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Warning: While some of the following stories describe legislative actions to celebrate and affirm LGBTQ+ people, many cover legislation targeting the LGBTQ+ community, particularly trans and non-binary youth. Please be kind to yourself and use your discretion while reading this section. Advisory: State news is representative but not exhaustive due to space constraint; feel free to forward news about your state to advocacy@pflag.org to consider for inclusion. Alabama - Gov. Kay Ivey signs bill to extend ban on trans female athletes to universities. On May 30th, HB 261 was signed into law, extending the ban on trans female athletes beyond K-12; it passed 26-4 in the Senate and 83-5 in the House plus more than 12 abstentions in the House vote. Missouri - AG Andrew Bailey demands that police enforce anti-trans medically necessary health ban law. He seeks to enlist local law enforcement to block access to care following the Kansas City Council declaring the state’s largest city as a “sanctuary” for people seeking medically necessary care. | |
India - Openly trans woman is first from Kashmir to work in India’s corporate world and urges family support for LGBTQ and intersex youth. Shoaib Khan, a corporate employee for 11 years, urges families not to deprive LGBTQ+ youth of their basic human rights and to try to educate them, as she described her own challenging path to get an education. Israel - Jerusalem Pride had record attendance and security amid right-wing and ultraconservative threats. Organizers’ initial count showed 30,000 people from Israel’s tech sector, women’s organizations, army reservists, and LGBTQ+ communities assembled in solidarity on June 1st for the peaceful march under heavy security, with about 2,000 officers along the route. Japan - Second court rules that same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional. On May 30th, the Nagoya District Court became the second major higher court to issue that ruling; the Sapporo District Court ruled in March 2021 that the ban violated two provisions of the Constitution. Malaysia - Government raids Swatch stores, confiscating Pride-themed watches. The Muslim-majority nation criminalizes same-sex intimacy and often targets LGBTQ+ visibility or pro-LGBTQ+ signs of support. Uganda - Anti-LGBTQ+ bill signed into law on May 30th. The President enacted the law that criminalizes same-sex relations with some offenses yielding the death penalty and imposes a 20-year sentence for pro-LGBTQ+ advocacy. | |
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