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      California bans state travel to Florida and four other states over LGBTQ+ laws

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      California added five states, including Florida, to its list of places where state-funded travel is banned because of laws that discriminate against members of the LGBTQ+ community.California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, on Monday added Florida, Arkansas, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia to the list that now has 17 states where state employee travel is forbidden except under limited circumstances.“Make no mistake: we’re in the midst of an unprecedented wave of bigotry and discrimination in this country, and the state of California is not going to support it,” Bonta said.Lawmakers in 2016 banned non-essential travel to states with laws that discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The 12 other states on the list are: Texas, Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.The five states newly added to the list have introduced bills in their legislatures this year that prevent transgender girls from participating in school sports consistent with their gender identity, block access to certain types of healthcare and allow the discrimination of the LGBTQ+ community, Bonta said.Florida, Montana, Arkansas and West Virginia passed laws that prevent transgender girls from participating in school sports that confirm with their gender identity. North Dakota signed into law a bill allowing certain publicly-funded student organizations to restrict LGBTQ+ students from joining without losing funding. Arkansas passed the first law in the nation to prohibit physicians from providing gender-affirming healthcare to transgender minors, regardless of the wishes of parents or whether a physician deems such care to be medically necessary.These lawmakers “would rather demonize trans youth than focus on solving real issues like tackling gun violence beating back this pandemic and rebuilding our economy”, Bonta said.The California law has exemptions for some trips, such as travel needed to enforce state law and to honor contracts signed before the states were added to the list. Travel to conferences or out-of-state training are examples of trips that can be blocked.It’s unclear what effect California’s travel ban will have. Bonta did not have information about how many state agencies have stopped sending state employees to the states on the list or the financial impact of California’s travel ban on those states. More

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      25 corporations marking Pride donated over $10m to anti-LGBTQ+ politicians – study

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      June is Pride month, and many US corporations are advertising their support for the LGBTQ+ community. A new study, however, has found that 25 companies otherwise eager to wave the rainbow flag have donated more than $10m to anti-LGBTQ+ federal and state politicians over the past two years.The study, released on Monday by the Popular Information newsletter, found that alongside pronouncements of LGBTQ+ support, corporations including CVS, AT&T, Walmart and Comcast have supported candidates who seek to block or otherwise restrict equal rights based on gender or sexual orientation.Many of the corporations have 100% ratings on the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) 2020 Corporate Equality Index, which measures workplace policies and “public commitment to the LGBTQ community”. The index does not take political donations into account.The study found that CVS, while receiving a perfect HRC score and announcing on Twitter it was “proud to join more than 100 companies that have signed HRC’s Business Statement Opposing Anti-LGBTQ State Legislation”, also supported sponsors of anti-trans legislation in Texas, North Carolina and Tennessee, through its corporate political action committee.In Texas, CVS backed Republican state senators Dawn Buckingham and Bryan Hughes, co-sponsors of SB1646, a bill that would “change the state’s child abuse law” to make it a crime for parents to allow children to receive gender-affirming medical care.The company also backed North Carolina state senator Ralph Hise, primary sponsor of S514, which would ban anyone under 21 receiving gender-affirming treatment and which the Advocate, an LGBTQ+ outlet, called “the most repressive anti-transgender healthcare bill in the nation”.CVS’s $1,000 donation to Hise in August 2020 came four years after huge controversy over an anti-trans “bathroom bill” the senator argued was necessary “to protect the citizens of the state of North Carolina”.CVS has donated $259,000 to 54 members of Congress who received a HRC rating of zero, largely through voting against the Equality Act, over the last two years.Others named in the study include cable giant Comcast, which has donated more than $1m to anti-LGBTQ+ politicians since 2019.A Comcast subsidiary, Xfinity, recently tweeted: “Pride is the love we share. And with Xfinity, it’s Pride all year.” Comcast itself has created “a virtual ‘Pride World’, where we will feature events, Pride floats, Pride flags, and even a Pronoun Guide for employees”.But according to the study by Popular Information, Comcast has also donated more than $1.1m to anti-LGBTQ+ politicians since 2019, including $30,000 to the sponsors of anti-trans legislation in Florida and Texas and $1,095,500 to 149 members of Congress marked zero by HRC.AT&T, which recently said “We can #TURNUPTHELOVE for LGBTQ youth together”, also signed a HRC letter opposing anti-LGBTQ state legislation. But it has also supported sponsors of anti-trans legislation in Arkansas ($12,950), Tennessee ($4,000), North Carolina ($5,000), Texas ($22,500), and Florida ($17,500).Walmart – whose website features a “Pride & Joy” section – has donated at least $442,000 to 121 politicians who received a zero from HRC, according to campaign finance reports.Others mentioned in the study for promoting a perfect score on the Corporate Equality Index and publicising support for LGBTQ+ rights while donating to anti-LGBTQ+ lawmakers include United Health, Deloitte and Wells Fargo, which made a $1,000 donation to the North Carolina state senator Joyce Krawiec, who has shared anti-trans articles on social media.Wells Fargo is a corporate supporter of Heritage of Pride, the non-profit that plans and produces New York City’s Pride events. The group has also been supported by Comcast.Michael Bullock of Weekly Senator, a crowdfunding group that channels donations to Senate candidates supporting progressive causes, said LGBTQ+ organisations supported by corporations that donate to anti-LGBTQ+ politicians should be boycotted.Bullock claimed Heritage of Pride “has over time created a parade in which the main goal is to pimp out queer people and queer culture to corporations to make as much money as possible. It’s crazy that this even needs to be said, but all LGBTQ people should boycott the Heritage of Pride until they make sure none of the sponsors fund anti-gay legislation.”Dan Dimant, a spokesperson for Heritage of Pride, told the Guardian the group makes efforts to prevent “pink-washing”, including guidelines on its website, and “takes great pains to ensure that partnerships meet strict criteria and that all partners are working to further the mission of the organization”.“There is a vetting process, so we make our best effort to avoid some of these conflicts of interest but that said it’s a moving target because companies change over time,” Dimant said.While many companies named in the Popular Information study did not comment, many reaffirmed their commitment to LGBTQ+ rights.General Motors said its political contributions “do not represent an endorsement of the candidate or support for all the issues the candidate supports [and] we will continue to clearly communicate with policymakers GM’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion”.Ford said “contributions by our employee Pac are bipartisan and take into consideration many issues that are important to meeting the needs of our customers, our team and our company”.Google defended its record on supporting “the rights of all LGBTQ people” and said a contribution to a candidate “doesn’t mean that Google agrees with that candidate on every issue. In fact, we may disagree strongly on some issues.” Amazon took a similar position. More

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      Montana governor signs bill banning transgender students from sports teams

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      Montana’s governor has signed a bill that bans transgender athletes from competing on school and university sports teams that correspond with their gender.Greg Gianforte’s signing on Friday makes Montana the latest Republican-controlled state to approve such legislation.Conservative lawmakers in state capitols across the US have proposed more than 80 laws this year targeting trans people, the majority of them seeking to ban trans children from certain sports teams or limit youth access to gender affirming health care.Supporters of the sports bills have said that they will ensure the playing field in girls’ sports remains fair. But there is no research suggesting that trans girls have an unfair advantage in school sports.When the Associated Press recently contacted lawmakers behind the proposed bans, most couldn’t cite a single local example of a trans girl playing sports. Some pointed to a Connecticut case in which cisgender girls’ families sued, alleging that two trans female sprinters had an unfair advantage. But two days after that lawsuit was filed, one of the cis girls beat her trans competitor in a state championship race.“If you look at the legislature’s justification for advancing the transgender sports ban, they could cite not one instance where transgender participation in athletics has been a problem or caused conflict,” said Alex Rate, legal director of ACLU of Montana.Rate called the Montana law “patently unconstitutional”.The bill had received widespread opposition from business leaders, physicians, athletes, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. “This bill unfairly targets trans youth and puts millions of federal education dollars at risk. It is an unnecessary and harmful policy that comes at a massive cost to the state,” said Shawn Reagor, director of equality and economic justice with the Montana Human Rights Network.Gianforte said last week that he had met with transgender people and athletes while considering whether to sign the bill.Lawmakers in more than 20 states have considered similar sports bans, and they have become law in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and West Virginia. Idaho’s law was blocked by a court ruling last year. Governors in North Dakota and Kansas have vetoed similar measures.So far, sixteen anti-LGBTQ+ legislative proposals have been enacted this year, the highest-ever number of such bills signed into law in a single year, the Human Rights Campaign said on Friday. Eight of the laws specifically target trans people.Trans youth athletes have increasingly spoken out about the proposed bans in their states, with one 12-year-old girl in Utah, who is trans and a swimmer, recently telling the Guardian, “It’s a piece of your life that you work so hard for, and for it just to be taken away is hard. It just seems that [the lawmakers] only care about what’s in my pants and not about all the stuff I can bring to the team and all my hard work.”Trans youth represent just a fraction of the US population – recent estimates suggest they make up roughly 2% of youth.Montana’s Republican-controlled Legislature approved the measure last month, after it was amended to become void if the federal government withholds education funding from the state over gender discrimination and an appeal by the state fails.Joe Biden signed an executive order his first day in office banning discrimination based on gender, raising concern among officials in the Montana university system that $350m in education funding could be on the line if the measure is signed into law.A spokesperson for Gianforte did not immediately respond to a request for comment. More

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      Caitlyn Jenner opposes transgender girls competing in girls’ school sports

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      Caitlyn Jenner, the former Olympic champion and reality TV personality now running for California governor, has said she opposes transgender girls competing in girls’ sports at school.The 1976 decathlon Olympic gold medalist, who came out as a transgender woman in 2015, told a TMZ reporter it was “a question of fairness”.“That’s why I oppose biological boys who are trans competing in girls’ sports in school,” Jenner said on Saturday in a brief interview conducted in a Malibu parking lot. “It just isn’t fair. And we have to protect girls’ sports in our schools.”It was Jenner’s first comment on the controversial issue since announcing her candidacy to replace Governor Gavin Newsom in a recall election.Dozens of US states propose to ban transgender women and girls from competing in women’s sports, moves at odds with President Joe Biden’s push for greater LGBTQ inclusion.In March, the International Federation of Sports Medicine (IFSM), which represents 125,000 physicians in 117 countries, said data is scant on the advantages or otherwise of trans athletes, but that each sport needed rules to meet its own physical demands.Trans men have sparked less controversy, as the extra strength that comes from testosterone taken for transitioning is widely seen as no barrier to safe and fair competition.The global debate has united social conservatives and some top sportswomen against trans activists and supportive athletes. Opponents say trans women have advantages gained in male puberty that are not sufficiently reduced by hormone treatment.Jenner was married to Kris Kardashian, creating the setting for the Keeping Up with the Kardashians reality TV show. A Republican, she supported Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election but criticized his administration for discriminatory actions against transgender people.Many transgender-rights advocates have criticized Jenner, saying she has failed to convince them that she is a major asset to their cause. More

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      Arkansas governor who vetoed anti-trans law defends other anti-trans bills

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      Asa Hutchinson, the Republican governor of Arkansas, has defended his decision to veto a state law banning gender-confirming treatments for transgender youth – a veto the state legislature immediately overturned. “It’s a conservative position to say that’s not the role of government,” Hutchinson told CNN’s State of the Union. “It is compassionate to say we care for all our young people, whether they’re trans youth or otherwise, we care for them and that’s the message of compassion and conservatism that we need to have as a party.”But Hutchinson also defended his decision to sign other bills targeting trans rights, one banning trans children from participating in girls’ and women’s sports, even though there are no such cases in Arkansas.“Anytime you are passing laws to address a problem that currently doesn’t exist but you worry about in the future you have a potential of getting it wrong,” he said. “But in this case I did sign the protection for girls in sports which says biological males cannot compete on a girls team. To me that’s a fundamental mount way of making sure girls sports can prosper.”Hutchinson also spoke to NBC’s Meet the Press. “I signed two [bills] that I thought made sense,” he said. “… The other one was supporting medical conscience, that doctors can claim a conscience reason if they want to deny a particular procedure but they have to do emergency care. And so those are two bills that I signed. “The third one was not well done. It did not protect the youth. It interfered with the government getting into the lives of transgender youth, as well as their parents and the decisions that doctors make.”Regardless, the law could take effect by July. Holly Dickson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, said: “This is a sad day for Arkansas but this fight is not over – and we’re in it for the long haul.”Hutchinson told CNN: “These are tough areas. And … we can debate them on conservative principles but let’s show compassion and tolerance and understanding as we do that and that’s the simple message that I think is important for our party.”Former president Donald Trump did not show compassion or tolerance towards Hutchinson over his veto, dismissing him as a “lightweight Rino”, or “Republican in name only” and saying: “Bye-bye Asa, that’s the end of him.”Trump addressed Republican donors on Saturday night. He reportedly abused party leaders and received applause when he repeated his lie that his election defeat was the result of electoral fraud. Many observers see a party in the grip of Trump’s brutal politics, determined to fight the 2022 midterms and the 2024 presidential race over “culture wars” issues such as the debate over trans rights.Alex Conant, a Republican strategist, told the Associated Press “frustration with an inability to move policy at a federal level” – where Democrats hold the White House, Senate and House – “trickles down to more action in the states.“I think a lot of these state legislatures are responding to the demands of the conservative base, which sees the culture wars headed in the wrong direction.”During debate on one transgender measure in Arkansas, one Republican cited a Bible verse that called people who wear another gender’s clothes an “abomination”. Another compared parental acceptance of transgender youth to allowing a child to decide to become a cow.Hutchinson told NBC that among Republican voters, “the fear is about the future, and the fear is also that we’re losing our culture … and so, again, there’s too much. As a Republican party, it’s the principles of limited government and it’s pushing freedom and choice in the free market. That’s what the party is about. We’ve got to apply those principles, even when it comes to the social war.”Hutchinson is a former congressman who sees himself in the mould of Ronald Reagan. He told CNN: “Are we going to be a narrow party that expresses ourself in intolerant ways, are we going to be a broad-based party that shows conservative principles but also compassion and dealing with some of the most difficult issues that parents face that individuals face? “… Sure, I signed pro-life [anti-abortion] bills and I know that there’s a role for government even in the social issues. But we have to fundamentally ask ourselves, do we need to do this, is there a better way?”He would not be drawn on whether he plans to run for the presidential nomination in 2024. Tom Cotton, a senator from Arkansas and a hardline conservative, is among prominent figures jostling to attract donor support. More

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      Arkansas governor vetoes bill banning medical treatment for young trans people

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      The Republican governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson, has vetoed a controversial bill which would have stopped anyone under the age of 18 getting treatment involving gender reassignment surgery or medication in the southern state.Arkansas would have been the first state to take such a move. Its Republican-controlled legislature could still enact the measure, however, since it takes only a simple majority to override an Arkansas governor’s veto.The bill, known to supporters as the Safe Act, would prohibit doctors from providing gender-confirming hormone treatment, puberty blockers or surgery to anyone under 18, or from referring them to other providers for the treatment.Hutchinson’s veto followed pleas from pediatricians, social workers and parents of transgender youth who said the measure would harm a community already at risk for depression and suicide.A number of measures targeting transgender people have advanced in states controlled by Republicans this year. The governors of Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee have signed laws banning transgender girls and women from competing on school sports teams consistent with the gender identity.Hutchinson recently signed a measure allowing doctors to refuse to treat someone because of moral or religious objections, a law opponents have said could be used to turn away LGBTQ patients.Last month, the Guardian interviewed a number of young transgender Americans about such threats to their rights and what they can do to fight them.Corey Hyman, 15 and from Missouri, said: “It’s going to take a lot of us to stop these bills. It’s going to take a lot out of us, out of our parents, out of our supporters. [This fight will] probably go on for many years.“I’m worried and I’m scared that even more bills are going to be put through. Sometimes we don’t get notice about the bills until 24 hours before. It’s like, ‘By the way, tomorrow’s a senate hearing that could quite literally end your life.’“They just don’t care.” More

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      Arkansas and South Dakota pass bans targeting transgender minors

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      Arkansas lawmakers have approved a ban on gender-affirming healthcare for transgender children, sending the governor a bill that has been widely criticized by medical and child welfare groups.The Senate voted 28-7 on Monday in favor of the legislation. If the bill is enacted it would be the first prohibition of its kind in the country, opponents say. The bill would prohibit doctors from providing gender confirming hormone treatment or surgery to minors, or from referring them to other providers for the treatment. It also allows private insurers to refuse to cover gender-affirming care for trans people of any age.The legislation restricts treatments that have been endorsed by major medical associations and human rights groups. They say the care is well established and part of a gradual process that has been shown to dramatically improve the mental health of the most vulnerable kids.The state’s governor Asa Hutchinson a Republican, has not said whether he supports the measure, but has previously supported anti-trans bills. He has five days, not counting Sunday, after the bill reaches his desk to sign or veto the legislation before it becomes law without his signature.The measure is among dozens of bills targeting trans people that have advanced in Arkansas and other states this year. Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee have enacted measures prohibiting trans girls and women from competing in school sports teams consistent with their gender identity. On Monday, South Dakota’s governor also issued an executive order to prohibit trans girls from playing on girls’ sports teams.Conservative legislators have introduced more than 80 bills restricting trans rights in the US so far this year – most that would either block trans kids’ use of gender-affirming care or limit their access to certain sports teams. It is the highest number of anti-trans legislative proposals ever filed in a single year.Hutchinson on Friday signed a law that would allow doctors to refuse to treat someone because of religious or moral objections, a move that opponents say could be used to turn away LGBTQ+ patients.Opponents of the measure include the American Academy of Pediatrics. The American Civil Liberties Union said it plans legal action to block the treatments ban if it’s signed into law.If signed, the ban would take effect later this summer. More