A federal district court judge on Wednesday temporarily halted parts of a nondiscrimination rule that would have kept insurers and medical professionals from denying hormone therapy, gender transition surgeries and similar medical care for transgender people.

U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. sided with 15 states that had argued the language the rule was based on — the 1972 Title IX nondiscrimination law — encompasses biological sex, but not gender identity. Guirola’s injunction applies nationwide to the Affordable Care Act rule, which would have gone into effect Friday.

Insurers are looking to expand coverage of sexual health services and gender affirming care in the wake of lawsuits over allegedly discriminatory policies.

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Enforcement of a federal rule expanding anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ students has been blocked in four states and a patchwork of places elsewhere by a federal judge in Kansas.

U.S. District Judge John Broomes suggested in his ruling Tuesday that the Biden administration must now consider whether forcing compliance remains “worth the effort.”

Broomes' decision was the third against the rule from a federal judge in less than three weeks but more sweeping than the others. It applies in Alaska, Kansas, Utah and Wyoming, which sued over the new rule. It also applies to a Stillwater, Oklahoma, middle school that has a student suing over the rule and to members of three groups backing Republican efforts nationwide to roll back LGBTQ+ rights. All of them are involved in one lawsuit.

Broomes, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, directed the three groups — Moms for Liberty, Young America’s Foundation and Female Athletes United — to file a list of schools in which their members' children are students so that their schools also do not comply with the rule. Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, a Republican who argued the states' case before Broomes last month, said that could be thousands of schools.

Transgender women receiving hormone therapy may skew artificially low on prostate cancer screening tests, thereby providing false reassurance and potentially delaying diagnosis and treatment, according to a recent study published by Nik-Ahd et al in JAMA. The findings indicated that transgender women and physicians should interpret standard screening guidelines with caution.

Celebrations were ‘forced into hiding’ as outcome of legislation, which would put LGBT+ people at risk of imprisonment, remains unclear

publication croisée depuis : https://jlai.lu/post/8163164

One of my favourite Autostraddle posts of all time.

Title article has overview, but this ABC piece has more context: https://abcnews.go.com/US/stonewall-uprising-veteran-honors-protest-historic-lgbtq-center/story?id=111454893

Mark Segal was 18 years old and had only lived in New York City for six weeks when he found himself at the center of the Stonewall Uprising in 1969.

The very spot where Segal once danced, drank and took part in one of the most consequential moments in LGBTQ history is now the first LGBTQ visitor center within the National Park System.

"At that time, we as a community were totally invisible," said Segal. "LGBT people were not in newspapers, were not in magazines, were not radio, not in television."

...

He continued, "Please don't be mournful. Be cheerful, because what happened [in the LGBTQ equality movement] got us to where we are today. So we should be somewhat celebratory. I know some of us didn't make it. But we're in a better place thanks to those people."

Biden spoke at the opening, as well as several other notable people: https://abc7ny.com/post/nyc-pride-president-joe-biden-visit-stonewall-national/15007800/

He told the cheering crowd, "its your love for each other and your community that brought this center to life."

Legendary singer, songwriter and pianist Elton John was also in attendance for the ceremony.

"I can say as a proud English, gay man, that this is one of the greatest honors of my life to be here today," he said. "The fight for freedom and equality is an ongoing one."

See also:

• https://www.cntraveler.com/story/new-york-stonewall-national-monument-visitor-center
• https://www.fastcompany.com/91148016/the-stonewall-inn-monument-gets-a-slick-new-visitors-center

Park Service site: https://www.nps.gov/ston/index.htm

Alternate frontend

I'm thinking about moving to Denver and starting my adult life. I live near NYC but I just don't like it. NYC is dirty, stinky, and unjustifiably expensive. I see rents in Denver between 1400-2000 for a reasonable yet not posh apartment and I can afford it by myself.

TBH I could afford NYC with roommates too but it's everything that is just ridiculously expensive, NYC just feels unfair and nuyorkians take the unfairness out on everyone. I don't want to live my adult life feeling like I should just bite the bullet every time I wanna do something, I want to spend reasonably.

But I'm gay and I gotta have that gay energy in my life, Denver looks great, I'm just curious about what you guys think about Denver Colorado.

Thoughts? Opinions? Warnings?

Trigger Warning [discussion of suicide and trauma]

This isn't an easy read, but it's a good read.

What LGBTQ+ topic do you wish more people knew about? This could be a queer icon, a piece of history, knowledge about certain labels, specific philosophy topics (or notable philosopher), art, or anything else. Also if there are topics that you wish specific sub populations had greater access to or knowledge of, feel free to qualify (for example, you might wish there was greater knowledge about a specific cultural gender to all cultures which don't have exposure to this gender, or a desire for your local gay community to be more educated on a topic important to you).