LGBTQ Paths to Parentage Security: New Guide from GLAD and Mombian Helps LGBTQ Parents Understand Options for Protecting Their Families
Resource answers frequently asked questions about securing legal ties between children and parents in the face of a national patchwork of protections and outdated laws
GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) and Mombian have partnered to create “LGBTQ 获得父母身份保障的途径,” a resource for LGBTQ+ parents and others that answers frequently asked questions about how LGBTQ+ parents can ensure their child-parent relationships will be secure and recognized in every state. It reflects the latest options and terminology as more states like Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Colorado expand access to ways of protecting children born via assisted reproduction and those with LGBTQ+ parents.
Not all states offer the same paths to parentage for these families, however. Because of bias and discrimination, both married and unmarried LGBTQ+ parents are advised to have the security of a court judgment to protect their child-parent relationships. Children have been pulled into the child welfare system because a parent who loves and cares for them wasn’t recognized as a legal parent, and non-birth parents who planned for and raised their kids have been stripped of their parental rights because a court relied on outdated laws that fail to acknowledge the existence of same-gender parents.
“LGBTQ Paths to Parentage Security” offers straightforward answers to questions like:
What is parentage?
Is it important to get a court judgment establishing that I am a parent?
如果我已经出现在我孩子的出生证明上怎么办？
What options do I have to ensure my parental status will be recognized In all states?
我需要律师吗？
Polly Crozier, Director of Family Advocacy at GLAD, said, “It is critical for LGBTQ+ parents to have the information and guidance they need about establishing and securing their legal ties to their children, in order to protect their children no matter where the family may move or travel.
“At the same time, states must update their parentage laws to better protect all children and families. States like Rhode Island are paving the way by passing comprehensive parentage protections and streamlining the process for confirmatory adoption,” she added, “We need more states to remove existing barriers to legal parentage, including outdated laws that leave LGBTQ+ parents and their children vulnerable.”
Dana Rudolph, Founder and Publisher of Mombian (mombian.com), an award-winning blog for LGBTQ parents, said, “One of the most frequent questions I hear from other LGBTQ parents is whether they need to take additional steps to secure their parentage, particularly if they’re already on their child’s birth certificate. This guide can help them understand why such steps are necessary and what their options may be.”
“LGBTQ Paths to Parentage Security” complements a new report, “关系岌岌可危：为何我们需要更新州亲子法以保护儿童和家庭,” from the Movement Advancement Project (MAP), in partnership with COLAGE, Family Equality, GLAD, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR).
The report details how the current patchwork of parentage laws across the country – many of which haven’t been updated in decades – leaves LGBTQ parents and their children vulnerable. It offers recommendations for all states to update and improve parentage laws, highlighting states that have taken crucial steps to update their parentage laws in recent years, including Colorado, Connecticut, and Rhode Island – and states like Massachusetts, which has the opportunity right now to protect LGBTQ+ families with the Massachusetts Parentage Act (H 1713 / S 947).
GLAD Praises Refiling of the Equality Act in Congress
Federal legislation would provide nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQI+ Americans
Today, the Congressional Equality Caucus refiled the Equality Act, (H.R. 15/S. 5), legislation that would amend existing civil rights laws to explicitly prohibit discrimination against LGBTQI+ people in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, federally-funded programs, credit, and jury service.
GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) strongly supports the Equality Act as a means to ensure LGBTQ+ Americans are treated with the same dignity, fairness, and respect afforded to others.
“An overwhelming majority of Americans across political parties, states, and walks of life support updating our federal laws to explicitly prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ+ people. The Equality Act will ensure that LGBTQ+ people—and all people—can support their families and contribute to their communities and workplaces while being treated with the dignity and equality all Americans need and deserve,” said Janson Wu, executive director of GLAD.
The lead sponsors of the Equality Act are Representative Mark Takano and Senator Jeff Merkley, who was joined by Senator Tammy Baldwin and Senator Cory Booker for reintroduction in the Senate. The Equality Act garnered bipartisan support when it passed in the House in 2019 and 2021.
“We are grateful to Representative Takano and Senator Merkley for their leadership in re-introducing the Equality Act at this moment,” Wu added. “While some politicians are targeting LGBTQ+ people, especially transgender people, with extremely harmful legislation, with this bill Congress has an opportunity to uphold the will of the American people and ensure explicit protections in federal law for LGBTQ+ people in housing, employment, and all areas of life.”
In addition to the aforementioned protections for LGBTQI+ people, the Equality Act would also prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in public accommodations and federally funded programs. It also expands the definition of public accommodations in the Civil Rights Act, strengthening protections not just on the basis of sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics), but also on the basis of race, color, national origin, and religion.
At the Supreme Court: 303 Creative v. Elenis Puts Critical Anti-discrimination Protections at Risk
Photo by Joe Ravi
This June, the U.S. Supreme Court will issue a ruling in 303 Creative v. Elenis, in which a business seeks to use the owner’s disapproval of same-sex marriage to justify side-stepping anti-discrimination laws.
The plaintiff, a Colorado website design business, is asking the Court to create a “free speech” exemption from state anti-discrimination laws. For the Court to do so would dramatically reverse decades of both case law and public norms, undercutting the bedrock of assurances we all depend on to access goods and services in the general marketplace every day.
Specifically, 303 Creative, which is subject to Colorado’s LGBTQ- inclusive anti-discrimination law, wants the right to refuse to sell wedding-related websites to same-sex couples. The business says it is entitled to an exemption allowing it to turn away LGBTQ+ people it does not want to serve so that it and other companies are not “compelled to speak” a message of support for same-sex couples by the act of selling its service.
Post-Decision Analysis
GLAD’s LGBTQ+ legal experts will share their analysis once the Court issues its ruling, likely in late June. Stay up-to-date by signing up for our email list.
“To be clear, the serious danger in this case is not whether this one business will sell wedding websites to same-sex couples — no couple has asked them to, and in fact, they don’t even sell wedding websites at this time,” says Mary Bonauto, GLAD’s Senior Director of Civil Rights and Litigation Strategies. “The danger is that this business owner seeks sweeping changes to current law ensuring that goods and services are available to all of us regardless of whether people operating the business might approve of their customers or not. For the Court to find a free speech right for stores, shops, and services to discriminate would be a radical departure from iconic precedents that will fuel the escalating efforts to chip away at vital protections for LGBTQ+ people and other groups facing discrimination.”
The Court framed the question in the case as whether an “artist” would be “compelled to speak or stay silent” by virtue of the anti-discrimination law. But the “artist” here is a business open to the general public, and for many decades there has been no question that states are free to regulate businesses — including businesses that use creativity — when they sell their services in the general marketplace, as 303 Creative plans to do. The Supreme Court and lower courts have repeatedly rejected First Amendment claims to the contrary. That’s because denying service to someone because of who they are is discriminatory conduct, not artistry or self-expression.
Share Your Experiences With Us
Discrimination has consequences on people’s lives. We encourage you to share with us any experience you have of being denied service or treated unfairly by a business or service provider. Contact our GLAD Answers legal information and referral line.
Businesses Have an Important Role to Play
Businesses have a unique voice and can speak out in favor of inclusion and anti-discrimination and against the radical effort to erase the long-agreed-upon principle that once you open your business to the public, you are open to all. Contact us if you’d like to get involved at GLADlaw@GLAD.org.
The impact of a ruling for the business in this case could be staggering. A loss here could take many forms, such as allowing refusals specifically for wedding-related services, creating a specific right to refuse service to LGBTQ+ people, or permitting any business that is open to the public to evade anti-discrimination laws if they can argue their business is “artistic” or “expressive.”
For the Court to grant 任何 constitutional exemption to anti-discrimination laws allowing people to be turned away because of who they are would be a remarkable turning point and incredibly harmful. While this case targets LGBTQ+ people and same-sex couples who seek to marry, a new free speech defense to businesses providing service without discrimination could be invoked against people from all walks of life. Any ruling for 303 Creative also risks being seen by some as a green light to assert a free speech defense in other areas of law.
We remain determined to fight and forge our path forward in these precarious times for our LGBTQ+ community and all Americans’ individual and civil rights. We certainly hope the Court will come to the right conclusion in this case, affirm decades of precedent, and issue a ruling upholding our anti-discrimination laws. But no matter how the Court rules, it is crucial for us all to reaffirm that every individual, regardless of who we are or whom we love, deserves the fundamental freedom to go about our daily lives and access the goods and services we need without discrimination.
Americans Strongly Support Nondiscrimination Protections
80% of Americans support anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people, including in public accommodations. A substantial majority, 65%, oppose allowing businesses to use religion as a basis for denying service to LGBTQ+ people. 了解更多.
Read GLAD’s brief in 303 Creative, developed with Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and also joined by HRC and the Task Force.
Defending LGBTQ+ Inclusion and the Freedom to Learn in Our Public Schools
Public schools are under attack in the US
Spurred on by extremist politicians, a small but vocal minority is seeking to undo schools as student-centered places where young people are safe and engaged in learning what they need to succeed in life — under the banner of “parents’ rights.” In addition to putting students at risk, these efforts seek to extend the parental preferences of some into every classroom and add to the already heavy burden borne by the teachers and other professionals who work tirelessly every day to support and educate kids.
At least 177 bills have been introduced in state legislatures this session, many of which also explicitly or implicitly target LGBTQ+ and other vulnerable students for exclusion and surveillance or making them invisible, such as with “CRT” bans. These bills are part of a coordinated, national effort at work in New England, too. In Maine, for instance, we have already opposed 18 different bills targeting education, with more to come, while also supporting counselor/social worker to student confidentiality and rulemaking addressing discrimination. In Rhode Island, we’ve seen at least nine such bills. Fortunately, the efforts of GLAD, our state partners, pro-equality legislators, and community members have been able to slow or stop most of these bills in New England, but we are not done and cannot let our guard down.
These bills run the gamut. Some attempt to police what books are available in school or classroom libraries, stifling student learning and denying them the opportunities for discovery and to see themselves and their families and friends represented. Many of the bills attempt to micromanage curriculum, even when already locally approved with public input, by insisting that teachers must accommodate parental preferences and allow broad opt-outs from whatever a particular parent might believe is “divisive” or against their values. Some would ban schools from using different names, nicknames, or pronouns at school and require monitoring of students for “changes” that must then be reported to parents, with parents obtaining a private right to sue to enforce this vague requirement. Still others aim to censor discussion of any topics related to race or sex, including sexual orientation and gender identity, restricting students’ ability to learn a fuller picture of American history and values, develop critical thinking skills, and learn to take their places in our democracy. In the end, schools are student-centered for a reason: Schools are for young people. The information parents want is also largely available from the school or school system website, the child’s school account, from talking with teachers and state, and from existing information required to be provided to parents under state and federal laws.
In addition to making the case to the people’s representatives as they seek to make or change laws, GLAD, along with the ACLU of NH, Disability Rights Center — NH, and the National Educators Association — NH chapter, is in court continuing to challenge a related New Hampshire law that vaguely defines race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity as “divisive concepts,” discouraging teachers from saying anything that might imperil their teaching licenses, all to the detriment of students. School district DEI professionals in New Hampshire report that the law is causing confusion and fear for teachers, stifling teaching on essential topics, and creating greater isolation for students. A federal judge denied the state’s motion to dismiss our lawsuit in January because of its inevitable connection to teacher censorship, saying, “Given the severe consequences that teachers face if they are found to have taught or advocated a banned concept, plaintiffs have pleaded a plausible claim that the amendments are unconstitutionally vague.”
Beyond restrictions on class materials and discussion, another dangerous trend is gaining a troubling amount of traction this year – bills and targeted litigation aimed at forcing schools to “out” LGBTQ+ students and cutting them off from the support of trusted adults they rely on at school.
In New England, we’ve directly contested these bills in Maine, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire and are working with our state partners to stop them.
In New Hampshire, GLAD and our coalition partners narrowly but soundly defeated such a bill in May. SB 272 purposely singled out transgender and gender nonconforming youth to be surveilled and reported on by school staff, including any request to use a different name or pronoun, change in a student’s gender presentation, or attendance at a GSA meeting. With the bill’s defeat, New Hampshire has affirmed that schools should be a space of safety for LGBTQ+ students and that they can have conversations with their families when they are ready to do so. In Maine, we are also working with partners and providing extensive legal background explaining how these bills, if passed, would disrupt or deny the legally acknowledged obligations of schools to manage their learning environments and of students’ rights to equal educational opportunity. In Rhode Island, we have likewise joined with partners to speak out against several bills that threaten schools and teachers with penalties for not complying with vague requirements to allow virtually any individual parent to dictate school lesson plans, as well as bills aimed at removing teachers’ and school staff’s ability to support LGBTQ+ students in school.
To be clear, we support parents and their involvement in schools. A strong parent-child relationship is a lifelong protective factor. But these bills use the language of “parents’ rights” to impose specific parental preferences on how public schools operate their day-to-day activities and meet their obligation to support and provide an equal education for all students.
照片由性别光谱收藏提供
We are also working to defend positive school policies in the courts. GLAD and ACLU-NH filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the New Hampshire Supreme Court in Doe v. Manchester School District, supporting a lower court ruling upholding the district’s policy of supporting transgender students. That policy includes referring to students by their requested names and pronouns and maintaining student privacy when appropriate. Our brief notes the school’s legal obligation to ensure students can learn no matter who they are and their right to control the learning environment to do so. The brief also cites substantial research showing that a positive school climate that fosters a sense of safety, belonging, and respect is optimal for learning. Lawsuits like these show that some parents, despite asserting parental rights, seek to have the school insert itself into family relationships with “outing” and reporting to parents on student behavior at school.
As GLAD Attorney Chris Erchull explained, “Forcing schools to disclose information against a student’s wishes takes away a trusted source of support from transgender and gender nonconforming students and shuts down the opportunity for an important, voluntary conversation between the child and parent when the student is ready.” GLAD is also engaged in the pending 1st Circuit case, Foote v. Ludlow Public Schools, raising many of the same issues. 阅读我们的 Ludlow brief here.
GLAD submitted a friend-of-the-court brief with the Massachusetts Superintendents Association in the District Court, which dismissed the case in December. GLAD will continue its involvement at the First Circuit, where the question remains whether the parents have adequately alleged facts to make a legal claim so that they can proceed with the litigation and try to prove their case of a violation of their rights. All rulings in this legal area are consequential. Parents and schools can and should be natural allies when it comes to ensuring students are safe, protected, and able to learn what they need to succeed in life. The current wave of attacks on schools, libraries, and LGBTQ+ students is only creating false conflicts between parents and schools at a time when we should all be focused on ensuring that every young person, including LGBTQ+ youth, can learn and thrive in a safe environment while at school.
Healthcare Bans are an Attack on Our Community’s Well-being, Decision-making, and Freedom
“Taking away our opportunity to help our daughter live a healthy and happy life is cruel and unfair.”
The quotes on this page are all from Florida parents GLAD represents in Doe诉拉达波案 challenging a policy, first enacted by the state Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine codified in SB 254, that bans them from meeting essential healthcare needs for their transgender children. GLAD’s Senior Director of Transgender and Queer Rights, Jennifer Levi, was in federal court in Tallahassee on May 19 asking the judge to halt the ban and stop the unimaginable cruelty and distress these families face because they can’t access the healthcare they need.
In the ongoing campaign against LGBTQ+ rights, extremist forces are pushing for discriminatory legislation that specifically targets vulnerable members of our community, particularly LGBTQ+ youth and their families. One of the most alarming aspects of this campaign is the banning and, in some cases, criminalizing of safe and effective medical care for transgender youth.
“This ban puts me and other parents in the nightmare position of not being able to help our child when they need us most.”
As of May 2023, at least 19 states (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia) have implemented these policies.
These bans disregard scientific evidence, representing an unjustified intrusion into personal and family medical decision-making. They contradict established guidelines based on extensive clinical research and are endorsed by esteemed medical associations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Doctors with expertise in treating the distress experienced by transgender youth unable to live authentically, as well as parents who witness the positive transformation in their transgender children when supported, widely criticize these bans.
“Having the resources and support to make the best decisions for our daughter’s wellbeing has been so important for our family. We just want to do what’s right for our kid.”
GLAD is challenging the bans in Florida and Alabama, arguing that they unlawfully deprive parents of their right to make decisions about their children’s medical treatment and violate the equal protection rights of transgender youth by denying them essential, doctor-recommended healthcare.
In fact, LGBTQ+ legal organizations are contesting these policies in nearly every state where they have been passed.
Encouragingly, even judges in the most conservative communities have recognized the unconstitutional nature of these bans, which infringe upon parents’ rights to make informed healthcare choices for their children and unfairly target transgender adolescents. Although litigation is ongoing, judges have issued temporary injunctions against these bans in Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, and Oklahoma and permanently blocked the ban in Arkansas.
Senior Director of Transgender and Queer Rights Jennifer Levi and Human Rights Campaign Litigation Director Cynthia Cheng-Wun Weaver
Last spring, GLAD helped secure a federal judge’s ruling in Alabama that blocked implementing the state’s criminal ban while the case moves forward. As we prepare for an anticipated trial, this injunction remains in effect.
In Florida, our motion for a preliminary injunction to halt the ban became more urgent when the state legislature passed SB 254 at the end of the session. This new law codifies the Boards of Medicine bans and adds criminal and civil penalties.
On June 6, a federal judge issued a strong ruling that blocks the enforcement of SB 254 and the Boards of Medicine rules for the plaintiff families, ensuring that their children can continue to access needed care.
The ruling also makes it clear that the law is unconstitutional and that the plaintiffs are likely to prevail once the Court issues a final ruling on the merits. It says powerfully that the ban violates parents’ rights to make medical decisions for their children and violates the equal protection rights of transgender people by denying them medically necessary, doctor-recommended healthcare.
Halting and overturning these harmful laws is crucial to safe-guarding access to essential healthcare and ensuring that parents of transgender youth can continue to provide guidance and support. It is also vital in countering the spread of misinformation, anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, and attacks on scientific knowledge and bodily autonomy, which aim to hinder progress.
“Our daughter is a happy, confident child, but this ban takes away our right to provide her with recommended healthcare.”
While LGBTQ+ community members and advocates are diligently working to halt these laws and provide support through mutual aid and information sharing, several states are also taking positive steps. As of May 2023, ten states—California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Vermont, and Washington— and the District of Columbia have enacted laws that protect transgender people’s access to healthcare. These laws include provisions to shield patients and providers from punitive measures in other states.
Additionally, bills addressing similar concerns are pending in Maine, Oregon, and elsewhere. These efforts reflect the widespread recognition of these healthcare bans for what they truly are: attacks on science, our families, our autonomy over our bodies, and our freedom and dignity. All of us — LGBTQ+ youth, adults, parents and families, supporters, and sensible policymakers — must join forces to reverse this backward trend and instead propel our nation toward greater liberation for all.
Visit www.GLAD.org for more on GLAD’s challenges to healthcare bans and other anti-LGBTQ+ laws and information on which states have passed healthcare shield laws. If you have questions about your situation or are experiencing issues with healthcare access, 联系 GLAD Answers.
Title IX Ensures Inclusion for Transgender Youth In School and on the Field
All students deserve an equal education and to participate fully in school life. This includes the opportunity to play on school sports teams. Not only are sports beneficial for young people’s physical and mental health, but they also provide the opportunity to develop crucial skills like cooperation, leadership, confidence, and self-respect.
For the vast majority of youth, including transgender youth, school sports are about playing on a team with their friends, experiencing a sense of belonging and sportsmanship, and building confidence that comes from developing their game.
摄影：Alyssa Ledesma
Young people shouldn’t have to fight for their right to be included. But transgender youth like Sarah Huckman from New Hampshire, who loves to ski and run track, and Lane Joslin, a high schooler from Maine who loves to play soccer, have had to testify repeatedly against school sports bans in their states. They are making a difference for all transgender youth, and we’re honored to help them along the way.
Sarah HuckmanLane Joslin
While we’ve fortunately been able to stop bans on transgender youth participation in school sports in New Hampshire and Maine, sports bans have passed in 21 states across the country, and state legislatures have introduced at least 71 bills that target transgender athletes this session. The U.S. House also voted to pass a federal ban, HR734. While we expect it will fail in the Senate, the fact that such a discriminatory bill made it to Congress is alarming.
Anti-transgender sports bans harm transgender students, counter important efforts to create supportive school environments, and send a terrible message to all students. They also violate federal civil rights law.
In April of this year, the Department of Education issued a draft rule affirming that Title IX of the Civil Rights Act — our federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education — requires the inclusion of transgender students in school sports.
The rule specifically:
Prohibits policies restricting the ability of transgender students to participate in school sports in elementary and middle school and would permit such policies in high school only in rare circumstances and at highly competitive levels.
Prohibits categorical bans of transgender athletes at any level, including colleges and universities.
Presumes that any restriction on transgender students is invalid and puts a high burden on the government or school proposing the restriction to justify any exception based on specific, demonstrable, and essential educational objectives. Under the rule, the following justifications could not be used as reasons to exclude transgender students: anti-transgender bias, stereotypes, or unsupported assertions that transgender women and girls have a competitive advantage over non-transgender women and girls.
The 30-day public comment period on this proposed rule has ended, and we anticipate the Department of Education to issue the final rule by the fall. In anticipation of its release, you can read our comment and a fact sheet on the proposed rule on our website.
Many of the state laws barring transgender girls from playing on girls’ teams are already being challenged in court as violations of Title IX, and this rule strengthens those challenges. It also provides clear affirmation and guidance to states and schools that have maintained inclusive policies and will hopefully help stop further bans from being adopted. But we know it won’t make these harmful laws disappear overnight.
Our work must continue to ensure that transgender youth — and all LGBTQ+ youth — are included and can thrive in all areas of life. That’s what young people deserve, and it’s what GLAD has fought for, for decades.
Excluding one group of people because they are different sets a bad example that has no place in our schools. An educational environment is at its best when kids learn to embrace difference and create unity across identities. In an ever-diversifying country, learning how to be part of a team with different types of people is an essential life skill. We’ll keep using all the tools we have in the courts and beyond to build a system that prioritizes the well-being of all young people.
青年倡导者 partners with young people and their adult allies to champion youth rights to bodily autonomy and build power to transform policies, programs and systems to secure sexual health and equity for all youth.
AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts is New England’s largest provider of services to people living with HIV/AIDS and populations at risk of infection.
Athlete Ally educates athletic communities at all levels — sport governing bodies, teams, and individual athletes — to understand obstacles to inclusion for LGBTQ people in sports and how they can build inclusive communities on their teams or within their organizations.
Big Sister Association of Greater Boston‘s mission is to ignite girls’ passion and power to succeed through positive mentoring relationships with women and enrichment programs that support girls’ healthy development.
Bisexual Resource Center works to connect the bi+ community and help its members thrive through resources, support, and celebration.
Boston Children’s Hospital is committed to providing comprehensive and affirming treatment to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) patients and families. They are enhancing the health of LGBTQ+ patients and families by understanding and addressing the gaps in their care, while creating a welcoming hospital environment inclusive of the entire LGBTQ+ community.
波士顿艾滋病青少年服务提供者和同伴教育网络（HAPPENS） provides services to youth ages 12 to 24 years who are HIV positive or at risk for the disease and other sexually transmitted diseases. HAPPENS offers free HIV counseling and testing for young adults ages 13 and older, and free sexual transmitted infections and viral hepatitis testing for young adults ages 13 to 24.
Boston Mobilization develops and empowers teen leaders for social justice. Through popular education, community organizing and connecting across difference, our teen leaders move local communities toward justice.
Bridge provides effective and innovative services to runaway, homeless and high-risk youth, helps youth avoid a lifetime of dependency on social services, guides youth towards self-sufficiency, and enables youth to transform their lives and build fulfilling, meaningful futures.
科拉奇 unites people with one or more lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and/or asexual parent into a network of peers and supports them as they nurture and empower each other to be skilled, self-confident, and just leaders in our collective communities.
芬威健康 is committed to providing high quality, culturally competent care and services to all of our patients, including trans and gender diverse youth. They also conduct research and education and engage in advocacy to expand care for and protect the rights of trans and gender diverse youth across the United States.
GLSEN (Gay Lesbian, Straight Education Network) ensures that every member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
GSA Network is a next-generation LGBTQ racial and gender justice organization that empowers and trains queer, trans and allied youth leaders to advocate, organize, and mobilize an intersectional movement for safer schools and healthier communities.
History Unerased encourages confidence in delivering LGBT and other erased histories through the mentoring and support of educators — by educators.
Human Rights Campaign (HRC) envisions a world where every member of the LGBTQ+ family has the freedom to live their truth without fear, and with equality under the law.
Home to Hope provides targeted outreach, support, and advocacy services for unaccompanied homeless LGBTQ youth and young adults, and training to those working with youth. Using teams of peers, they connect with youth and young adults (ages 13-24) on the street and in community spaces. With a growing network of collaborators, they support homeless youth and young adults as they seek health and stability.
NAGLY is a place where youth can discuss issues of importance to them, explore their identities, build self-awareness, and learn skills for being safe and healthy. Through group building and community service opportunities, the youth and staff at NAGLY have created a strong community that promotes respect for self and for others.
It Gets Better Project uplifts, empowers, and connects lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) youth around the globe.
LGBT National Helpline provides vital peer support, community connections, and resource information. Their services focus on sexual orientation and/or gender identity and expression.
LGBT National Youth Talkline provides a confidential safe space where callers of any age can speak about sexual orientation or gender identity/expression issues. This includes coming out issues, relationship concerns, family, bullying, school issues, HIV/AIDS anxiety, safer sex information, suicide, and much more.
马萨诸塞州 LGBTQ 青年委员会 advises others in state government on effective policies, programs, and resources for LGBTQ youth.
Out Now is a LGBTQ+ youth group dedicated to promoting health & well-being, self-determination, and community building through anti-oppression organizing and peer support. They provide a safe space for queer youth & allies who are 22 and under to learn about themselves, develop lasting friendships and leadership skills, explore LGBTQ+ history, and so much more.
OUT MetroWest builds communities where LGBTQ+ youth thrive. Their free programs connect LGBTQ+ youth with supportive peers and LGBTQ+ adult role models.
亲友会 is the first and largest organization dedicated to supporting, educating, and advocating for LGBTQ+ people and their families.
Queer Youth Assemble is a queer youth-led nonprofit serving queer youth under 25 in the US.
Safe Homes is a program supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people, and their straight allies, between the ages of 14 and 23. The group is led by youth peer leaders, professional staff, and volunteers who offer support, resources, and opportunities for socialization in a safe and nurturing environment.
人人享有安全学校 is a coalition of LGBTQ+ supporting organizations that shares information on how rights of LGBTQ+ students in schools.
SAYFTEE is a socially conscious group practice offering a range of services including family therapy, individual therapy, couple/relationship therapy, groups, workshops, training, consultation, and supervision.
Silver Lining Mentoring empowers youth in foster care to thrive through committed mentoring relationships and the development of essential life skills. We are one of only a few mentoring organizations in the country exclusively focused on youth impacted by foster care.
Student Immigrant Movement (SIM) has been committed to empowering immigrant students through advocacy, training, mobilizing, and organizing. They welcome all young people regardless of immigration status who support their mission to get involved.
特雷弗计划’s mission is to end suicide among LGBTQ young people.
Thrive at CIGSYA (The Cape & Islands Gay & Straight Youth Alliance) is a community-based alliance of young people from fourteen to twenty-two that exists to improve the lives of LGBTIQQS (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, questioning and straight) youth on Cape Cod and the Islands by addressing key risk factors such as the self hate, isolation and fear, which are often prevalent in their lives.
Trans Athlete is a resource for students, athletes, coaches, and administrators to find information about trans inclusion in athletics at various levels of play.
跨性别生命线 connects trans people to the community support and resources they need to survive and thrive.
Voices of Liberation is dedicated to empowering youth to change their lives and the conditions of their communities through education, coalition building, organizing and direct action.
Waltham House – The Home for Little Wanderers is the first residential group home in New England designed specifically for LGBTQ+ youth, and was among the first of its kind in the nation when it opened in 2002. Its founding principles are that every child deserves to live in an environment in which they feel safe, respected, supported and cared for by those around them.
青年骄傲公司‘s mission is to meet the unique, ongoing needs of LGBTQ+ youth and young adults through direct service, support, advocacy, and education.
Today, at the start of Pride month, we celebrate our families in all the beautiful, diverse ways they are formed.
GLAD’s longstanding commitment to ensuring our relationships and families are equal under the law has led to pivotal advances in family equality – and as LGBTQ+ families face heightened bias and discrimination, our work to protect our rights and provide legal security is as urgent as ever.
We have led the way in updating outdated laws that leave children of LGBTQ+ families vulnerable across New England based on the model legislation, the Uniform Parentage Act.
康涅狄格州： On June 1, 2021, we celebrated the signing of the 康涅狄格州亲子关系法 – the most comprehensive updates to parentage law to date! We now continue to innovate in the Constitution state with advocacy for a bill to ensure insurance coverage for fertility care includes LGBTQ+ and single people, and that HUSKY Health covers fertility care.
马萨诸塞州： We are working with a powerful coalition of families and organizations to pass the 马萨诸塞州亲子法 (HD 1713/SD 947). The bill updates the state’s parentage law so that it is clear, equitable, and provides legal protection for all families, including LGBTQ+ families. Take action to pass this critical legislation.
Maine: We advocated for the Maine Parentage Act of 2016 and advanced protections in Maine last year by expanding access to a simple, accessible form called a 自愿承认亲子关系 – a powerful, inclusive way for a parent to affirm their relationship when their child is born. That work continues this year with a bill that would streamline confirmatory adoptions, making it easier, quicker, and less expensive for LGBTQ+ parents to confirm their legal parentage so that they and their children are protected wherever their families move or travel. LD 1906 was just voted favorably out of committee earlier this week.
New Hampshire: We championed efforts to update laws that recognize parents through streamlined adoption processes. In 2020, we advocated for a bill that fills significant legal gaps and makes the security of parentage accessible to more children and families. Confirmatory adoption creates a straightforward way for parents to adopt their own children without lengthy, expensive, and invasive home visits and outdated adoption practices.
Rhode Island: In July 2020, we celebrated the momentous signing of the 罗德岛州统一亲子法 as part of a coalition of local families and organizations. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, we updated parentage laws that were over 40 years old. That work continues this year with a bill that would streamline confirmatory adoptions, making it easier, quicker, and less expensive for LGBTQ+ parents to confirm their legal parentage so that they and their children are protected wherever their families move or travel. The state senate passed S0121 last month, and the House is currently considering its counterpart, H 5226.
佛蒙特： We spearheaded updates to Vermont’s outdated laws with the Vermont Parentage Act of 2017. This year, Vermont also passed two shield laws, HB 89 and SB 37, which create the most comprehensive protections to date for both providers and seekers of transgender healthcare, as well as reproductive care.
We have made powerful progress toward equality, but LGBTQ+ families around the country are facing increasing risks. Extremists have filed hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ bills and recent state court actions combined with outdated parentage laws are creating serious hardships for LGBTQ+ parents and their kids. We must continue the work to ensure that our families can not only be safe and protected – but thrive.
That’s why we worked with the Movement Advancement Project in collaboration with COLAGE, Family Equality, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights to release a new report today – on LGBTQ Families Day – on the state of parentage laws across the country.
This report shows how our current patchwork of parentage laws—many of which haven’t been updated in decades—leaves LGBTQ+ parents and their children vulnerable. But it also offers a path forward, highlighting states that have taken crucial steps to update their parentage laws in recent years, like Connecticut, Colorado, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, and highlights states – like Massachusetts – where legislation is currently pending.
We are also proud to join with Mombian, the founder of LGBTQ Families Day, to launch a new resource to help LGBTQ+ parents navigate paths to ensuring legal protections for their families: LGBTQ 获得父母身份保障的途径.
In the face of current threats to equality, we will fiercely defend our community, tirelessly advocate for legislation that protects our relationships, and celebrate our beautiful families with Pride.
The National Center for Lesbian Rights, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), and The Trevor Project – along with the National Education Association and more than a dozen other organizations – have submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Education supporting its proposed rule requiring equal treatment of transgender students in school sports under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. In addition to the National Education Association, the coalition of organizations includes Family Equality, the Los Angeles LGBT Center, and SAGE.
The comments commend the Department for affirming that Title IX prohibits discrimination against transgender students in school sports, noting the urgency of creating clear federal policy in the face of the unlawful bans proliferating in many states. The proposed rule states that any policy that categorically bans transgender girls or women from playing on girls’ or women’s sports teams, or that prohibits transgender boys or men from playing on boys or men’s sports teams, is prohibited.
“We applaud the Department of Education for drafting a rule that protects transgender students from discrimination and ensures their equal inclusion in school sports,” said NCLR Federal Policy Director Juliana S. Gonen.
“With so many states adopting policies that exclude transgender athletes in violation of Title IX, it is urgent the Department of Education finalizes its rule that makes clear transgender students must be given full and equal inclusion in school sports programs,” said GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders Senior Director of Transgender and Queer Rights Jennifer Levi.
“Following the wave of anti-transgender state laws we’ve witnessed that prohibit trans young people from participating in school sports, it is crucial that the Department of Education reject these discriminatory policies and stand firmly in support of trans students with this rule. No young person should be denied the opportunity to be part of a team simply because of who they are,” said Kasey Suffredini (he/him), Vice President of Advocacy and Government Affairs at The Trevor Project.
Earlier this year, NCLR and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defender (GLAD) jointly produced a fact sheet explaining the proposed rule and its protection of transgender students in school sports under Title IX.
NCLR has filed lawsuits challenging state laws banning transgender students from school sports in 犹他州 和 亚利桑那.
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