Queering the News for the Week of 8/30
Texas bathroom ban, threats to sex ed funding, and Chicago queer legal hotline
This was a busy week personally. It was my best friend’s birthday, I was sick, and I had a nice date. All said, the pieces are going to be a little shorter.
I still bring the best and worst queer news of the week. All said, we’re in a holding pattern. The Trump administration, and in turn red states, are pushing anti-LGBTQ+ agendas, and some blue states are retaliating.
Let’s get into it.
Texas advances wide-reaching bathroom ban
The Texas House approved Senate Bill 8, also known as the “Texas Women’s Privacy Act.” Since it was amended in the House, it has to return to the Senate for a vote and then to Governor Greg Abbott, who is expected to sign the bill. The bill, after years of attempts, introduces sweeping anti-trans laws.
“Texas has launched another cruel and unconstitutional attack in its relentless effort to erase a vulnerable and very small percentage of Texans–who will not and cannot be erased,” said Lambda Legal South Central Regional Director Shelly Skeen. “This is not the first such attack on the transgender community, and sadly, it will likely not be the last. It is reprehensible that anti-transgender state legislators in Texas — indeed nationwide — keep singling out transgender people to exclude them from participating fully in society simply because of who they are. We join with our allies across Texas in condemning this bill.”
The bill mandates that all political subdivisions and school districts make all multi-occupancy bathrooms single sex. It also defines sex based on reproductive production. It also requires that things like shelters and prisons be limited to your sex assigned at birth; for example, trans women are not allowed in women’s shelters and are placed in male prisons.
SB 8 allows citizens to report any institution that they feel is violating the law. Institutions found in violation of the bill face first, a $25,000 fine and then a $125,000 fine.
“[Texas is] going to be hosting World Cup events, championship tournaments, and international events,” Democratic Rep. Rafael Anchía said. “This bill, apart from being perverse, sends a perverse signal to the rest of the world. A bathroom bill puts a target on visitors’ backs.”
If passed, this bill will make Texas the 20th state to pass anti-trans bathroom legislation.
Trump admin threatens sex-ed funding in 46 states over LGBTQ+ inclusion
Given 60 days to comply, nearly the entire nation is at risk of losing sex education funding if they don’t remove references to trans people.
The program they’re pushing, Personal Responsibility Education Program or PREP, “awards grants to state agencies to educate young people on both abstinence and contraception,” and claims to focus on marginalized kids, like those in foster care, or homeless.
On August 21, the government ended a PREP grant for teaching about trans people.
“… California has been using taxpayer money to teach curricula that could encourage kids to contemplate mutilating their genitals, ‘altering their body … through hormone therapy,’ ‘adding or removing breast tissue,’ and ‘changing their name,’” the report reads.
They stand on the basis that teaching about trans existence somehow equates to brainwashing.
“California’s refusal to comply with federal law and remove egregious gender ideology from federally funded sex-ed materials is unacceptable,” said Acting Assistant Secretary Andrew Gradison. “The Trump Administration will not allow taxpayer dollars to be used to indoctrinate children. Accountability is coming for every state that uses federal funds to teach children delusional gender ideology.”
This extends to sexuality as well, as featured in a letter to Maryland, claiming that the idea that a person can be attracted to more than one gender is “gender ideology.”
In a statement to The Advocate, the California Department of Public Health said, “California’s students deserve access to educational information and materials that help them make healthy decisions about sexual activity, including the decision to delay sexual activity, while honoring and respecting their dignity, including gender identity.”
Illinois launches free legal hotline for queer residents
Illinois will now offer all queer residents a free legal advice hotline, called Illinois Pride Connect.
Governor JB Pritzker announced at an event hosted by Chicago’s Legal Council for Health Justice on August 21.
“Building upon the state’s transgender and gender-diverse wellness and equity project that we launched at the beginning of 2024, we will be the only state in the entire United States that provides free legal advice to protect the LGBTQ community,” Pritzker said.
The hotline, 855-805-9200, is already available to residents. It’s available in English and Spanish, and open 9 am to 4 pm Monday through Thursday.
The hotline covers everything from public benefits like SNAP to elder rights to healthcare.
“Together, we are fighting ignorance with information,” Pritzker continued. “We are fighting cruelty with compassion.”