AuthorCasey Quinlan

The number of openly LGBTQ people in elected office is set to surpass 1,000 by the time the LGBTQ candidates who secured seats on school boards and city councils and judicial positions across the country on Tuesday take office in the new year. That’s the highest number of LGBTQ officials in office ever, according to the LGBTQ Victory Fund, a political action committee that seeks to increase...

On Nov. 1, the LGBTQ legal rights organization Lambda Legal announced that the Justice Department and the Social Security Administration had cleared the way for LGBTQ people to collect Social Security survivors benefits they had previously been denied because of bans on same-sex marriage. Lambda declared victory after years of effort, including lawsuits it filed in 2018 on behalf of partners and...

The federal government should make policy moves to protect the rights of intersex people, especially intersex youth, who are often put through physically and psychologically harmful medical procedures as children, experts say — and the Biden administration can take the lead. Along with interACT, an organization that advocates for the rights of intersex youth, the Center for American Progress...

Parents, community members, and political figures in a number of states have recently attacked books with LGBTQ themes and demanded they be pulled from school libraries. It’s part of a larger effort to spread anti-LGBTQ messages, associate LGBTQ topics exclusively with “pornography,” and create islands of conservative thought within schools, experts say. Those complaining about...

A transgender woman could receive the first ever gender-affirming surgery provided by the Federal Bureau of Prisons if her court case, currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, is successful. On Tuesday, the court heard Cristina Nichole Iglesias’ testimony in favor of a preliminary injunction, which would allow health care professionals with...

Texas is barreling toward passing a statewide ban on transgender athletes playing on sports teams that correspond with their gender identity. If passed, Texas would become the tenth state in the country to enact such a ban, and the ninth state to enact a ban just this year. Texas House lawmakers passed the bill, H.B. 25, by a 76-54 vote on Thursday night after many hours of debate. Under the...

Republican members of the House on Oct. 12 introduced a bill that would prevent transgender veterans from accessing gender-affirming surgeries. The bill, H.R. 5553, is sponsored by Rep. Jack Bergman of Michigan. The legislation would “prohibit the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from providing or paying for surgical treatment related to gender transition.” Under previous...

A Florida lawmaker is trying to make it a criminal offense for doctors to provide gender-affirming health care to transgender youth. Last month, Republican state Rep. Anthony Sabatini introduced a bill that would make it a misdemeanor for health care providers to give gender-affirming care — such as administering hormone therapy and puberty blockers — to minors. If the bill becomes law, Florida...

The Biden administration has indicated it is open to making it easier for transgender and nonbinary people to get accurate gender markers on their identification across all federal agencies, civil rights advocates said Tuesday. Arli Christian, campaign strategist for the American Civil Liberties Union’s national political advocacy department, said the administration is willing to consider...

Glenn Youngkin, the Republican nominee in the Virginia governor’s race, spent Saturday night at an event hosted by an anti-LGBTQ political group based in Virginia. The gala was hosted by the Family Foundation, a Richmond, Virginia-based group with a long history of anti-LGBTQ activism. Kayleigh McEnany, the former White House press secretary, was a keynote speaker at the event...