locker rooms aligned with their gender identity and goes into effect immediately. HB 72 bans trans people from sex-segregated spaces in state buildings, including colleges and universities, correctional facilities, and bathrooms and locker rooms. HB 72 goes into effect on July 1st.

Court Matters

Supreme Court agrees to hear challenge to Colorado’s conversion therapy ban. The Court granted certiorari on March 10th, agreeing to hear a Christian therapist’s challenge to Colorado’s conversion therapy ban in their next term, which will begin in October. 

Twenty-one state Attorneys General sue Trump Administration over Education Department layoffs. The Administration laid off over 1,300 Education Department employees out of the roughly 4,000 department employees who worked there at the start of Trump’s term. The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Massachusetts, argues that the massive layoffs are “equivalent to incapacitating key, statutorily-mandated functions of the Department” and that the layoffs were ordered due to the administration’s “opposition to the Department of Education’s entire existence.” 

Federal judge orders agencies to immediately reinstate fired probationary employees. US District Judge William Alsup issued a preliminary injunction ordered the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior and Treasury to rehire the probationary employees that were fired. Judge Alsup also stated that he might extend the order to cover other federal agencies at a later date.

Federal Judge plans to rule in trans military ban case as early as next week. U.S District Judge Ana Reyes said during oral arguments on March 12th that the government "egregiously misquoted" and "cherry picked" scientific studies to incorrectly assert that transgender soldiers decrease the readiness and lethality of the military. 

Sixth Circuit Court rejects appeal by former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, orders her to pay damages to same-sex couple to whom she denied a marriage license. The unanimous decision by a three-judge panel held that Davis was bound by her responsibilities as county clerk to issue the marriage license to the same-sex couple in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell, and that her First Amendment rights to free speech and free exercise of religion do not apply when she is engaged in state action.

Federal Matters

In addition to other federal issues, this section includes ongoing activity regarding the executive orders (EOs) signed by President Trump since January 20, 2025. Please know that EOs do NOT override the United States Constitution, federal statutes, or established legal precedent. EOs are required by law to follow a process before changes can be implemented, and for many of these EOs, litigation is not only expected but is also already happening, such as PFLAG v Trump (see above). 

To inform your activism, advocacy, and media work, please use our explainers and resources web page, which is updated frequently as we gather information from our many trusted partners.

Trump reposts Nazi symbol used to identify gay men. Trump reposted an article on his Truth Social account which included an image of a pink triangle, which was used to identify gay men in Nazi concentration camps. The article itself praised the Trump Administration for policies targeting LGBTQ+ servicemembers. 

Rep. Sarah McBride (DE-AL) misgendered during House committee hearing. Texas Representative Keith Self (TX-3) introduced Congresswoman McBride during a committee hearing with the incorrect honorific as “Mr. McBride.” Rep. McBride, who is Congress’s first openly trans member, responded by addressing Rep. Self as “Madam Chairman.” Rep. Bill Keating (MA-9) asked Rep. Self to repeat what he said, and then responded that the hearing would not continue with him unless Self uses Rep. McBride’s correct honorific and to be respectful of a duly elected federal Representative to the United States of America. With that, Rep. Self adjourned the hearing.

Trans women in federal custody moved to men’s prisons. The President’s executive order aiming to move trans women in federal custody to men’s facilities has resulted in multiple lawsuits, and courts have blocked transfers of 17 trans women, who are plaintiffs in those lawsuits. Despite this, trans inmates who are not plaintiffs in current litigation are facing forced transfers to men’s facilities. 

Department of Agriculture suspends funding to University of Maine. The suspension of research and programmatic funding comes after Maine Governor Janet Mills refused to ban trans girls from girls’ sports, publicly clashing with the President over the issue. 

Pentagon flags photos of WWII aircraft “Enola Gay” for removal. The photos of the “Enola Gay,” the U.S. aircraft that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, are among tens of thousands of photos and posts marked for deletion for violating the Pentagon’s anti-DEI rules. The “Enola Gay” photos appear to have been flagged for deletion simply because the file names included the word “gay.”

Global Matters

Germany - Government issues advisory for trans and nonbinary travelers to the U.S. The German Federal Foreign Office issued a travel advisory for the United States, saying “Travelers who have the ‘X’ gender marker or whose current gender entry differs from their gender identity at birth should contact the relevant U.S. diplomatic mission in Germany before entering the country and find out the applicable entry requirements.” 

Japan - Nagoya High Court rules same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional. The Nagoya High Court is the fourth high court in Japan to rule the ban is unconstitutional.

Media Matters

MSNBC names two openly gay Black anchors to co-host news show. Jonathan Capehart and Eugene Daniels will co-host “The Weekend” with Jackie Alemany. Capehart and Daniels will be the first openly gay Black men to co host a news program on a major network.

PFLAG National
(202) 467-8180 | love@pflag.org

Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your web browser