Why they backed off: The administration was trying to create a new rule that would deny Medicare and Medicaid funding to hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to trans youth, funds that hospitals depend on. The proposed rule received over 30,000 public comments, including opposition from major medical associations.
Why it matters: The Trump administration isn’t going to stop attacking gender-affirming care providers, but they will not use this one extreme tactic, at least not for the next year.
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What the provisions do: One would ban Pride flags from flying at any State Department facility. Another ends nondiscrimination protections for federal contractors. Two others ban funding for organizations that acknowledge that trans people exist or advocate for nondiscrimination measures.
Why it matters: While some or all of the provisions may be removed by the Senate before this bill passes, Republicans are continuing to try to use must-pass appropriations bills to attack LGBTQ+ rights.
Who they were: Jayson Conner and Jeffrey Newman of Manhattan spent nearly the last decade of their lives organizing volunteers and distributing supplies such as beef jerky sticks, solar-powered battery chargers, body wipes, and wool socks to the homeless. “We take what we do very seriously. We’re not making little goodie bags—we’re really thinking out what it is people need the most. It’s a labor of love,” Newman said in a 2020 interview.
Why it matters: The supplies they provided improved the lives of many marginalized people.
Who said what: During a hearing about DEI, Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) and Randy Fine (R-FL) questioned medical school administrators about the phrase “pregnant people.” They each asked who, other than women, can get pregnant, and when they were told that many trans men can get pregnant, they started shouting that that’s “ridiculous” and “insane.”
Why it matters: House Republicans apparently consider this one of the most important issues in healthcare in the U.S., but they aren’t even willing to have a normal conversation about it.
Why they’re dropping their lawsuits: Students in Arizona and New Hampshire had their lawsuits dismissed in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Hecox v. Little, which rejected two challenges to trans sports bans in West Virginia and Idaho. The lawsuits are “a grueling process,” and the Supreme Court seems unlikely to be persuaded by pro-trans arguments in the near future.
Why it matters: Courts are currently the only part of the federal government that might help protect LGBTQ+ people’s rights, but anything that lower courts decide can be overturned by the 6-3 conservative Supreme Court.
Pictures of the Week
Club XYZ in Knoxville, Tennessee, which has been open for 22 years, had its “Last Dance” on June 27. Several days later, the venue was photographed stripped of its signage.
A bar called “Good Judy’s” applied for a liquor license at the same location, according to Knox News, suggesting that another LGBTQ+ establishment will replace Club XYZ.
Some more great queer and trans reads
Contributor Rebecca Batley kicked off LGBTQ Nation’s Summer Edition – celebrating LGBTQ+ American history through the nation’s 250-year history – with a story about the Pansy Craze, when America loved queer performers during the early 1900s.
Contributor Faefyx Collington talked to the founder of the Satanic Temple about LGBTQ+ people turning to them and their advocacy for equal rights.
Columnist John Gallagher discussed the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and the infirm Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and what they say about the current GOP.
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