BISMARCK, – Pride Month is coming to North Dakota's capital city next weekend.

The state's LGBTQ community has events planned June 14 through 16 in Bismarck, including a riverboat cruise, drag show and multi-faith service and potluck. The community also is taking the celebration to the State Capitol lawn for the first time.

Matt Liedholm is treasurer with the group Dakota OutRight, which hosts Capital Pride. He says Pride used to take place outside of town, and having it in front of the Capitol is important because it shows the community feels comfortable there.

"Let's go to the most visible symbol of our community and have it there,” says Liedholm. “So that went into our thinking. So much of our fight is in that state Capitol here in North Dakota and so, let's bring our celebration there as well."

Pride on the Capitol lawn is June 15 at 11 a.m.. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riot in New York City – often recognized as the beginning of the modern-day LGBTQ movement.

New York's police commissioner recently apologized for the department's treatment of gay, lesbian and transgender patrons of the Stonewall Inn, who became fed up with harassment and pushed back against police in June 1969. Liedholm says the community in North Dakota no longer deals with harassment like that, but often faces other indignities.

"Incorrect marriage certificates, struggles with adoption, struggles with employers and landlords, things like that,” says Liedholm. “We see this as a continuation of that struggle, which was formally started 50 years ago and absolutely continues today."

Liedholm also believes state legislators have ramped up anti-LGBTQ rhetoric in recent years, which he doesn't think matches North Dakotans' welcoming spirit. For the fifth session in a row, lawmakers voted down a measure that would have banned discrimination based on sexual orientation in areas like employment and housing.


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Advocates for Michigan's LGBTQ community are calling lawmakers' move to expand the state's civil rights law to include them a victory that's "been a long time coming."

The measure, Senate Bill 4, turns a series of court rulings into codified law, giving protections from bias based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

Tracy Hall, executive director of OutFront Kalamazoo, a community resource center, said that because the state's Democrat-controlled Legislature put the law on the books, LGBTQ rights can't easily be undone.

"We had a court ruling, we had local ordinances - but now, we actually have field protections in our state statute that do protect us when it comes to hiring and firing, public accommodations and housing," she said, "and these are big things."

Michigan joins 22 other states and Washington, D.C., to extend basic civil rights to the LGBTQ community. It was approved 64-45 in the House, and immediately signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Most but not all Republicans opposed the legislation, calling it a threat to religious freedom.

Halls said previous attempts to pass LGBTQ-rights legislation have stalled in Republican-controlled legislatures. She said the rising conservative tide that is pushing anti-transgender measures in other states makes the new Michigan law even more important.

"It's a huge deal, and especially in a time where you see anti-LGBTQ laws all over the country," she said. "So, for Michigan to stand out like that, it means the world to me."

According to Equality Michigan, more than 30 groups across the state advocate for the rights of LGBTQ citizens. Hall said her group, OutFront Kalamazoo, serves as both a gathering place and a community resource.

"We are an LGBTQIA community/resource center, and we provide programs, services, support groups, we put on events," she said. "I try to, and I think our team tries to, make this that 'safe space.'"

A new study from the University of New Hampshire found New England's LGBTQ+ residents experience higher rates of food insufficiency, the measure of whether a household generally has enough food to eat, than other people.

Research shows the overall food insufficiency rate in New England is more than 7%, yet it is nearly double for LGBTQ+ residents, and nearly triple for transgender people.

Isaac Leslie, extension assistant professor of community development at the University of Vermont who was a research associate at the University of New Hampshire, said while New England has a lower food insufficiency rate compared to the rest of the U.S., the study showed not everyone has the same advantage.

"Poverty and systemic discrimination are really at the center of the story here," Leslie asserted. "You see that reflected in food insufficiency rates."

Leslie noted researchers used data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, which in 2021, became one of the first national surveys to include measures of gender identity and sexuality.

LGBTQ+ New Englanders of color experience even higher rates of food insufficiency, with one in three Black transgender New Englanders not having enough food to eat in the past week. Researchers found LGBTQ+ people may be eligible for food assistance programs but feel unsafe providing detailed documents to enroll.

Leslie pointed out there are clear examples of systemic discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, even in progressive New England.

"And you don't find those until you start looking underneath the hood at rates like food insufficiency," Leslie explained.

Leslie added the findings suggest policymakers should address the ways in which racism and discrimination create an ongoing food crisis for LGBTQ+ New Englanders, especially those who are people of color. The findings are published in the journal Agriculture and Human Values.

Both chambers of the Maryland legislature have passed a bill that would require the state's Medicaid program to cover gender affirming care.

While some gender affirming treatments are currently covered by Medicaid, the Trans Health Equity Act would expand coverage to all forms of gender affirming treatment that are consistent with current clinical standards.

Last year - the Williams Institute at the University of California, LA - estimated there are 24,000 Transgender Marylanders.

The legislation was introduced in the House by state Del. Anne Kaiser - D-Montgomery County - and she said she sees it as telling Trans Marylanders they are part of the community.

"I like to think," said Kaiser, "that this legislation tells trans Marylanders, as I said at the hearing on Valentine's Day, 'We love you, you are welcome here, you are our neighbors, you're our friends, you belong, you're welcome' - which is obviously quite different from what is happening in some other states."

An amendment put forward on Friday by state Del. Mark Fisher - R-Calvert County - would have prevented Medicaid from providing gender-affirming care, including puberty blockers, to qualified patients under age 18.

Supporters of the amendment believe the science surrounding puberty blockers is not settled, but the amendment was rejected after an hour of debate.

The current standard of care in medicine including in Maryland allows children to access gender affirming care with the approval of parents and doctors.

Each bill will now be considered by the opposite chamber before going to the governor.

A similar bill passed the Senate last year but failed in the House. This time around supporters include Gov. Wes Moore - who, Kaiser said, is in favor of the measure.

"The governor spoke in favor of this legislation by name during the campaign and put out supportive documentation at the time," said Kaiser. "I spoke with his staff at the time and so we've connected with him now he's ready to sign the bill into law. "

If signed into law, the bill would take effect October 1.





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