Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-02-22
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

HRC condemns North Dakota House for latest "Slate of Hate" targeting trans, non-binary people
--From a press release
2023-02-22

This article shared 1101 times since Wed Feb 22, 2023
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email


Bismarck, ND - Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization, denounced members of the North Dakota House for passing another round of anti-LGBTQ+ bills that target both transgender youth and adults in the state. The bill that passed today — HB 1522— comes in addition to other anti-transgender bills that advanced yesterday and late last week. Together, these five bills represent an unconscionable, targeted attack on transgender and non-binary North Dakotans, aimed at preventing them from simply living as their authentic selves for no reason at all, other than discrimination. The bills in this latest series, which will now head to the Senate, include:

HB 1522, passed today, forbids transgender students from using a school restroom consistent with their gender identity and prohibits schools from requiring respectful pronoun use for students.

HB 1473, passed yesterday, prohibits transgender individuals from using restrooms and showers in domestic violence shelters, correctional facilities, and university dormitories consistent with their gender identity.

HB 1474, passed Friday, requires that individuals be identified by their assigned sex at birth in all forms of state data collection, regardless of a person's gender identity.

HB 1254, passed Friday, prohibits doctors from providing gender affirming care to transgender youth, while allowing cisgender youth in need of similar treatment for other issues to continue to receive that care.

HB 1297, passed Friday, prevents a transgender individual from being able to change the gender marker on their birth certificate.

The North Dakota House also passed ( www.hrc.org/press-releases/human-rights-campaign-condemns-wyoming-lawmakers-for-another-round-of-attacks-on-transgender-youth-2 ) two pieces of legislation on February 15 that, if signed into law, will prohibit transgender students from playing school sports consistent with their gender identity, applying to all K-12 levels and higher education institutions.

The above legislation is the result of ongoing far-right pressure placed upon lawmakers, spearheaded by political extremists and disinformation campaigns on social media and other platforms. These are merely a few of the hundreds of bills being pushed by national anti-LGBTQ+ organizations across dozens of states.

In response, Cathryn Oakley, HRC's State Legislative Director and Senior Counsel released the following statement:

"The cruelty that is echoing from the North Dakota House is truly harming transgender and non-binary people. While lawmakers in Bismarck could be focusing on addressing the real issues facing North Dakotans, they are instead advancing a slate of hate aimed to drive transgender people back into the closet. The legislation that the House has passed is both terrifying and outrageous: it prohibits kids from receiving age-appropriate, medically necessary health care simply because they're transgender, puts transgender people at risk of additional discrimination by making it harder to obtain identity documents that reflect who they really are, and forces them to use sex-segregated spaces where they will experience harassment and potentially violence. The need to write discrimination and bigotry into public law is clearly top of mind for these politicians over any real issue. We ask the North Dakota Senate to reject these attempts that blatantly perpetuate outdated anti-LGBTQ+ tropes and stigma steeped in fear and misinformation."

In a coordinated push led by national anti-LGBTQ+ groups, which deployed vintage discriminatory tropes, politicians in state houses across the country introduced a record 315 discriminatory anti-LGBTQ+ bills in 2022. The majority of the discriminatory bills targeted the transgender and non-binary community, with the majority targeting children receiving the brunt of discriminatory legislation. Anti-transgender legislation took several forms, including bills aimed to prevent transgender youth from playing school sports consistent with their gender identity and bills to prevent transgender and non-binary youth from receiving life-saving, medically-necessary gender-affirming healthcare.

Less than two months into 2023, HRC is already tracking 340 anti-LGBTQ+ bills that have been introduced in statehouses across the country. 150 of those would specifically restrict the rights of transgender people, the highest number of bills targeting transgender people in a single year to date.

So far this year, HRC is tracking:

90 bills that would prevent trans youth from being able to access age-appropriate, medically-necessary, best-practice health care; two have already become law, in Utah and South Dakota,

More bathroom ban bills filed than in any previous year,

And 28 anti-LGBTQ+ bills which have passed at least one chamber, 10 of which are specifically anti-trans.

Nearly 1 in 5 of any type of hate crime is now motivated by anti-LGBTQ+ bias and the last two years have been the deadliest for transgender people, especially Black transgender women, we have seen since we began tracking fatal violence against the community. Reports of violence and intimidation against LGBTQ+ people have been making news across the country — with white nationalists targeting a Pride event in Idaho and Proud Boys crashing Drag Queen story hours at local libraries to shout homophobic and transphobic slurs. Finally, anti-LGBTQ+ stigma also drives alarmingly high rates of depression, anxiety and suicide. 45% of LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, but LGBTQ+ youth who have at least one accepting adult in their life were 40% less likely to attempt suicide.

The Human Rights Campaign is America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ+ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.


This article shared 1101 times since Wed Feb 22, 2023
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Baldwin leads 22 colleagues in calling on FDA to end discriminatory blood donation policy
2023-03-24
--From a press release - WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) has headed up a group of 22 colleagues in sending a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf expressing support for the agency's ...


Gay News

Iowa, Georgia ban medical treatment for trans minors
2023-03-24
Two more states have enacted laws that prohibit medical treatment for transgender minors. On March 22, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed two bills into law that affect transgender minors in the state, NBC News reported. Senate ...


Gay News

World Athletics Council: Trans women banned from track-and-field competition
2023-03-24
The World Athletics Council has barred transgender women from competing in elite female competitions if they have gone through male puberty, ESPN reported. Organization president Sebastian Coe said at a press conference that the decision was ...


Gay News

Mayoral candidate forum centers BIPOC LGBTQ+ issues, Vallas declines to participate
2023-03-23
Chicago mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson participated in a March 22 virtual LGBTQ+-focused forum co-hosted by Affinity Community Services (Affinity), Association of Latinos/as/xs Motivating Action (ALMA) Chicago ...


Gay News

Utah bans conversion therapy
2023-03-23
On March 22, Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a bill that bans licensed professionals from practicing conversion therapy—the discredited practice that attempts to turn LGBTQ+ people heterosexual—on minors, Q ...


Gay News

US Bishops' statement limits trans health care in Catholic health care facilities, DignityUSA responds
2023-03-22
--From a DignityUSA press release - On March 20, 2023, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Doctrine released a policy statement on how Catholic medical institutions should treat transgender and nonbinary people. Entitled "Doctrinal Note on the Moral Limits to ...


Gay News

ELECTIONS 2023 Mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson discusses religion, LGBTQ+ issues, holistic approach
2023-03-22
Chicago mayoral candidates Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas seem to have little in common. Johnson, a Cook County commissioner, has embraced a more progressive platform that employs everything from a more holistic approach to crime to ...


Gay News

More than thirty-five LGBTQ+ leaders endorse Brandon Johnson for mayor of Chicago
2023-03-22
--From a press release - CHICAGO, IL — More than thirty-five LGBTQ+ community leaders are united in their support for Brandon Johnson for Mayor in Chicago's runoff election, representing the city's business, philanthropic, academic, civic ...


Gay News

N.Y. attorney general hosts Drag Story Hour
2023-03-21
On March 19, New York Attorney General Letitia James—along with a coalition of advocacy organizations and elected leaders—hosted a first-of-its-kind Drag Story Hour Read-A-Thon for families in New York City, per a press release from her ...


Gay News

Kentucky lawmakers pass anti-trans youth bill; governor plans to veto measure
2023-03-20
In Kentucky, Republican lawmakers passed a bill that bans minors from receiving gender-affirming care, lets educators refuse to refer to trans students by their preferred pronouns and would not allow schools to discuss sexual orientation or ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ 'Black Adam,' Cyndi Lauper, Sondheim, Oscars, OutFest
2023-03-18
Cultured Magazine recently profiled Quintessa Swindell—who became the first out, non-binary actor to play a lead superhero in the DC universe when they portrayed Cyclone in the 2022 movie Black Adam. Swindell grew up in Virginia ...


Gay News

WORLD German bishops, trans woman's death, Hungary, human-rights event
2023-03-18
Germany's Catholic bishops voted (38 to nine, with 11 abstentions) to adopt formal ceremonies for the blessing of same-sex relationships, defying the Vatican and testing church unity on what has become one of the most contentious ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Ritchie Torres, N.J. towns, Karine Jean-Pierre, Tennessee items
2023-03-18
New York Congressman Ritchie Torres has talked about his own struggle with depression and the importance of mental health in the wake of U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.)'s recent hospitalization for clinical depression, The Washington Blade ...


Gay News

Opera Preview: Life of gay World War II hero Alan Turing transformed into a world-premiere opera
2023-03-17
It has taken a decade for The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing to grow from an idea into a full- fledged opera. Chicago Opera Theater stages the world premiere of composer Justine F. Chen and ...


Gay News

Johnson and Vallas to take part in LGBTQ+-focused candidate forum March 22
2023-03-17
Affinity Community Services (Affinity), Association of Latinos/as/xs Motivating Action (ALMA) Chicago, Brave Space Alliance, Chicago Black Gay Men's Caucus, Life is Work and Task Force Chicago are co-hosting a virtual ...


 




Copyright © 2023 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives. Single copies of back issues in print form are
available for $4 per issue, older than one month for $6 if available,
by check to the mailing address listed below.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.
All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transegender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.