Regional library systems provide vital services for small and under-resourced communities. But what happens when political divisions threaten to dismantle them?
The Biden administration has updated Title IX to cover sexual orientation and gender identity. Officials in red states are suing to block what they call “gender ideology.”
When Raúl Ureña was first elected in 2020, she earned 70 percent of the vote. Now the mayor of the California border town of Calexico faces a recall over homelessness and economic development – but also gender identity.
Lawmakers in several states, mostly conservative and largely rural, have rejoined the debate over whether transgender people may use bathrooms and other facilities that do not match their sex assigned at birth.
The state House voted 65-28 to override the governor’s veto of a bill that aims to restrict both medical care for trans youth and transgender athletes. The bill will now move to the Senate, where it will need a three-fifths majority to complete the override.
Supporters of a proposed ballot initiative have collected nearly 425,000 signatures. The measure would ensure parents have access to the materials their children are taught in K-12 classrooms.
State legislators have passed more than 700 new laws and a variety of notable or controversial laws will take effect this week, including policies surrounding transgender athletes, chaplains in schools and a tampon tax.
It will provide protections to health-care practitioners who refuse to prescribe marijuana, participate in procedures such as abortion, medically assisted death, gender-affirming care and other treatments that go against their personal beliefs.
Liliana Bakhtiari, the state’s first queer Muslim to serve in public office, introduced legislation that asks the city police department to prioritize criminal cases under the law at the “lowest possible level” and avoid any investigations of reported cases.
Anti-LGBTQ and anti-semetic flyers were distributed in a city neighborhood just weeks after an outpouring of anti-semitic commentary at City Council meetings and rising hate crimes against LGBTQ people across the state.
It's one thing to try to impose discipline within the party; punishing members of the other party involves a different set of dynamics. Plus, can you fire a non-appointee?
Despite steady gains, the LGBTQ+ community is severely underrepresented in elected office.
For many lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender workers, having to stand up for yourself is nothing new, making unionizing the logical next step. By the end of last year, union filings were up more than 17 percent in the Chicago area.
A few states have proposed or passed laws defining "male" and "female," and more such legislation may be coming. Critics say the definitions amount to erasure of those who choose gender identities different than the one they were given at birth.
Public support for the LGBTQ+ community has grown steadily for decades. But some state legislators are pushing back against changing attitudes.
Too often it’s our youth who are the targets of racial- and gender-based animus and attacks. Rather than making life harder for children, public officials should be protecting them.
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