News
Knives out for Buttigieg in debate as LGBTQ issues finally come up
Five takeaways on the Democratic candidates last 2019 foray

Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-South Bend, Ind.) speaks at a Democratic primary presidential debate on Dec. 19. (Photo courtesy of PBS News Hour/POLITICO)
Climate change, health care — and for the first time this year in a substantive way, LGBTQ issues — were major topics during the Democratic debate Thursday night, when seven candidates squared off on stage for the last time in 2019 and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg found himself the target of criticism.
In no particular order, here’s five takeaways from the PBS/Politico debate, which took place in Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University’s Gersten Pavilion.
The seven candidates on stage along with Buttigieg were entrepreneur Andrew Yang, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), former Vice President Joseph Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and businessperson Tom Steyer.
1. Lower-tier candidates had their moment
With the number of candidates on the debate stage winnowed down to seven, each of the contenders on stage had a greater opportunity for speaking time, giving those considered lower tier — like Yang, Klobuchar and Steyer — their time in the sun.
Klobuchar was both energetic, forceful and engaging as she made her case for the nomination. Keeping her reputation as queen of puns in the Democratic primary, Klobuchar in response to the first question quipped, “As a wise judge said, the president is not king in America, the law is king.”
The Minnesota Democrat’s use of imagery was particularly powerful when the issue of climate change came up and she talked about the way her home state has first-hand experience with the issue.
“What we are seeing there is unprecedented flooding, we’re seeing an increase of 50 percent in homeowners’ insurance over the last few years,” Klobuchar said. “And when we make these changes, we have to make clear to people that when we put a price on carbon, that that money is going to come to back to those areas where are going to be hurt, where jobs are going to change and to make them whole with their energy bills.”
Klobuchar was able to tie that in with electability, saying when you make that case “you bring in the Midwestern votes, you win big.”
“I think the best way to do it is by putting someone at the top of the ticket who’s from the Midwest,” Klobuchar concluded.
Steyer, who has been struggling to make his case for relevancy in the Democratic primary, certainly made up for that in his debate performance when he made his case for being the best candidate to take on Trump, who’s likely to run a strong economy.
“I built a business over 30 years from scratch,” Steyer said. “We’re going to have to take him on on the economy in terms of growth as well as economic justice. We’re going to have to be able to talk about growth, prosperity across the board for everyone in America. My experience, building a business, understanding how to make that happen, means I can go toe-to-toe with Mr. Trump and take him down on the economy and expose him as a fraud and a failure.”
Yang also had some good moments, especially in response to the first question on the topic of impeachment, when he seamlessly transitioned to a changing economy.
“If your turn on cable network news today, you would think he’s our president because of some combination of Russia, racism, Facebook, Hillary Clinton and emails all mixed together,” Yang said. “But Americans around the country know different. We blasted away 4 million manufacturing jobs that were primarily based in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Missouri. I just left Iowa — we blasted 40,000 manufacturing jobs there.
“The more we act like Donald Trump is the cause of all our problems, the more Americans lose trust that we can actually see what’s going on in our communities and solve those problems,” Yang concluded.
But the extra time wasn’t always good for these candidates, especially Yang. Among other things, he made a bizarre comment his plan for a $1,000 universal monthly income would somehow have led to more candidates of color on the debate stage. Later on, he said American youth are addicted to both smartphones and drugs, drawing an odd comparison between the two.
Yang’s response to the final question, what he would give as a gift to the candidates, was a copy of his book. That ended up coming off as self-serving when other candidates offered more aspirational answers like beating President Trump in 2020 election.
2. The knives were out for Buttigieg
Buttigieg didn’t have his best night, and that’s putting it gently. He had a lot of canned answers and talking points that made him seem robotic. The only breakout moment for him was when the issue of China came up and he had a great line about the country using technology for “the perfection of dictatorship.”
On top of that, the knives were out across the stage for Buttigieg, whom many polls shows is the front-runner in the early primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire. In each instance, Buttigieg fought back aggressively, but his opponents — who are reportedly grumbling about his success given his lack of experience — knew how to draw out his weaknesses.
The first exchange took place between Buttigieg and Warren, when the Massachusetts Democrat took an oblique knock at him by saying she doesn’t raise money from wealthy donors who pay $5,000 for a selfie.
Buttigieg — who unlike Warren, is willing is hold fundraisers with major donors — picked up on that, rejecting the criticism.
“Donald Trump and his allies have it abundantly clear that they will stop at nothing, not even foreign interference to hold on to power,” Buttigieg said. “They’ve already put together more than $300 million. This is our chance. This is our only chance to defeat Donald Trump, and we shouldn’t try to do it with one-hand tied behind our back.”
But Warren twisted the knife in further, pointing out Buttigieg held a fundraiser in California in a “wine cave” full of crystals where alcohol was served for $900 a bottle.
“Think about who comes to that,” Warren said. “He had promised that every fundraiser that he would do would be open door, but this one was closed door. We made the decision many years ago that rich people in smoked-filled rooms would not pick the president of the United States. Billionaires in wine caves should not pick the next president of the United States.”
Buttigieg shoot back by saying he’s the only candidate on the stage who isn’t a millionaire or a billionaire, decrying such complaints as “purity tests” and saying if he swore off those donations he couldn’t be on the stage. Buttigieg also made it personal: “Senator, your net worth is 100 times mine.”
The exchange went on with Warren saying she doesn’t sell access to her time. Buttigieg went on to say her presidential campaign was funded in part by money she transferred after having raised money at big ticket events.
“Did it corrupt you, Senator?” Buttigieg said. “Of course not.”
Taking a different approach, Klobuchar said she was hurt by earlier comments Buttigieg made about his lack of experience being a lack of experience in Washington. To the contrary, Klobuchar said, many candidates on the debate stage accomplished a lot as representatives in the federal government.
“I have not denigrated your experience as a local official,” Klobuchar said. “I have been one. I just think you should respect our experience.”
Buttigieg responded Klobuchar had, in fact, denigrated his experience before a break in the debate by implying his relationship to the First Amendment was talking point, but he “was going to let it go because we have bigger fish to fry here.”
Klobuchar shot back, “I don’t think we have bigger fish to fry than picking a president of the United States.”
The Afghanistan war veteran wouldn’t stand for that.
“Let me tell you about my relationship to the First Amendment,” Buttigieg said. “It is part of the Constitution that I raised my right hand and swore to defend with my life. That is my experience, and it may not be the same as yours, but it counts, Senator. It counts.”
Klobuchar said she certainly respects Buttigieg’s military experience, but the election is about choosing a president.
“We should have someone heading up this ticket that has actually won and has been able to show that they can gather the support that you talk about from moderate Republicans and independents as well as a fired up Democratic base,” Klobuchar said. “And I have not just done it once, I have done it three.”
If there’s a such a thing as a gay card, Buttigieg played it.
“Do you want about the capacity to win?” Buttigieg said. “Try putting together a coalition to bring you back to office with 80 percent of the vote as a gay dude in Mike Pence’s Indiana.”
But Klobuchar pointed out Buttigieg tried before to win statewide in Indiana and couldn’t make it happen. South Bend, she said, was another matter.
“If had won in Indiana, that would be one thing,” Buttigieg said. “You tried and you lost by 20 points.”
Those weren’t the only times the debate was heated. On the issue of health care, Biden, who wants to build on Obamacare, and Sanders, who wants Medicare for All, got into a quarrel about affordability that got testy. Klobuchar came in to rescue to resolve it, saying her plan for a non-profit public option was both progressive and practical.
3. Biden showed off his foreign policy chops
In contrast to Buttigieg, Biden had inarguably his best debate performance over the course of the year. He was filled with a new energy he hadn’t exhibited before on stage and offered concrete plans for policy.
When the issue of age came up, Biden had the response he should have given in the first debate when Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) all but told him it was time to give up the torch: With experience comes wisdom.
“I’m running, because I’ve been around, on my experience,” Biden said. “With experience hopefully comes judgment and a little bit of wisdom.”
Amid media reports Biden has indicated he’d only serve one term as president, he somewhat blunted this response by refusing to commit one way or the way on stage about a second term, but it’s debatable whether that was much of a drawback.
But Biden shined the most during the debate when foreign policy came up, giving the former vice president a chance to show off his chops on his credentials on the issue.
Take for instance, the issue of China, when Biden condemns the nation for human rights abuses and offered a specific plan his audience could easily envision.
“We have to make clear is that we, in fact, are not going to abide by what they’ve done,” Biden said. “A million Uighurs, as you pointed out, are in concentration camps. That’s where they are right now. They’re being abused. They’re in concentration.”
Biden pledged to move 60 percent of U.S. seapower to the Pacific Ocean to “let, in fact, the Chinese understand that they’re not going to go any further, we are going to be other to protect other folks.”
The former vice president went on call for rebuilding alliances with South Korea, Australia and Indonesia and going to the United Nations to issue sanctions against China.
4. LGBTQ issues finally came up
After one question on LGBTQ issues had come up heretofore in only the Democratic debates this year (and one that didn’t really require candidates to give thoughtful answers on policy), a debate moderator finally posed a question on LGBTQ issues to the candidates.
PBS NewsHour White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor asked the candidates about their support Equality Act, comprehensive legislation that would prohibit anti-LGBTQ discrimination, and what they would do to address anti-trans violence. In this year 2019 alone, 27 transgender people were counted as killed.
Sanders, who was the first candidate asked to respond, drew a contrast with the current anti-LGBTQ Trump administration and himself by saying leadership on LGBTQ issues is important.
“We need moral leadership in the White House,” Sanders said. “We need a president who will do everything humanly possible to end all forms of discrimination against the transgender community, against the African-American community, against the Latino community and against all minorities in this country.”
With transgender people calling for greater access health care, including transition-related care, Sanders said his Medicare for All plan would ensure all Americans would have access to health care “regardless of their sexual orientation or their needs…including certainly the transgender community.”
Warren took a slightly different route, committing herself to each year as president reading the names of the transgender people killed in the Rose Garden of the White House.
“I will make sure that we read their names so that as a nation, we are forced to address a particular vulnerability on homelessness,” Warren said.
Additionally, Warren pledged to reverse the Trump administration policy at the Bureau of Prisons that refuses to respect the gender identity of transgender inmates when placing them into federal detention.
Before the question was asked, Warren also name-checked the transgender community in reference to comments former President Obama made about needing new women leaders, saying she believes he was “talking about women and people of color and trans people and people whose voices just so often get shoved out.”
5. Impeachment was avoided like the plague
Impeachment only came up during the debate in the context of the first question, when moderator Jody Woodruff pointed out the U.S. House impeached Trump this week despite polls showing a majority of American public are opposed to impeachment.
That might have something to do with why the candidates wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot-pole afterward.
Klobuchar used the opportunity to call for White House officials to serve as witnesses in the Senate trial, a sentiment echoed on stage. All the candidates responded by criticizing Trump, but clearly were eager to move to other subjects.
Just as Yang moved to the topic of the changing economy, Buttigieg shifted to corporate greed and being able to change things in the 2020 election.
“it’s up to us,” Buttigieg said. “No matter what happens in the Senate, it is up to us in 2020. This is our chance to refuse to be taken in by the helplessness, to refuse and reject the cynicism.”
Not one candidate brought it up afterwards. It was clear they wanted to have the job of ousting Trump from the White House themselves.
West Hollywood
West Hollywood installs new intersex pride flags on Intersex Awareness Day
On Sunday, city councilmembers gathered to raise two new pride flags to honor intersex community members
Early yesterday morning, on National Intersex Awareness Day, West Hollywood mayor Chelsea Byers, Vice Mayor John Heilman, as well as councilmembers Danny Hang and John M. Erickson gathered to install and raise two new intersex pride flags. They fly side by side with the American flag, upholding the City of West Hollywood’s vision of solidarity between national pride and LGBTQ+ visibility.
“We are facing unprecedented attacks on our community. It is important that we recognize the entirety of the LGBTQI+ community,” Vice Mayor John Heilman wrote to the Blade. “Intersex people have long been ignored and their issues disregarded. Raising the intersex flag also raises awareness about the challenges many intersex people face.”
Intersex people are born with naturally occurring variations in reproductive and sexual anatomy that don’t fit into binary “male” or “female” categorizations. As Planned Parenthood details, this can look like having both ovarian and testicular tissues or having combinations of chromosomes that aren’t “male” or “female,” just to name a few. According to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, one of the biggest issues intersex people face is non-consensual surgeries performed when they are children. These operations are considered medically unnecessary and can leave lasting physical and psychological damage on intersex youth.
The fight for bodily autonomy and intersex visibility was the main reason behind the first action organized by intersex advocates and trans allies on Oct. 26th, 1996. Protestors stood outside the Boston Convention Centre, passed out leaflets, and spoke with clinicians, nurses, and other medical professionals attending the annual American Academy of Pediatrics conference.
One of the main leaders behind this movement was Morgan Holmes, an intersex woman who had experienced a violating medical procedure meant to “correct” her anatomy. In May of 1996, she presented testimony in a room adjacent to a symposium on genital surgery for intersex infants, a conference she and other members of her advocacy group had been rejected from.
“What I am saying is that my medical ‘care-givers’ failed to respect my autonomy or my intelligence when they assumed that because I was a child, they could do whatever they wanted as long as my father provided his consent,” Holmes said. “And when I began to balk, instead of questioning their own treatment of me, they blamed my body, and they cut it up.”
Today, intersex people and their stories are more broadly recognized, but still struggle to reach mainstream audiences when it comes to discussions around LGBTQ+ identity. West Hollywood city officials see this addition of intersex pride flags as a step forward. “Updating our city’s flags was my item because visibility matters,” councilmember John M. Erickson wrote to the Blade. “Intersex people have always been part of our story, and it’s time that their history, identity, and pride are recognized in the public spaces that belong to all of us.”
West Hollywood
Residents remain dubious as officials claim “no ICE involvement” at The Abbey
The Oct. 17th “undercover operation” was addressed at the latest city council meeting
On Friday, Oct. 17th, West Hollywood gay bar The Abbey found itself in the center of a social media storm as clips were shared depicting the presumed presence of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. In a video posted on Oct. 18th by Charles Hernandez, who often creates content around gay nightlife in Los Angeles, several people are seen standing in a line as they are apprehended and handcuffed by officers wearing sheriff’s vests and tees. Hernandez noted that, while dressed in varying attire with the word “sheriff” on it, none of the officers were willing to identify themselves or present their badges upon request.
Hernandez can be heard asking the officers about the cause for arrest, to which one responded: “I don’t have to tell you our cause.” The video creator also questioned another officer, who can be seen wearing a gaiter to cover his face. “Isn’t it illegal to wear a mask in California?” Hernandez asked. “He has COVID,” an officer replied. In September, Governor Newsom signed five bills that weakened federal agents’ abilities to access school sites and health facilities, and prohibited them from hiding their identities. More specifically, SB 627 requires all California law enforcement agencies to create written policies limiting their officers’ use of facial coverings by July 1, 2026.
As this video circulated around the web, the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station released an online statement of their own, denying allegations that the officers present were federal immigration officers. The station also claimed that the night’s events were a result of an “undercover operation” that was conducted in response to reports made about pickpocketing and the transportation, use, and sale of illegal substances. “Several arrests were made,” the statement read. “ICE was not involved.”
Still, residents remained unconvinced, criticizing the station’s lack of transparency, careful conduct, and accountability. Over 50 people took to the comments of this statement to voice their discontent. “[It] was not that long ago when officers would raid LGBTQ spaces and arrest people simply for being there,” one comment read. “A raid such as this does not inspire feelings of safety for our community. Especially in times when people are being kidnapped off the street by masked federal agents. There simply must be a better response to pickpockets and “other criminal activity” than undercover raids by masked officers and transporting detainees in unmarked vehicles. DO BETTER.”
Two days later, at the West Hollywood city council meeting, West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station Captain Fanny Lapkin took to the podium to address some of these concerns. Echoing the station’s Instagram statement, Lapkin confirmed that the “pre-planned operation” was created in response to “concerns from our businesses and our community in regards to the pickpocketing, to the narcotics, and also to the illegal vending and some of the criminal activity during illegal vending.” Lapkin also confirmed that no federal agents were present, stating that everyone who took part in the operation was “sheriff’s department personnel.” And because the arrests were made as part of a planned operation, Lapkin further stated that warrants were not “necessary.”
The events were discussed with brevity at the meeting, but community ire has not been dispelled. Several people continue to question the ethics of this undercover operation: Why were the individuals being arrested not clearly told the reason for their detainment? Why were unmarked vehicles present? Why conduct the operation in this way, as Los Angeles neighborhoods continue to stay on high alert over immigration raids? These questions remain unanswered as more specifics about the operation have yet to be released.
Ukraine
Meet the gay couple fighting for marriage rights in Ukraine
Activists claim U.S. Christian groups are financing attacks on equality
(Editor’s note: The International Women’s Media Foundation’s Women on the Ground: Reporting from Ukraine’s Unseen Frontlines Initiative in partnership with the Howard G. Buffett Foundation funded this reporting.)
Thirty-one-year-old Timur Levchuk was hurrying downstairs, away from the stuffy courtroom, packed with reporters, members of far-right groups and LGBTQ activists. The court hearing sounded like a duel between ideologies. The word “family” was the target — his family. Levchuk’s opponents from the conservative group Vsi Razom or All Together, initiated the court hearing to dissolve his marriage. He was trying to hold back his emotions.
The war has been breathing death, ruining lives across his country for nearly four years. At any moment, a missile or drone could hit his home. Under martial law, the border was closed for men of Levchuk’s age. He had not been able to move together with his partner, a Ukrainian diplomat, Zoryan Kis, who is posted on a mission abroad. Almost every night, he awakes to air alerts, to Russia’s attacks. And now aggressive right-wing activists were attacking his marriage, his right to be happy, to have a future.
As soon as Levchuk stepped outside, he saw a crowd of his friends from the LGBTQ community cheering and jumping with joy, holding colorful banners in their hands: “Our family is real!” and “Family is above the stereotypes!” Overwhelmed with emotions, Levchuk broke into tears. His partner of 13 years, Kis, quickly walked up to him. They hugged, as their friends cheered the first legal gay marriage victory in Ukraine.
Levchuk’s face was wet, he was crying. The partners see one another just twice a year; but this fight for their official marriage went on and on, it meant a chance to live together.
“Zorian had to travel from Israel for this hearing today, for just one day, and half of our day was stolen from us by this conservative group, which acts just like Russian homophobes,” Kis told the Blade.
Tears continued to run down his face.
“We hear that our opponents from Vsi Razom, the group fighting the court decision recognizing our marriage, is supported by the U.S. fundamental Christian groups. This is shocking. We are attacked on the money from what used to be the world’s best democracy,” Levchuk told the Blade.
A group of right-wing supporters waited by the entrance to the court, too, with a few policemen in between, watching out for any signs of violence, in a country with enough of it already.
“This decision, this process of legalizing my marriage took me so much time, so much effort,” Levchuk continued. “I knew it would be painful. Our opponents, Vsi Razom activists and their leader, Ruslan Kukharchuk, claim they feel offended by the court decision. But it is our feelings and our rights that are being hurt.”

The appealing side, a middle-aged man, Kukharchuk, has been fighting against LGBTQ for more than 20 years. On Sept. 21, 2003, Kukharchuk and his group, called Love is Against Homosexuals, protested on Kyiv’s central square of Maidan with banners that said “Homosexualism is the enemy of family!” “Single sex love does not exist!”, and “You cannot be born gay, you can become gay.” Kukharchuk has been leading dozens of protests against LGBTQ rights. The Ukrainian Parliament voted for a new law criminalizing any reference to homosexuality in the media or public domain in 2012.
Before the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, the absolute majority of Ukrainians, up to 95 percent, did not support the idea of same-sex marriages, according to a social study conducted by GfK Ukraine, a social and market research group. But the revolution, the war in the east and the Russian invasion of Ukraine has dramatically changed the public view on the rights of minorities. Last year, more than 70 percent of Ukrainians said that LGBTQ people should have the same rights as everybody else, according to a survey by the International Institute of Sociology in Kyiv.
But Kukharchuk has not given up.
A fluent English speaker, he talks as if addressing President Donald Trump, encouraging America, too, to rise against LGBTQ rights.
“The U.S. government should not repeat the same mistake: not having the right actions behind the right beliefs,” he says on the Evangelical Focus, an outlet that describes its mission as “helping build bridges between evangelical churches and all of society.” He continues to trumpet his cause: “Ukraine unlike many European countries is the country where LGBT flags are still not flown on government buildings, where people are not fined for praying.”
Levchuk and Kis are not against Christian believers. They believe in Ukraine’s tolerance and respect for the rights of minorities. It’s been a thorny and long path for the two longtime LGBTQ activists. To test their hometown of Kyiv for homophobia, the two in 2015 on a summer day strolled around the city center, holding each other’s hands. Their friends were filming public reaction to the gay couple’s open walk. It seemed peaceful, at first. Pedestrians stared but did not insult the couple until the two sat down on a bench on the central street of Khreshchatyk. Three men attacked them, kicking Levchuk and Kiss, and spraying them with tear gas. The video of the violent attack went viral.

Levchuk and Kis waited for Ukraine to grow more tolerant for years. Kyiv rejected their marriage in 2021, “due to the fact that according to the legislation of Ukraine, the concept of marriage is defined as a family union of a woman and a man.” Last year, Kis was appointed to work in the Ukrainian embassy in Israel; and since all diplomatic families had a right to live together on diplomatic missions, he began to fight in court for his spouse’s right to travel abroad. Men are prohibited from traveling abroad under martial law rules intended to prevent draft dodging. Last year, Kyiv’s court decided to “refuse the proceedings.” But on July 10 this year, Kyiv’s district court recognized the fact of a “one-sex couple of spouses,” giving the couple a legal right to a marriage. That was a first in Ukraine’s history.
That decision was “unacceptable” to Kukharchuk and the Vsi Razom group; they appealed the court decision. When asked what brought him to the Kyiv Court of Appeal on Sept. 10, Kukharchuk said: “We absolutely believe that the Constitution is on our side. It very firmly underlines and emphasizes the definition of marriage — it can only be a union between one man and one woman, so our position in court is very clear.”
To the great joy of all Ukrainian LGBTQ couples, Kyiv’s appeal court confirmed the fact of the two men living in “a family” on Sept. 10. It recognized their marriage. But the victory felt bittersweet. The powers behind their opponents were in the United States, the spouses told the Blade.

“We hear that our opponents from the conservative Vsi Razom group, receive financing from the Christian groups in the U.S.,” Levchuk told the Blade. “It’s hard to comprehend that our right to be happy is being questioned in the country of the best democracy in the world, the United States.”
But Kukharchuk lost the case, at least this time.
“We realize that our fight is not over. It’s hard and it takes forever. Our opponents will surely take the decision to the Supreme Court now,” Kis told the Blade.

Ukraine
On the ground with Ukraine’s LGBTQ war heroes
Building a community amid attacks from inside and outside the country
(Editor’s note: The International Women’s Media Foundation’s Women on the Ground: Reporting from Ukraine’s Unseen Frontlines Initiative in partnership with the Howard G. Buffett Foundation funded this reporting. This report is exclusive to the Blade.)
Ukraine’s LGBTQ war heroes have a chance to build a community and share their courage.
Despite Russian drones raining down on the capital, Kyiv’s gay military and veteran community gathers in a freshly redecorated safe space called “K-41.” The club has been a boiling pot this summer — Ukrainian, German, Dutch, and Portuguese DJs played music on warm September nights, guests gathered to dance, listen to lectures, or see a movie in the leafy garden outside.
One of the recent lectures was on “Practices for Non-Discrimination for LGBTQ people in the Workplace.” For many community members, the workplace is now the front, where they continue to fight and defend their country from Russian troops attacking Ukraine’s eastern, northern, and southern regions. And on rejoining the community for a break, veterans take up a different fight, for their human rights, against discrimination. Their fight does not stop on the front lines.
The number of LGBTQ heroes is growing; so is the number of fallen, sadly. There is a wall at the center covered in soldiers’ patches.

“Soldiers and veterans pop in and stick their insignias to this wall — we have welcomed more than 700 members into our LGBTQ veteran and military club,” one of the center’s founders, 38-year-old veteran, Victor Pylypenko, told the Blade with pride. Openly gay, he volunteered and fought for his country from 2014-2016 and then again from 2022-2024.

Giving us a tour of the club on a recent night, Pylypenko pointed out a portrait on the wall of another war hero, the newly elected leader of the “Ukrainian LGBT Military Personnel and Veterans for Equal Rights” NGO, Oleksandr Demenko. He is a survivor of the hellish battle for Mariupol and 20 months of horrific imprisonment in Russia.
“I always eat all the edges of the pizza, because I know that my brothers in arms do not have enough food or enough water in jail right now,” Demenko wrote, sharing his emotions recently with his Facebook readers.
A decorated officer, Demenko was among about 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers defending Azov Steel, a giant Soviet-era steel plant that was surrounded during the battle for the city of Mariupol from February to May, 2022.
Thanks to the British photographer Jesse Glazzard, who followed the lives of Ukrainian gay soldiers, Elton John helped Ukraine’s queer heroes.
“Elton John and his partner, David Furnish, bought a photograph by Glazzard in May and gave funds for our reconstruction of this center,” Pylypenko told the Blade. “We fixed the two rooms of the space nicely, bought furniture and the movie screen for our LGBTQ veterans — the biggest community for a military in Eastern Europe.”

Demenko and his boyfriend recently became engaged, and the fight for the legalization of gay marriage became personal. Both Pylypenko and Demenko came to Kyiv’s Court of Appeals last month to support the first legal marriage.
“Every gay couple in our country hopes for President Zelensky to allow us to marry. This is our human right, along with every citizen,” the decorated veteran Demenko said in a recent interview.
To most members of this community, the war started in 2014 with Russia annexing the Crimean Peninsula. As many self-defense volunteers, Pylypenko, joined to defend his country in the Eastern regions of Ukraine. He served for nearly two years. There was too much homophobia at the time, so he stayed in the closet during his service. On coming home to Kyiv, Pylypenko tried to reconstruct his peaceful life, went to university and finished a master’s program in technical and scientific translation from English and French.
But the conflict with Russia did not stop; it escalated to Russia’s full-scale invasion early on the morning of Feb. 24, 2022. Pylypenko was visiting his parents in the town of Borodianka, a suburb north of Kyiv. Russian shelling blew up and burned buildings in Borodianka, killing hundreds of civilians.
Without thinking twice, Pylypenko volunteered to defend his country again, this time openly gay.
“At some point, I took out my cell phone with rainbow stickers from K-41 club; and my sergeant asked me if I was gay in front of everybody. I answered yes. The commander, who was only 22 years old, did not have any problems with that,” Pylypenko said.
During the battle for Kyiv, his platoon was defending the capital from the trenches on freezing cold days and nights, and saved lives of their wounded brothers in arms by evacuating them to hospitals. Pylypenko’s military experience was useful. And after Kyiv, he fought in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions. Some campaigns turned out “disastrous,” he said.
Last year, Pylypenko had to resign to take care of his father, who was “like a baby after a stroke.” The law allowed that. Shortly after his return from the front, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church honored him for “Courage and Love for Ukraine.”
“I thanked the church and Patriarch Filaret, previously famous for stating that gays had created COVID-19. I expressed my hopes that the priest would reject his homophobia; but immediately, the same day he cancelled his medal to me,” Pylypenko said. “Immediately, a flash mob began, soldiers who had previously received that same medal denounced it in solidarity with me. The soldiers’ brotherhood is great.”

The battle for survival during the war is tiring. The battle for human rights in the war-torn country is exhausting. The LGBTQ community is vibrant, active and well-organized in Ukraine. Its activists across the country fight for human rights, judicial reform and against corruption together with prominent civil liberties groups. Olena Shevchenko, 42-year-old leader of Insight, a group focusing on LGBTQ and feminist activism, says there is no time to live: “I have no life. I have a constant fight.”
The Insight community center is a cozy house in the hipster part of Kyiv’s old town, Podil. For nearly four years, Insight activists have been providing aid, legal support and shelter for their community, organizing art exhibits and taking part in anti-corruption and pro-democracy campaigns.

“Three days ago, homophobes attacked our center in Lviv and before that our center in Ivano-Frankivsk; some thugs stormed our exhibition in the city of Chernovtsy,” Shevchenko told the Blade. “They come again and again, break windows, spray walls with paint that imitates blood. Their goal is to block our events. They spray tear gas, terrify our activists.”
Shevchenko said that the attacks on the LGBTQ centers around the country are organized by far-right groups.
“One group is called Carpathian Sich, another Brotherhood, led by Dmytro Korchinsky and various new groups and networks frequently launched, like Tradition and Order,” she said. “We noticed that they received some amount of money about a year ago. They put around homophobic posters and aggressive stickers — we can tell that the money is coming to them. If before, money came from Russia, now they get funded from the U.S. as well.”
In spite of the attacks and risks, the community lives. Shevchenko, as many Ukrainians in the rear, saw her fight for human rights and against corruption as just as important as the fight on the frontline.
“If we don’t fight for democracy, who will do it? Our country would look bad if we stop. This is not just about LGBTQ, this is about freedom, democracy and the spirit that you can fight for something that is right,” she said. “Our government should be reminded about how good we are still at self-organization. We’ll be always here, this our own front. We have to keep track of democracy on all levels.”

U.S. Supreme Court
Federal judge strikes down Biden rule protecting transgender health care rights
Republican-led states sued over the 2024 regulations
A federal judge has ruled that federal anti-discrimination protections for transgender people in health care are unconstitutional, allowing legal discrimination in health care against trans individuals in the U.S.
Judge Louis Guirola, Jr., of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi sided with a coalition of 15 GOP-led states that sued over the rule, which broadened sex discrimination to include sexual orientation and gender identity in health care, the Hill reported.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services “exceeded its authority by implementing regulations redefining sex discrimination and prohibiting gender identity discrimination,” Guirola wrote.
The expanded definition of sex discrimination to include sexual orientation and gender identity was part of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. The Biden-Harris administration implemented it to strengthen protections against health care discrimination for LGBTQ people. It previously prevented discrimination in health care services, insurance coverage, and program participation.
This is not the first time such protections have faced legal challenges. In 2016, the Obama-Biden administration advanced similar rules to prevent health care providers from denying services — particularly gender-affirming care — that they would otherwise offer to other patients.
During President Donald Trump’s first term, those protections were reversed when his administration redefined Title IX protections to apply only to race, color, national origin, “biological sex,” age, or disability — explicitly excluding trans people.
In 2024, the Biden-Harris administration reinstated these protections, only for them to be struck down by Republican-appointed Guirola.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti celebrated the ruling, saying in a statement, “This decision restores not just common sense but also constitutional limits on federal overreach, and I am proud of the team of excellent attorneys who fought this through to the finish.”
The decision comes as the U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments on banning so-called conversion therapy, and may soon take up a case involving the right to same-sex marriage.
California
Newsom announces $140 million will go towards state’s Planned Parenthood centers
This investment supports the organization as it struggles with federal defunding
Yesterday, Governor Newsom stated in a press release that he is dedicating over $140 million to keep statewide Planned Parenthood health centers running through the rest of the year until additional resources are identified.
H.R. 1, also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” was passed in July and includes detailed notes on the congressional budget, including cuts to various federal agencies and programs. In section 71113 of the bill, federal funding is restricted against “prohibited entities” that provide health services like abortions. Organizations like Planned Parenthood were also blocked from receiving federal reimbursement for providing essential care services to patients enrolled in Medicaid or Medi-Cal.
Planned Parenthood traces its roots to the early 1900s, where it began as a clinic providing birth control resources. Today, there are over 100 Planned Parenthood health centers across California alone, providing abortion services, STI testing and treatment, gender affirming care, birth control options, and other reproductive care services. It has been a lifeline for many in accessing affordable care and education around their reproductive and sexual health.
The effects of H.R. 1 have cut deeply into local communities. As reported by local advocates and government representatives, the neighboring Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties (PPOSBC) had to eliminate a primary health care service line that provided over 10,000 patients direct access to services like cancer screenings, birth control, and prenatal care.
This recent investment by the state highlights California as a “reproductive freedom state,” Newsom said in a statement. “[This] latest investment continues to show our belief in protecting access to essential health care in times of distress.”
The governor’s next steps in this defense include working with other legislative leaders to identify more long-term solutions for 2026 that will allow Planned Parenthood clinics to continue operating. “While we know Trump and Republicans’ attacks on reproductive health care are escalating, we remain confident that our state leaders will continue to stand with Planned Parenthood patients and providers and ensure they have the support necessary to endure the persistent assaults,” said Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California president Jodi Hicks in a separate statement.
West Hollywood
Captain Fanny Lapkin wants more “transparency” between officers and WeHo residents
We sat down with the recently appointed captain to discuss her approach to LGBTQ+ community safety
Before Fanny Lapkin became Captain of West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station in August, she was a longtime advisor and mentor for the county’s deputy explorer program: a training and career development opportunity for young adults interested in law enforcement. “I probably had eight or nine of — I call [them] my kids,” Lapkin told the Blade. When some of these mentees became deputies, she felt like a “mama.” Lapkin brings this nurturing approach to her leadership, where she hopes to build deeper community trust and humanize her staff members. “People have the misconception that we’re machines and that we’re robots. We are human beings,” said Lapkin.
Lapkin first ventured into law enforcement as a college student, where a casual walk into the East Los Angeles Sheriff’s Station for volunteer credit led to a seven-year-long stint. As a volunteer, she assisted deputies, participated in neighborhood watch, and became involved with safety measures for local community members. “I fell in love with the job,” said Lapkin. She officially took on a law enforcement role in 1997 and was eventually assigned to the Santa Clarita Valley’s Sheriff’s Station, where she worked as a community relations deputy.
In 2019, Lapkin began working at the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station, climbing the ranks as service area sergeant to service area lieutenant before her most recent promotion to station captain in August. Lapkin says that she and fellow station staff pushed for LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum for peace officer standards and training.
In September 2018, AB 2504 was passed, which required the state’s commission on peace officer standards and training to develop training material around LGBTQ+ identity and create inclusive workplaces. In 2024, AB 2621 was chaptered into law, which required the commission to also create and implement instruction on hate crimes against specific groups, including LGBTQ+ communities.
Today, Lapkin hopes to continue building trust with marginalized community members, especially LGBTQ+ individuals afraid to seek help through law enforcement. The Blade sat down with the captain to discuss her perspective and approach.
How do you hope to foster effective relationships between the sheriff’s station and community members?
Honestly, [it’s about] being available, being present. Joining Neighborhood Watch, having that open communication, making sure that you know the residents, whether it be from our LGBT community or visitors. We make sure that our deputies have the necessary training to be able to deal with different community members, whether direct leaders, whether business owners, or public safety commissions. Being available for them — I think that’s the number one thing, is just making yourself available to have those conversations.
Also, having that transparency — if something does happen, let’s talk about what happened. In some cases, we won’t be able to discuss for obvious reasons, but it’s having that open communication and making sure that our community feels that they’re safe and that their voice is heard.
It’s having the conversation: How can we come together to find a resolution for [issues]? People come from different directions to try and resolve a problem. So my thing is, everybody has a seat at the table. From being a volunteer to a deputy to moving up the ranks, I’ve always lived by that. I’ve had amazing mentors who have always had that open-door policy, [where] every community member has a seat at the table. Come and tell us what your concerns are, and we’ll tell you how we can fix them. There are going to be times when we cannot do something about it, because it doesn’t rise to the level of a crime. But we can tell you, without giving you legal advice, how you can try to resolve something.
How have you seen community issues and safety shift since you started working in the West Hollywood Sheriff’s station in 2019? How do you hope to address all of these shifts?
2019 kind of put us all in a bubble. But again, it’s just having that open communication and making yourself available, going to local events, participating in outreach, and just making sure that our community members, whomever they are — our Russian community, our Jewish community, our LGBT community — that they feel that they’re being heard, that we listen to them, and we understand that each of them have unique needs. So it’s trying to understand that and fostering a great environment where they’re comfortable enough to come to us, whether it be telling us how wonderful our deputies are, or also telling us they didn’t like the service that they received.
If I get a concern, [like] somebody saying, “Well, I don’t like the way this deputy handled the call.” I look at every single body-worn camera footage. I listen to the phone calls. And if it’s something that we could do better, we fix it, right? And if it’s something that maybe was misinterpretation…I tell [deputies]: take the extra two minutes to listen to our community, because you’re going to learn something by just slowing yourself down.
Unfortunately, our patrol deputies are under tight constraints. We are understaffed. They are working the extra overtime, but…we’re not machines, we’re not robots. We’re humans. And sometimes, the human nature kind of steps in at times. But we have to make sure that we teach them how to find the balance.
What are the unique needs and challenges West Hollywood communities face today?
The challenge is just making sure that our community trusts us [and] that our community is comfortable enough to come to us when they have a concern, when they’re victims. Especially with the LGBTQ community or even our transgender community, they’re a little nervous about going to law enforcement, or they feel that they’re going to be victimized again. That’s one thing that [we see] as a priority. We want to make sure that they don’t feel that, and that they do feel that they’re being heard, and that their safety is one of our concerns. We don’t care whether you’re LGBTQ, transgender, Jewish, or Russian — we’re going to treat you equally. If you’re a victim of a crime, we’re going to assist you and help you. I think we just want to make sure that our community members feel that they can come to us and we’re going to advocate for them, [that] we’re going to be a good partner.
What are the active ways that you and the station are building that kind of trust, specifically with LGBTQ+ and trans community members? How can they have that open dialogue with you and the station to feel safer?
Because there was a need for our transgender community…we started with a quarterly meeting, but we moved them to every six months, where we have a meeting and we invite any member of the community to come in and sit down and talk to us. We included our California Department of Justice partners. We included the trans Latina community. Our LGBTQ commission came out.
That’s something that we’re trying to figure out. What’s going to be the best time to have these open dialogues? It’s a town hall roundtable. Tell us what your concerns are, and we’ll tell you how we can fix them.
Virginia
Conservative group’s anti-transgender ad targets Va. gubernatorial candidate
Restoration of America PAC attacks Va. gubernatorial candidate
A new ad paints Democratic Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger “as extreme as it gets” because of her stance on transgender rights.
Restoration of America PAC, a collection of conservative groups, funded the 30-second spot. It claims that Spanberger supports allowing “boys to play girls sports and shower in girls locker rooms … naked,” “horrifying gender mutilation reversal,” and “irreversible sterilization of children.”
The ad then argues Spanberger “refuses to answer questions about this because she knows how evil it is.”
When asked if she would support a bill that would allow trans women to use bathrooms and to play on sports teams consistent with their gender identity, Spanberger told WSET in Roanoke last month that she would “support a bill that would put clear provisions in place that provide a lot of local ability for input.”
Spanberger is running against Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, a Republican “morally opposed” to marriage equality, to succeed Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Equality Virginia Advocates, an organization that works alongside Equality Virginia, aims to advance equality for LGBTQ+ Virginians through advocacy and public policy. Executive Director Narissa Rahaman described the ad as “poorly recycled scapegoating” pulled from the “Trump 2024 playbook.”
“We need leaders focused on combating the everyday challenges facing Virginians across the commonwealth, not manufacturing culture war issues to encourage discrimination against our friends, families, and neighbors who happen to be transgender,” Rahaman said.
Rahaman added Equality Virginia PAC’s recent data shows 71 percent of the Earle-Sears campaign’s digital ad spending has been dedicated to ads against trans youth.
Earle-Sears has previously aired ads that claim Spanberger is for “they/them, not us,” echoing messaging the Trump-Vance campaign used to target former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race.
“The Virginia GOP is wasting millions villainizing a small part of the population while ignoring the real issues facing Virginians: unaffordable housing, rampant inflation, and federal job cuts,” Rahaman said.
Laurel Powell, communications director at the Human Rights Campaign, noted conservative groups have spent more than $230,000 on anti-trans ads in Virginia. She described the anti-trans advertisements as “dangerous, blatant lies created to exploit misinformation about the trans community.”
“Republicans are desperately trying to distract from their ongoing failure on issues facing Virginians — like the Republican-led government shutdown, the fallout from the disastrous tariff wars, and thousands of people being booted from their jobs to feed Donald Trump’s lust for political vengeance,” Powell said. “While they make life harder and more dangerous for transgender people, all Virginians are being robbed of the leadership they need and deserve.”
A Christian Newport University poll notes Virginia’s likely voters are focused on threats to democracy, inflation or cost of living, healthcare, and immigration as key issues for the upcoming election. The poll found likely voters said Spanberger would do a better job than Earle-Sears in handling trans-specific policy by 13 points.
Spanberger cosponsored and voted for the Equality Act three times, which would ban discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation in federal law. Earle-Sears, for her part, has previously misgendered state Sen. Danica Roem (D-Manassas) — the first openly trans statewide lawmaker in Virginia — during a floor debate and has made inaccurate claims about trans people at school board meetings.
Spanberger currently leads Earle-Sears by a 47.5-45.1 percent margin, according to a poll from Trafalgar Group, although the lead is within the poll’s 2.9 percent margin of error. Election Day is on Nov. 4.
Los Angeles
Anger, resistance and unity coursed through L.A. City Hall “No Kings” protest
The Blade photographed Saturday’s demonstration as thousands mobilized and marched
On Oct. 18th, a mosaic of Angelinos across generations and cultural backgrounds gathered outside of city hall as they proudly lifted handmade signs decrying President Trump and the current administration. This march was one of several rallies organized just within the city, and one of thousands others organized across the nation.

The protest was packed, with people standing nearly shoulder to shoulder as a number of local leaders including Black Women for Wellness Action Project policy analyst LaKisha Camese, TransLatin@ Coalition president Bamby Salcedo and Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, made rousing speeches and led passionate chants before the march began. Speakers like political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen did not hold back when they addressed the crowd. “[They are] so desperate to rebrand this thing as a ‘Hate America’ rally. But do you know what hating America looks like?,” asked Cohen.
Image captures by Blade reporter Kristie Song

“It looks like sending secret police accountable to no one into our cities…It looks like keeping the government closed because you are so hell bent on stripping away health care from 24 million Americans and trying to get their costs to double, triple or quadruple. So if you’re looking for the ‘Hate America’ rally, might I suggest the White House.”

Protestors cheered at the top of their lungs with each passing speech, and each clear and explicit denouncement of the current administration. “There’s no rally like what’s happening here in Los Angeles,” said Assemblymember Bryan. “This is where Black, brown, poor, indigenous, everyday people come together…Washington D.C. doesn’t care about us, and we know that. But, we care about each other, don’t we? We believe that health care is a human right, don’t we? We believe that housing is a human right, don’t we? We will stand up to authoritarianism, won’t we? Because when we fight together, what happens? We win!”

As people began to grow restless, the march finally began, taking them to a highway overpass.

As residents boarded a bus at Cesar E. Chavez and Broadway, they were halted by blocked roads as large congregations marched by. Transit riders looked on into the crowds, their faces mere inches from some of the passing protestors. Separated by a layer of window glass, one nodded along as protestors lifted their signs above their heads and chanted “ICE out of LA!” Some waved to people inside the stalled bus, inviting solidarity from those who weren’t marching alongside them.
When the road cleared, their calls could still be heard for a little longer.

California
Governor Newsom has vetoed two bills aimed to improve PrEP and gender-affirming care access
An update on AB 554 and SB 418, as well as nine other LGBTQ+ bills that the governor passed earlier this week
This Monday, Governor Newsom issued a legislative update on over 150 bills that had passed legislation and were waiting on his decision on whether or not they would be chaptered into law. 11 of these bills advocated for queer community members, including their improved access to healthcare, more privacy rights, greater ease in changing their name and gender markers, as well as the expansion of adoption rights and the inclusion of two-spirit individuals into important funding and resource opportunities.
Two were vetoed.
AB 554: Greater access to HIV/AIDS preventative medicine (Vetoed)
First introduced in February, AB 554 was co-authored by local Assemblymember Mark González and San Francisco Assemblymember Matt Haney. Also known as the Protecting Rights, Expanding Prevention, and Advancing Reimbursement for Equity (PrEPARE) Act of 2025, the bill intended to expand patients’ access to various forms of FDA-approved HIV/AIDS preventative medication. It would have prohibited health insurance plans from subjecting these forms of medication to prior authorization, step therapy, or cost-sharing. It would have also required the state to reimburse local agencies for administering this medicine, alleviating the strain on small clinics to meet the demand of community members in need of PrEP.
Though LGBTQ+ civil rights groups like Equality California rallied support for the bill, it was returned by the governor without a signature. In a veto memo, he wrote that he “wholeheartedly [supports] efforts to ensure affordable and accessible prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS” but questioned whether the bill would actually increase the affordability of and access to necessary preventative treatment. “By exceeding the cost-sharing provisions under the ACA [Affordable Care Act], this bill would result in increased costs to health plans, which would then be passed on to consumers.”
In response, Assemblymember González wrote to the Blade about his disappointment. Still, he remains hopeful about the state of PrEP access. “I’m deeply grateful to Governor Newsom for his continued partnership and for standing with us in protecting access to PrEP through this year’s budget.”
SB 418: Stronger access to gender-affirming care without discrimination (Vetoed)
Authored by Senator Caroline Menjivar, SB 418 would have required a health care service plan to cover up to a 12-month supply of FDA-approved prescription hormone therapy and the supplies needed by an individual to self-administer this medication without being subjected to utilization management methods like prior authorization.
The bill was also intended to prohibit health insurers from denying a patient the ability to enroll in or renew their health insurance plans based on factors like sex characteristics, intersex traits, and gender identity.
In late January, President Trump released a statement that the federal government would “not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another.” As healthcare for trans, gender-expansive, and intersex (TGI) individuals becomes increasingly unstable under the current administration, SB 418 aimed to protect TGI community members and their ability to access critical and necessary hormone therapy and gender-affirming care.
In the governor’s veto memo, he wrote that he was “concerned” about the bill’s limitation on utilization management methods. For him, it’s an “important tool [that ensured] enrollees receive the right care at the right time. Prohibiting this cost constraint strategy is likely to result in an increase in enrollee premiums to offset costs incurred by health plans and insurers.”
For Senator Menjivar, this decision was “heartbreaking” as TGI individuals continue to face barriers to vital care. “SB 418 was the most tangible and effective legislative tool introduced this year to help TGI folks weather this political storm,” Menjivar wrote to the Blade. Still, she says that she is committed to continue fighting to secure health care access for TGI community members.
The vetoing of these two bills was a major blow for LGBTQ+ civil rights organizations and advocates. Equality California executive director Tony Hoang wrote about his disappointment in a recent press release. “These bills would have guaranteed that transgender people and their families could continue to access essential medications without disruption and that people at risk of HIV could obtain PrEP quickly and affordably,” wrote Hoang. “The Governor’s decision to veto these measures undermines California’s longstanding leadership in advancing health equity and protecting the LGBTQ+ community.”
But with these setbacks came a number of wins. Governor Newsom passed nine other bills advancing the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals.
SB 59: Confidentiality protections for trans and nonbinary individuals
This bill, authored by Senator Scott Wiener, will ensure that when someone files a legal petition to change their name or their gender marker, these court records are kept confidential. Additionally, SB 59 will prohibit people other than the petitioner to post these confidential records online.
AB 678: Creating an LGBTQ+ inclusive council on homelessness
Created by Assemblymember Alex Lee, AB 678 will require the governor to build an Interagency Council on Homelessness that will form relationships between federal and state agencies with local, on-the-ground coalitions and nonprofit organizations that focus on working with unhoused communities. Together, they will work on creating strategies to end homelessness.
The bill also specifically requires this council to actively work with LGBTQ+ leaders and community members to ensure that the strategies it develops are inclusive and culturally competent.
AB 1525: Restricting disciplinary action against attorneys on the basis of “sensitive services,” which includes gender-affirming care
The California State Assembly’s Committee on Judiciary created this bill to prohibit disciplinary action against attorneys who receive, advocate for, recommend, or enable “sensitive services,” which include health care services for sexual and reproductive health, sexually transmitted illnesses, and gender-affirming care.
AB 1084: Streamlining court processes for name and gender marker changes
Created by Assemblymember Rick Zbur, AB 1084 aims to quicken the process and limit barriers transgender and nonbinary individuals face when filing to change their name and gender marker. The bill will require courts to issue orders within six weeks from when a petition is filed, and without a hearing. The bill will also prohibit others from being able to file an objection to a petitioner’s name or gender marker change.
SB 450: Protecting adoption rights for LGBTQ+ parents and families
Authored by Senator Menjivar, SB 450 will allow queer parents from other states to claim parentage rights to their adopted children born in California. “The signing of SB 450 is a win for LGBTQ+ parents who want what every parent wants, the protection of their legal rights as the parents of their children,” Senator Menjivar wrote to the Blade. “SB 450 clarifies California’s longstanding jurisdiction for adoption proceedings, including confirmatory adoptions, in cases where the families no longer live, or never lived, in the state but the child was born here. This means LGBTQ+ families, who are weighing the options of potentially leaving an affirming state to a Red state for financial reasons, can at least now feel confident that decision won’t cost them their parental rights.”
SB 497: Protecting right to gender-affirming care from out-of-state law enforcement
Authored by Senator Wiener, SB 497 is another bill focused on providing protections for transgender and nonbinary individuals. It will prohibit healthcare providers and service plans from releasing medical information related to gender-affirming care for a patient who is being pursued by out-of-state law enforcement officials. SB 497 would also generally safeguard against out-of-state subpoenas that would prevent a person’s ability to access gender-affirming care.
SB 590: Including chosen family members in paid family leave laws
Authored by Senator Maria Durazo, this bill would alter existing laws around paid family leave, which currently provides wage replacement benefits for up to eight weeks for workers who take time off work to take care of seriously ill family members. SB 590 will expand this definition of family members to include “designated” persons. For many queer individuals, their “chosen family” members are often just as crucial, if not more than, their blood relatives. This bill opens up the scope of what is considered a family member, allowing LGBTQ+ individuals wage protections if they take time away to care for these loved ones.
AB 1487: Expanding equity fund to include two-spirit communities
Co-authored by Assemblymembers Dawn Addis and Mark González, AB 1487 will rename the existing Transgender, Gender Nonconforming, and Intersex Wellness and Equity Fund to the Two-Spirit, Transgender, Gender Nonconforming, and Intersex (2TGI) Wellness and Equity Fund. This will enable the fund to grant financial support to organizations that serve two-spirit and LGBTQ+ tribal community members in a number of services, including: workforce development training, resettlement and social integration programs, youth outreach, healthcare support, and more.
AB 82: Confidentiality protections for patients and providers of reproductive and gender-affirming care
Authored by Assemblymember Chris Ward, this bill will allow reproductive or gender-affirming health care patients and service providers who face violence and harassment because of their association with such care to request that state and local agencies protect the confidentiality of their identities and addresses.
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