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Arizona - Police investigate shooting at Tucson gay bar as a possible hate crime. Two people were shot and killed in the parking lot of the Venture-N bar shortly after midnight on August 31st. The suspect, who also died, was carrying a note with him that listed several LBTQIA+-associated businesses. In a social media post, PFLAG Phoenix wrote: “Venture-N has been a safe haven, a sanctuary, and a place of comfort for Tucson's queer community for decades.This tragedy is a heavy and painful reminder of the homophobia and hate that still exists.” Arkansas - Librarian fired for opposing book ban law receives settlement. Former Saline County librarian, Patty Hector, was fired in October 2023 in a move she said was retaliation for publicly opposing book ban efforts. Saline County will pay Hector a settlement including $225,000 in damages and $50,000 in legal fees. In a statement she released with the ACLU of Arkansas, Hector said “Standing up for the freedom to read cost me a job and a career I loved, but I never believed that staying silent was the answer…Libraries belong to everyone, and librarians should be able to serve their communities according to professional standards without fearing political retaliation.” Maryland - Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) to require parent permission before trans and nonbinary students can be referred to by their chosen name and pronouns. According to new guidance, AACPS teachers and staff will need to obtain parent permission before using a student’s chosen name and pronouns, a departure from previous policies which allowed high school students to use a chosen name and pronouns without parental permission. Minnesota - State Supreme Court considers discrimination lawsuit brought by transgender librarian fired by Catholic school. Reyzl Grace MoChridhe worked as a librarian at the Academy of Holy Angels Catholic high school in Richfield. When she told school administrators that she planned to transition, administrators told her that she would not be welcomed back to the school the following year. Her contract was then terminated. MoChridhe sued the school in 2024 and now the state Supreme Court is considering whether her lawsuit can move forward after lower courts granted the school’s motion to dismiss the suit. South Carolina - Transgender student drops lawsuit challenging bathroom ban; leaves the state with his family. The student, known only as John Doe, challenged the state’s anti-trans bathroom ban in 2024, when he was in eighth grade. His middle school suspended him for using the boys’ bathroom and he faced bullying and harassment from his peers. After withdrawing from in-person classes for a time, Doe returned to in-person learning for high school, but faced even more severe bullying from students and discrimination from staff. In a statement released by Public Justice, they explain that "Because of the rampant hostility and the growing lack of safety for transgender children and their families in South Carolina, John Doe and his family were forced to uproot and relocate, so are dismissing their case.” Tennessee - Nashville Metro Council appoints first openly transgender president pro tempore. Olivia Hill, who became the first openly transgender person elected to public office in Tennessee when she was elected to the Nashville Metro Council in 2023, was elected that body’s president pro tempore on September 1st.
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