By Antoinette Grajeda | LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – In response to new Title IX regulations that include protections for LGBTQ+ students, Arkansas’ governor signed an executive order Thursday that instructs public schools to instead follow state law and directs the education department to provide guidance on how to do so.

The final rule, which the U.S. Department of Education announced last month, protects students and employees from sex-based discrimination, requires schools have in place measures to offer support to to those who make complaints, sets guidelines for schools and codifies protections for transgender students from sex discrimination. 

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders at a press conference Thursday called the changes a “reinterpretation” and “total rewrite” of Title IX. 

“It’s a document that should scare every woman and frankly every man in America,” Sanders said. “Title IX was created to protect women, but Biden’s Title IX attempts to erase women completely.”

If the Biden administration threatens a loss of federal education funding because Arkansas “refused to go along with his election-year pandering,” Sanders said the state would take the federal government to court. More than a dozen Republican-led states filed legal challenges this week, including Louisiana, Tennessee and Florida.

“My message to Joe Biden and the federal government is that we will not comply,” she said.

Among the Arkansas laws to be enforced is Act 317 of 2023, which defines sex on the basis of biology, ensures public schools designate restrooms based on sex, and requires students to share sleeping quarters with students of the same sex or be provided with single-occupancy sleeping quarters. 

Additional gender-related state laws include the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which requires schools that designate sports teams to do so on the basis of sex, and the Given Name Act, which prohibits employees of public schools and state-supported education institutions from being required to use someone’s preferred pronouns. 

Sanders also signed an executive order in October that bans gender-neutral language in state government documents. 

In a social media post Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas called the executive order a “clear, aggressive attack on the well-being and freedoms of LGBTQ people in our state.” 

“This latest action is part of a disturbing pattern of behavior from Gov. Sanders, who seems more invested in divisive politics and fueling culture wars than addressing the urgent needs of Arkansans,” the post reads. “This pattern of hostility and neglect must end. We call on Gov. Sanders to cease these draconian measures and redirect her focus towards improving the lives of all Arkansans.”

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Antoinette Grajeda is a multimedia journalist who has reported since 2007 on a wide range of topics, including politics, health, education, immigration and the arts for NPR affiliates, print publications and digital platforms. A University of Arkansas alumna, she earned a bachelor’s degree in print journalism and a master’s degree in documentary film.

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The preceding article was previously published by the Arkansas Advocate and is republished with permission.

The Arkansas Advocate is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to tough, fair daily reporting and investigative journalism that holds public officials accountable and focuses on the relationship between the lives of Arkansans and public policy. This service is free to readers and other news outlets.

We’re part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

By Erin Reed | SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – On Wednesday evening, the Utah Public Auditor released a form to report transgender individuals encountered in changing rooms and restrooms to state authorities.

The form, titled “Alleged Government Violations of Utah Code 63G Chapter 31: Distinctions Based on Sex,” is in response to a law enacted earlier this year. This law bans transgender people from using restrooms that match their gender identity in schools, as well as locker rooms and similar facilities in public buildings across the state.

Utah is the latest in a series of states that have attempted to launch “snitch lines” targeting transgender people. Previous attempts have failed after being flooded with memes from activists opposing the use of community reporting to target transgender individuals.

Earlier this year, House Bill 257, which bans transgender individuals from using restrooms and changing rooms in a variety of locations, sparked intense debate due to its broad scope and strange enforcement mechanisms. The bill applies to any public building, including the Salt Lake City airport, and says that transgender people could be held liable if they cause “affront or alarm.”

It also explicitly prohibits transgender individuals from using restrooms that match their gender identity in schools and also bans them from public changing rooms unless they have amended their birth certificates and undergone gender reassignment surgery. Importantly, many states do not permit changes to birth certificates, creating significant confusion about which transgender individuals can use certain bathrooms and where.

One major question during debate of the bill was over how the bill would be enforced. In many states, for example, cisgender people have been reported to authorities for using the bathroom simply because they defied gender stereotypes. Numerous citizens testified to this concern in Utah. Within months of the bill passing, Utah public officials proved this point correct when some accused a cisgender basketball player of being transgender. Now, it appears that those charged with enforcing the policy have decided on a mechanism to do so: a publicly available snitch form to target transgender people.

The snitch form requests details on encounters with transgender individuals in “privacy spaces.” It asks citizens to report the government entity responsible for the “failure” to prevent the encounter or to report the encounter to law enforcement. Those “failures” can cost any government entity $10,000 dollars per day, including schools and colleges. The form enables people to upload pictures and provide evidence of “incidents.” It requires a name and email address, but a phone number and home address is not necessary.

Reactions to the form’s release were immediate and predictable: multiple users started flooding in fake reports. One person submitted a report of “beavers” in their bathroom at 3 AM. Another posted a picture of a character from The Bee Movie, an allusion to other snitch forms against transgender people that were flooded with scripts for that movie. One person reported Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders as a trans person. Another reported an allegation of Representative Matthew Gaetz harassing girls outside of a locker room.

The reactions were remarkably similar to other attempts to target transgender people using snitch forms. In February, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita released a snitch line to report schools. Instead, it received copies of Godzilla holding a trans flag. In March of 2023, the Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey launched a website for reporting gender affirming care clinics. Within a month, the website was taken down after being flooded with the “Bee Movie” script.

In Virginia, Governor Glenn Youngkin launched a tip line to report “divisive teaching practices.” That tip line received very few legitimate reports, and instead was flooded by “GenZ for Change” activists. The website was taken down quietly a the end of the year. After Freedom of Information Act requests were submitted to the state for reports, Youngkin initially but then relented after being sued. In a batch of 350 emails obtained of thousands submitted, accusations submitted included “sympathy to immigrants” and dissatisfaction with the epic poem “Beowulf.”

As for this snitch form, it appears it is already receiving significant pushback. At least one prominent transgender individual, Ari Drennen of Media Matters, noted that the site was already seeing glitches and errors, potentially from the number of people flooding the form with memes.

There are no reports of legitimate complaints through the system as of Thursday.

You can find the form at here: (Link)

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Erin Reed is a transgender woman (she/her pronouns) and researcher who tracks anti-LGBTQ+ legislation around the world and helps people become better advocates for their queer family, friends, colleagues, and community. Reed also is a social media consultant and public speaker.

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The preceding article was first published at Erin In The Morning and is republished with permission.

COLUMBIA, SC – A South Carolina man was sentenced today to obstructing an investigation into the December 2019 murder of a transgender woman.

Xavier Pinckney, 24, was sentenced to 45 months in prison for providing false and misleading information to state authorities investigating the murder of Dime Doe. He previously pleaded guilty on Oct 26, 2023.

“The defendant’s sentence is part of our effort to fully seek justice and accountability following the tragic murder of a Black transgender woman,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The message should be clear: The Justice Department will fully investigate and prosecute those who target the Black transgender community and that includes those who unlawfully obstruct investigations into these heinous crimes. We want the Black trans community to know that we stand with the LGBTQI+ community, we reject transphobic-fueled violence, and that we will seek justice for victims and their families.”

“Pinckney’s obstruction delayed our investigation and delayed justice for Dime Doe,” said U.S. Attorney Adair F. Boroughs for the District of South Carolina. “Fortunately, Pinckney confessed his lies and his role in the coverup of her murder. This sentence underscores that no one who stands in the way of justice will go unpunished.”

“Pinckney’s obstructive actions delayed justice for Dime Doe and accountability for his co-defendant,” said Special Agent in Charge Steve Jensen of the FBI Columbia Field Office. “No matter the obstacle, the FBI and our law enforcement partners are poised to defend the rights and protections of all citizens, and those who engage in criminal activity will be met with the full weight of our investigative and prosecutorial power.”

According to court documents, Pinckney admitted that he concealed from the state authorities the use of his phone to call and text Doe the day of her murder, and he lied to state investigators about seeing his co-defendant, Daqua Ritter, on the morning of Doe’s murder. Ritter was convicted of a hate crime, firearms charge and obstruction of justice in a jury trial arising out of the Ritter’s murder of Doe. Ritter was the first defendant to be found guilty by trial verdict for a hate crime motivated by gender identity under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

The FBI Columbia Field Office investigated the case, with the assistance of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, Allendale County Sheriff’s Office and Allendale Police Department.

By Jerod MaCDonald-Evoy | PHOENIX, Ariz. – Democratic members of the Arizona House of Representatives are having their privileges to use meeting rooms in the chamber revoked after they used a room in the basement to host a drag story hour alongside Planned Parenthood on Tuesday. 

Rep. Lorena Austin, D-Mesa, the nation’s first nonbinary Chicane legislator, reserved the room so that Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona could hold a drag story hour on Tuesday morning. When Republicans, who have spent the last several years crusading against drag and the LGBTQ community, learned about the event, it sparked an outcry. 

“Democrat Rep. Lorena Austin deliberately misled House leadership to reserve a conference room to host a drag story hour with Planned Parenthood,” Speaker Ben Toma said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, Tuesday morning. “Use of House facilities for radical activism to promote dangerously perverse ideology will not be tolerated while I am speaker.” 

Democrat Rep. Lorena Austin deliberately misled House leadership to reserve a conference room to host a drag story hour with Planned Parenthood.

Use of House facilities for radical activism to promote dangerously perverse ideology will not be tolerated while I am Speaker.

As… pic.twitter.com/yuOnkjn8zR

— Ben Toma (@RepBenToma) April 30, 2024

Toma went on to say that he ordered that Democratic members have “lost the privilege of accessing House meeting rooms until trust can be restored.” 

Austin requested the use of the room for a Planned Parenthood stakeholder meeting and did not mention hosting a “drag story hour” event, according to House Republican caucus spokesman Andrew Wilder. 

But Austin said the room was reserved for the legislature’s LGBTQ+ Caucus, of which she is a member, to meet with stakeholders on a day when the legislature is not in session.

“It is nothing short of ridiculous that I have been described as dishonest, deceitful and perverse and have been subjected to calls for punishment and expulsion,” Austin said in a statement. “We were completely transparent when we reserved the room, and the content was not, or should not be, controversial. In total approximately 20 people attended (all adults) because the House is currently only conducting business on Wednesdays, and today was a Tuesday.” 

Austin said that the event was “educational and completely within the mission of our LGTBQ+ Caucus,” adding that she will “never apologize for teaching people to be inclusive, to accept others as they are, and to stand up to hate and bigotry.”

The condemnation of Democrats and the drag artist they invited to a meeting stands in stark contrast to the welcome that GOP lawmakers gave last week to anti-abortion activists who crowded the chamber as lawmakers debated — and ultimately passed — a bill to repeal an 1864 near-total abortion ban.

“I also want to address all of you in the gallery. I want to give you a friendly reminder this is not our House, it is your House,” Rep. Rachel Jones, R-Tucson, said April 24 on the House floor when introducing members of an Arizona anti-abortion group that were in the gallery. 

Jones said Tuesday that the drag story hour was a “desecration of the people’s house.” 

“I guess this isn’t the people’s House after all,” House Democratic Whip Nancy Gutierrez said in a statement from House Democrats Tuesday afternoon. “No one was misled about scheduling this event. It was described as a drag story hour when Representative Austin’s assistant called to reserve the room. I was there.” 

Gutierrez said that she and others “listened to a person wearing makeup and a sparkly outfit read a book and some poems about inclusion, acceptance, and LGBTQ history” calling it “lovely, funny and inspiring,” pushing back on claims of it being “perverse” as Republicans have said. 

“We have had anti-abortion activists welcomed into the House to sing and jeer and mock our members, while our entire caucus has been banned from using House conference rooms because of how a person was dressed and what they had to say,” Gutierrez said. “Our leadership and Representative Austin have spoken with Speaker Toma to get the facts on the table and reduce the tension. We are working toward a resolution but are not all the way there yet. We will always stand with our members and constituents in the face of discrimination, and we denounce any kind of knee-jerk retaliation.”

Republican state Sen. Anthony Kern, from Glendale, was the first to post about the event on social media, specifically calling out Toma. Kern is Toma’s opponent in the GOP primary for Arizona’s Eighth Congressional District. 

Kern, who was recently indicted by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes for his role in a fake elector scheme, has invited members of his church ahead of key votes on abortion issues where they spoke in tongues on the floor. 

Drag story hours have become a target of conservative activists and far-right extremists who make dubious claims that the events are meant to “groom” children into accepting LGBTQ beliefs or pedophilia. The attention has led to physical attacks on members of that community as well as other threats of violence. 

In a statement to the Mirror, Drag Story Hour Arizona, whose organizers have become targets by conservative activists, said they were invited by Austin and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona to the Capitol

“This morning, Drag Story Hour Arizona was invited by Rep. Lorena Austin and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona to present a special story hour for legislators and staffers at the state capitol,” the statement said. “We appreciated the opportunity to meet members of our legislature and educate them about our organization and how we promote inclusive early childhood literacy.”

No children were present at the drag story hour in the House basement on Tuesday.

“The fascism continues at the State House under GOP control,” Rep. Analise Ortiz, D-Phoenix, said on X. “Speaker Toma, Rep. Austin is a duly elected representative of the people who has the same rights as you to welcome community members to THEIR house. This event is hurting no one. Cut the nonsense.”

“This is just another example of Speaker Toma showing how out of touch he is with the values of Arizonans and their support for the LGTBQ community,” Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona President and CEO Angela Florez said in a statement to the Arizona Mirror. 

We are PROUD to have collaborated with @LorenaAustin4Az and our community’s local Drag Story Hour to create a safe learning literacy space!

One of the best ways to support the LGBTQ+ community is to educate yourself. Visit our website for resources💓 https://t.co/nOWev49BxO https://t.co/3OmdbLZIq4 pic.twitter.com/fZcSuEXH0w

— Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona (@ppazaction) April 30, 2024

“Let’s be clear, at Planned Parenthood Arizona we are proud to offer gender affirming care services and provide essential health care to everyone. We thank Rep. Lorena Austin for being a staunch ally and her continued support in our fight for reproductive freedom,” Florez said. “We will be sure to invite Speaker Toma to the next Drag Story Hour.”

Kern and Sen. Justine Wadsack, a Republican from Tucson, have both called for ethics complaints to be filed. Wadsack has also said Austin should be expelled. Kern has attempted to pass legislation that would have criminalized drag performances. The measure was vetoed by Gov. Katie Hobbs. Other republicans are also calling for Toma to restrict Austin’s access in the House.

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Reporter Jerod MacDonald-Evoy joined the Arizona Mirror from the Arizona Republic, where he spent 4 years covering everything from dark money in politics to Catholic priest sexual abuse scandals. He brings strong watchdog sensibilities and creative storytelling skills to the Arizona Mirror.

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The preceding article was previously published by the Arizona Mirror and is republished with permission.

Amplifying the voices of Arizonans whose stories are unheard; shining a light on the relationships between people, power and policy; and holding public officials to account.

Arizona Mirror is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

By Megan Henry | COLUMBUS, Ohio – Two anti-transgender bills have recently been moving through the Ohio legislature.  

House Bill 8 would force educators to out a student’s sexuality to their parents, require public schools to inform parents about sexuality content materials ahead of time and give them the option to request alternative instructions. The bill passed in the House over the summer and has had a few hearings in the Senate Education Committee — meaning it will likely be voted on soon. 

House Bill 183 would ban transgender students from using the bathroom and locker room that matches up with their gender identity. The bill was recently voted out of committee but hasn’t made its way to the House floor yet and doesn’t seem like it will anytime soon. 

“We haven’t formally discussed it and it won’t be on the floor next week,” said Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill.

The Ohio House has four more meetings scheduled in May and June before the lawmakers go on summer break. 

Having these bills go through the legislative process — even if they don’t pass — is damaging to the LGBTQ community, said Carson Hartlage, a member of the Board of TransOhio. 

“They’re both framed as attempts to protect students … but it doesn’t seem like these bills are actually fixing any real problems,” Hartlage said. “They’re really just creating really harmful conversations around trans kids and a lot of them don’t really seem all that practical or enforceable. … It just creates a spotlight where we don’t really need one and points out kids or individual schools or things like that don’t really need that kind of negative attention.”

Bathroom bills 

Bradie Anderson, 14, is worried someone will police which bathroom she uses at school. 

“There’s no problem with her in the bathrooms,” Bradie’s mom Anne Anderson said. “There’s just not. They’re looking for a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.”

The Anderson family lives in Mentor, but they have considered moving because of the various anti-LGBTQ bills in the Statehouse. 

“People don’t want to stick around here,” Anderson said. 

Ten states have laws on the books that limit access to bathrooms that line up with gender identity in K-12 schools, according to the UCLA Williams Institute 2024 report on the impact of anti-transgender legislation on youth. An estimated 34,800 transgender students ages 13-17 live in those states. 

Those laws have been challenged in Florida, Oklahoma, Idaho and Tennessee. Seventeen states, including Ohio, have bathroom bill bans pending in the legislature.   

Ohio’s bill would also ban schools from allowing students to share overnight accommodations with the opposite sex, and it would prevent a school from having single-occupancy facilities. 

Parental bill of rights 

Anderson worries about the LGBTQ students whose parents don’t support them. 

“Those are the kids that are going to be completely crushed by House Bill 8,” she said. “House Bill 8 would be very dangerous to children that want to keep a low profile and feel that they can trust someone in their school because they obviously don’t feel safe coming out to their parents, that’s the issue.”

There were 62 parental-rights bills in 24 states in 2023, according to FutureEd, an independent think tank at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. 

Bills have been signed into law in Florida, Arizona, Georgia, and Louisiana. 

Ohio’s bill would prohibit any sexuality content from being taught to students in kindergarten through third grade. 

The bill defines sexuality content as “oral or written instruction, presentation, image, or description of sexual concepts or gender ideology.”

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Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.

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The preceding article was previously published by the Ohio Capital Journal an is republished with permission.

The Ohio Capital Journal is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to connecting Ohioans to their state government and its impact on their lives. The Capital Journal combines Ohio state government coverage with incisive investigative journalism, reporting on the consequences of policy, political insight and principled commentary.

We’re part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

JACKSON, Miss. – Republican lawmakers in Mississippi working to close out their 2024 legislative session were unable to vote on two measures that would have restricted the legal rights of transgender people in the state.

The Associated Press reported that House and Senate leaders failed to agree on compromise versions two bills, one bill that would have restricted transgender people’s use of bathrooms and locker rooms in public buildings, including university dormitories. The other would have specified that sex is defined at birth, and that “there are only two sexes, and every individual is either male or female.”

The language of each measure would have had to be the same for the final versions to be passed and sent on to Republican Gov. Tate Reeves. In February of 2023 Reeves signed into law HB1125, a bill banning health care treatments for gender dysphoria for transgender youth, prohibiting doctors from providing such care and stripping parents of the right to guide medical decisions for their own children.

Reeves said at the time he signed the bill, which bars puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery for minors, because “there is a dangerous movement spreading across America today.”

“It’s advancing under the guise of a false ideology, and pseudo science is being pushed onto our children through radical activist, social media and online influencers, and it’s trying to convince our children that they are in the wrong body,” Reeves said at a news conference after he signed the bill.

In 2021, the governor signed legislation to ban trans athletes from competing on girls’ or women’s sports teams.

GEORGETOWN, Del. – Salvator “Sal” Seeley, who served as an official with the Rehoboth Beach, Del., CAMP Rehoboth LGBTQ community center for 20 years, was sentenced on April 5 by a Sussex County Superior Court judge to nine months in prison and to pay $176,000 in restitution to the organization.

The sentencing took place about five weeks after Seeley pleaded guilty to a charge of Theft in Excess of $50,000 for allegedly embezzling funds from CAMP Rehoboth, a spokesperson for the Delaware Department of Justice told the Washington Blade.

Seeley’s guilty plea came shortly after a grand jury, at the request of prosecutors, indicted him on the felony theft charge following an investigation that found he had embezzled at least $176,000 from the nonprofit LGBTQ organization.

“Salvatore C. Seeley, between the 27th day of February 2019 and the 7th day of September 2021, in the County of Sussex, State of Delaware, did take property belonging to CAMP Rehoboth, Inc., consisting of United States currency and other miscellaneous property valued at more than $50,000, intending to appropriate the same,” the indictment states.

“The State recommended a sentence of two years of incarceration based on the large-scale theft and the impact to the non-profit organization,” Delaware Department of Justice spokesperson Caroline Harrison told the Blade in a statement.

“The defense cited Seeley’s lack of a record and gambling addiction in arguing for a probationary sentence,” the statement says. “Seeley was sentenced in Superior Court to a nine-month prison term and to pay a total of $176,000 in restitution for the stolen funds,” Harrison says in the statement.

Neither Seeley nor his attorney could immediately be reached for comment.

At the time of Seeley’s indictment in February, CAMP Rehoboth released a statement saying it first discovered “financial irregularities” within the organization on Sept. 7, 2021, “and took immediate action and notified state authorities.” The statement says this resulted in the investigation of Seeley by the state Department of Justice as well as an internal investigation by CAMP Rehoboth to review its “financial control policies” that led to an updating of those policies.

“As we have communicated from day one, CAMP Rehoboth has fully cooperated with law enforcement,” the statement continues. “At its request, we did not speak publicly about the investigation while it was ongoing for fear it would jeopardize its integrity,” according to the statement. “This was extremely difficult given our commitment to transparency with the community about day-to-day operations during the recent leadership transition.”

The statement was referring to Kim Leisey, who began her job as CAMP Rehoboth’s new executive director in July of 2023, while the Seeley investigation had yet to be completed, following the organization’s process of searching for a new director. It says Seeley left his job as Health and Wellness Director of CAMP Rehoboth in September of 2021 after working for the organization for more than 20 years.

“Mr. Seeley’s actions are a deep betrayal to not only CAMP Rehoboth but also the entire community we serve,” the statement says.

By Amelia Ferrell Knisely | CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey filed a brief in support of the female middle school student-athletes who publicly protested a transgender athlete competing in their track and field competition.

The transgender athlete has been permitted to compete due to a recent federal appeals court ruling. 

Five students who forfeited their shot-put competition April 18 in protest have now been barred from competing in that event at their next track and field meet, according to a new release from the AG’s office. 

Four of the five students, through their parents, filed suit.

“Their actions at the earlier track meet were not disruptive or aggrandizing. They were the quiet demonstration of the student-athletes’ evident unhappiness with the competitive consequences of a federal appellate court’s decision,” Morrisey, a Republican, wrote in the amicus brief filed April 26. 

The girls’ competition forfeiture followed a federal appeals court ruling in favor of West Virginia teen Becky Pepper-Jackson, a trans girl who uses puberty blocking medication. The girl sued the state over its law barring trans athletes from competing on girls’ and women’s sports teams in public schools and colleges. 

The law doesn’t ban trans males from competing on boys’ or mens’ teams.

The federal appeals court ruling only blocked the state’s transgender sports ban in Pepper-Jackson’s case; it did not overturn the state law in its entirety. 

The AG announced last week that he will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on if the state can enforce its transgender athlete ban in Pepper-Jackson’s case. 

Morrisey is currently running for governor in a tight Republican primary race ahead of the May election. 

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Amelia is an investigative reporter for West Virginia Watch. Her coverage regularly focuses on poverty, child welfare, social services and government.

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The preceding article was previously published by West Virginia Watch and is republished with permission.

Nonprofit, nonpartisan, independent journalism not hidden behind a paywall. Mountaineers are always free, and so is West Virginia Watch.

West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

STATESBORO, Ga. – Several hundred students and supporters gathered in the central atrium of the Russell Union student center at Georgia Southern University (GSU) on Monday protesting the suspension of an LGBTQ+ inclusion training program, Safe Space, to the relocation of health care resource listings from a GSU public website.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Ellen Murphy, a grad student, organized the demonstration along with a handful of others, including members of Georgia Southern’s LGBTQ student organization, the Gay-Straight Alliance.

Murphy and other protestors, who were joined in solidarity by a handful of university administrators aimed to send a message to university administration after they suspended the LGBTQ+ initiatives, removing “information about services, including therapy groups for LGBTQ+ students, training to educate faculty/staff about LGBTQ+ identities (ie, Safe Space/Zone), medical treatments for transgender students, career resources, LGBTQ+ symbolism, and diversity statements from the university website.”

Georgia Southern administrator Dominique A. Quarles told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the Safe Space training was paused because a compliance review of University System of Georgia human resources administrative practices found the program violated recent policy revisions.

The university is exploring alternative approaches to restore Safe Space or to offer similar training that doesn’t violate University System policy, Quarles told the AJC. The timeline for the reboot is the fall semester, which begins Aug. 14.

In a letter to GSU, Murphy and other protestors claimed that “pride flags were promptly removed from the shelves of the university bookstore, and adjustments were made to programming for upcoming events for LGBTQ+ students.” This included students being given notice that “drag events would no longer be permitted on campus.”

The letter also highlighted that GSU President Kyle Marrero had ordered the removal of a poster promoting gender-affirming care in the school’s counseling center.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution pointed out that the protest “differed in tone and tenor from the pro-Palestinian demonstrations happening at campuses across the country.” Organizers took steps during the planning process to ensure participants would “act in alignment with our values.”

Related:

By Sophie Nieto-Munoz | ASBURY PARK, N.J. – The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and Garden State Equality sent letters to 16 school districts across New Jersey this week urging them to reinstate a policy they say protects transgender youth. 

The groups say without this policy — known as policy 5756 — not only are districts open to legal liability, but students and families may believe their schools are not safe and welcoming environments. The policy outlines responsibilities districts have to protect LGBTQ students under state and federal law. 

“School administrators must do everything they can to protect trans kids. As LGBTQ+ rights face renewed threats across the country, New Jersey has a responsibility to lead by example and ensure that students in our state feel safe, supported, and respected,” ACLU-NJ staff attorney Elyla Huertas said in a statement.

The policy, which is not mandatory, says school officials should have open but confidential discussions with their transgender students to ascertain the students’ preferences on their chosen names, pronouns, and parental communications. It was introduced in 2018 after a law signed by then-Gov. Chris Christie directed state education officials to create a policy regarding transgender students.

It came under fire last year when state Attorney General Matt Platkin’s office filed civil rights complaints against four school districts that sought to implement policies requiring school officials to tell parents about the sexual orientation and gender identity of LGBTQ students. Platkin critics said his office was improperly trampling on their rights to know personal details about their children. After state officials conceded during those court fights that policy 5756 was not mandatory, a handful of school districts repealed it.   

“At a time when we are seeing attacks against LGBTQ+ students proliferate throughout the state and country, showing your students that you are protecting them is crucial for their ability to feel safe, supported, and respected in the school environment,” the letter states.

Sparta is among the school districts that received the letter. Its school board president, Kurt Morris, told the New Jersey Monitor that the ACLU-NJ’s concerns are “unfounded” because the district readopted the policy at its December 2023 meeting. Officials from other districts did not respond to requests for comment. 

A letter also went to Union Township’s schools. The district’s board president, Cortney Dominianni-Smith, said school officials there agree with the ACLU that transgender students, like all students, should be treated respectfully and in a nondiscriminatory manner.

“The District has numerous policies protecting the rights of all students, including transgender students and guaranteeing them equal access to all programs and opportunities in the Union Township Schools,” she said.

Studies show that LGBTQ+ youth face higher rates of bullying and harassment at school, and are more likely to be alienated from their families or communities. LGBTQ+ children are more likely to experience housing instability, and are four times more likely to attempt suicide compared to their straight and cisgender peers.

“All of the data show affirming schools are a lifeline for LGBTQ+ students,” said Lauren Albrecht, Garden State Equality’s director of advocacy and organizing. “So when schools don’t know — or outright reject research-backed, educator-approved, and, until recently, uncontroversial guidelines for — how to meet the well-documented needs of these students, it isn’t hyperbole to say lives are at risk.”

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Sophie Nieto-Muñoz, a New Jersey native and former Trenton statehouse reporter for NJ.com, shined a spotlight on the state’s crumbling unemployment system and won several awards for investigative reporting from the New Jersey Press Association. She was a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists for her report on PetSmart’s grooming practices, which was also recognized by the New York Press Club. Sophie speaks Spanish and is proud to connect to the Latinx community through her reporting.

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The preceding article was previously published by the New Jersey Monitor and is republished with permission.

New Jersey Monitor provides fair and tough reporting on the issues affecting New Jersey, from political corruption to education to criminal and social justice. We strive to hold powerful people accountable and explain how their actions affect New Jerseyans from Montague to Cape May.

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We’re part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.