| | Reminder: Submit a Workshop Proposal for the 2025 PFLAG National Convention Taking place in Chicago from October 10-12, Learning With Love: The 2025 PFLAG National Convention will gather PFLAG members, chapter leaders, supporters, and partners from across the country. Everyone has a voice in this fight, and we would love to have yours in the mix by presenting a workshop. The deadline to submit is Wednesday, April 30th, so now is the time to get started. Workshop submissions should be focused on educating and empowering our diverse audience of attendees to achieve PFLAG’s mission and deliver the tools needed in this moment of so anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-diversity opposition and action. Let’s gather together, in courageous love and learning. Submit your workshop application today at pflagnation.al/2025ConventionRFP. State Actions Mainers LD 233, LD 868, and LD 1134 would keep trans kids from playing sports and ban them from bathrooms, locker rooms, and other school facilities. Tell your legislators to respect trans kids and vote NO on these bills! Tennesseeans Legislators are moving anti-trans bills, including bills to protect intentional misgendering and to narrowly redefine “sex” in the state code to erase trans, nonbinary, and intersex Tennesseans. Join our partners at Tennessee Equality Project to help defeat anti-trans bills! Texans Legislators are considering HB 239 and SB 240, which would ban trans people from using bathrooms and other sex-separated spaces in government buildings, including schools. Contact your state rep and your state senator and tell them to vote NO on these dangerous and discriminatory bills! |
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|  | | Here is a sample of what’s going on around the country. You can share news from your state with advocacy@pflag.org for possible inclusion in a future newsletter. Colorado - State legislature approves bills protecting trans rights. HB 1309 codifies the right to access gender-affirming care in the state code; HB 1312 forbids Colorado courts from removing children from their parents/guardians simply because that parent/guardian allows their child to access gender-affirming care. Florida - Teacher loses job after calling student by their preferred name. Melissa Calhoun, a Brevard County high school teacher, will not have her contract renewed after she called a student by their preferred name without a signed permission form. This is the first known firing of a Florida teacher after Gov. DeSantis signed a law in 2023 requiring parental consent for students to be called by a name different from their given name. Montana - State House rejects bill which would have prosecuted affirming parents. SB 164 would have charged parents, guardians, and others caring for a trans youth under 16 with felony child endangerment if they helped that youth obtain gender-affirming care. The bill passed the Senate 30-20 in February , despite bipartisan opposition. However, the House voted to kill the bill with a broad bipartisan majority of 58-40. Texas - State House advances HIV testing bill. HB 50, which unanimously advanced out of the House Committee on Public Health on April 7th, would ensure that HIV testing is included as a standard part of STI screenings. The bill was authored by Rep. Venton Jones, who is Texas’ first openly gay, HIV-positive lawmaker. |
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| | | 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. To inform your activism, advocacy, and media work, please use our Executive Order explainers and resources web page, which is updated frequently as we gather information from our many trusted partners. U.S. House passes SAVE Act. The House voted 220-208 on April 10th to pass the SAVE Act, which would require voters to provide proof of citizenship in person to election officials to register to vote and to update their voter registrations. It is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, and election officials have warned that the SAVE Act would disenfranchise millions of eligible voters who do not have easy access to the documents the bill requires to show proof of citizenship. U.S. House passes bill aiming to restrict federal judges’ ability to issue nationwide injunctions. The House voted 219-213 on April 9th to pass the “No Rogue Rulings Act (NORRA),” which limits district court judges’ power to issue nationwide injunctions blocking executive actions and laws the judges hold are unconstitutional. Trump administration announces pulling federal funding for Maine prisons. Attorney General Bondi announced on April 8th that “nonessential” funds would be pulled from the Maine Department of Corrections, to be implemented because a trans woman inmate is held in a women’s prison. Air Force rescinds rule barring inclusion of personal pronouns in email signatures. On April 4th, he Air Force reversed its decision banning personal pronouns in email signatures. The Department cited a provision in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which explicitly states that the Defense Secretary may neither require or prohibit a member of the armed forces or a civilian employee of the Department of Defense to identify the gender or personal pronouns of such member or employee in any official correspondence of the Department. Trump orders the Smithsonian’s American Women’s History Museum to remove references to trans people. The order, published on March 27th, declared that exhibits discussing or acknowledging the accomplishments of trans women are “improper ideology,” and particularly condemned a planned exhibit that would feature trans athletes. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) threatens Congressional action against USA Fencing. The threat comes after a cisgender woman was disqualified from a fencing tournament at the University of Maryland after she refused to fence against a trans competitor. International Fencing Federation policy does not allow competitors to refuse to fence against a valid opponent for any reason. |
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