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Statement on Racist Mass Shooting in Buffalo, NY

This past weekend’s mass shooting targeting Black Americans at a grocery store in a Black neighborhood of Buffalo, NY marks the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. this year and joins the growing list of tragic and hate-based mass shootings in recent years. For the families and friends of the 10 people who were shot and killed – parents, family members, a retired police officer, a devoted church parishioner – there is little we can do collectively to ease their suffering and loss, other than to bear witness to their pain and honor those killed.

But for all Americans, and especially Black Americans who have been targeted by racist violence in our country, we can and we must raise our collective voices to drown out the voices of hate. It is our moral responsibility that we are never silent in the face of hate.

Finally, we can and we must hold accountable those who purvey hate for profit and political gain. Those include elected officials like U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik, who has echoed replacement theory conspiracy theories in campaign ads, and far-right pundits like Fox New host Tucker Carlson, who has made millions of dollars bringing dangerous and dark fringe movements into the mainstream.

GLAD will continue to join in fighting hateful rhetoric and theories that do nothing but divide us as Americans and target people of color and historically marginalized communities.

Stopping the spread of white supremacist violence in our society will not bring this weekend’s victims back, but it can prevent future tragedies from occurring. Let us all take this opportunity to recommit to our shared responsibility to work toward justice and with it peace.

We grieve in solidarity and send our sincere condolences to the entire Buffalo, NY community.

News

GLAD joins with our entire community in mourning the loss of Urvashi Vaid, a beloved member of the GLAD family and a visionary, kind, and fearless activist. We send all our love to her partner, Kate Clinton, to their family, and to the many, many people across the globe whose lives she touched.

Throughout her four decades as a leader, community organizer, writer, and civil rights attorney, Urvashi embodied an absolute commitment to the recognition and enhancement of the dignity of every person.

She has left a lasting legacy on every part of our LGBTQ movement and on nearly every LGBTQ organization in the U.S. and beyond, including GLAD. In her early organizing as a part of Boston’s LGBTQ community in the 1980s, Urvashi worked at Gay Community News, co-founded the Boston Lesbian & Gay Political Alliance and served as one of GLAD’s first staffers while a law student at Northeastern University School of Law.

As GLAD’s long-time legal director Gary Buseck said in presenting her with the 2014 Spirit of Justice Award: “Urvashi reminds us that our work is never done; that there are laurels, but not to be rested on; and that we need only to open our eyes to see so many who remain in need of the liberation we profess to seek.”

In sorrow and gratitude, may Urvashi’s legacy inspire us to continue seeking liberation for all.

Blog

During Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we are celebrating LGBTQ2S+ artists and advocates whose creativity and commitment to visibility, truth, and community has made–and continues to make–a powerful impact in our communities.

 

Truong Tran

Truong Tran (he/him) is a visual artist and writer who has been honored and nominated for numerous awards, such as The Poetry Center Prize, The Fund for Poetry Grant, and more. Truong currently teaches at Mills College, in Oakland, California. The intersection of his identities as a Vietnamese American, immigrant, person of color, and gay man – are central throughout his literature and art. In an interview with The Pen Ten, Truong explains his personal truths: “I have a responsibility to write about [American] histories as it informs the ways I move through the world. It is a shared responsibility. In this way, writing holds the consciousness of my complicated identity.” Truong writes and makes art out of necessity, so as to prevent other people from illustrating, or not illustrating, his narrative for him.

 

Lehuauakea

Lehuauakea (they/them) is a māhū (third gender) mixed-Native Hawaiian artist from the Big Island and a graduate of the Pacific Northwest College of Art. Their work explores cultural ecologies within the context of environmental degradation through media such as ohe kāpala (carved bamboo printing tools), kapa (bark cloth), and natural pigments. Lehuauakea’s upbringing was filled with indigenous practices and handicraft traditions that fuel their art. For example, kapa is a cloth used for clothing and bedding; newborn babies are born into kapa, and the remains of people who have passed away are buried in the cloth. Lehuauakea’s laborious art process materializes the intimate narratives and resiliency of them, their community, and their ancestors.

 

Ka-Man Tse

Ka-Man Tse (she/her) is a queer photographer whose work has been exhibited in her native Hong Kong and the US. Her project “narrow distances” is composed of ​​portraits of Hong Kong’s LGBTQ2S+ community, which is her inherited and chosen family. The book is composed of photographs from a 14-year period (2004-2018); the various portraits serve the purpose of centering people who are often marginalized and positioning them so that they occupy space. Ka-Man describes her work process as one that involves “re-visiting, re-imagining, collaboration and long-engagement within a framework of care and community.” She inspires unique creative processes from her students too – Ka-Man has lectured at Yale University and Cooper Union, and now holds professorship at the Parsons School of Design in New York City.

 

Ora Lin

Ora Lin (they/them) is a Chinese American YouTuber and self-taught sewist. Their welcoming tutorials guide viewers through historical sewing projects and techniques, interspersed with occasional contemporary designs. Many  of Ora’s videos provide social commentary on the interconnectedness of identity and intersectionality with fashion, costuming, and culture. Their recent Youtube video demonstrates how to sew a Regency dress – a 19th century long ankle length dress, with a high empire waistline, resting just under the bust – and is interspersed with commentary on how the hit Netflix series Bridgerton does the bare minimum in terms of inclusion and representation. In Ora’s own words::

“As it is, Bridgerton is already “progressive” as far as what media is pushing. Currently, it’s capitalism, it’s white supremacy. You can’t really expect anything different. I wish we could.”

 

Tamara Ching

Tamara Ching (she/her) is a long-time Chinese Hawaiian activist who advocates for LGBTQ2S+ communities in San Francisco. She became active in San Francisco’s sex work and drag scenes in the 1960s and is now a “Mommy” in her Asian transgender community. Tamara’s work continues as she fights for protections for transgender people in San Francisco, HIV prevention, and education within the community. In an interview for the Stanford Pride Oral History Project, Tamara describes her upbringing with absent parents, abusive siblings, and racial harassment at school. Despite these early hardships, she found success and a sense of autonomy through sex work, and eventually, administrative roles under the federal government. Tamara’s activism in the 1980s led her to be the first and only person to receive a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to support immigrant transgender sex workers. Her extensive advocacy continues to leave a lasting mark on San Francisco’s LGBTQ2S+ community.

News

Legislation providing important access to donor information must necessarily recognize that many people build loving families through assisted reproduction and should be enacted alongside legislation ensuring legal parentage protections for those children and families

May 11, 2022, DENVER, Colo. — On Tuesday, the Colorado Legislature passed SB22-224, the “Donor-conceived Persons and Families of Donor-conceived Persons Protection Act,” by a unanimous vote in the Senate and 53-12 in the House. The LGBTQ advocacy organizations COLAGE, Family Equality, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) submitted testimony during a Senate committee hearing held April 26 and a House committee hearing held May 5 in support of two key provisions in the bill: 1) giving individuals of any age who were born through assisted reproduction using unknown donor gametes (“donor-conceived persons”) access to non-identifying medical information of their gamete donor and 2) allowing donor-conceived persons over age 18 access to identifying information of their gamete donor. Legislation regarding family building necessarily raises many important interests and issues and involves numerous stakeholders, including children and their parents. LGBTQ people build loving families in many different ways, and a significant number rely on assisted reproduction and egg, sperm, and embryo donation. LGBTQ parents, like so many parents, plan thoughtfully to build their families and can experience barriers and discrimination in family building and securing their children legally. SB22-224 is an important step as Colorado continues working to ensure that donor-conceived persons have access to important information and that parent-child relationships in LGBTQ families are protected under the law. The organizations commended the bill’s thoughtful approach to allowing access to important donor information while maintaining safeguards to ensure that assisted reproduction, including gamete donation, remains accessible, affordable, and provided in a nondiscriminatory and inclusive way. Parentage law experts Courtney Joslin, Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Law at the University of California-Davis School of Law; and Douglas NeJaime, Anne Ursowky Professor of Law at Yale Law School, also submitted testimony in support of SB22-224. Joslin and NeJaime’s testimony stressed the importance that legislation like SB22-224 be adopted in conjunction with parentage legislation such as H.B. 22-1153, passed earlier this session, that provides legal security and recognition for families formed through assisted reproduction. SB22-224 now heads to the desk of Gov. Jared Polis. The organizations issued the following statements regarding the passage of SB22-224: Jordan Budd, Executive Director, COLAGE: “As an organization dedicated to supporting people with LGBTQ parents, we know that children come into families in many different ways. Many LGBTQ parents build families through assisted reproduction, including gamete donation, and those children and families need and deserve legal protections. SB22-224 recognizes the importance of ensuring families can access non-identifying donor medical information which can help inform critical health care decisions, while also providing the option for adult donor-conceived individuals who wish to obtain identifying information about a gamete donor to do so if they choose. We’re thankful that lawmakers in Colorado are thinking broadly about the importance of protecting families and advancing SB22-224 along with H.B. 22-1153 which will provide increased legal security for families formed through assisted reproduction.” Shelbi Day, Chief Policy Officer, Family Equality: “Children and adults who were conceived through gamete donation and their families are a diverse and multi-faceted community. As a national organization that represents LGBTQ+ families and those who wish to form them, we know that for LGBTQ parents within this community, there is a commitment to openness and honesty with their children about the circumstances of their birth through assisted reproduction and donor gametes. We support the structure that SB22-224 creates for open and honest communication about family origins, and applaud the Colorado legislature for passing H.B. 22-1153 to update Colorado’s parentage law to include LGBTQ+ people who form their family using assisted reproduction.” Patience Crozier, Senior Staff Attorney, GLAD: “We’re pleased to see the Legislature working to ensure all parent-child relationships and families are protected under Colorado law and to encourage openness for donor-conceived people. Earlier this session the Legislature advanced a separate bill, H.B. 22-1153, to update Colorado parentage law to be inclusive of LGBTQ parents and to ensure legal security for families formed through assisted reproduction. The provisions in SB22-224 for donor-conceived persons and their families to access non-identifying medical information about their gamete donor are consistent with the model Uniform Parentage Act of 2017, which GLAD has long supported, and the provision providing for identity release at age 18 represents an important step for many donor-conceived people and their families. We hope Governor Polis will quickly sign both bills.” Cathy Sakimura, Deputy Director & Family Law Director, NCLR: “Many LGBTQ families are formed using donated sperm or eggs from unknown donors. Information about the medical histories of those donors and, once a child is an adult, the identity of donors, should be accessible to families who wish to know, while also safeguarding the privacy of families and protecting the recognition of families in every way they are formed. Laws addressing the release of information about sperm and egg donors must be passed alongside laws that respect families who are formed using assisted reproduction. We applaud Colorado for considering all of these important issues and passing SB22-224 along with another bill, HB22-1153, which expands protections for families formed through assisted reproduction.”   Learn more about COLAGE, Family Equality, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Learn more about the Uniform Parentage Act and family equality efforts throughout New England.

Blog

Many of us ended our night or woke up this morning to the bombshell of a circulated draft Supreme Court opinion that would upend a nearly 50-year-old precedent protecting access to abortion in the United States.

This was a draft and not a final ruling from the Court. Access to abortion remains the law of the land at this time.

But there is no doubt that if the final ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health is anything like the draft circulated, it will cause catastrophic harm to people nationwide. We are in solidarity with all those who are shocked and stunned by the reality that a majority of the Supreme Court has seemingly voted to turn back the clock on reproductive rights.

Rally for Reproductive Rights:
Find an event in your community

If the constitutional right to access abortion is stripped away, it would revive bans in at least half the states. That denial of access to abortion healthcare will fall disproportionately on low-income people and people of color, including LGBTQ people who are at least as likely as others to need access to abortion. Such a ruling is not normal. There is no reason to upend a settled precedent giving people, rather than the government, control of how they live their lives.

Speculation has also brewed about the Court dismantling other rights, including watershed Supreme Court rulings that eliminated laws criminalizing same-gender intimacy and affirmed marriage equality. We will fight to ensure these victories remain the law of the land, and we will prevail.

But let’s be clear. Right now, LGBTQ people, and particularly transgender people, are facing an onslaught of horrific state measures across the country, including “Don’t Say Gay” bills and measures to deny transgender youth life-affirming support. 

In fact, GLAD is in federal court in Alabama this week fighting for our families there, to ensure parents of transgender children and their doctors are not put in prison for helping them access the lifesaving medical care they need.

We are fighting to protect LGBTQ parents and families by passing updated, inclusive parentage laws like the Massachusetts Parentage Act so that children and families are protected in MA and wherever they go.

We are fighting anti-transgender bills in state legislatures throughout New England, including right now in New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

We are fighting to expand access to reproductive and abortion health care by supporting efforts to repeal the ban on state funding of abortion care in Rhode Island.

We are fighting to protect LGBTQ-affirming school policies and fighting against laws that restrict what students can learn and talk about at school or that undermine inclusive school climates that are critical to student success.

GLAD has been in the fight for equality for our community for over four decades, including leading the fight for the freedom to marry and to build our families as we choose.

With your support, we will contest any threat to our hard-won rights and we are determined to prevail.

Statement on Alabama Gov. Signing Bill Criminalizing Healthcare for Trans Youth

By signing SB 184 Governor Ivey is punishing loving, supportive parents of transgender children in Alabama and threatening doctors for providing – or even suggesting – care that those children need. That punishment can include up to 10 years in prison. GLAD will file suit with the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and Human Rights Campaign (HRC) to stop this extremely dangerous law. This is staggering government overreach and it will not hold up before a legal challenge.

News

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), joined by co-counsel King & Spalding LLP and Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC, today announced they will bring a legal challenge to Alabama SB 184, which criminalizes the provision of best-practice medical care for transgender minors, should Governor Ivey sign it into law. The bill, which was passed by the Alabama legislature earlier today, punishes parents for making important decisions about their children’s healthcare and doctors for providing – or even suggesting – well-established medically necessary care. The punishment can include up to 10 years in prison.

The civil and LGBTQ legal rights organizations will bring suit on behalf of two medical providers and multiple families who will be directly harmed by the law. Legislation banning and criminalizing medically necessary healthcare for transgender youth has been opposed by healthcare professionals, including major American medical associations. A similar bill passed in Arkansas in 2021 was blocked in federal court. The Department of Justice sent a letter to all state Attorneys General on March 31 warning that prohibiting access to healthcare because a person is transgender violates federal constitutional and statutory protections.

“The passage of this bill means that families who love Alabama and call it home will have to move away to ensure their children receive the basic medical care they need,” said Dr. Morissa Ladinsky, associate professor of pediatrics at UAB Pediatrics Division of Academic General Pediatrics. “The parents demonized by SB 184 are kind, loving, and supportive. They come from every corner of Alabama. This bill puts doctors like me in the untenable position of choosing between ignoring the medical needs of our patients or risking being sent to prison.”

“A state cannot criminalize parents and doctors for following medical guidelines and providing needed medical treatments,” states NCLR Senior Staff Attorney and Transgender Youth Project Director Asaf Orr. “This is a blatantly unconstitutional bill that will cause enormous stress and harm to Alabama families and cost Alabama taxpayers millions of dollars to defend. A federal court immediately stopped enforcement of a similar law in Arkansas last year, and we expect the same result here.”

“It’s appalling to see Alabama so grossly interfering with family relationships,” said Jennifer Levi, GLAD Transgender Rights Project Director. “Parents want what’s best for their kids. SB 184 is dangerous government overreach and will not stand up before a legal challenge.”

“This dangerous bill undermines Alabama parents’ ability to make decisions about what’s best for their kids,” said Scott McCoy, SPLC Interim Deputy Legal Director LGBTQ Rights & Special Litigation. “It is indefensible for the state to reach in and interfere so completely with family medical decision-making and it will not hold up to constitutional scrutiny.”

“Anti-equality legislators in the state capital have recklessly passed a bill that goes directly against the best advice of the medical community and intrudes on the rights of parents and families to make their own medical decisions,” said Human Rights Campaign Alabama State Director Carmarion D. Anderson-Harvey. “SB 184 does not make our state safer; it does the exact opposite, aligning Alabama with states like Texas and Florida in attacking transgender kids. Governor Ivey should veto this legislation immediately.”

News

Statement from GLAD Executive Director Janson Wu:

“Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the United States Supreme Court marks a truly joyous and historic moment in our nation’s history. Brown Jackson is an exceptionally qualified and principled jurist who brings nearly two decades of wide-ranging legal experience and expertise to the Court, including two terms with the U.S. Sentencing Commission, seven years as a district court judge, and service on the D.C. Circuit. Brown Jackson’s judicial record, experience as a public defender, and her clear and distinguished responses at her confirmation hearing speak volumes about her connection and commitment to justice for all. Every American should know they can be heard fairly by our highest Court. Every American should have the opportunity to see themselves able to aspire to the highest levels of service and achievement without barriers because of their race or gender. We join the nation in celebrating Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic confirmation as the next Associate Justice and the first Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Statement from GLAD Chief Legal Strategist Michael Johnson:

“As one of the most qualified justices to receive a nomination, Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation is an important moment for America. This is an especially important moment for girls of color to be able to see someone like themselves achieve to the highest court in the land. For decades, diverse pipelines from high school to law school to the bench have been preparing people of color for this historic moment. We have a long way to go but our perseverance has been rewarded and we look forward to hearing her wisdom from the bench as a Supreme Court Justice.”

Blog

Archival black and white photo of Aaron, his date, and an attorneyHigh school prom date choices are rarely newsworthy, but in 1980 Aaron Fricke found himself in the headlines because he wanted to bring a boy to his school dance. It took legal intervention and a preliminary injunction to protect his right to be himself at school – a right for which we continue to fight 42 years later.

On this day in 1980, a court ruled that a Rhode Island high school student had the right to bring a same-gender date to his school dance in Fricke v. Lynch. GLAD founder and co-counsel on this milestone case, John Ward, argued that Cumberland, RI-native Aaron Fricke had his constitutional rights violated by his school when they denied his request to bring another boy as his date. Learn more about Aaron’s case and the ruling of the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island on GLAD’s podcast episode “Tuxedoes for Two.”

Since Fricke, courts have recognized that LGBTQ+ youth have the right to bring a date of any gender with them to school dances, on the same terms as any other student. GLAD has been fighting for equitable treatment for LGBTQ+ youth in all areas of their lives, especially in schools. Young people need to have their identities affirmed and to feel safe at school so they can learn and become adults with the tools to thrive in life.

But in the past year, this fight has intensified in the form of legislation that seeks to control, surveil, and censor LGBTQ+ young people. These bills have been particularly targeted at transgender young people and their participation in school sports and access to medical care. More recently these attacks have broadened to classroom censorship banning discussions about identity that may make some students or their parents uncomfortable, like implicit bias and historical discrimination – including LGBTQ+ identity, but also race and gender.

These legislative attacks work in concert to create a hostile environment for LGBTQ+ youth, especially LGBTQ+ young people of color and with other intersectional identities. We must ensure that youth can be their full selves at school, and that means their full and equal participation in all areas of education. That also means being able to talk about our country’s history openly and honestly, so that we can work together to create a better, fairer, and more inclusive future. GLAD has been in this fight for decades, and we invite you to join us.

To receive updates on ways that you can act to protect LGBTQ+ youth, make sure you’re on our email list. You can sign up with the form at the bottom of this page.

News

Last night the White House issued a forceful statement of support for transgender children and their families, accompanied by an announcement of concrete actions from HHS making clear that U.S. law requires federal and state child welfare agencies to ensure that transgender youth receive essential medical care and prohibits states from penalizing parents who ensure their children’s access to such care. The announcement comes in the wake of Texas officials criminalizing parents who support their transgender children, including making sure their essential health care needs are met.

“Transgender kids, their parents, families and caregivers are facing a state of emergency right now,” said Jennifer Levi, Transgender Rights Project Director at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders. “The President’s robust statement of unequivocal support for transgender youth and families, and most importantly, HHS’s actions stating clearly that United States law fully protects transgender children and their families from discrimination by the state puts Texas on notice that it cannot enforce Governor Abbott’s directive.”

The actions announced by HHS include:

  • An Information Memorandum to state child welfare agencies that makes clear states should use their child welfare systems to advance safety and support for LGBTQI+ youth,  which importantly includes access to essential medical care;
  • Releasing guidance – PDF on patient privacy, clarifying that, despite the Texas government’s threat, health care providers are not required to disclose private patient information related to essential medical care;
  • Issuing guidance – PDF making clear that denials of health care based on gender identity are illegal, as is restricting doctors and health care providers from providing care because of a patient’s gender identity;
  • Urging anyone who believes they or another party has been discriminated against on the basis of gender identity or disability in seeking health care to visit the OCR complaint portal to file a complaint online.

“The President’s statement of love and support for transgender children and their families is a welcome antidote to the pain and injury caused by the overreaching actions of the Texas governor and other politicians who are attacking transgender kids,” said Polly Crozier, Senior Staff Attorney at GLAD. “The HHS memorandum to child welfare agencies that states should use their child welfare systems to advance safety and support for LGBTQI+ youth, including access to essential affirming medical care, is incredibly important and will help states agencies across the country better serve kids in their care. Our state agencies should be using their resources to support children and families, not threatening to tear them apart and targeting vulnerable young people.”

Parents, caregivers or transgender youth who have been impacted by these policies can also reach out to LGBTQ legal organizations, including GLAD, Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights or the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund.

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