Queering the News for the Week of 7/18
On the 988 Hotline, Trans Care in Puerto Rico, the Catholic Church, and Stonewall
Trump Admin Ends Specialized LGBTQ+ Care for 988 Hotline
Part of a wide range of service shutdowns, the Trump administration closed the LGBTQ+ specialized wing of the 988 mental health services hotline. This comes after months of threats, finally shuttering it on July 17. Organizations like The Trevor Project have responded, working with the California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS) to provide training to counselors in California’s 988 call centers to aid queer individuals.
“It’s hard to find the words today,” The Trevor Project’s CEO, Jaymes Black, said in a statement. “Our country’s federal government — including the very agency in charge of protecting our mental health — cut a literal lifeline that has provided 1.5 million LGBTQ+ youth with suicide prevention services.”
You can still reach The Trevor Project for specialized care by calling their free and anonymous hotline, 1-866-488-7386, via chat at TheTrevorProject.org/Get-Help, or by texting START to 678678.
“This is hard, but we are far from defeated,” Black said. “Nothing — and I mean nothing — will stop us from working toward a world where every LGBTQ+ young person feels safe, seen, and supported exactly as they are.”
Puerto Rico introduces law criminalizing trans care for anyone under 21
Late Wednesday night, Puerto Rico’s governor introduced a law banning hormone therapy and other gender affirming care for anyone under 21. This follows the June 18 Supreme Court ruling on United States v. Skrmetti, upholding a Tennessee ban on gender affirming care for minors and criminalizing providers, setting precedent for other US states and territories to do the same.
So far, 25 states have introduced similar bans.
According to the Human Rights Watch, these bans have already disrupted medical care for over 100,000 individuals.
In Puerto Rico, it is much the same, except in the US, the legal age for transition is 18, marking a potential omen for trans people in the continental states and territories.
“Minors, having not yet reached the necessary emotional, cognitive, and physical maturity, are particularly vulnerable to making decisions that can have irreversible consequences,” the law reads. “Therefore, it is the State’s duty to ensure their comprehensive well-being.”
The law introduced a potential 15-year prison sentence, $50,000 fine, and the revocation of medical licenses and permits for any providers who violate the ban.
Human rights organizations like the ACLU and Federación LGBTQ+ denounced the bill while it was still in the Senate.
“Every person in Puerto Rico deserves to live free from discrimination and with access to essential health care,” the organizations said in a joint statement. “Every major medical association supports health care for transgender people and youth. Banning this care and stripping the rights of parents to make the best medical decisions for their families would create unbearable burdens for the most marginalized in Puerto Rico.”
Federación LGBTQ+ plans to challenge the law in court.
Pope Leo to continue Pope Francis’ LGBTQ+ church reforms
Some were concerned about the state of the LGBTQ+ reforms introduced by Pope Francis, but recently elected Pope Leo has signaled that he plans to keep the progressive policies in place.
In 2023, Francis stated that Catholic priests could bless same-sex unions on a “case-by-case” basis, although not recognizing the unions as marriages.
During the Pope’s first meeting with the Vatican diplomatic corps, he stated that “it is the responsibility of government leaders to build harmonious and peaceful civil societies.” From his perspective, “this can be achieved above all by investing in the family, founded upon the stable union between a man and a woman.”
In 2012, Leo also criticized Western news media for growing “sympathy” with lifestyles at odds with biblical teachings, including “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children.”
However, Pope Leo does appear to have softened on the issue, telling the Catholic News Service in 2023 that “there’s been a development in the sense of the need for the church to be open and be welcoming.”
“I think Pope Francis has made it very clear that he doesn’t want people to be excluded simply on the basis of choices that they make, whether it be lifestyle, work, way to dress, or whatever,” he added. “Doctrine hasn’t changed, and people haven’t said yet, ‘We’re looking for that kind of change.’ But we are looking to be more welcoming and open, and to say, ‘All people are welcome in the church.’”
Queer erasure in Florida and at Stonewall
Making headlines in February, the National Park Service erased mention of trans people on the Stonewall park website, moving to the acronym LGB in favor of LGBTQ+ and removing other mentions of trans people.
Just before Pride month, it appears that the same happened for mention of bisexual people, using ‘lesbians and gays’ and ‘the Stonewall Community’ instead. This is based on reporting by the independent journalist Erin Reed.
The homepage reads, “Before the 1960s, almost everything about living authentically as a gay or lesbian person was illegal. The Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969 is a milestone in the quest for civil rights and provided momentum for a movement.”
But a version of the website from May 26, accessed by the Wayback Machine, reads, “Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) person was illegal. The Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969 is a milestone in the quest for LGB civil rights and provided momentum for a movement.”
Multiple other sections have seen similar changes, while in Florida, cities are being ordered to remove rainbow crosswalks as a result from directives from the Trump and DeSantis administrations.
“To comply with updated FDOT regulations, the city will soon power wash the rainbow crosswalk at Spruce Avenue and Northwood Road; however, our strength and resolve to do what is right remain unwavering,” Kathleen Joy, director of communications in West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James’ office said via email, referring to the Florida Department of Transportation.
West Palm Beach is eliminating its rainbow crosswalk, which was created to support the city’s LGBTQ+ community. The decision isn’t voluntary, and the city plans a nearby demonstration of support for LGBTQ+ residents and visitors.
The city’s decision is a result of directives from the administrations of President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis to get rid of the street markings that commemorate the LGBTQ+ community.
“To comply with updated FDOT regulations, the city will soon power wash the rainbow crosswalk at Spruce Avenue and Northwood Road; however, our strength and resolve to do what is right remain unwavering,” Kathleen Joy, director of communications in West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James’ office said via email, referring to the Florida Department of Transportation.
“As part of our continued commitment to meaningfully honor and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, the monument will be relocated and reimagined at Serenity Park in Northwood Village,” Joy said.
Trump’s transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, wrote in a July 1 social media post that “Taxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks,” and DeSantis’ transportation secretary, Jared Perdue, wrote a day later that Florida wants to “keep our transportation facilities free & clear of political ideologies.” These directives follow, including a threat from Perdue, claiming that they will withhold state money from noncompliant cities.
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