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Nationwide Action Alert
On June 10th, the House Education and Workforce Committee is holding a hearing where they plan to attack superintendents from school districts with trans-inclusive policies. Anti-equality representatives plan to use this hearing to claim that trans-inclusive schools are at odds with what parents want for their kids. As PFLAG members, we know that’s not true, and PFLAG chapters have a chance to send a message to Congress in support of trans-inclusive schools!

Join our friends at Red Wine & Blue and tell your representatives to fight for for ALL students!

California
The State Senate passed SB 934— Senator Scott Wiener’s critical bill giving conversion “therapy” survivors more time to come forward and seek justice—last month. Now we’re in the final push to get this bill to Governor Newsom’s desk. We need you to make sure the Assembly passes this bill!

Conversion “therapy” survivors deserve justice; tell your Assemblymembers to vote YES on SB 934!

Hawaiʻi 
Last week, Governor Josh Green signed into law a bill that shields Hawaiʻi providers, patients, and the people who help them from out-of-state attacks on lawful health care. Some states are trying to punish care that is fully legal in other states where it's provided — such as abortion, contraception, and gender-affirming care. HB 1875 can protect providers and patients from these attacks. 

Reach out to Governor Green and thank him for protecting our doctors and patients!

New Jersey
Next week, the New Jersey Assembly is expected to vote on S. 2260 / A. 2218 — a bill that shields New Jersey providers, patients, and the people who help them from out-of-state attacks on lawful health care. 

Some states are trying to punish care that is fully legal in other states where it's provided — such as abortion, contraception, and gender-affirming care. S. 2260 / A. 2218 can protect providers and patients from these attacks. We need you to reach out to your Assemblymembers NOW and tell them to vote YES on this critical bill!

PFLAG in Action

PFLAG Tulare & Kings Counties honored in proclamation from Tulare County, California Board of Supervisors. On June 2d, PFLAG Tulare & Kings Counties, along with the Source LGBTQ+ Center and the Visalia Pride Lions Club, was honored in a Tulare County Board of Supervisors Proclamation. The proclamation noted the PFLAG chapter’s “extraordinary leadership and commitment to ensuring that all residents are treated with dignity and respect.” Two county supervisors walked out of the meeting when the proclamation was read, a highly unusual move, but the proclamation was signed by a majority of the board nonetheless.

PFLAG Lawrence leads successful effort to have June 2nd recognized as Gilbert Baker Day. Kelly Wall, a board member of PFLAG Lawrence, requested Kansas Governor Laura Kelly recognize the contributions of Parsons, Kansas native Gilbert Baker. Baker created the rainbow Pride flag. The Governor signed the proclamation recognizing June 2nd as Gilbert Baker day in the presence of PFLAG Lawrence President, Janis Guyot.

PFLAG Weber-Davis hosts candidate forums. PFLAG’s Weber-Davis chapter is hosting a series of candidate forums with the League of Women Voters of Weber County, Women’s Work Utah, and the Ogden branch of the NAACP. The forums will give the public the opportunity to learn more about candidates running for Weber County Commission and the local State Senate district.

PFLAG National, more than 40 other advocacy organizations, submit comment to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) opposing proposed warning label for children’s television programs featuring trans and nonbinary characters. The comment stated that content warnings that single out trans and nonbinary people and discussions of gender identity “are unnecessary, unhelpful and discriminatory.” The comment also states that “all people — including all LGBTQI+ youth — deserve to see themselves represented in the media. And we also believe that parents and guardians, not government regulators, should be the ones deciding what their children are able to watch.”

PFLAG National’s Katie Blair writes that Indiana Gov. Mike Braun “has no business telling my family we're less than.” PFLAG’s VP of Advocacy wrote an op-ed criticizing Mike Braun’s proclamation recognizing June as “Nuclear Family Month,” stating that “Braun and other elected officials have no business auditing the structure of a loving home when the real measures of a strong family are physical, emotional, and hopefully financial security.”

State News

Here is a sample of what’s going on around the country. You can share news from your state with [email protected] for possible inclusion in a future newsletter.

Kansas - State judge temporarily blocks enforcement of anti-trans healthcare ban. Douglas County District Judge Carl Folsom issued an injunction blocking an enforcement of a 2025 law banning medically necessary care for trans and nonbinary youth, holding that plaintiffs challenging the law under the state constitution have a strong likelihood of succeeding. 

Illinois - Northwestern University study finds voters penalize candidates for gender nonconformity. The study found that candidates that were gender non-conforming, such as male candidates with less traditionally masculine voices, were penalized by potential voters, losing 7% of their support. This loss of support was nearly identical across party lines.

Maine - Secretary of State invalidates anti-trans ballot question. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows ruled that an initiative that aimed to ban trans students from sports teams and school facilities aligned with their gender identity will not appear on the November ballot due to invalid signatures. A hearing in May found that over 12,000 signatures the initiative’s proponents gathered were invalid. 

New York - New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani launches “Trans Rights are Human Rights” campaign. Mayor Mamdani and the city Commission on Human Rights launched a public awareness campaign to highlight existing protections for trans and nonbinary New Yorkers.  

Texas - Attorney General Ken Paxton sues city of Denton to prevent “Big Gay Swim Day” at city swimming pool. The lawsuit stems from online advertisements of the event which said the pool would have gender neutral changing rooms. The Attorney General’s office says this violates SB 8, Texas’s anti-trans bathroom ban. The City of Denton announced that the event “is a private rental and is not sponsored by the City…All standard facility rules and requirements remain in effect during those rentals, which includes keeping all existing City signage, including restroom signage, visible and unobstructed.” 

Virginia - Campaign launches to repeal same-sex marriage ban amendment. Virginians for Marriage Equality launched its campaign to remove the state’s defunct same-sex marriage ban from the state constitution on June 1st. The ban was approved by voters in 2006, but has been unenforceable since 2014.

Federal News

HIV/AIDS activists arrested on Capitol Hill. U.S. Capitol Police arrested 10 HIV/AIDS activists on June 2nd after they protested Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. The activists held up signs and chanted “Rubio’s Cuts Kill People with AIDS, PEPFAR Saves Lives!” before officers removed them from the committee hearing room. 

Public support for LGBTQ+ people decreases from peak in 2022. According to Gallup, support for same-sex marriage and moral acceptance of LGBTQ+ people has slightly decreased from a peak in 2022. Gallup polls measured 71% support for same-sex marriage that year. Polling for moral acceptance of same-sex relations and transgender identity also peaked in 2022 at 71% and 46%, respectively. This year, support for same-sex marriage declined to 65%, while moral acceptance of same-sex relations declined to 64% and acceptance of transgender identity slipped to 38%. The decreased support for the LGBTQ+ community has largely been driven by self-identified Republicans.

Federal appeals court rules transgender troops were illegally separated from service. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia largely upheld a lower court ruling that the Trump Administration order to exclude transgender troops from military service likely violates their constitutional rights. The appeals court narrowed the lower court’s injunction blocking enforcement of the anti-trans military ban to only cover plaintiffs currently serving in the military but not those who seek to join the military in the future.

Families of trans youth file lawsuit against Stanford Medicine Children’s Hospital to bar release of medical records to the federal government. Six families of trans minors, represented by NCLR and GLAD Law, sued Stanford Medicine Children’s Hospital on May 27th after the hospital, among other institutions, received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas seeking records related to gender-affirming care provided to minors. The suit seeks to stop the hospital from complying with the subpoena.

Congressman Andy Ogles (TN-5) publishes, then deletes social media post saying “homosexuality has no place in America.” Rep. Ogles posted the message on X, formerly known as Twitter, on June 2nd, adding “Happy Nuclear Family Month.” The post was later taken down following widespread bipartisan criticism and Ogles blamed a communications staffer for writing it. 

House votes for war powers resolution to block Trump from ordering further strikes against Iran. The resolution passed 215-208, marking the first time a war powers resolution has passed either chamber since the conflict with Iran began three months ago.