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Advocates Urge Data Reporting to Meet Needs of LGBTQ Youth in Foster Care Following Trump HHS Rule Change

Massachusetts youth advocates are urging state action to collect and report sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data in order to adequately address the needs of LGBTQ youth in the child welfare system.

The renewed push for state SOGI data collection and reporting comes as the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published its final rule today removing data elements on sexual orientation in the required Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), the federally required semi-annual report on all children in foster care.

Massachusetts-based organizations GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), Citizens for Juvenile Justice (CFJJ), the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth, BUILD, a program of Roxbury YouthWorks, Inc., the Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts (CLCM), SWAGLY-Supporters of Worcester Area GLBTQ+ Youth Und Mehr als Worte, issued the following statement condemning the new HHS rule and calling for immediate action to ensure data collection and reporting at the state level:

LGBTQ youth are some of the most vulnerable youth in our child welfare system. By removing sexual orientation data elements from required AFCARS reporting the federal government is abandoning its responsibility to understand and meet the needs of those youth.

Der HHS rule published on May 12 is yet another attempt by the Trump administration to render the lives of LGBTQ people, including LGBTQ youth, invisible. Massachusetts can and must do better.

Nationally, LGBTQ youth, and particularly LGBTQ youth of color, are overrepresented in child welfare systems. The intersectionality of the experiences of homophobia and transphobia, racism, and abuse and neglect should generate the most heightened level of care and concern for these young people, and that starts with the collection of the data telling us who and where they are. In Massachusetts, we know that 11.3% of high school-aged youth identify as LGBTQ. All youth need and deserve culturally competent, understanding care and services. Without transparent data, collected in a culturally competent manner, it is impossible to know whether we are meeting our responsibility to LGBTQ youth in state care, and we leave those youth at substantially greater risk for negative outcomes.

As organizations working to support the wellbeing of all youth, including LGBTQ youth, in the Commonwealth, we call on state legislators, the Baker administration, and the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to act to ensure data on the presence and needs of LGBTQ youth in our state child welfare system is collected, reported on, and employed to ensure appropriate programs and services. 

Sensitive, culturally competent data collection is critical to understanding the numbers, geography, and needs of vulnerable LGBTQ youth. Without an understanding of who, and where, these vulnerable young people are, we are not doing everything we must to protect and support them. Especially in light of the Trump administration’s egregious failure, Massachusetts has the power and obligation to act.  

Locally, although DCF has articulated a commitment to collecting this data, this data has not been systematically collected or reported to date. Legislation regarding DCF data collection and reporting, including H. 4163 which is currently pending before the Massachusetts House Committee on Ways and Means, should include sexual orientation and gender identity to ensure that Massachusetts is able to fully understand – and then address – disparities for LGBTQ youth in our child welfare system.

On Monday, GLAD and CFJJ sent a letter to the Committee chairs urging the adoption of amendments to H. 4163 to require DCF to collect demographic data on sexual orientation and gender identity. Click here to view the letter.

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Statement of GLAD Executive Director Janson Wu on the Death of Ahmaud Arbery

GLAD joins in celebrating the life and mourning the death of Ahmaud Arbery. 

As our hearts go out to Ahmaud’s family, friends and community, we also join in the collective outrage at the persistence of racist, hate-motivated violence that led to his untimely death. We join the call for accountability for a system that once again dismissed the death of a young black man and allowed the two white men who took his life to avoid responsibility until a public outcry made it impossible to do so. 

GLAD joins in solidarity with all those working to uproot the racist and white supremacist rot that remains embedded in the structures of our society and manifests again and again in a coarse disregard for black life. Our work for true justice for all LGBTQ people and people living with HIV is not possible without our work for racial justice, today and every day.

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In response to the President Trump’s announcement of a planned Executive Order suspending immigration to the United States, Janson Wu, Executive Director of GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, issued the following statement:

“We are grappling with a global health crisis that is resulting daily in the deaths of thousands. At a time when the president should be focused on bringing people together, he is instead choosing to exploit the crisis to push a racist, xenophobic political agenda. The attention and resources of our federal government need to be focused on ensuring we have adequate safety equipment to protect healthcare workers and others on the front lines; that we increase testing and support science and medical experts in developing treatments and a vaccine; and that we support those most vulnerable to the health and financial impacts of this pandemic while working towards a responsible path to economic recovery.

“We in the LGBTQ community continue to stand in solidarity with all immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees, LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ. Immigrants, including foreign healthcare workers whose expertise is critical in this pandemic, will be part of what makes America stronger coming out of this crisis. Doubling down on divisive rhetoric about closing our country’s borders is not only cynical and un-American, it is a distraction from the real leadership we need from our government in this unprecedented moment.”

Der Blog

These last few weeks have challenged all of us in ways we never expected. So many of us are feeling anxious about our own health, and that of our families, loved ones, friends and community.

We are beginning to learn of people near and known to us getting sick, and watching the number of people affected by COVID-19 increase across the country. We are seeing the toll the pandemic is taking on frontline workers – from hospitals to grocery stores – and on our healthcare system overall.

We've collected resources for our community during this uncertain time. Visit the page. Background: heart centered in pathways of intertwined rainbowsI hope in this time you are finding ways to take care of your physical and mental wellbeing, which is more important than ever in times of extreme stress.

It’s clear now that the situation we are in will take months, not weeks, to resolve. We’re all going to need to prepare ourselves for uncertainty, and learn to remain resilient in the face of fear.

It’s not an easy task, but I’ve already seen our community step up in countless ways, to do what needs to be done to protect each other.

In the challenge of this moment, GLAD is adapting to make sure we can continue our critical mission uninterrupted. We are finding new and creative ways to work together, even as we are physically separated.

I’m grateful to GLAD’s team of staff, volunteers, and supporters who are pulling together to ensure that we are up to the challenge. Because now, more than ever, I understand how our community needs GLAD’s vital work.

Our community needs GLAD to share resources to navigate this pandemic, especially the most vulnerable among us.

Our community needs a place to call for help when they face discrimination, or need help navigating challenging systems. Our GLAD-Antworten legal information and referral line remains open for business.

Our community needs GLAD to keep fighting for everyone who wants to serve our country during this national crisis, including transgender individuals seeking to serve in the military, which is already playing a critical role in providing food, health care, and other essential services.

Our community needs GLAD to protect LGBTQ people from being wrongly fired from their jobs, and as a result losing not only income but health care.

Our community needs GLAD to advocate for the release of as many people held in detention as is safe and possible, not just to protect their individual health, but also the collective health of the public. 

Our community needs GLAD to ensure that families facing medical crises do not also have to fight to have their relationships recognized in emergency rooms.

And our community needs GLAD to remind policymakers the lessons from the HIV epidemic, that especially in the face of political pressure and fear, we must protect victims of COVID-19 from stigma and discrimination and ensure their medical privacy.

That is our mission in the weeks, months, and year ahead.

I want to share some personal thoughts about what we face moving forward.

Of course, like you, I am worried about loved ones, like my 74 year-old mother, who is far away and isolated in the basement of my sister’s home in Michigan to protect her health. It is my greatest hope that my family and yours stay safe and healthy.

But I have broader worries as well.

I worry that fear might cause us to turn away or against each other, instead of caring for the sick.

That panic will cause more harm to our public health systems than the disease itself.

GLAD Executive Director Janson Wu speaking, outdoors

That economic devastation will destroy the lives of vulnerable people who already don’t have enough of a safety net to count on.

That we will start to see our livelihoods and survival as a zero-sum game, instead of seeing our fates as tied to each other.

There is no such thing as a risk-free world, and we will all have to make personal decisions about what level of risk we are willing to make in order to protect and care for our fellow humans, in the months to come.

But we all also have an opportunity to ask ourselves, what more can I be doing to protect and care for my fellow humans?

That is what we will be called upon to answer, over and over again in the year to come, and I know that GLAD, and our community, will continue to do so, without pause.

Now, more than ever, our mission is critical and vital, and we must and we will do everything we can to protect our communities.

In uncertain times, the fight for justice continues. Donate. Background: heart surrounded by intertwined rainbow pathways on aqua background

Der Blog

[UPDATE: 3/23/2020] Our COVID-19 resource page is live. 

Dear Friends,

I wanted to share an update on how we at GLAD are responding to the situation regarding COVID-19.

Our highest priorities in this moment are the safety and wellbeing of our staff, interns, volunteers, and community members, as well as our collective responsibility to do all we can to lessen the risks to those who are most vulnerable to critical health impacts from this virus.

While our daily work for LGBTQ equality continues on, we, like so many, are temporarily adjusting the way we do our work according to the best public health recommendations and information available. Most GLAD staff are working from home whenever possible. This evolving situation may result in some disruptions or delayed communication, and I want to let you know about two particular areas that may impact our community during this time:

Our GLAD Answers legal information line remains available to support anyone experiencing discrimination or needing information about your legal rights. However, we may experience delays in responding to phone calls, to allow us to prioritize the most urgent needs. The fastest way to receive a response from GLAD Answers is to contact us at www.GLADAnswers.org.

We have cancelled all GLAD events scheduled over the next month, and will continue to assess the status of future events on a case by case basis as the situation evolves. We will reach out with information regarding specific events, as well as other ways to connect. You can also check GLAD.org for updates on the status of event.

Rest assured, though, our work won’t stop. GLAD will continue to be available, and I invite you to connect with us online or to contact GLAD Answers.

While best practice at the moment is to limit in-person social contact, taking those precautions does not mean turning away from one another.

One side effect of limiting public, workplace, and school gatherings may be isolation that can be particularly difficult for members of our LGBTQ community. And we know, too, there are those among us who are being particularly hard hit, including those most at risk for serious complications of COVID-19, communities who are being targeted with xenophobia and racism, and those without a sufficient safety net to withstand the economic impacts. We can all take this opportunity to reach out, to look for new ways to connect and support one another, and to remember that we are all in this together.

Our community is no stranger to a public health crisis, and we know from experience that the best way through is to work together, to stay focused on evidence-based information, and to treat one another with respect, care, and compassion.

That is how we will get through this moment, and that is how we will continue our fight for justice.

Janson Wu

 

Be well, and take care of yourself and each other,

Janson Wu

Geschäftsführender Direktor

 

P.S. We’ll be publishing resources shortly that we’re finding helpful to cope with the isolation from social distancing, and for additional support for those of us most vulnerable to the effects of this virus.

 

Doe v. Esper

Defending a U.S. Naval officer WHO has served two extended tours of duty over nine years Und is now facing involuntary discharge because she is transgender.

District Court for the District of Massachusetts
Filed on March 17, 2020

GLAD and NCLR filed suit on behalf of Jane Doe (plaintiff is proceeding anonymously to minimize risk to her), An officer in the U.S. Navy WHO has served two extended tours of duty over nine years Und is now facing involuntary discharge because she is transgender.

Doe v. Esper, filed in federal district court in Massachusetts, is the first challenge to the transgender military ban since it went into effect in April 2019. Doe, a dedicated, highly qualified and successful officer, is seeking emergency relief so she can continue to serve.

Doe came out as transgender after the ban went into effect in April 2019. She is not protected by the “grandfather clause” that permits continued military service by transgender troops WHO came out before the ban. The current policy mandates the discharge of any service member who comes out as transgender and seeks to undergo a gender transition. 

New Challenge to Transgender Military Ban Filed by Naval Officer

March 18, 2020

Kontakt:
Amanda Johnston, GLAD | ajohnston@glad.org | (617) 417-7769
Christopher Vasquez, NCLR | cvasquez@nclrights.org | (415) 365 -1337

Naval Officer Files New Challenge to Trump’s Transgender Military Ban

Doe v. Esper is the first challenge to be filed since the transgender military ban went into effect 

BOSTON, MA — Jane Doe, an officer in the U.S. Navy who has served two extended tours of duty over nine years and is now facing involuntary discharge because she is transgender, has filed suit challenging the transgender military ban. The case, Doe v. Esper, filed in federal district court in Massachusetts, is the first challenge to the ban since it went into effect in April 2019. Doe, a dedicated, highly qualified and successful officer, is seeking emergency relief so she can continue to serve. Four other cases seeking to overturn the transgender military ban broadly are currently pending in federal court.

“Our plaintiff is the first transgender service member to seek emergency relief since the ban went into effect,” said Jennifer Levi, Transgender Rights Project Director at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD). “As an experienced officer, all she seeks is the ability to continue serving her country on the same terms as others. The Navy has invested nearly a decade in her training, and she is committed to serving for years to come. It destabilizes and debases our military to discharge Doe and other highly qualified people under a politically motivated policy that has no basis in anything other than bias. Our current national emergency is a reminder, if we needed any, how critically important it is that the institutions upon which we all rely make decisions based on evidence and competency.”

“Our plaintiff’s situation highlights the serious harms the ban is causing to dedicated service members and to the military,” said Shannon Minter, Legal Director at the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR). “The current policy mandates the discharge of any transgender service member, without regard for their fitness or value to the military, and even when replacing them would be extremely costly and disruptive. We are asking the court to prevent this senseless result for our client, so that she can continue to use her years of training and expertise to benefit our country.”

Doe came out as transgender after the ban went into effect in April 2019. She is not protected by the “grandfather clause” that permits continued military service by transgender troops who came out before the ban. The current policy mandates the discharge of any service member who comes out as transgender and seeks to undergo a gender transition.

Jane Doe is represented by GLAD and NCLR, which have been at the center of the legal fight challenging the transgender military ban since filing Doe gegen Trump, the first of four initial cases filed against the ban, on August 9, 2017. Zusätzlich zu Doe v. Esper Und Doe gegen Trump, GLAD and NCLR also represent plaintiffs in a third case challenging the ban, Stockman gegen Trump. For more information visit www.notransmilitaryban.org

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We are deeply dismayed to learn of the recent death of 19-year-old Yampi Mendez Arocho, a transgender man killed in Puerto Rico.

Arocho’s death is the third known violent death of a member of the transgender community this year. We must all do more to end this epidemic of violence and to combat the discrimination, misunderstanding, and hate that fuel it.

GLAD rises in solidarity with Arocho’s loved ones and friends, and with our transgender community everywhere. We will continue working for a world in which all of us are safe, are valued, and can thrive no matter who we are.

As always, for those needing additional support, we encourage you to reach out to resources like Trans LifeLine und die Trevor-Projekt. Für diejenigen in der Region Neuengland: GLADs Rechtsinformations-Hotline, GLAD-Antworten, steht zur Verfügung, um Informationen und Ressourcen zum Thema Diskriminierung bereitzustellen.

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WASHINGTON — Today, a coalition of organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, National Center for Transgender Equality, GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), Modern Military Association of America, National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal, American Civil Liberties Union, and Palm Center, expressed disappointment that the final FY20 National Defense Authorization bill does not include the Speier/Brown amendment, which was previously approved by the House of Representatives in a strong bipartisan vote of 242 to 187. The language would have codified non-discrimination in our Armed Forces and ended the Trump Administration’s ban on transgender service members. They released the following joint statement:

We are profoundly disappointed that this bipartisan amendment to end the ban on bravely serving transgender service members was not included in the final version of the FY20 National Defense Authorization Act.

Transgender troops served openly and honorably without incident for three years before this reckless ban on their service was put into place by the Trump-Pence Administration. Military leadership, medical experts, and defense budget experts have all provided evidence that the ban is without merit, costs the taxpayer, and is damaging to military readiness.

Although House and Senate Democratic leaders fought to retain this provision to end the ban, the White House, House Armed Services Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-OK), and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) fought vigorously to remove it, and ultimately prevailed.

It is unconscionable that thousands of honorably serving transgender service members and their families will continue to live under the threat of discharge simply because of who they are. This ban is based on bias, not evidence, and is opposed by the American people, military experts, and elected officials across the political spectrum.

We are deeply grateful to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA), Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-RI) and Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) for their ongoing leadership on this important issue of military readiness.”

Currently, thousands of service member face discharge if they come out as transgender, while others see their careers at risk because they already have. The Trump Administration has refused to disclose any data on discharge proceedings under the ban.

A Gallup poll in June found that 71% of Americans support the open service of transgender people in the military, including a clear majority of the nation’s veterans.

This year, the Amerikanische Ärztevereinigung, Die Amerikanische Psychologische Vereinigungund die American Psychiatric Association all released statements asserting that there is no medically valid reason to exclude transgender people from military service. Through the Palm Center, former military surgeons general released a report unequivocally dismantling the erroneous claim that transgender service members are medically unfit to serve.

Last year, under oath before the Senate Armed Services Committee, the highest-ranking officers of each branch of the military stated there is no threat to military readiness or unit cohesion by the inclusion of trans service members, nor were there any reports that the three years in which trans service members were permitted to openly serve presented any problems.

 

Ninth Circuit Amicus Brief in Contraceptive Coverage Litigation

On November 18, 2018, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury published two final rules that will deprive thousands of people from meaningful access to contraceptive health care services. The Religious Exemption Rule broadly exempt nearly every employer or university with a religious or moral objection from complying with the Affordable Care Act’s requirement to provide coverage for comprehensive preventative health services, including no-cost coverage for contraceptive services.

GLAD has participated in a friend-of-the-court brief to ensure that our federal government is held accountable to two basic constitutional obligations: It must afford all people equal treatment under the law and it cannot impose laws that disfavor individuals who seek to exercise their fundamental constitutional rights.

Read the full brief here.

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