State Matters
Warning: While some of the following stories describe legislative actions to celebrate and affirm LGBTQ+ people, many cover legislation targeting the LGBTQ+ community, particularly trans and non-binary youth. Please be kind to yourself and use your discretion while reading this section.
State news is representative but not exhaustive due to space constraint. Feel free to forward news about your state to advocacy@pflag.org to consider for inclusion.
Nebraska - 7-day wait set for trans youth treatment in Neb.
Arkansas - Saline County Judge fires library director after months of debate over children’s access to books
Oklahoma - Oklahoma judge upholds Legislature’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors
Florida - Statewide injunction against enforcing FL’s anti-drag law upheld on appeal.
Alabama - Children’s book marked as potentially “sexually explicit” because author’s last name is Gay. Read Me a Story, Stella, is a children’s picture book written by Marie-Louise Gay about a pair of siblings reading books together and building a doghouse. Due to the author’s last name, the book was added to a list of potentially “sexually explicit” books to be moved from the children’s section of the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library system.
New York - Man beaten in Manhattan in apparent hate crime. Four attackers confronted and then beat a 72-year-old man on September 15th, breaking his jaw. The attackers yelled anti-LGBTQ+ slurs during the attack, which is being investigated by the New York Police Department’s Hate Crime Task Force.
California - Yolo County Library Receives Bomb Threats Mary L. Stephens Davis Yolo County Library has received a flurry of bomb threats after an anti-LGBTQ+ influencer attacked the library online.
Iowa - Pride Groups Excluded From Parade Shenandoah Pride’s group was excluded from marching with a small group, a banner, and a drag queen in the Essex Labor Day Parade, reportedly removed by the mayor who cited safety concerns.
Missouri - The Department of Health has removed sexual health and LGBTQ+ youth resources from its website, citing concerns that the resources might not comply with the current anti-LGBTQ+ state laws.