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CONCORD, N.H. – A diverse group of educators, advocacy groups, and law firms filed a federal lawsuit today challenging a New Hampshire classroom censorship law, contained within state budget bill HB2, which discourages public school teachers from teaching and talking about race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and gender identity in the classroom.

New Hampshire is one of many states across the country that passed similar laws in 2021 aimed at censoring discussions around race and gender in the classroom.This is the third federal lawsuit in the country to facially challenge one of these bans, including the ACLU’s recently filed lawsuit challenging Oklahoma’s classroom censorship ban. The New Hampshire lawsuit argues that HB2’s language unconstitutionally chills educators’ voices under the 14^th Amendment, and prevents students from having an open and complete dialogue about the perspectives of historically marginalized communities, as well as on topics concerning race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability.

The lawsuit was brought by New Hampshire school administrators Andres Mejia and Christina Kim Philibotte, who both specialize in diversity, equity, and inclusion. The lawsuit was also brought by the National Education Association – New Hampshire (NEA-NH), which is comprised of more than 17,000 member educators in New Hampshire and represents the majority of all public school employees in the state.

They are represented by lawyers from a broad coalition of organizations and law firms, including the NEA-NH and National Education Association, the ACLU, the ACLU of New Hampshire, Disability Rights Center – New Hampshire, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, Nixon Peabody LLP, Preti Flaherty Beliveau & Pachios LLP, and Shaheen & Gordon, P.A.

“We have dedicated our careers to creating an education community where every student—including Black and Brown students, students of color, students from the LGBTQAI+ community, students with disabilities, and students from other historically marginalized identities—feel like they belong,” said plaintiff Andres Mejia, the Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice for the Exeter Region Cooperative School District, and plaintiff Christina Kim Philibotte, the Chief Equity Officer for the Manchester School District. “This law chills the very type of diversity, equity, and inclusion work that is absolutely necessary to ensure that each student is seen, heard, and connected, especially as New Hampshire becomes more diverse. We are proud to join this broad coalition challenging this law.”

According to the lawsuit, the law is so unclear and vague that it fails to provide necessary guidance to educators about what they can and cannot include in their courses, and that it invites arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement—up to and including the loss of teaching licenses.

“This unconstitutionally vague law disallows students from receiving the inclusive, complete education they deserve, and from having important conversations on race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity in the classroom,” said Gilles Bissonnette, Legal Director of the ACLU of New Hampshire. “It is an attack on educators who are simply doing their job. Just four months into the school year, teachers are reporting being afraid to teach under this law for fear of being taken to court. This law, through vagueness and fear, erases the legacy of discrimination and lived experiences of Black and Brown people, women and girls, LGBTQ+ people, and people with disabilities.”

Following the bill’s passage, the NEA-NH began to hear from teachers that they were confused about what they could and could not teach, and that they were scared of the repercussions for guessing wrong. On multiple occasions, NEA-NH and other groups sent letters to the state asking for specific clarification. These letters went unanswered and unacknowledged.

“Teachers are trained and experienced in education and have a duty to set their students up to be successful contributors to society,” said Megan Tuttle, President of the National Education Association – New Hampshire. “Across New Hampshire, parents and educators are working together to build stronger public schools and create opportunities for students. Parents and educators agree that students should learn complete facts about historical events like slavery and civil rights. They agree that politicians shouldn’t be censoring classroom discussions between students and their teachers, and that educators shouldn’t have their licenses and livelihoods put at risk by a vague law.”

Although significant advances have been made in protecting the legal rights of people with disabilities, they continue to confront discrimination, ableism, stigma, and bias on a daily basis. For instance, in New Hampshire, school discipline has proven to be disproportionately harsh on students with disabilities, with even higher suspension rates for students of color with disabilities. Breaking down these barriers, both physical and societal, has required and continues to require open discussion about difficult subjects by people of all ages, especially by young people in educational settings.

“The banned concepts statute is a significant threat to the disability rights movement,” said Stephanie Patrick, Executive Director of Disability Rights Center-NH. “Necessary classroom discussions about disability, mental illness, ableism, inclusion, and other related topics will not occur if teachers fear that they will face discipline as a result. The chilling effect of this law not only threatens continued progress toward an inclusive society, it also jeopardizes the progress we have already made.”

In New Hampshire, LGBTQ+ youth face staggering levels of discrimination, with a 2019 state survey assessing school climate for LGBTQ+ youth in the state’s secondary schools finding that up to 63% of respondents reported verbal harassment for sexual orientation, and up to 22% reported physical harassment.

“Every day, dedicated teachers and administrators in New Hampshire public schools work to help students understand the world around them and prepare them for success as adults in this increasingly diverse state and country. This includes teaching the full picture of American history—both good and bad—so that students can reconcile its effect on our society in the present,” said Chris Erchull, Staff Attorney at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders. “Setting vague conditions on what educators can say about race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disability not only harms students with historically marginalized identities but creates a climate of fear that denies all students the freedom to learn and the opportunity to develop critical thinking skills, and to appreciate human differences.”

The lawsuit asks the court to declare the Banned Concepts Act unconstitutional under the 14^th Amendment, and issue an order barring its enforcement.

NEA President Becky Pringle said, “Parents and teachers want to give kids – regardless of race and place – the best public education possible. They want kids to learn and grow and to prepare them to make sense of the present and prepare for the future. While educators—in New Hampshire and across the country—work to deliver our children an accurate and honest education, some policymakers continue to deny far too many of our children the resources needed for a quality public education based on what they look like or where they live. Now those politicians want to censor instruction, threatening educators with sanctions, including the loss of their very licenses to teach, for providing honest answers to students who ask how our history affects our present and how racism and sexism continues to impact our society. Our students deserve the truth so they can build the more perfect union for which we all long. Our educators deserve our support, not sanctions for educating our children.”

Emerson Sykes, Staff Attorney at the ACLU, said,“All young people deserve to learn an inclusive and accurate history in schools, free from censorship or discrimination. This law is drafted in a way that districts and teachers have no way of knowing what concepts and ideas are prohibited. The law unconstitutionally chills students’ and educators’ rights to learn and talk about race, gender, and disability and prevents students from having open conversations about our history.”

Morgan Nighan, an attorney with Nixon Peabody LLP, said, “Access to a public education that is equitable, inclusive and accurate is every students’ right. This bill attempts to censor what is taught in the classroom, to prevent honest, open dialogues about our country’s history with race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disabilities, and many other marginalized groups. In order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, we must encourage students to explore our history with a critical eye and embrace our differences as strengths.”

Below are additional comments from:

Asma Elhuni, Movement Politics Director at Rights and Democracy NH, said, “Every child regardless of race, gender, or religion deserves the freedom to learn and develop the knowledge and skill set to wrestle with the past, create a better future, and have the opportunity to live out their dreams. Self-interested politicians have chosen to censor the truth from our students, robbing them of the ability to understand that mistakes do and have happened, and what we do with mistakes, whether we learn from them or decide to repeat them is what matters. Rights and Democracy is thankful to see such a broad range of people in our communities coming together to challenge this unjust law. Together we will prove that when we join forces, we can build schools where every student – no matter their color or zip code they live in- have the freedom to learn honest history and stride together for a better tomorrow where everyone will have the ability to thrive.”

Maggie Fogarty, NH Program Director at American Friends Service Committee, said, “The Banned Concepts Act prevents the learning and critical thinking that are essential for a healthy society. It harms teachers and administrators who are forced to navigate its vagueness under threat of penalty, as well as students who are denied access to education about essential concepts such as racism and injustice. New Hampshire communities are weakened by the silence and fear that this Act seeks to impose. It is truth-telling that is needed now, not censorship. It is courage that is needed now, not fear. The American Friends Service Committee applauds this important lawsuit as an effort to protect public education and democracy, and to support the ongoing and urgent work for a more equitable society.”

Zandra Rice Hawkins, Executive Director of Granite State Progress, said, “Our children deserve an honest education that teaches them about America’s triumphs and also where our country has failed to lead, so that we can continue to build a more perfect union. Far-right actors at the state and national level are using laws like this to slow progress on racial justice and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, and to further push for the privatization of public education. It is to our detriment as a society to let them succeed. We are thankful for this lawsuit.”

James McKim, Managing Partner of Organizational Ignition, said, “The Right to Freedom from Discrimination statute passed as part of 2021 NH HB2 (formerly called the ‘Divisive Concepts’ statute) is an example of how seemingly well-intentioned legislation, and I am being generous here giving the benefit of the doubt that the legislation’s sponsors had in mind the benefit of everyone – not just those socialized as white, can be more damaging than saying nothing. My consulting practice helping organizations benefit from the diversity in our state and nation has been significantly negatively impacted by this statute. And people of color I know around the nation have told me this legislation makes New Hampshire seem unwelcoming. It is not only poorly crafted in language, but this it was not asked for by those whom it seems to seek to protect which makes it poor governance as articulated by the NAACP’s legal challenge to Executive Order 13950 (the ‘Order’) on which the New Hampshire statute was modeled. The citizens of New Hampshire, deserve better.”

Ronelle Tshiela, Co-Founder of Black Lives Matter Manchester, said, “The law prohibiting ‘banned concepts’ is an attempt to root out teaching of systemic racism by forcing educators to be dishonest about our nation’s history. Black Lives Matter Manchester supports any effort to overturn it, and we applaud the educators who are fighting back.”

This lawsuit comes weeks before the start of the 2022 New Hampshire legislative session, which will include multiple bills designed to double down on classroom censorship. HB1255 would expand New Hampshire’s Cold War-era “teacher loyalty” law to restrict the teaching of “any doctrine or theory promoting a negative account or representation of the founding and history of the United States.” HB1313 would expand HB2’s banned concepts language to include the state’s public higher education institutions. Legislation has also been introduced, including HB1090 and SB304, which would repeal the banned concepts language in HB2 and replace it with language that would protect educators who teach about the “historical or current experiences” of protected groups.

This lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire.

Learn more and read the filing.

Williams v. Kincaid

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Transgender people are protected from discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Rehabilitation Act in all public institutions—including carceral settings.

Update: On June 30, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a writ of certiorari, leaving the U.S. Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit ruling in place.

10/7/2022: Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit denied en banc review in Kesha Williams’ case, leaving their prior ruling in place.

12/13/2021: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit today affirmed that transgender people who experience gender dysphoria are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act. The ruling reverses a Virginia district court’s dismissal of claims brought by Kesha Williams. This is an impactful ruling for Ms. Williams and the first time an Appeal Court has ruled to affirm transgender rights in this manner.

GLAD co-authored an amicus (friend of the court) brief submitted to the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Williams v. Kincaid. The case challenges the placement of a transgender woman, Kesha Williams, in a Virginia men’s prison and the denial of all other care related to her gender dysphoria, a disabling medical condition that affects many transgender people, by the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office. The district court ruled against Williams’ claims that these actions violated her rights under the ADA, which prohibits discrimination against people living with disabilities, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which bars discrimination based on disability by federally funded entities. The case is now on appeal.

GLAD co-authored the brief supporting Williams with the National Center for LGBTQ Rights and Quinnipiac University School of Law Legal Clinic, with assistance from the firm Arent Fox. The brief was joined by the ACLU, Black and Pink Massachusetts, Lambda Legal, the National LGBTQ Task Force, the National Center for Transgender Equality, Transcending Barriers (ATL), Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, and the Trans People of Color Coalition.

Drawing on scientific research and established case law, the brief argues that the ADA protects against discrimination based on gender dysphoria and some forms of gender identity disorder, two distinct medical conditions that affect many transgender people.

Under long-established medical protocols, the treatment for gender dysphoria is gender transition—the process of living consistently with one’s gender identity—which includes an individualized combination of hormone therapy, surgery, and or psychotherapy. Williams underwent gender transition 15 years ago and continued to receive hormone therapy that alleviated her gender dysphoria until she was wrongly incarcerated in a men’s prison.

There, prison officials withdrew Williams’ hormone therapy, forced her to shower in the presence of men, subjected her to strip searches by male officers, denied her access to female commissary items, and deliberately referred to her as a man, thereby jeopardizing her health.

GLAD’s brief argues that the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act prohibit these actions. The laws require that the treatment of people with disabilities must be based on “reasoned and medically sound judgments” and that social institutions—including prisons—provide equal access and make reasonable accommodations when entrenched policies and practices interfere with a person’s equal access to those institutions.

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New website from GLAD, GLSEN, NCLR, and PFLAG National provides support and resources for LGBTQI+ students.

BOSTON (Nov. 17, 2021) — As schools and school districts across the country face hostile protests of LGBTQI+ inclusive education, students who are experiencing discrimination, bullying and harassment based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression now have a new resource to help defend their rights. “Safe Schools for All” is a unique resource to help make schools safe and inclusive of all students and is rooted in guidance from the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education. GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), GLSEN, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), and PFLAG National, four of the nation’s leading LGBTQI+ organizations, collaborated to create SafeSchoolsForAll.org for students, parents, and supporters to take action against bullying, harassment and discrimination. According to GLSEN’s 2019 National School Climate Survey, 86% of LGBTQ students experienced harassment or assault based on their sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity. Of that majority, 57% of students did not report the incident to school staff because of doubt that effective intervention would occur or fear the situation would only worsen once reported. “Bullying has overwhelmingly negative effects on a student’s educational outcome and mental health,” said Melanie Willingham-Jaggers, Interim Executive Director of GLSEN. “We know that bullying leads to lower GPAs, increased absences, and higher levels of depression, so it is imperative to show support and create safe and inclusive school environments. With positive support and resources like ‘Safe Schools for All’ available, our goal is for all LGBTQI+ students to have a thriving educational experience while feeling safe sharing their identity without judgement or harassment.” In states and school districts across the country, LGBTQI+ students have witnessed their rights come under attack. From legislation to prohibit transgender athletes from participating in school sports to protests to ban LGBTQI+ affirming books, student clubs, plays, and displays from schools and libraries, the attack on protections for LGBTQI+ students has been relentless since the 2020 election. This has translated in many instances to anti-LGBTQI+ bullying and harassment on K-12 school campuses, from Illinois to Oregon to Tennessee, and beyond. “When adults act badly by bullying school board officials and staff, kids take note and continue the behavior in the classroom. This is a trend PFLAG families across the country have been working to end,” said Brian K. Bond, Executive Director of PFLAG National. “Until LGBTQI+ people are fully protected from discrimination by federal law, resources like ‘Safe Schools for All’ are necessary and useful tools to protect our LGBTQI+ loved ones.” Earlier this year, the Office of Civil Rights issued a public notice clarifying that LGBTQI+ students are protected under Title IX from discrimination at school based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. “Safe Schools for All” outlines Title IX protections and steps to take, including filing a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights, when students experience anti-LGBTQI+ bullying, harassment or discrimination. Students, families and administrators can also turn to the site to find a host of resources to help improve their school climate and support LGBTQI+ students. “Schools have a responsibility to investigate claims of sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, made by students who face hostility because of their perceived or actual sexual orientation, gender identity, or transgender status,” said Jennifer Levi, Transgender Rights Project Director of GLAD. “It’s the law. It’s also an essential step in improving school climate for all students. We hope that ‘Safe Schools for All’ will be an accessible tool for both families and administrators in protecting the health, safety, and well-being of all students.” Steps students can take when they experience bullying, harassment, or discrimination:

Notify a teacher or school leader. File a formal complaint with the school, school district, college, or university.
Document the incident. Write down the details about what happened, where and when the incident happened, who was involved, and the names of any witnesses.
Ask for support. Seek support from your school to accommodate for language and disability accessibility needs including translating or interpreting information. Counseling and other mental health support can be helpful for a student who has been harassed or bullied.
Consider filing a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education.

“Study after study has shown that bullying and harassment in schools has long-lasting and dangerous repercussions for the mental health and well-being of students – particularly LGBTQI+ youth,” said Imani Rupert-Gordon, Executive Director of NCLR. “By working with our partners to create the ‘Safe Schools for All’ resource website, it is our hope that we can work with administrators, teachers, staff, students and their families to create learning environments that are free of harassment and discrimination, and promote the personal safety of every student in every school in the United States.”

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Crowd at protest waving the Progress Flag

The ability to be treated fairly and with dignity — whether at work, at school, when accessing healthcare or government-funded services, or doing routine things like shopping for groceries or taking public transportation — shouldn’t depend on who you are, who you love, or what zip code you call home. But despite how far our movement has come in advancing equality, right now, nearly half of all LGBTQ+ people live in areas with no explicit state laws protecting them from discrimination.

Last year’s pivotal Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County provided a critical layer of protection by affirming anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination is a form of sex discrimination prohibited under federal employment law. The Biden administration has taken steps to ensure that interpretation is followed by all federal agencies, creating avenues for individuals to seek relief when they face discrimination not just in the workplace but in areas like schools and healthcare as well. GLAD and our legal partners are also working to ensure the Court’s interpretation in Bostock is implemented at every feasible level to provide as much protection for our community now as is possible.

But the fact is, that’s not enough. Federal administrations change, and, as we’ve seen in recent memory, a new administration can change how they enforce federal law. This past session, we saw a record number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in states across the country, many of them targeting children. And those who disagreed with the Court’s ruling in Bostock are not likely to back down from pursuing further legal attacks – we’re already seeing them.

To ensure fairness and opportunity for everyone in our community, we need to pass comprehensive federal legislation to protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination explicitly. Our movement has been working toward this goal for over four decades, and right now we are closer than we have ever been to getting it done.

The Equality Act will update our nation’s civil rights laws to include explicit protections for LGBTQ+ people while at the same time improving protections for all women and people of color. The bill has the support of a supermajority of Americans across faith, race, political party, and geographic location and has already been passed in the U.S. House. President Biden has said he will sign it if it gets to his desk. The last step is a favorable vote in the Senate.

Those of us who live in New England and other states with strong nondiscrimination laws understand the impact those protections have on our day-to-day lives. Many of us also know the incredible effort that goes into making those protections a reality — from organizing and meeting with legislators to having one-on-one conversations with neighbors and coworkers to build understanding.

We’ve been doing that work, collectively, for a long time. The American people are ready for LGBTQ+ equality. As GLAD’s Mary Bonauto noted recently in USA Today, “As time has proved again and again, we all benefit when we are open to walking in another’s shoes, when our laws require fairness, and when we further equality, inclusion and opportunity for everyone.”

Working to pass comprehensive federal nondiscrimination protections is our chance, right now, to ensure everyone benefits from increased fairness and equality. That’s why GLAD is a leader in the Freedom and Opportunity for All campaign to pass the Equality Act this year, and that’s why we hope you’ll join us in taking action.

Take Action to Pass the Equality Act

LGBTQ+ Americans in nearly half of the country remain vulnerable every day to being evicted from their homes, kicked out of businesses, removed from a jury, denied government services, or facing discrimination in medical treatment. The Equality Act presents our opportunity to change that. A vote in the Senate could come up as early as this fall. This is our moment to move this important bill across the finish line.

Taking action is easy and critically important right now:

Tell your Senators to pass the Equality Act. Call, email, tweet, or fax (yes, fax) your Senator to tell them why it’s so important to pass federal protections.
Ask three friends to take action. Invite your friends, family, coworkers, or neighbors to share their support for the Equality Act.
Volunteer. There are plenty of ways to get involved, from phone banking to text banking, to writing a letter to the editor of a local paper.
Spread the word on social media. We need everyone who cares about equality to take notice. Make sure your social network knows what’s at stake.

Click here to take action today.

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This November, for Native American Heritage Month, we are honoring some of the outstanding Native American and Indigenous activists and organizations whose contributions have advanced the movement for equality and representation of Native/Indigenous and LGBTQ2+ communities.

Trudie Jackson is a trans, two-spirit native woman who advocates for proper health care rights for LGBTQ2+ identifying Native Americans. Jackson made history in 2018 by running for president of Navajo Nation, a Native American territory located in portions of Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. Her run in the Navajo Nation Presidential election made headlines across Indian Country and gave hopes to many American Indian gender-nonconforming tribal members to run for public office. Jackson was also a part of the 2018 Tribal Researchers Cancer Control Fellowship Program under the Portland Area Indian Health Board. As a part of that board, Jackson explored public health research for American Indian transgender women. She was an expert consultant for the Act Against AIDS Initiative for Transgender Women under collaborative efforts with the Center for Disease Control’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Prevention Communication Branch, The National LGBT Health Education at the Fenway Institute, and American Institute for Research. Jackson is the founder of the Southwest American Indian Rainbow Gathering, which continuously addresses health disparities of American Indians that identify as two-spirit (SLGBTQ).

Evan Adams is an openly gay actor, writer, and Doctor who has devoted significant time and energy to First Nation issues. He is Coast Salish from the Sliammon and identifies as First Nation. Adams focuses on health care and has done extensive work around HIV awareness and drug and alcohol addiction treatment. At the start of his career, Adams portrayed his personal experience in an award-winning role, co-starring in the 2002 film The Business of Fancydancing. He continuously made efforts to portray LGBTQ2+ people in the films he was in accurately. While acting, he was also pursuing a medical degree, and in 2012 he became a Deputy Provincial Health Officer, focusing on the needs of British Columbia’s First Nations people. Whether presenting honest, nuanced portrayals of First Nations people, speaking up about gay rights, or fighting for effective medical policies, Dr. Evan Adams is a dedicated advocate for social justice and equality.

Geo Neptune is on the Indian Township School Board, making them the first nonbinary, transgender, or Two-Spirit person elected to any public office in Maine. In this position, Neptune has been able to better advocate for better education on Passamaquoddy culture and language, which is an issue that in previous years did not get the attention it deserved. Neptune is an activist who is a part of the Idle No More movement, which advocates for First Nations and Native American sovereignty and cultural preservation. Neptune has also talked about the detrimental effects imposed upon Indigenous people through settler-colonial norms of gender and patriarchy and the importance of decolonizing education, the weight of inherited traumas, and the impact of unlocking buried histories. In 2016, Geo was the first drag queen on the cover of Native Peoples Magazine, with their story featured in the magazine’s first official LGBTQ Pride issue. With that, Neptune continues to inspire other two-spirits from across turtle island to embrace their truth. Neptune also educates learners of all ages about Wabanaki history and culture, the art of basket-making, and what it means to them to be Two-Spirit.

Susan Allen became the first openly lesbian Native American woman to win office in any state legislature when she was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2012. She is a member of the Lakota and Rosebud Sioux tribes and actively works to give a voice to Native American and LGBTQ2+ issues. While in office, Allen fought for equal legal protection for Native Americans and gay people in resistance to assimilation.

Jack Jackson Jr. became the first openly gay Native American to get elected into a state legislature. During Jack’s career, he advocated on behalf of the Navajo Nation and the Ak-chin Indian community. He also advocated for minority health interests at the National Minority AIDS Council and served as a board member for the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center for five years. Both President Obama and President Clinton requested Jack to be on their Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. He continues to provide public policy consultation on better addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic that affects tribal and urban Indian Communities.

Storme Webber is a two-spirit Sugpiaq/Black/Choctaw poet and interdisciplinary artist who uses artwork to touch on important topics like gender, race, decolonization, and sexuality. Webber created artwork in Capitol Hill’s AIDS Memorial Pathway, including portraits, photos, text, quotes, and an oral history collection from BIPOC and LGBTQ2+ activists who advocate for people with HIV and AIDS. Webber has devoted years to supporting other marginalized voices through projects like Voices Rising: LGBTQ of Color Arts and Culture. Webber is a great inspiration for queer youth, not only in Seattle but also worldwide, to live their truth and express themselves through all forms of creativity.

Max Wolf Valerio is a trans man who is a poet, performer, and writer of Blackfoot descent. He uses his artistic skills to create accurate representation and educate readers on his experiences as a trans man. In 2006 Valerio wrote The Testosterone Files, a memoir describing the psychological, physiological, and social transformation that occurred in the first five years of his transition from female to male. He used his memoir to educate readers on the role of testosterone within his transition. At a period in time when trans narratives became more visible, Valerio provided a powerful voice for trans experiences. Valerio uses his work to educate people on what it means to become who you are, become who you have always been, and the joy that brings. Valerio also uses his work to advocate for queer people of color and more accurate portrayals of trans expression in literature, film, and all works of art.

Ravyn Wngz is an African, Bermudian, Mohawk, Two-Spirit, queer and transcendent individual who is also a member of the Toronto Black Lives Matter Steering Committee. Ravyn challenges mainstream arts and dance spaces by sharing her stories and creating opportunities and platforms for marginalized LGBTQ2+ people. Ravyn Wngz is also the artistic director of the OVA (Outrageous Victorious Africans) collective, which presents the voices of LGBTQ2+ individuals through dance and theater. Ravyn was also involved in creating the Wildseed: Center for art and activism, a space designed to put people of color in Toronto first, and has even hosted events for the LGBTQ2+ community.

Earth Guardians is an intergenerational organization that trains diverse youth to be effective global leaders in the environmental, climate, and social justice movements. This organization uses art, music, storytelling, on-the-ground projects, civic engagement, and legal action to advance solutions to the critical issues we face as a global community. Earth Guardians even has a Youth Committee that organizes training through the lens of decolonization, environmental justice, cultural resilience, sovereignty, and healing. This organization prides itself on its representation of thousands of young activists, artists, and musicians that are on the front lines driving action and fueling the cultural shift toward a regenerative future. Learn more about the organization and get involved.

Seeding Sovereignty is an organization that has based its resources around mental health and wellness, the dismantling of systems of oppression, and reclaiming their land. Seeding Sovereignty also is an Indigenous-led collective that works to radicalize and disrupt colonized spaces through the land, body, community building, and cultural preservation. This organization has projects that deal with Decolonizing, Healing, Land and Body, Land and Water, and other projects related to the Indigenous community and land. Seeding Sovereignty is centered around the tenets of mutual aid, community defense, emancipation through education, and solidarity with underestimated brilliant and often marginalized populations. By investing in Indigenous folks and communities of the global majority, Seeding Sovereignty has created an environment about liberation as a community. Learn more about the organization and get involved.

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Breaking Down Barriers in Access to PrEP

Forty Years Into the HIV Epidemic, We Have the Tools to End It. Will We?

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s June 5, 1981 report of five cases of pneumocystis pneumonia among gay men in Los Angeles. In words that are haunting with the knowledge of what soon followed, the report noted that the existence of pneumocystis pneumonia in previously healthy individuals was “unusual.” This correlation indicated that “[t]he fact that these patients were all homosexuals suggests an association between some aspect of a homosexual lifestyle or disease acquired.”

The LGBTQ+ community at that time existed in a world of invisibility, criminalization, and a harsh landscape devoid of any legal protections. In a world where people were getting sick and dying – sometimes within months of diagnosis, HIV stigma was fueled by the marginalization of the groups disproportionately affected by the epidemic, including gay men, people of color, people who inject drugs, and transgender people.

In the decades of crisis during the 1980s and 1990s, we could not have imagined the arrival of a simple, safe daily pill that reduces the risk of HIV transmission by close to 100 percent. HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) is a game-changer in HIV prevention. We have the tools to end the epidemic. Still, stigma and discrimination persist, and systemic inequities in our society and health care system resulting from homophobia, transphobia, and structural racism remain significant barriers. The CDC’s latest report indicates that only 23% of people for whom PrEP is indicated were prescribed it in 2019. But only 8% of Black people and 14% of Latinx people for whom PrEP was indicated were prescribed it in 2019 compared to 63% of white people.

Many factors contribute to the underutilization of PrEP, including racial and economic disparities in healthcare access generally and lack of access to information about the benefits of PrEP specifically. Stigma also continues to play a role. Fear of or experiencing anti-LGBTQ+ bias can dissuade people from asking their doctor for PrEP. And, despite PrEP having a straightforward protocol similar to other medications prescribed in primary care settings, we know too many physicians resist prescribing it even when asked by their patients. GLAD is using every legal tool at our disposal to stop anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination in healthcare. At the same time, we are working to expand all avenues for people to access this incredibly effective drug.

In June, Maine became a leader in the fight to end the HIV epidemic by passing An Act to Improve Access to HIV Prevention Medications (LD 1115). This new law, only the third of its kind in the country, authorizes pharmacists to dispense PrEP on a short-term basis. It is novel, bold, and will have multiple powerful impacts:

Enabling the most vulnerable populations, including rural communities, to obtain PrEP quickly
Removing cost barriers to PrEP consistent with federal directives
Improving access to care by requiring pharmacists to link customers to medical care for ongoing PrEP oversight and other vital health needs

GLAD was proud to work with Equality Maine, the Health Equity Alliance, and the Frannie Peabody Center to pass this law. This win is crucial for Mainers, and we need more efforts like this across the country. That is why we are advocating for S.1407 in Massachusetts, a similar bill sponsored by Senator Julian Cyr currently pending in the 2021 legislative session.

GLAD has always fought for sound HIV prevention policies, often in the face of deep prejudices. Advocating for access to clean needles for people who inject drugs, education on sexual health and safer sex practices, consent-based HIV testing, medical privacy, and nondiscrimination protections for people living with or at risk for HIV have all been fixtures in our AIDS Law Project work. As science progresses and we now have the chance to end the epidemic in our lifetimes, GLAD is working to ensure barriers like racism and anti-LGBTQ+ stigma don’t get in the way of everyone having access to the prevention and care they need.

Read the Fall 2021 issue of our biannual newsletter, GLAD Briefs.

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Making Change Outside of the Courts: Advancing LGBTQ+, Racial, and Economic Justice

Rep. Jeff Currey, Lisa Rosenthall, Professor Doug NeJaime, advocates Stephanie and Denise, and GLAD Senior Staff Attorney Patience Crozier

GLAD has long relied on the whole mix of legal, policy, and advocacy tools to build a just society free from discrimination. To advance racial, economic, and LGBTQ+ justice and ensure the greatest possible impact for our communities, GLAD engages in the courts and at policy tables, in statehouses with legislators and advocates, and in community coalitions across New England and beyond.

In 2021 we worked in partnership with others to advance bills that will make a difference in the lives of LGBTQ+ families, adults, and youth. Some of these policies target harms individuals face because of poverty, racial inequities, anti-LGBTQ+ bias, or discriminatory laws, while others lay the groundwork for broader changes.

Nondiscrimination Laws: Fair Access to Housing and Public Spaces

GLAD advocated this year with partners to pass The Rhode Island Fair Housing Practices Act, signed into law in June. Access to housing is a basic necessity and critical to a person or family’s health, stability and wellbeing. Still, too often, discrimination gets in the way of attaining a safe place to live. The Act repeals LGBTQ-only exemptions in Rhode Island law that allowed discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression for smaller housing units, which make up a large percentage of housing stock in the state.

GLAD also worked in coalition to pass An Act Relating to Health and Safety – State Building Code, which requires single-use bathrooms in places of public accommodation to be labeled “restroom“ rather than restricted by gender. Not only does this protect transgender and nonbinary people from harm when using public restrooms, but it also improves accessibility for disabled Rhode Islanders and young children with differently gendered caretakers and helps everyone by reducing wait times.

Protecting Our Families: Expansion of Parentage and Adoption Laws

Stephanie, Denise, and their kids in rainbow outfits at Pride — We Care Coalition members Stephanie and Denise, and their kids

As a complement to litigation, GLAD also seeks to pass updated, comprehensive laws to secure parent-child relationships regardless of whether the parents are married or how that child came into the world. These protections are critical to children’s well-being and address the vulnerability families face from outdated laws and financial barriers in our existing system. GLAD’s work to update parentage and other family-related laws is both an LGBTQ+ equality and a priority for access to justice.

The passage this spring of the Connecticut Parentage Act (CPA) was a victory years in the making. GLAD co-led the We Care Coalition with Yale Law School Professor Douglas NeJaime, working closely with bill sponsors Representative Jeff Currey and Senator Alex Kasser and other stakeholders on the bill’s text. Our coalition advocated by sharing the stories of impacted children and families in the Constitution state and organizing the effort to secure passage. Families and advocates celebrated what Professor NeJaime called “the most comprehensive parentage bill to pass to date,“ at a signing ceremony in Hartford on the first day of Pride Month. The CPA, which goes into effect January 1, 2022, fills gaps in Connecticut law that left children of LGBTQ, unmarried, or de facto parents vulnerable.

GLAD and our partners also successfully advocated for a critical update to the Maine Parentage Act of 2015 to expand access to the Voluntary Acknowledgement of Parentage for LGBTQ parents and others. This acknowledgment form provides a clear, fair, and simple way for parents to establish their legal connection to the child as soon as they are born and protects the family’s integrity and security. Governor Mills signed LD 222, An Act to Update the Maine Parentage Act, in June.

J Shia and her kid, wearing button downs shirts and smiling — Massachusetts parent and MPA Coalition member J. and her child

With these two successful bills and updates in Vermont, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire over the past few years, nearly every state in New England has updated laws recognizing the diversity of how the LGBTQ community forms our families. We are working hard right now to pass the Massachusetts Parentage Act this year. In partnership with Resolve New England, we are leading a coalition of over 50 partner organizations and families to pass An Act Relative to Parentage to Promote Children’s Security (S 1133/H 1714). Learn more, share your family’s story, and get involved at www.massparentage.com.

Other important pending legislation to support families includes An Act To Promote Efficiency in Co-Parent Adoption (S 1124/H 1712) which would ensure a more streamlined process for

Massachusetts co-parent adoptions by LGBTQ couples who petition to adopt their own children, and An Act to Provide Access to Fertility Care (LD 1539), which would make forming families in Maine more attainable for LGBTQ+ couples, and all couples experiencing infertility, by increasing comprehensive medical insurance coverage for fertility diagnostic issues and treatment.

Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth: Schools, Child Welfare, and Juvenile Justice Systems

In June, justice-involved youth in Maine gained the right to counsel and petition for alternatives to incarceration when Governor Mills signed into law LD 320, An Act to Provide the Right to Counsel for Juveniles and Improve Due Process for Juveniles into law. GLAD worked with bill sponsor Rep. Victoria Morales, whose district includes the Long Creek juvenile facility, and advocacy partners on this 3-year effort to make necessary reforms to the juvenile justice system. The bill:

Sets a minimum age of twelve for commitment to a juvenile correctional facility and provides that younger children may be detained no more than seven days unless the parties agree
Ends the mandatory one-year minimum commitment to juvenile correctional facilities
Requires judges to consider both the age of a young person and whether the offense committed would be regarded as a misdemeanor if committed by an adult when deciding whether incarceration is appropriate
Creates opportunities for judicial reviews of commitments; and appoints lawyers for both committed and detained young people

Keeping young people with supportive families, connected to resources, and out of correctional facilities is crucial to their opportunities for accountability and development for healthy adulthood. GLAD also supported a Maine Youth Justice–led bill to begin a process to close Long Creek, Maine’s one remaining juvenile prison. While that bill did not become law this session, we applaud MYJ’s leadership on the issue. GLAD will continue to work in partnership with them and others on structural changes to our juvenile justice systems, including efforts to close Long Creek.

Also becoming law this June was An Act Regarding School Discipline for Maine’s Youngest Children, which essentially prohibits suspensions and expulsions for children in grade 5 or lower and bars the withholding of recess except for restorative justice interventions. Under the leadership of Rep. Victoria Morales and with the collaboration of Disability Rights Maine, the Maine Children’s Alliance, GLAD, and others, this revision of punitive disciplinary measures can keep children engaged in school and prevent issues of the school-to-prison pipeline, outcomes which disproportionately impact students of color and students with disabilities, including those who are LGBTQ+.

GLAD and partner organization OUT Maine collaborated with the Maine Department of Education on its first-ever LGBTQI+ website for the Department, launched in August. The site includes resources on student action groups, student rights, medical and mental health information, and much more, supporting and sustaining inclusive learning environments and contributing to student success at school and over a lifetime.

GLAD is co-leading a Racial and Equity Committee of the Maine Law Court’s Justice for Children Task Force to develop accurate information and support sound policy and interventions. With funding and leadership from the Maine Judicial Branch, the Task Force has commenced a multi-agency demographic data study about what data is collected in the Judicial Branch and the child welfare, education, public safety, and corrections systems, with a final report completed by November 2022.

In Massachusetts, GLAD supports Citizens for Juvenile Justice in their efforts to pass An Act Improving Juvenile Justice Data Collection (S 1558/H 1795). This bill requires collecting critical demographic data at all stages of the juvenile justice system, including age, race, ethnicity, primary language, gender identity, and sexual orientation. S 1558/H 1795 also requires an annual report overseen by the Child Advocate to ensure that the state uses resources efficiently to protect public safety and improve outcomes for youth.

Together with other LGBTQ+ and youth advocacy organizations, GLAD is also advancing structural reforms in our child welfare systems and seeking to improve conditions for youth affected by these systems.

Respect for Our Humanity: Criminal Justice Reform and Reducing Prison Brutality

Transgender people face particular levels of brutality and harassment when incarcerated. GLAD has worked to address these harms through litigation and policy in prison systems across New England and the country. This year, GLAD worked with Maine Trans Net, legislative leaders, and corrections and law enforcement to craft a bill to improve health and safety conditions for transgender people when incarcerated in jails and prisons. LD 1044, which became law this summer, explicitly requires Maine DOC to respect and acknowledge an incarcerated person’s consistently held gender identity for placement irrespective of anatomy or physique, except for significant management, security, or safety reasons. The new law also requires Maine DOC to provide the programming and commissary items consistent with a person’s gender identity.

GLAD also supported and commends our partners in successfully passing bills to decriminalize homelessness and ban face recognition surveillance in Maine (similar legislation, S 47/H 135, is pending in Massachusetts). We are supporting partners in Massachusetts seeking to ensure cost-free phone calls for incarcerated people (Mass. S 1559), stop police profiling of transgender and low-income women by removing “common nightwalkers” and “common streetwalkers” from MA law (S 992/H 1800), move toward full decriminalization of sex work (H 1867) and pass comprehensive health and safety reforms for incarcerated LGBTQI people (S 1566/H 2484). GLAD also supported a bill in Maine, now law, to provide a defense to prostitution for reasons of economic hardship, preventing injury, or threats.

Living Life: Ensuring Access to Accurate Identification

All of us need accurate ID, and for transgender and non-binary people, it is essential for their safety and security. GLAD continues to work across New England to ensure everyone can access ID that reflects who they are, without barriers.

In August, we supported Rho, a non-binary Granite Stater, in successfully advocating for the New Hampshire DMV to remove barriers in choosing an “X” gender marker on their state-issued driver’s license or ID. Now people do not have to get a medical provider to attest to their non-binary gender identity, which can be a significant barrier to updating their ID. This policy change also applies to anyone changing their gender marker to X, M, or F and means that New Hampshire joins the rest of New England, as well as other states and municipalities, in having a straightforward process for people to have accurate state ID that affirms who they are.

In Maine this session, GLAD consulted on the substance of and supported LD 209 – An Act Concerning Name Changes for Minors, which clarifies and streamlines the process by which a parent or guardian can request a name change for a minor child by filing a petition in Probate court. The law drops the requirement to publish notice of the name change, allowing for confidentiality. It sets forth factors for judicial consideration, including the minor’s expressed preference and the child’s best interest. We also worked with community partners to pass LD 855 – An Act Regarding the Issuance of a Birth Certificate Following a Gender Marker Change, to ensure that new birth certificates issued following a name or gender marker change are not marked as amended, a crucial consideration to protect privacy and safety for transgender individuals.

In Massachusetts, we are working with coalition partners to advocate for An Act Relative to Gender Identity on Massachusetts Identification (S 2282/H 3521) and An Act Providing for a Gender-Neutral Designation on State Documents and Identifications (H 3126), bills that would codify a gender-neutral (“X”) designation for all Massachusetts forms and identification documents, including birth certificates.

Racial Impact Statements

A landmark achievement in the Maine 2021 legislative session with the potential to impact the lawmaking process and across systems is the enactment of LD 2, An Act to Require the Inclusion of Racial Impact Statements in the Legislative Process. Conceived and sponsored by Assistant House Majority Leader Rachel Talbot Ross, the law provides that any legislation considered in Maine may be evaluated for its racial impact at the request of any legislator or committee. GLAD provided LGBTQ-community testimony in support of LD 2. With the guidance of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and other leaders and communities of color, looks forward to supporting the use of this important and innovative tool.

Read the Fall 2021 issue of our biannual newsletter, GLAD Briefs.

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LGBTQ+ youth and particularly Black, Brown, and Indigenous (BIPOC) youth are over-represented in child welfare systems, and young people impacted by these systems face increased risks of joblessness, homelessness, and interaction with the criminal legal system.

Poverty, structural racism, and anti-LGBTQ bias all play roles in determining which children and families are impacted and separated by the State. GLAD is working both to ensure our child welfare systems can meet the needs of BIPOC LGBTQ+ youth in their care and to move State approaches away from family separation and toward family supports.

In Maine this session, GLAD supported a bill to require the Department of Health and Human Services to provide families in need with assistance to meet basic necessities to prevent children from being removed from homes. This proposal recognizes that what is frequently labeled as “neglect” and therefore cause for family separation is simply poverty and requires the State to address that underlying cause before removing a child. While LD 396, unfortunately, did not pass this session, we’re continuing to push for such changes so that resources are focused on supporting children and families rather than separating them.

In Massachusetts, child welfare advocates, including GLAD, have been calling for change at the MA Department of Children and Families (DCF) for years in response to high-profile catastrophic incidents and daily failings of the youth in DCF custody.

In August, with the contributions and engagement of GLAD, the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ+ Youth released a report on the treatment and outcomes of DCF-involved children that draws a plain conclusion: LGBTQ+ youth in DCF custody are in crisis. Along with alarming findings, the report offers clear insight into improving the lives of youth already in the system, providing more support for families of origin and foster families, and training staff and other professionals on the specific and timely needs of LGBTQ+ youth.

“Life in residential care got even harder after I started identifying as a transgender woman while placed in an all-boys program. The staff misgendered me most of the time. DCF denied me [gender-affirming care]… Their rationale was that they couldn’t “risk it.” In reality, they were risking my life by not giving me the healthcare I needed.” – Youth with a history of DCF involvement

As the Commission Chair says in the introduction to the report, “the status quo for LGBTQ youth in DCF is an emergency.” LGBTQ+ youth experience the repercussions of the lack of a clear, comprehensive agency policy affirming their identities, an insufficient supply of supportive placements, inadequate training for staff and foster families, and long delays and even denials of access to necessary healthcare. These shortcomings far too often lead to poor health and educational outcomes, violence, harassment, bullying, self-harm, and other devastating impacts. And these impacts often fall most harshly on Black and Brown LGBTQ youth and transgender youth, who face multiple biases and structural barriers.

“As a foster parent to transgender young people, I have not seen that DCF is able to engage in family support work around LGBTQ issues. They are always emphasizing what the parents have not done, rather than how to help them. I don’t know how DCF thinks they are ever going to reunify families if they don’t have empathy or compassion and if they aren’t willing to educate and support the parent. Without that, their job becomes to break families apart.”–Foster Parent

GLAD and our LGBTQ+ Child Welfare Alliance partners are calling on policymakers and legislators to act immediately to improve the child welfare system with the following measures:

Collection and reporting of comprehensive, intersectional data that allows DCF and other responsible entities to track outcomes for LGBTQ+ youth and to understand and meet their needs better. The legislature should pass An Act Relative to Accountability for Vulnerable Children and Families (H.239/S.32) with a requirement that DCF consistently collects and report intersectional sexual orientation and gender identity data.
Development and implementation of a comprehensive LGBTQ+ policy and training for all adults who come into contact with LGBTQ+ youth, including staff, foster families, and providers. Neighboring states such as Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, and sister state agencies like DYS have such policies.
The legislature should pass H.211/S.88 to create an independent Foster Care Review Office to improve accountability, transparency, and oversight for the foster care review process, to strengthen protections for youth in DCF care and custody.
Increase and tracking of affirming placements for LGBTQ+ youth in both foster homes and group settings.
Improved, more timely access to gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth.
Creation of a statutory foster child bill of rights with explicit protections for LGBTQ+ youth, including access to gender-affirming medical care.

“Ultimately, it took nearly two years to get my child the care she needed. Bias and transphobia from multiple professionals involved in the child welfare system hindered the process. Foster parents do not receive training on this. Can you imagine what happens to a child who ends up in a home where the foster parent does not already know all of this?” – Foster Parent

The findings of the Commission’s report are dire, but our advocacy is working. The momentum is building, and a new gender-affirming care policy goes into effect on September 30. Later in the fall, GLAD Senior Staff Attorney Patience Crozier is moderating a series of trainings in collaboration with Child Protection and Child Services on better serving transgender youth and other LGBTQ+ people. There is much to do, but we are working harder than ever to directly impact young people’s treatment and lives in state custody. To get involved, visit GLAD.org/mass-alliance.

Read the Fall 2021 issue of our biannual newsletter, GLAD Briefs.

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Across the country during the 2021 legislative session, transgender people have faced a cruel onslaught of legislation that undermines their civil rights, attempts to exclude them from public life, and even criminalize their identities.

Lawmakers in a handful of states are proposing extreme bills that ban safe, well-recognized medical care for transgender children. In some cases, such bills provide criminal penalties for physicians who provide such care. In others, parents could be punished as well. Arkansas is the only state to have enacted a medical care ban to date – over the veto of Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson, who chastised the legislature for the extreme nature of the legislation – but we have not seen the end of such attempts. Denying access to established medical care is cruel and unethical, and it puts transgender youth at increased risk. In Arkansas, there have already been reports of youth suicides resulting from this extreme law. Some families are planning to move out of state.

Other damaging bills aimed at transgender youth seek to ban transgender girls from playing school sports with other girls. Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia have already enacted laws that ban transgender girls and young women from playing sports at school. These bans deny transgender kids the camaraderie and belonging that comes with being part of a team and valuable lessons like sportsmanship and discipline.

Defeating anti-trans bills in New England

New England is not immune to such dangerous legislative proposals. Transgender and allied advocates, GLAD attorneys, and our partner organizations, showed up at hearings and advocated against several anti-trans bills in the 2020-2021 session.

Both New Hampshire and Maine saw sports ban bills raised – Maine’s LD 926 and New Hampshire’s HB 198. By listening and responding to concerns, deploying thoughtful advocacy, sharing accurate information, and telling powerful life stories from courageous transgender young people, their parents, classmates, and coaches, GLAD and our partners successfully kept both bills from passing.

Another bill in Maine, LD 1238, would have allowed shelters to exclude transgender women. Both chambers voted the bill down with broad support from shelter providers themselves. And New Hampshire’s bill banning gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth was voted down in Committee, ending its progress for this session.

GLAD is keeping a watchful eye on anti-LGBTQ+ legislative developments across the country. In Tennessee, lawmakers enacted several anti-LGBTQ+ laws this year. GLAD has filed a lawsuit, Curb Records v. Lee, against one of those laws, first-of-its-kind legislation requiring businesses to post a “not welcome” sign for transgender patrons and employees on their premises.

A lawsuit to protect businesses who affirm transgender people

The Curb Foundation provided fundraising for the National Museum of African American Music

Tennessee’s HB 1182 requires businesses to post a demeaning notice on their premises if they have policies allowing access for transgender individuals on an equal basis to other patrons.

The law designates precise dimensions, coloring, and language that effectively amounts to a “not welcome” sign that promotes a hostile climate for transgender and non-binary people in the state and denies them equal access to businesses open to the public. GLAD filed a lawsuit challenging the new law in Curb Records v. Lee, along with Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison, attorney Abby Rubenfeld, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR).

The plaintiffs in the case are Grammy award-winning record producer Mike Curb, his label Curb Records, and the Mike Curb Foundation. They collectively argue that the law compels them and other Tennessee businesses to endorse a climate of fear and nonacceptance of transgender and non-binary people. Such a mandate directly contradicts their company values of integrity, respect for diversity, and nondiscrimination.“It’s outrageous to have the government come in and force me to send such a derogatory message to my employees and customers,” Mike Curb said when the law went into effect.

Mike Curb identifies his personal connection to the need for acceptance with his grandmother Eloisa Salazar’s experience with discrimination as she grew up on the Mexico-US border: “her experience shaped my family’s and my company’s values.”Curb has been committed to the values of nondiscrimination and inclusion for LGBTQ+ people throughout his career. His company and organization have provided grants and gifts to further access to education, historic preservation, people experiencing homelessness, and many other endeavors in his community. “It is hard to believe that our LGBT community in Tennessee is being assaulted with so much harmful legislation,” Curb says, “at a time when our country needs to come together more than ever before.”

A federal district court issued a preliminary injunction in a second challenge to the law, filed by the ACLU, ordering that HB 1182not be enforced while the courts ultimately determine the law’s constitutionality. GLAD and our partners are moving forward with our challenge to ensure that the state does not force Curb Records and other affirming businesses to act against their values and businesses interests, and that transgender and non-binary Tennesseans can access public spaces on the same terms as anyone else. Mike Curb and our team hope to get a final ruling by sometime next summer. To be the first to learn when a decision is delivered, sign up for our email updates on GLAD.org.

Read the Fall 2021 issue of our biannual newsletter, GLAD Briefs.

Statement on the Confirmation of Justice Beth Robinson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

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Statement of GLAD Civil Rights Project Director Mary L. Bonauto on the confirmation of Vermont Supreme Court Justice Beth Robinson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit:

“Justice Robinson’s deep commitments to the rule of law and to equal justice under law – bar none – will make her a remarkable asset to our federal judiciary and our society. As both a litigator and a Vermont Supreme Court Justice, she knows that law is entwined with people’s lives and has the integrity and humility to see both. Her confirmation as the first openly lesbian judge to serve on a U.S. Court of Appeals is another pivotal moment for a remarkable person and for our country, one that hopefully signals a welcome expansion of wider representation on our nation’s high courts.”