This year has brought record-breaking numbers of anti-transgender bills across the country. In response, more than 1,500 parents of transgender, non-binary and gender-expansive youth signed a letter imploring elected officials to oppose these blatant attacks which include efforts to prohibit trans kids from participating in school sports, allow student organizations to discriminate against LGBTQ students, erase LGBTQ people from history books, and add substantial hurdles for transgender people who want to change the gender on their birth certificate. 

This month, the Human Rights Campaign, along with over 350 LGBTQ organizations, continued to call for structural change, for divestment of police resources and reinvestment in communities and for long-term transformational change in policing. In response to the verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial, HRC’s President Alphonso David said, “We should take a solemn moment to grieve with the Floyd family as we pursue the systemic change necessary to end police killings of Black people and to remove the structures that support white supremacy from our society once and for all."

Believe it or not, it’s nearly May! For National Foster Care Month, ACAF’s May webinar will feature a diverse panel of LGBTQ young people with lived experience in child welfare who will share their experiences, expertise, and strategies to help social workers, foster parents, congregate care and other providers better meet the needs of the sexual and gender minority youth they serve. Specific focus will be given to intersectionality and supporting youth as they navigate multiple forms of oppression. Register here!

Register for our webinar specifically for caregivers of LGBTQ youth. Foster parents, adoptive parents and kinship caregivers are an extremely diverse community of people with one thing in common: the desire to love, nurture and care for children and youth. This webinar provides all caregivers with foundational knowledge and resources to help them build trusting relationships with all youth with a focus on behaviors that will create safe and affirming environments for LGBTQ youth.

One of the largest Christian adoption agencies in the U.S. announced last month that they will begin providing services to LGBTQ families. Previously, the agency would refer LGBTQ couples to other agencies, but this had become increasingly challenging as various states and municipalities began requiring agencies to accept applications from LGBTQ couples in order to maintain their government contracts. The board voted unanimously to change the policy and require all of their locations to serve LGBTQ parents. 

Doctors Confirm That Gender-Affirming Care is Lifesaving for Transgender Youth

Amid all of the anti-transgender legislation that targets gender affirming care for trans youth, the ACLU published this article outlining the agreement among medical doctors that this care is lifesaving for youth. The article provides statements from many different doctors that address the research basis for providing gender affirming care for transgender youth, as well as statements from major medical organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association.  

Department of Justice Clarifies that Title IX Applies to LGBTQ Americans

The Department of Justice clarified that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation in federally-funded education institutions. In a statement, HRC’s President Alphonso David applauded this decision by saying “With as many as one in six youth identifying as LGBTQ, it is crucial that the Department of Justice, the nation’s top legal enforcement agency, made it clear that the law is on the side of LGBTQ students.”