| | Submit Your Comments On Gender-Affirming Care to the FTC 26 states have anti-trans healthcare bans, with more states trying to pile on with anti-trans discrimination. Now, the federal government is trying to criminalize medically necessary healthcare for trans, nonbinary, and intersex youth. It’s time to take action in support of our loved ones. The FTC is using its regulatory authority to target medically necessary care for transgender youth. The FTC held a hearing on July 9th on this issue, where the agency demonstrated clear pre-existing bias against this care. We need folks to submit comments to the FTC and tell them that transgender people are real, they deserve affirming medical care, and that care should be available without government interference. Visit pflag.org/gac_ftc for important guidance on submitting federal comments and then submit your comment today! Texans Tell your state representatives to vote NO on SB 8! Instead of dealing with real issues affecting Texans like giving victims of the recent floods the help they need, the State House is advancing an anti-trans facilities ban. The House State Affairs Committee is meeting to hear the bill TODAY (Aug. 22nd) and further action could happen next week. Contact your representative NOW and tell them to vote NO on SB 8! The Underserved Communities Workshop Track at Learning With Love Our Learning With Love registration rates will go up to the “Late Rate” level starting next Tuesday, Sept 2nd, the day after Labor Day. Now’s your chance to register before those prices go up! Meanwhile, check out this sneak preview of workshops from our Underserved Communities track at Learning With Love: The 2025 PFLAG National Convention! This track will include workshops that educate participants about the unique needs of those in the LGBTQ+ community who are often erased or ignored, helping attendees develop the skills needed to support, educate, and advocate for these often invisible identities. Workshops will include: - A is for Affirm: Creating Affirming Space for Asexual, Aromantic, and Agender People
- Loving Your Intersex Body
- Realities and Resilience of Rural LGBTQ+ Communities
Join us for these sessions and dozens more in Chicago this fall, October 10-12.
Visit pflag.org/2025convention to register. |
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|  | | 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. Alaska - Medical Board to vote to restrict medically necessary care for trans and nonbinary youth. The Alaska State Medical Board will vote on August 22nd to oppose gender-affirming care for minors by making practitioners subject to sanctions by the Board. California - San Diego LGBT Center holds event for trans servicemembers forced out of the military by Trump Administration. The workshop was held in partnership with the California Department of Veterans Affairs and featured legal resources and housing resources for attendees. Florida - Pulse Memorial crosswalk painted over. A rainbow crosswalk on Orange Ave. in Orlando memorialized the 49 lives lost in the Pulse Nightclub shooting in 2016. State officials painted over the crosswalk overnight on August 20th. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer called the move a “cruel political act.” Governor Ron DeSantis wrote about the erasure of the memorial on X, formerly called Twitter, writing: "We will not allow our state roads to be commandeered for political purposes." Residents responded by filling in the lines with colorful chalk Thursday, temporarily restoring the memorial. Pennsylvania - Trangender runner sues Swarthmore College, NCAA for being removed from track team. Evie Parts was removed from the track team on February 6th, the same day the NCAA adopted a new policy banning trans women athletes. Texas - State Senate passes anti-trans facilities ban. SB 8 would force trans Texans to use bathrooms in government buildings, including schools, according to their sex assigned at birth. The bill would also force prisoners to be housed according to their sex assigned at birth, and would ban trans women from using women’s violence shelters. With the Texas House in session with a quorum of House members, SB 8 will be considered in the State House. Virginia - U.S. Department of Education announces five schools districts are on “high-risk status” for their trans inclusive policies. Schools in Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties and the City of Alexandria will have to pay for some expenses up front and then request reimbursements from the Federal Government, impacting over $50 million in federal funds. This comes after these school districts refused to change their trans inclusive policies allowing trans students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms aligning with their gender identity following a Title IX investigation. |
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| | | To inform your activism, advocacy, and media work, please use our Executive Order explainers and resources web page. Justice Department subpoenas to healthcare providers demand wide range of sensitive information. A Justice Department subpoena sent to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in June that was made public the week of August 18th sought information related to medical care for young transgender patients, including billing documents, communications with drug manufacturers, and patient information including dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and addresses. The subpoena also requested emails, zooms recordings, and any other records doctors made related to gender affirming care from January 2020 onwards. Trump Administration memo announces government employees’ health insurance will no longer cover medically necessary care for trans and nonbinary people. The August 15th memo from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) stated that, beginning in 2026, health insurance for government employees will no longer cover gender-affirming care. The memo provides for some exceptions for those currently receiving this care, as well as for counseling services which “may include those who provide faith-based counseling.” Air Force announces hearings will be denied to trans troops before discharges. An August 12th memo announced that transgender servicemembers will not have an opportunity to argue before a board of their peers to remain in the service. Instead, military boards “must recommend separation of the member.” Yosemite park ranger fired for hanging trans pride flag on El Capitan rock formation. Shannon “SJ” Joslin, who is trans and nonbinary, hung the flag on El Capitan in May with a group of LGBTQ+ rock climbers and advocates outside of their work hours. This was not the first time that a flag had been displayed on El Capitan, nor was it the first time a park ranger had taken part in such a display. Nevertheless, Joslin was investigated for their actions and then fired. |
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| | | Federal judge strikes down major portion of Florida’s anti-LGBTQ+ book ban law. HB 1069, signed into law in 2023, established a process by which school libraries must remove books from the shelves after a parent challenges them, and keep them off the shelves while a review is conducted to see if the books are “pornographic” or “describe sexual conduct.” District Court Judge Carlos Mendoza ruled that the law’s prohibition on books that “describe sexual conduct” is “overbroad” and “unconstitutional,” noting that the law has resulted in books like The Color Purple, The Handmaid’s Tale, Beloved, and Native Son being banned from schools. Former employee of Chicago Blackhawks files suit in federal court claiming anti-gay discrimination. Anthony Filomena, who is openly gay and formerly worked as a public relations manager for the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team, alleges in his suit that he was discriminated against because of his sexual orientation and that the Blackhawks organization retaliated against him for reporting discrimination. Federal judge orders release of gay asylum seeker held by ICE. U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres ordered the agency to release Rickardo Anthony Kelly, a gay asylum seeker from Jamaica who was detained and arrested while awaiting his asylum hearing at a courthouse. Kelly described the conditions at the ICE facility where he was held as “unconscionable” and “inhumane.” |
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| | | Netherlands - American trans woman challenges her rejected asylum application. Veronica Clifford-Carlos, a trans woman from California, traveled to the Netherlands and applied for asylum, citing anti-trans policies from the Trump Administration which made her feel unsafe. Her application was rejected, and she is suing to overturn that decision. 29 Americans have applied for asylum in the Netherlands in the first half of 2025; this marks a substantial increase over previous years, where 9-18 applications are generally received over the course of an entire year. United Kingdom - Group sues Scottish government over trans inclusive policies. For Women Scotland is suing the Scottish government, claiming that policies allowing students to use bathrooms where “they feel most comfortable” and generally housing trans women in women’s prisons violate a Supreme Court ruling holding that "woman" and "sex" are defined as assigned woman at birth and sex assigned at birth, respectively, for the purposes of the Equality Act of 2010. First openly transgender judge in the UK challenges Supreme Court ruling defining “sex” as sex assigned at birth. Victoria McCloud, a former judge who retired in 2024, is challenging the Supreme Court ruling in the European Court of Human Rights. |
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