After 30 years of championing the rights of LGBTQ+ people, Equality New Mexico has its finger on the pulse of supportive legislation and has made its earliest endorsements ever for the 2024 election.

Marshall Martinez, executive director of the group, said the advocacy organization has come out early for candidates he calls equality "rock stars," those who have demonstrated proactive leadership in the fight for LGBTQ+ issues. He believes New Mexico and a handful of other states serve as models in supportive legislation.

"Queer and trans people deserve to be happy and healthy in the community they live in," Martinez pointed out. "But until we can make that happen at the national level, we want to make sure that those in New Mexico can have that life, and that others folks could consider coming to New Mexico for that life."

Last year the New Mexico Legislature passed the Reproductive and Gender Affirming Health Care bill, protecting individuals who seek such care from discrimination by public bodies.

In addition to LGBTQ+ issues, Martinez said Equality New Mexico also makes endorsements based on legislators' positions on economic policies such as paid family and medical leave. Another issue is abortion access, which he noted has become especially important since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned abortion as a constitutional right in the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision.

"First and foremost, we can't rely on the federal government to uphold our protections," Martinez contended. "We will continuously point to the Dobbs decision as an indication that the federal judiciary is no longer the backstop that we used to think it was."

Martinez added the LGBTQ+ rights organization has endorsed 15 candidates for New Mexico's House and Senate seats and expects a second round of endorsements before November.

As the new school year starts, Nebraska teachers will again be focusing on their students' emotional well-being and safety as well as academic success.

For some students who identify as LGBTQ+, it will be especially important. On the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's's 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the highest incidence of bullying, both at school and online, was reported by LGBTQ+ students.

Isabella Manhart, a member of the LGBTQ+ community and a teacher education student at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, who is researching the school experiences of transgender and nonbinary students, stressed the important role the classroom environment plays.

"Are there 'safe space' stickers? Are there ways for students to recognize that this is a place where they can feel safe and included?" Manhart asked. "Those things we can often overlook, because they feel very small, but they are really important for students to feel like they are safe in the classroom space."

Manhart emphasized schools also need to ensure mental health resources are available and accessible to students. Beginning last school year, Legislative Bill 852 requires every Nebraska school to have one or more "behavioral points of contact" familiar with community behavioral health resources available for students and families.

Manhart urged Nebraska teachers to be sensitive to the way state, local and district policies may be affecting their LGBTQ+ students and knowledgeable about the students' rights.

"Regarding privacy, regarding using their preferred name and pronouns, accessing bathrooms, dress codes, all those things," Manhart outlined. "Students have rights at schools that sometimes principals and district officials don't know."

The National Education Association encourages using correct names and pronouns, saying it increases trust and feelings of belonging.

Grant Friedman, legal fellow at the ACLU of Nebraska, agreed. He said schools should use a student's chosen name and pronouns wherever possible, such as on student IDs, class attendance rosters and yearbooks.

"A person's legal name should really only appear in their official file, and schools should be doing everything they can to support students," Friedman urged. "That includes using their chosen name and pronouns. But there is no law that requires a school to use a student's legal name."

The battle between social conservatives and Michigan libraries to remove certain books from the shelves is becoming increasingly political as the November elections draw near.

A Michigan Library Association poll shows more than three-quarters of Michiganders oppose censorship of library books but the public filed 47 complaints in 2023.

Debbie Mikula, executive director of the association, said in most cases, such bans would violate the First Amendment.

"When there's an effort to try to prohibit accessing information or a book because some individuals don't like the ideas contained in the book, the United States Supreme Court has held that's unconstitutional," Mikula pointed out.

One recent incident involved the Alpena County Library, where county commissioners removed the entire library board for "failing to act" on community members' demands to remove certain books. The community members vowed, but failed, to vote down the library's "millage" or operating fund.

A 2023 Michigan Library Association poll showed 71% of Michiganders have a positive opinion of the state's libraries. Two-thirds said books about sex, gender identity or sexual orientation should not be banned, while 30% said it is appropriate "sometimes" or "always."

Jay Kaplan, staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan, said many wanting books removed are influenced by groups like Moms for Liberty or others who circulate book lists and demand their removal.

"Most of the books that they want to have removed usually deal with LGBTQ characters or situations," Kaplan noted. "Some of the book deal with racism. But for the most part, they're usually, it's usually LGBTQ subject matter."

Kaplan argued removing a book not meeting a library's published standards is possible but only when everything is done out in the open.

"As long as there's a very transparent process where a book is reviewed and is determined that this book is inappropriate for the library, that's one thing," Kaplan stressed. "But the idea when you try to remove a book because you don't like the ideas contained in the book, that raises constitutional issues."


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Hate crimes against members of the LGBTQ+ community have risen for the second year in a row, according to the latest "State of Pride" report from the California Department of Justice.

Between 2022 and 2023, the report showed hate crimes motivated by anti-LGBTQ bias increased more than 86% across the state.

Toni Newman, chair of the nonprofit Trans Can Work, explained the importance of finding solutions.

"The death of trans women in the United States remains a critical issue highlighting racism, transphobia, and systemic violence," Newman emphasized. "(For) transgender women, particularly those of color, there's disproportionately high rates of violence."

So far in 2024, the Human Rights Campaign has tracked 20 violent deaths of transgender and gender-expansive people, about half at the hands of intimate partners. It said 70% were people of color, and 35% were Black transgender women.

Becky Monroe, deputy director of strategic initiatives and external affairs for the California Civil Rights Department, wants victims to know they can call the new hotline at 833-8-NO-HATE or go to the website CAvsHate.org.

"We provide services in over 200 languages if people call," Monroe explained. "If you go on our website, we have a statewide network made up of hundreds of community-based organizations that are able to serve."

California versus Hate connects callers with trauma-informed counselors. Monroe added they can refer victims to law enforcement upon request.


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