To those lgbt DUers who celebrate Easter

March 31st- Assigned Male Comics

Outrage after Oklahoma prosecutor declines charges in Nex Benedict bullying death

Outrage after Oklahoma prosecutor declines charges in Nex Benedict bullying death
Adocates and community members are outraged that Stephen Kunzweiler, the Tulsa County district attorney, has decided not to pursue criminal charges in the death of the transgender teen.
CHRISTOPHER WIGGINS
MARCH 22 2024 5:21 PM EST

After Tulsa County District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler’s decision Thursday not to file charges in the death of Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old transgender and Indigenous high school student from Oklahoma who used he, him, they, and them pronouns, a storm of advocacy and criticism has emerged from LGBTQ+ groups and community members. This wave of condemnation targets both Kunzweiler’s specific handling of the case and the broader systemic implications for the protection of LGBTQ+ youth. At the heart of the outcry are Kunzweiler’s assertions based on the medical examiner’s ruling of suicide and his own characterization of a preceding altercation as “mutual combat,” which have ignited a broader debate about systemic failures in safeguarding marginalized youth.

Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, was among the first to voice dissent, highlighting the decision as indicative of a systemic devaluation of the lives of Indigenous and LGBTQ+ students in Oklahoma. “Time and time again, leaders in Oklahoma have showed that they don’t value Nex’s life, or the lives of other Indigenous and 2STGNC+ (Two Spirit, transgender, gender-noncoforming+) students. Everyone from Superintendent [Ryan] Walters and Owasso High School to the unaccredited-since-2009 state Medical Examiner’s Office, the District Attorney, and Owasso Police Department have failed Nex Benedict and failed us all,” Ellis said in a statement.

“It is critical that an independent investigation is completed and the truth about what happened to Nex, and what all marginalized youth in Oklahoma schools endure, is brought to light. We will never stop seeking justice for Nex and we will never stop holding leaders accountable to serving their communities fairly and with compassion,” she said.

GLAAD officials also said that Kunzweiler’s decision was based on incomplete and inaccurate information.

Adding to the criticism, Freedom Oklahoma condemned Kunzweiler’s use of Benedict’s deadname, a practice Nicole McAfee, Freedom Oklahoma’s executive director, described as emblematic of a justice system failing to protect the dignity of transgender, Two-Spirit, and gender-nonconforming people.

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Alabama judge unseals report accusing top LGBTQ+ rights attorneys of improper judge shopping

Alabama judge unseals report accusing top LGBTQ+ rights attorneys of improper judge shopping
The report is related to lawsuits brought against Alabama’s 2022 ban on gender-affirming health care for trans youth.
KATE SOSIN
ORION RUMMLER
MARCH 20 2024 1:56 PM EST

A federal judge in Alabama has unsealed a report that accuses dozens of the nation’s top LGBTQ+ rights attorneys of improperly trying to select a judge friendly to a lawsuit they brought in the state.

The practice of judge shopping, or trying to get a case in front of a judge who will side with attorneys, is not illegal, though it’s a practice the federal judiciary recently has tried to discourage. It has recently gotten attention as a tactic used in cases brought by anti-abortion groups.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Liles Burke released a 50-page report by a three-judge panel in the Middle District Court of Alabama that accuses 39 attorneys of judge shopping in a 2022 case they brought challenging Alabama’s ban on gender-affirming health care for trans youth. Of those, nine face possible sanctions that could at least complicate, if not end, their legal careers.

{snip}

But impacted attorneys claim they are being targeted with regressive and harsh tactics that recall those used against Black civil rights litigators battling racist laws in the 1950s and 60s. Black lawyers in the United States faced rampant discrimination during the Civil Rights Movement.

Last year, the Alabama State Bar Association inducted the late attorney Arthur Madison into its Hall of Fame for his work registering Black voters, including Rosa Parks. But that work cost him his career. Despite the honor, Madison remains disbarred in the state. His family continues to advocate for the state to restore his license posthumously.

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More at link:
https://www.advocate.com/law/alabama-judge-shopping

Anti-transgender hate crimes spike, leading to calls for a public health emergency

Anti-transgender hate crimes spike, leading to calls for a public health emergency
An Advocate data analysis found that in Los Angeles County and across the country, hate crimes against transgender people are reaching historic highs.
SAMSON AMORE
MARCH 20 2024 4:42 PM EST

For decades, transgender Americans have lived under a constant threat of violence. Whether at their homes, places of work or in public, there seemingly is nowhere out of reach from hate.

In the last 20 years, hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people of all types have risen at historic rates across the country. And since 2016, Los Angeles -- the nation's second-biggest city has seen a startling rise in violence motivated by hate against its transgender residents, though it is ranked as one of most friendly to queer and trans people in the U.S.

The Advocate compiled data from the years 2003-2022. A primary source was the LA County Commission on Human Relations (LACCHR), which has tracked hate crime data in the area for 25 years.

In 2022, there were 44 recorded anti-transgender hate crimes in the county, the highest number ever on record and a 20-year high. Seventy-two percent of those crimes were violent, also reaching a two-decade high since 2003.

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Nex Benedict's Family Releases Statement with New Information about Medical Examiner's Findings

Nex Benedict’s Family Releases Statement with New Information about Medical Examiner’s Findings

Warns of allowing “incomplete accounts to take hold and spread any further”
By GLAADMarch 15, 2024

The family of Nex Benedict is speaking out about the incomplete and premature medical examiner report released earlier this week, and releasing new information they have learned from the medical examiner “to ensure that other pertinent portions of the report are not overshadowed by the ‘classification’ of Nex’s death.”

In the statement from their attorney, the Benedict family says they felt compelled to release the new information to avoid allowing “incomplete accounts to take hold and spread any further.”

GLAAD is elevating the family’s information and urging reporters to continue to ask more questions about Nex’s death and all that led up to it and after. Below, GLAAD has 16 key questions for reporters to ask about the medical examiner’s report, the history of controversy in the state medical examiner’s office including loss of accreditation, and ongoing questions about school and state leaders’ responsibility in failing to appropriately respond to the assault on Nex, the state-sponsored discrimination by harmful legislation and false rhetoric that remain safety issues for all Oklahoma students, and when or if officials are implementing any new measures to prevent, report and address bullying in Oklahoma schools.

Nex, a 16-year-old 2STGNC+ (Two Spirit, transgender, gender nonconforming+) student of Choctaw descent, died the day after a three-on-one fight in a restroom at Owasso High School in Owasso, Oklahoma last month. Nex had reported to police in the hospital following the attack that they had endured a year of bullying in the school, and that they did not believe the school would do anything to address the bullying. The Owasso police officer that the family, not the school, called to Nex’s emergency room bedside the night before Nex died, discouraged Nex’s family from filing a police report about the assault Nex endured in the school bathroom that afternoon.

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Sixteen state attorneys general say they may sue if Maine passes a law shielding providers of gender-affirming care

Sixteen state attorneys general say they may sue if Maine passes a law shielding providers of gender-affirming care and abortion from out-of-state legal action.
TRUDY RING
MARCH 13 2024 11:14 AM EST

Republican attorneys general from 16 states are threatening to sue Maine if it passes a law shielding providers of gender-affirming care and abortion from out-of-state legal action.

Maine legislators are considering a bill, Legislative Document 227, which “aims to protect health care providers from subpoenas or warrants, health records requests, extradition requests and other civil or criminal proceedings if they provide care — including abortion and gender-affirming care — that has been banned in a patient’s home state,” the Portland Press Herald reports. It would also allow these health care professionals to sue out-of-state officials who take action against them.

Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have adopted similar “shield laws” regarding abortion providers, and 11 states and D.C. have such laws regarding providers of gender-affirming care.

The letter from the Republican AGs, led by Jonathan Skrmetti of Tennessee, claims that LD 227 “violates the United States Constitution and flouts the federalist structure that allows each of our States to engage in self-government responsive to the will of our citizens.”
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Trans youth will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers, NHS England says

Trans youth will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers, NHS England says
Mar 12
Written by Maggie Baska
Trans youth will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers at NHS England gender identity clinics in a new “blow” to gender-affirming healthcare.

Puberty blockers are a type of medicine that prevent puberty from starting by blocking the hormones – like testosterone and oestrogen – that lead to puberty-related changes in the body. In the case of trans youth, this can delay unwanted physical changes like menstruation, breast growth, voice changes or facial hair growth.

On Tuesday (12 March), NHS England confirmed the medicine, which has been described as “life-saving” medical care for trans youth, will only be available to young people as part of clinical research trials.

The government described the move as a “landmark decision”, Sky News reported. It believed such a move is in the “best interests of the child”.

Trans youth charity Mermaids said the announcement is “deeply disappointing” and represented a “further restriction of support offered to trans children and young people through the NHS, which is failing trans youth”.

“There were virtually no first appointments offered in 2023, with ever-growing waiting lists of over five years,” Mermaids said of the current gender referral process.

The statement continued: “Those currently prescribed puberty blockers won’t see any changes to their treatment, and this is a pause on prescribing – not a ban.

“It’s also important to note that puberty blockers can be just one possible part of a young person’s gender journey.

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Nex Benedict died by suicide, says Oklahoma medical examiner

Nex Benedict died by suicide, says Oklahoma medical examiner
The coroner’s report indicates that Benedict died from a toxic mix of diphenhydramine and fluoxetine.
CHRISTOPHER WIGGINS
MARCH 13 2024 4:28 PM EST

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Oklahoma has concluded that Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old transgender student of Indigenous heritage from Owasso High School whose death has sparked widespread concern and debate, died by suicide. The medical examiner’s one-page summary report identifies the cause of death as combined toxicity from diphenhydramine and fluoxetine. A full report will be released on March 27, according to the department.

Diphenhydramine, commonly known by its brand name Benadryl, is an antihistamine typically used to treat allergy symptoms. Fluoxetine, widely recognized as Prozac, is a medication prescribed for depression and anxiety disorders.

On February 7, Benedict was assaulted in a school bathroom. Later, Benedict’s grandmother took him to a hospital where body-worn video from an Owasso Police Officer revealed that the teenager had been bullied relentlessly for their gender expression before the assault.

The following day, Benedict was in distress at home and taken to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Benedict's death has highlighted the critical need for increased awareness and resources dedicated to the mental health and well-being of LGBTQ+ youth.

In GOP-led states with anti-LGBTQ+ laws, school hate crimes quadruple: report

In GOP-led states with anti-LGBTQ+ laws, school hate crimes quadruple: report



A recent analysis highlights the rise in incidents and the critical role of crisis services for LGBTQ+ youth in the wake of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
CHRISTOPHER WIGGINS
MARCH 12 2024 7:10 PM EST

An examination of F.B.I.s data reveals a significant uptick in hate crimes against LGBTQ+ students, especially pronounced in states enacting laws that limit LGBTQ+ rights. This surge in incidents on K-12 campuses, which have quadrupled in such states, mirrors a broader national conflict over LGBTQ+ youth rights, the Washington Postreports.

The number of anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes serious enough to be reported to local police more than doubled nationwide between the periods of 2015-2019 and 2021-2022. Specifically, the analysis found that during the years 2015 to 2019, the annual average of reported hate crimes against LGBTQ+ individuals on both college and K-12 campuses was 108. This number sharply increased in 2021 and 2022, with the average annual reported hate crimes rising to 232, more than doubling the previous rate. This dramatic increase underscores the escalating challenges and dangers faced by LGBTQ+ students in educational settings across the country, particularly in the 28 states that have enacted laws restricting the rights of LGBTQ+ students, where the increase in reported hate crimes has been even more pronounced.

Central to this discourse are the stories of Oklahoma teen Nex Benedict and Carden of Virginia, illustrating the severe personal ramifications of a polarized legislative and social climate. Benedict’s tragic death in February a day after a school fight at Owasso High School starkly exemplifies the potentially fatal consequences of an environment steeped in restrictive laws and prejudice.

Carden, a 17-year-old transgender student, brings to light the daily challenges LGBTQ+ youth face. Carden’s encounters with harassment and bullying are a direct consequence of a societal and political atmosphere that often does not protect the most vulnerable. Carden shared with the Post that it’s some parents who foster bigotry in their children.

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