| | 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 focus on educating and empowering our diverse audience of attendees to achieve PFLAG’s mission and deliver the tools needed in this moment of anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-diversity opposition and action. Let’s gather together, in courageous love and learning. Submit your application 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! New Hampshirites SB 211, an anti-trans athlete and facilities ban, and HB 377, an anti-trans healthcare ban, have each passed one chamber of the state legislature. We need your help to stop these bills from getting to the Governor's desk. Tell your legislators to respect trans kids and vote NO on these bills! Texans The State Senate passed SB 240, which would ban trans people from using bathrooms and other sex-separated spaces in government buildings, including schools. Now we need to make sure the House doesn’t follow suit. Contact your state rep and tell them to vote NO on SB 240! |
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|  | | Here is a sample of what’s going on around the country.You can share news from your state with [email protected] for possible inclusion in a future newsletter. Alabama - State House passes bill to expand “Don’t Say Gay/Trans” law. The bill, which passed the House on April 16th, bans teachers from displaying pride flags or buttons on school campuses and prevents any discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity through 12th grade. Current law bans such discussions through 5th grade. Nebraska - Legislature advances bill banning trans girls and women from sex-segregated facilities, sports teams. LB 89 got the requisite votes to overcome a filibuster on April 22nd. A similar bill was defeated last year. New York - Saratoga County Schools adheres to trans inclusive policies. The school board released a statement standing by its policy to allow trans students to use facilities and participate in sports based on gender identity after Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (NY-21), who represents Saratoga County in Congress, suggested that the school district could lose federal funding if it did not ban trans girls from girls sports. Oregon - Lane County Commission passes resolution to protect immigrants, trans residents. The resolution states that Lane County will welcome and protect all county residents, especially those who are marginalized, like the county’s immigrant and trans populations. Washington - Washington Interscholastic Activities Association rejects anti-trans athlete ban proposals. One proposed policy, which would have called for a blanket ban on trans girls participating in girls sports, fell one vote short of the 60% margin needed for the policy to be adopted. |
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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. Trump signs executive orders targeting education. One of the executive orders directs the Education Department to “overhaul” the college accreditation system by recognizing new accreditors, which Trump claims will increase “intellectual diversity” on university campuses. Another threatens revocation of federal grants for universities which fail to complete full disclosures of all foreign funding, while another revokes policies from Presidents Obama and Biden which aimed to reduce racial disparities in K-12 school discipline, like suspensions and expulsions. Trump signs executive order aiming to nullify part of the Civil Rights Act. Trump ordered agencies to dismantle disparate impact liability for businesses. Codified in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, this holds businesses, agencies, and other groups accountable for practices which have an outsized discriminatory effect on protected groups. Four Members of Congress travel to El Salvador to demand the return of Andry Hernandez Romero and others. Four Representatives, including Robert Garcia (CA-42) went to El Salvador to demand proof of life for Andry Hernandez Romero and for his release from the CECOT prison. Hernandez Romero entered the United States legally to seek asylum from political persecution and anti-LGBTQ+ violence in Venezuela. |
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| | | Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Mahmoud v. Taylor. The justices heard arguments in the case over a Montgomery County, Maryland Public Schools policy which provides for LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum and books. The plaintiffs wish to opt their children out of this LGBTQ+ inclusive instruction. PFLAG National submitted an amicus brief in support of the defendants. Minnesota Attorney General sues Trump Administration over two anti-trans executive orders. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced the lawsuit which aims to protect trans youth in Minnesota from Trump’s anti-trans athlete bans. Ellison stated that the orders violate Minnesota’s Human Rights Act. Federal judge blocks Trump’s anti-trans passport policy. U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick granted a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of Trump’s executive order that bans the use of “X” gender markers on passports as well as banning people from changing the gender marker on their passports. Federal Judge blocks part of Trump executive order on voting. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly held that Trump cannot force the Election Assistance Commission to change the national mail voter registration form to require that applicants show a physical document proving U.S. citizenship before they can be registered to vote. Appeals Court hears oral arguments in trans servicemember ban case. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard arguments over whether to uphold or overturn a lower court ruling blocking enforcement of the trans military ban. Since the policy was announced, three federal judges have issued rulings blocking implementation. Federal judge rules that insurance company discriminated against two trans teenagers. U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly ruled that Premera Blue Cross violated the Affordable Care Act’s ban on sex discrimination by denying coverage for top surgery for two trans young people. The ruling held that, because Premera covers breast reduction surgery for non-transgender girls, it cannot categorically deny coverage for trans youth. |
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| | | United Kingdom - Trans women will not be included in all-women candidate lists. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission is expected to instruct political parties in the UK to exclude trans women from their all-women candidate lists. The Labour Party and the Scottish Nationalist Party have both included trans women in their all-women candidate lists in the past. Vatican City - Pope Francis dies at 88. The Pope promoted greater acceptance of LGBTQ+ people in the Church. |
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