Ban: Last News

government-sanctioned discrimination against LGBTQ people.In 2014, John published an open letter condemning Russia’s “gay propaganda” law, which was passed under the guise of “protecting” minors from being exposed to expressions of LGBTQ identity or gender nonconformity. The law was later expanded to apply to adults as well.The prosecutor’s office cast the Elton John AIDS Foundation as undermining Russian societal values.“When a musician plays along with the promoters of democracy, you get propaganda,” it wrote on its official Telegram channel.

A grant helping to fund a study on the potential health risks posed by synthetic menstrual hygiene products was revoked after being flagged for including transgender men.The $600,000 grant, “Farm to Feminine Hygiene: Enhancing the Textiles Lab for Research, Extension, and Scientific Instrumentation for Teaching at Southern University,” was awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture in 2024.It sought to “address the growing concerns and issues surrounding menstruation, including the potential health risks posed to users of synthetic feminine hygiene products,” according to the project’s documentation, which was publicly filed on the USDA website.

a pair of executive orders from President Donald Trump seeking to criminalize the provision of gender-affirming health care to transgender youth.U.S. District Judge Brendan Hurson, of the District of Maryland, granted a preliminary injunction to the families of several transgender young adults and adolescents whose access to gender-affirming care was disrupted by Trump’s orders.

revised its policy to comply with Trump’s executive order, replacing references to a student’s “gender” with sex. It removed principals’ authority to make a final determination regarding a student’s sex and allowed a school to determine it (presumably based on the gender marker on school records and birth certificates, although the policy lacks specifics).The PIAA’s policy also requires schools to consult with school solicitors to ensure they are complying with the order and keeping transgender athletes from competing on teams that don’t match their assigned sex at birth.The Philadelphia school district, however, said it will continue to comply with its own transgender student policy, known as “Policy 252.”The policy allows students to be addressed by gender-affirming pronouns, access facilities that align with their gender identity, and participate in school activities, including physical education classes and intramural sports, based on their gender identity.It discourages district staff from adopting gendered practices, such as requiring one graduation gown for females and another for males.

The Guardian instructs visa officers to enforce a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that allows the United States to refuse entry to any visa applicant who commits identity fraud or misrepresents who they are.Unlike regular visa denials, anyone violating that section can be permanently refused entry to the United States, effectively constituting a lifelong ban.“In cases where applicants are suspected of misrepresenting their purpose of travel or sex, you should consider whether this misrepresentation is material such that it supports an ineligibility finding,” the directive from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reads.The directive comes in response to an executive order from President Donald Trump banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.While signing the order, Trump directed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to deny visas to “men attempting to fraudulently enter the United States while identifying themselves as women athletes” during the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.Trump also pledged that Rubio would tell the International Olympic Committee that America “will not stand by and watch men beat and batter female athletes.”Transgender athletes are already a rare occurrence due to the small percentage of the population that they comprise globally.

The New York Times.The bill now heads to the Republican-controlled Senate. But due to the filibuster, seven Democrats would have to vote with Republicans to meet the 60-vote threshold needed to end debate on the bill before it receives an up-or-down vote.

bill into law on January 8, arguing that it strikes the right balance by allowing parents to have more of a say in what content their children are exposed to in schools. “[Parents are] the first teachers, they’re the best teachers, and that’s very, very important,” DeWine told reporters at the Ohio Statehouse, arguing the bill keeps parents informed of what’s going on in schools.The law is a response to a larger trend across the United States in which conservatives are immensely critical of public education.

announced that beginning with the 2025 season, players who have undergone male puberty will no longer be eligible to compete on the LPGA Tour, Epson Tour, Ladies European Tour, and in all other elite LPGA competitions. Transgender women who have undergone male puberty prior to transitioning may still be allowed to compete in “open events,” such as recreational programs and non-elite events open to people regardless of assigned sex at birth.A slimmer minority of transgender women who did not undergo male puberty, such as those who started puberty blockers before age 12, may be eligible to compete under the LPGA guidelines.

said Democrats didn’t “whip” the NDAA vote or advise their caucus members to adopt a specific position, instead allowing individual members to vote their conscience.Jeffries claimed there were “a lot of positive things” within the NDAA that had bipartisan support but also acknowledged the bill contained some “troubling” positions.House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) hailed the bill’s various provisions, including a pay raise for junior service members and improved housing for military families. He also fully endorsed more controversial provisions, including the ban on gender-affirming care for minor dependents and a prohibition on the teaching of “critical race theory” at military academies.The bill now heads to the U.S.

Zooey Zephyr (D-Missoula), Montana’s first out transgender lawmaker, will not be denied access to a women’s restroom at the State Capitol after all.During a meeting of the Joint Rules Committee on Tuesday, members of the Montana House of Representatives voted 10-12 to reject a proposed rule that would have prohibited all transgender women from using women’s restrooms.Senate members voted 11-7 in favor of the rule, but it failed because it needed a majority in both chambers to pass, reports NBC Montana.Had the rule passed, it would have prevented Zephyr from entering or using the women’s restroom located between the House and Senate chambers.The rule was proposed by State Rep. Jerry Schillinger (R-Circle), who cited the documentary “What is a Woman?”, a 2022 film produced by the conservative website The Daily Wire that challenges the very idea of transgender identity and mocks those who believe transgender women are women.Schillinger’s rule led some lawmakers to question how such a ban would be enforced and whether legislators would need to be tested for chromosomes or the ability to produce eggs before being allowed to use the women’s restroom.“If there’s a question over the chromosomes of a legislator, then does the legislature itself force the legislator to take some type of test, and then those results be made public?” asked State Rep.

Alabama Political Reporter that the city will “ensure all persons are served and respected equally while maintaining a safe Christmas parade event for us all.”“I am committed to fostering a thriving, safe, and vibrant family-friendly community for all of Prattville’s residents,” Gillespie said. “I hope everyone will enjoy the season that we are celebrating and will remember the reason for the season.”Clean Up Alabama has insisted that Gillespie must prevent Prattville Pride from displaying “transgender flags” — it’s unclear whether that includes the traditional rainbow-colored LGBTQ flags — and from having drag performers participate.“[The display of trans Pride flags and drag queens] would be in violation of parade rules which state that ‘political views are not allowed as decoration, in music, or otherwise by any parade participant,’ AND it also states that lewd or offensive entries will not be approved by parade officials,” the anti-LGBTQ group wrote in its email.Prattville Pride told the Alabama Political Reporter that it is “thrilled and proud to be participating in this year’s beloved Christmas parade.”“As the first organization to sign up, we were eager to join in the holiday magic and celebrate alongside our neighbors,” the group’s statement reads.

2023 study by The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ crisis intervention and suicide prevention nonprofit, found that 15% of LGBTQ youth reported being subjected to conversion therapy, with that subgroup being more than twice as likely to have attempted suicide over the past year than individuals who never underwent conversion therapy.Beshear, an LGBTQ ally, noted that he still hopes Kentucky lawmakers will take action to ban such practices but issued the order due to a lack of action by the state’s Republican-dominated legislature.Lawmakers previously overrode a veto Beshear issued of a sweeping anti-LGBTQ bill that bars gender-affirming care for minors, prohibits schools from acknowledging student’s gender identities and pronouns, and blocks LGBTQ-related content from being talked about in schools.“To me, [the issue is] not even about gender or sexuality. It’s about protecting our youth from an inhumane practice that hurts them,” Beshear said during the signing on September 17.He pushed back on critics who claim that banning conversion therapy infringes on anti-LGBTQ individuals’ free speech rights or forces individuals to adopt beliefs that may conflict with their religious views.“Today’s action does not force an ideology on anybody.

an earlier order he had issued in April blocking state authorities from enforcing the law.He ruled that the ban doesn’t violate the Ohio Constitution’s health care freedom amendment, or an Ohio law requiring legislation be limited to a single subject, reports The Columbus Dispatch. “The court finds the health care ban reasonably limits parents’ rights to make decisions about their children’s medical care consistent with the state’s deeply rooted legitimate interest in the regulation of medical profession and medical treatments,” Holbrook wrote in his decision.Under the law — which Republican lawmakers passed over objections from Republican Gov.

made public last Friday, was generated to comply with a state law that took effect on July 1.The law requires local education agencies, including school boards and the governing board of charter schools, to prioritize “protecting children from the harmful effects of illicit pornography over other considerations.” The board said it was committed to enforcing the law.Traditionally, schools and librarians have looked at the overall content and value of challenged books, rather than cherry-picked selections from such works, when determining whether books should be removed from shelves or banned altogether.However, the new law refuses to make allowances for works that may contain some adult content but have overriding literary, political, or artistic value. That means any works containing descriptions of sex or masturbation are banned, as are any books with LGBTQ content that opponents may claim is “sexual.”When a local education body removes a book for violating the law, it must notify the state board of education.

misleading for failing to define whether “sex” referred to a person’s gender or to the act of sexual intercourse and for failing to indicate that the terms “male” and “female” would be defined in the body of the bill.Vanatta added that while it is not his place to determine what the title of a bill denying transgender identity should be, he had grounds to overturn the law because its title did not sufficiently explain its core subject matter. The underlying law passed last year.

2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, in which the high court found that the Civil Rights Act protects LGBTQ people from workplace discrimination.“Applied here, Bostock’s reasoning leads to the conclusion that the Policy intentionally discriminates against Plaintiffs based in part on sex,” McHugh wrote on behalf of herself and Judge Richard Federico. “Take [plaintiff] Ms.

Ban This Book, by Alan Gratz, from its shelves, overriding its own Florida district book-review committee’s decision rejecting a challenge to the book.The children’s novel follows a fictional fourth-grade student who creates a secret library of banned books in her locker after her local school board bans those titles.Indian River School Board members said they disliked how it referenced other books that have been removed from schools and accused it of “teaching rebellion of school board authority.”Ban This Book, which had been housed in two elementary school libraries and a middle school, was challenged by Jennifer Pippin, president of the local chapter of Moms for Liberty, a national right-wing group that routinely rails against books that they claim contain “age-inappropriate content” and address LGBTQ rights, among other fabricated grievances.The school board voted 3-2 to remove the book from shelves, with two candidates backed by Moms for Liberty voting to remove it, along with a third member , Kevin McDonald, who was recently appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to fill a vacant seat following the ill-timed resignation of Brian Barefoot.McDonald tried to justify banning the book by claiming the board was acting on behalf of parents who wanted to keep their children from being “indoctrinated” or exposed to allegedly “woke” ideas.“The title itself and the theme challenges our authority,” McDonald said of Ban This Book.

Dagospia, and subsequently circulated by other Italian media. Italian is not Francis’s native language and the Argentine-born pope has made linguistic gaffes in the past, notes The Associated Press.

Writing on X, McMaster noted that he would be holding a ceremonial bill signing event next week to tout the bill’s benefits.“I signed the Help Not Harm bill into law, which protects our state’s children from irreversible gender transition procedures and bans public funds from being used for them,” he wrote.I signed the Help Not Harm bill into law, which protects our state’s children from irreversible gender transition procedures and bans public funds from being used for them. I look forward to joining legislators and supporters at a ceremonial bill signing in the Upstate next week.

E&E News, NPS Deputy Director Frank Lands said the National Park Service had received “an increasing amount of requests from employees asking to participate in uniform in a variety of events and activities, including events not organized by the NPS, which potentially conflict with our uniform policy.”NPS internal memos and documents reveal that the agency is seeking to enforce existing guidelines that prohibit employees from participating, in uniform, in any events that “could be construed as agency support for a particular issue, position, or political party.”Additionally, the current guidelines prohibit all ornaments — rainbow-colored pins, ribbons, or buttons, for example — except the NPS-issued badge, name bar, American flag pin, and collar insignia, from appearing on ranger uniforms. The NPS, which oversees the country’s various national parks and monuments, marks a departure from how the agency has enforced the policy, especially with respect to LGBTQ Pride, which critics of this latest interpretation claim is a celebration of identity and not a political cause or issue, as conservatives typically claim.In addition to Lands’ memo clarifying existing policy, the NPS also circulated a follow-up question-and-answer document and a subsequent email to staff in order to ensure compliance.In that Q&A document, the NPS answered the question: “Isn’t a Pride event more related to identity than a political issue or cause?”“When analyzing First Amendment concerns, the courts do not make a distinction between events which celebrate or support an ‘identity’ and events which advocate for a ’cause,'” the document reads.

Maulik Pancholy at a local middle school’s anti-bullying assembly due to concerns over his “lifestyle.”The Cumberland Valley School District school board voted unanimously to cancel the gay actor’s scheduled May 22 appearance at Mountain View Middle School in Mechanicsburg, a town of 9,000 people in the state’s center, just 10 miles outside Harrisburg.Pancholy, who played Jonathan on the hit TV show 30 Rock, Sanjay in Weeds, and voiced the character of Baljeet for Disney’s Phineas & Ferb, is also an author of novels for young adults, including The Best at It, the story of a gay Indian-American boy and his experience dealing with bullying in a small Midwestern town, and Nikhil Out Loud, about a group of eighth-grade theater kids rising up against homophobia in their community.The conservative school board balked at the idea that Pancholy might address the middle schoolers and bring up topics like homosexuality or politically-tinged issues, which could violate a district policy prohibiting “political” events.“He labels himself as an activist who is proud of his lifestyle, and I don’t think that should be imposed on our students,” School Board Member Bud Shaffner said at an evening meeting on April 15.Kelly Potteiger, a newly-elected board member who is also a member of the right-wing, anti-LGBTQ group Moms for Liberty, fretted that Pancholy might mention his books, which deal with anti-LGBTQ bullying themes, or his own experience with bullying, potentially even advocating for ideas like “empathy and inclusion” — which right-wingers typically deem as contrary to conservative values.“[I]t’s not discriminating against his lifestyle, that’s his choice, but it’s him speaking about it,” Potteiger sad.