Category: transgender

California Policy on Disclosing Student Gender Identity Blocked by Judge

Read more at Newsweek.

A federal judge in California has struck down a state policy that prevented teachers from informing parents when their child identified as a different gender at school, calling the rule unconstitutional and a violation of parental and teachers’ rights.

U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez, sitting in San Diego, ruled Monday that California’s policy—meant to protect LGBTQ students’ privacy—improperly restricted communication between parents and educators. The decision delivers a major setback to state officials and LGBTQ advocacy groups that had defended the policy as essential to student safety.

Why It Matters

The ruling stems from a 2023 lawsuit filed by Escondido Unified School District teachers Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West, who challenged a district policy requiring staff to keep a student’s gender identity confidential from parents. The pair, represented by the Thomas More Society, a religious liberty law firm, argued that the rule forced them to violate their faith and the trust of parents.

The ruling directly conflicts with California’s Safety Act (AB 1955), signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2024, which banned schools from disclosing students’ gender identity or pronouns to parents without the students’ consent.

What To Know

In a 40-page opinion, Benitez said the rules “place a communication barrier between parents and teachers” and “harm the child who needs parental guidance.” He added that such policies deprive parents of their 14th Amendment right to direct the care and upbringing of their children and infringe upon teachers’ First Amendment rights.

“Parental involvement is essential to the healthy maturation of schoolchildren,” Benitez wrote, according to Courthouse News Service. “California’s public school system parental exclusion policies place a communication barrier between parents and teachers… That, this court will not do.”

Benitez’s ruling also issued a permanent injunction, blocking school districts from reinstating similar “gender secrecy” policies. He acknowledged the state’s intent to protect LGBTQ youth from possible abuse or rejection at home but concluded that the policy was overly broad and not narrowly tailored to that goal.

“When the state drops an elephant in the middle of its classrooms,” he wrote, “it is not a defense to say that the elephants are too heavy to move.”

In his order, Benitez framed the issue as a constitutional matter rather than a cultural one.

“Historically, school teachers informed parents of physical injuries or questions about a student’s health and well-being,” he wrote. “But for something as significant as a student’s expressed change of gender, California public school parents end up left in the dark.”

The decision intensifies a legal and political struggle over how schools handle issues of gender identity. Supporters of the Safety Act cited Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showing that about 25 percent of transgender youth attempted suicide in 2023, underscoring the risks of forced disclosure. LGBTQ groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Equality California, have argued that involuntary outing can lead to family rejection, homelessness or self-harm.

Conservative lawmakers and parental rights groups have opposed such secrecy policies. Tech executive Elon Musk also criticized California’s gender identity disclosure law, saying it was among the reasons he decided to move the headquarters of SpaceX and X (formerly Twitter) from California to Texas.

What People Are Saying

Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori West, in a joint statement shared on Monday: “We are profoundly grateful for today’s ruling. This has been a long and difficult journey, and we are humbled by the support we’ve received along the way. We want to extend our deepest thanks to Thomas More Society and to everyone who stood by us, prayed for us, and encouraged us from the very beginning.”

California State Senator Scott Wiener, on X days before the ruling: “I’ve passed some of the strongest protections for trans people in the country—from safeguarding gender-affirming care to protecting youth and families fleeing hostile states. As the federal government ramps up its attacks, I will always stand between trans people and harm.”

What Happens Next

The California Attorney General’s Office has not said whether it will appeal the ruling to the Ninth Circuit. For now, the court’s decision halts enforcement of policies that restrict teachers from sharing students’ gender information with parents across California’s public schools.

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Malaysia’s LGBTQ Community Lives In Fear As Raids Drive Them Underground

Read more at South China Morning Post.

In Chow Kit, a crowded district of Kuala Lumpur forever caught between progress and prejudice, Amy* moves quietly through narrow alleys – a transgender outreach worker tending to lives the city prefers not to see.

Her evenings begin with small rituals: a backpack filled with condoms, test kits and pamphlets; a quick text to let her friends know that she is safe.

Then, when she steps out, much of her work happens in passing conversations – careful not to draw too much attention.

“The girls know they’re high-risk,” Amy said of the transgender sex workers she visits. “They want to stay healthy. But also … they just want to live.”

Yet even basic healthcare work can feel dangerous when you’re constantly looking over your shoulder. And furtiveness comes naturally if your very existence can be construed as a crime. Some of the women worry about being seen entering clinics for fear of who might recognise them.

“When people are scared to be seen, they stop showing up,” Amy told This Week in Asia. “Fear doesn’t just affect our lives; it affects public health.”

Malaysia does not legally recognise LGBTQ identities. Same-sex relations are federally banned under colonial-era anti-sodomy legislation, while parallel Islamic laws in Muslim-majority states prohibit cross-dressing and “posing” as another gender.

Such laws are often used not to intimidate as much as to prosecute. Over the years, Amy has watched how enforcement ebbs and flows – and how it always seemingly comes back stronger.

Few know that cycle better than Erina*, 55, a transwoman who spent decades performing in Kuala Lumpur’s drag circuit. She remembers when the scene was small but defiant, when glitter and high heels meant joy instead of danger.

“There was a time when we could perform without constantly looking over our shoulders,” she said. “It wasn’t easy, but there was space. That space has shrunk.”

The contraction feels literal now. Venues where she once worked have closed. Others stopped booking drag performers, terrified of raids. The most recent ones, on November 28 and 29, still ripple through the LGBTQ community. Police and religious officers stormed two men-only spas in Chow Kit and Penang, detaining hundreds.

It was the largest crackdown on queer spaces since a Halloween-themed party raid in 2022, activists say.

‘Shells of people’

Police later released the men who were rounded up in Kuala Lumpur, saying they had found no evidence of exploitation, coercion or “abnormal sexual activity”. Muslim detainees remained under investigation by Islamic authorities, however.

In Penang, the spa owner was fined 8,000 ringgit (US$1,960) after pleading guilty to owning obscene material and exposing others to HIV. Several other men were charged with offences ranging from gross indecency to possessing pornography.

For the community, the raids came as a shock. “People are now more afraid to go out,” Erina said. “Honestly, we’re not asking for special treatment … we’re asking to live without fear.”

Community groups rallied in support of the detainees. Members of Jejaka – a network supporting gay and bisexual men in Malaysia – gathered outside the police station in Kuala Lumpur where the men were being held, joined by volunteers, lawyers and family members calling for their release. They also pooled resources to provide legal aid, food and temporary housing.

In a statement, the group condemned the raids, arguing that the law used to justify them was “a relic of colonial morality” wielded to “target, stigmatise and endanger LGBTQ communities”.

“People are hiding,” said Pang Khee Teik, co-founder of LGBTQ organisation Seksualiti Merdeka (Sexuality Independence). Discriminatory laws had reduced members of the community to “shells” of people who “are navigating life with constant vigilance”, he said.

“It’s very sad to see that this is what we have done to our fellow Malaysians in the name of protecting ‘morality’.”

Amir*, a gay man in his twenties, remembers the brief sense of liberation he felt dancing in a club before what he called “the infamous raid”.

“It felt empowering,” he told This Week in Asia. “For a moment, I forgot I was in Malaysia. That’s how free it felt.”

Now, such gatherings are invite-only, with locations shared selectively through personal networks, often at the last minute. Amir says he has stopped going after the raids.

“This is Malaysia,” he said. “Hatred towards the LGBTQ community isn’t just normalised, it’s encouraged.”

Upholding morality

Authorities insist enforcement actions are necessary to uphold public morality. Days after the raids, members of the Malay nationalist group Pekida gathered outside one spa, plastering stickers and planting banners describing the venues as “immoral”.

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail later said Malaysia might “revisit” certain provisions of its Penal Code, but only in ways consistent with “religious and moral values”.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has ruled out legal recognition of LGBTQ rights during his tenure.

Advocates say the result of the crackdown has been a deepening atmosphere of fear. In June, police raided what NGOs said was an HIV awareness event in Kelantan, calling it a “gay sex party”. Authorities have also cracked down on cultural symbols, seizing rainbow-themed Swatch watches and banning books deemed to “promote” LGBTQ lifestyles.

Through it all, Amy keeps walking her route through Chow Kit, never knowing when the next knock on a clinic door might provoke suspicion, or when a familiar face might vanish for weeks.

*Name changed to protect interviewee’s identity

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Texas unveils “tip line” to report & send pictures of suspected trans women using the restroom

Read more at LGBTQ Nation.

Texas’ virulently anti-trans attorney general, Ken Paxton (R), has launched a tip line that allows people to report on suspected trans people they believe are violating the state’s new bathroom ban.

In a statement announcing the tip line, Paxton said the Texas Women’s Privacy Act – which requires people in public buildings to use bathrooms based on sex assigned at birth – “was passed to ensure that women and girls in Texas are protected from mentally ill men wanting to violate their basic right to privacy.”

“It’s absolute insanity that action like this is even needed,” he claimed, “but unfortunately, in the day and age of radical leftism, it is.”

In reality, research has shown no evidence that allowing trans women access to single-sex spaces like bathrooms poses a safety risk to cisgender women.

In fact, forcing trans people to use facilities that do not align with their gender identity can result in “high rates of harassment and violence against transgender people as well as cisgender people, particularly women who do not conform to traditional ideas of femininity,” according to the Movement Advancement Project. A 2021 study from UCLA’s Williams Institute found that trans people are four times more likely than cis people to be victims of violent crime.

Nevertheless, the enactment of the legislation marks the culmination of a 10-year effort by Texas Republicans. The law does not allow an individual to be punished or fined by the state; rather, it fines the institution that allowed the infraction $25,000, plus an additional $125,000 per day for additional violations.

The law also requires the attorney general’s office to investigate complaints, but first, complaints must be filed with the accused agency. “Together, we will uproot and bring justice to any state agency or political subdivision that opens the door for men to violate women’s privacy, dignity, and safety,” Paxton said.

Paxton’s tip line requires folks to submit the original complaint that was filed with the accused agency in addition to filling out the online form and providing “evidence” that a trans person used the restroom. Perhaps most concerning, it also includes an option to submit up to five photos, even though taking pictures in restrooms is illegal.

Brian Klosterboer, senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said the tip line “wrongly encourages Texans to violate each other’s privacy in bathrooms.”

“The Attorney General has tried for years to vilify and dehumanize transgender Texans,” Klosterboer said, “but he can’t strip away every person’s right to privacy and right to live our lives free from gender stereotyping.”

Critics of the law have worried that it will spark violent over-policing by the institutions at risk of these massive fines. This policing will affect both trans and cis people who don’t fit strict gender norms.

The law has already been used in ways that lawmakers may not have intended. Students at the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA), for example, are being forced out of their current dorm rooms and made to relocate because of the ban.

At UTSA, mixed-gender dorms include pairs of rooms separated by a shared bathroom; often, those rooms are occupied by people of different genders. Any students sharing a bathroom between their rooms with someone of a different sex assigned at birth are being forcibly rehoused to comply with the new law.

On December 6, transgender protestors with a group called the 6W Project visited the Texas Capitol and attempted to use the restrooms that aligned with their gender identities to make a point about the lack of enforcement mechanisms in the law.

At first, they easily entered the bathrooms of their choice, then proceeded to give speeches in the Capitol Rotunda, The Texas Tribune reported. But when they attempted to use the restrooms a second time, officers stopped them and asked to see their IDs.

Officers claimed in a statement that the ID requests were voluntary, though those who did not show their IDs were barred from entering the bathroom. The officers did allow two trans women with female markers on their IDs to enter the women’s restrooms. Officers also reportedly only guarded the women’s restroom and not the men’s.

“I think that the Texas government just established that they have no consistent enforceable standards for this law,” protester Matilda Miller told the Texas Tribune.

“What we did was not radical, it was not profound,” added 6W Project co-founder Ry Vazquez. “People use the restroom every day in a public setting, and for it to become what it is now, where it is now an active threat to someone who is not prepared, is utterly abysmal.”

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House passes bill criminalizing gender-affirming care for minors

Read more at CNN.

The House on Wednesday voted to pass a bill that could imprison health care providers for providing gender-affirming care for minors.

The bill — titled the “Protect Children’s Innocence Act” and sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia — would make it a class C felony to treat minors with gender-affirming care like surgeries and puberty blockers. If enacted, the bill could imprison doctors who provide such care for up to ten years.

It’s unclear whether the GOP-led Senate will take up the measure, though it is unlikely it would get enough Democratic support to pass out of that chamber.

The House vote was 216-211. Three Democrats supported the measure, while four Republicans were opposed.

Greene said last week she secured floor consideration of her bill as part of a deal with leaders who wanted her to drop her opposition to advancing a critical defense policy bill.

Civil rights groups including the American Civil Liberties Union described Greene’s bill as “the most extreme anti-trans legislation ever considered by Congress.”

Ahead of the vote, Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride criticized congressional Republicans as being “obsessed with trans people.”

“I actually think they think more about trans people than trans people think about trans people,” said McBride, who is the first out transgender member of Congress.

“They are consumed with this, and they are extreme on it,” the Delaware Democrat added.

A second bill, sponsored by GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas, prohibits federal Medicaid funding for “gender transition procedures for minors.” The House is expected to vote on that bill on Thursday.

McBride said Wednesday that Republicans were “trying to politicize a misunderstood community and misunderstood care.”

“No one’s healthcare should be politicized,” she said.

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Pam Bondi Directs FBI to Offer Cash Bounty for Promoters of “Radical Gender Ideology”

Read more at Them.

The Justice Department has instructed the Federal Bureau of Investigation to crack down on supposed “domestic terrorist” organizations, the definition of which includes those who promote “radical gender ideology.” Part of that crackdown involves the establishment of a cash reward system for providing information on leaders of so-called “domestic terrorist organizations.”

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memorandum to federal prosecutors and law enforcement agencies on December 4, in accordance with NSPM-7, President Donald Trump’s September directive ordering the investigation of “domestic terrorist” organizations. At the time, NSPM-7 did not come with any enforcement mechanisms; Bondi’s memo provides specific instructions to prosecutors and law enforcement agencies.

The Bondi memo was leaked on December 8, and on Tuesday, LGBTQ Nation first reported on the fact that the memo includes “radical gender ideology” as part of its definition of “domestic terrorism.” In additional to “radical gender ideology,” the memo also defines potential domestic terrorist ideologies as “extreme views in favor of mass migration and open borders… anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, or anti-Christianity… hostility towards traditional views on family, religion, and morality,” and more. Under the Trump administration, “radical gender ideology” has been used as a catchall phrase to encompass issues related to trans and nonbinary communities.

The memo encourages prosecutors to “be particularly mindful of the potential applicability” of charges such as “picketing or parading with intent to obstruct the administration of justice,” “obstruction during civil disorders,” and “providing material support for terrorist activity.” In other words, the memo encourages prosecutors to press charges against certain forms of protest, or for providing supposed aid to organizations that promote what the government is now defining as “terrorist activity.”

The material support statute, in particular, has been used to significantly hinder the work of humanitarian groups, and has been widely criticized for prohibiting free speech. According to the ACLU, material support is defined as any “service,” “training,” “expert advice or assistance,” or “personnel” — an incredibly vague definition that has been used to surveil people and groups without basis since the implementation of the Patriot Act in 2001. Contemporarily, Hina Shamsi, the director of the ACLU’s national security project, wrote about the worrying implications of NSPM-7 on the ACLU’s website in October, stating, “If anyone needed proof that ‘terrorism’ and ‘political violence’ are slippery and fraught categories subject to political, ideological, and racial manipulation and bias — well, this is it.”

The Bondi memo also specifically instructs federal law enforcement agencies to “review their files and holdings for Antifa and Antifa-related intelligence,” and deliver those materials to the FBI within 14 days of its issuance. The FBI is also set to “compile a list of groups of entities engaged in acts that may constitute domestic terrorism” within 30 days of issuance. The FBI will also “disseminate an intelligence bulletin on Antifa and Antifa-aligned anarchist violent extremist groups,” including information on “structures, funding sources, and tactics.” Lastly, the memo directs the FBI to better publicize its domestic terrorism tip line, and will “establish a cash reward system for information that leads to the successful identification and arrest of individuals in the leadership of domestic terrorist organizations.”

The language contained in the Bondi memo is reminiscent of that found in a September report from independent journalist Ken Klippenstein. In the report, two anonymous national security experts claimed that the FBI intended to categorize trans people as “Nihilistic Violent Extremists,” a threat category that was created earlier this year. The FBI defines “Nihilistic Violent Extremism” as “criminal conduct… in furtherance of political, social, or religious goals that derive primarily from a hatred of society at large and a desire to bring about its collapse by sowing indiscriminate chaos.” This also ties neatly into the ongoing right-wing attempts to scapegoat trans people for mass shootings and other forms of gun violence, including the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

Notably, all of the federal government’s messaging about “domestic terrorism” ignores the fact that the vast majority of research points to the fact that the bulk of domestic terrorists in the U.S. are aligned with the right-wing.

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Trump administration attacks LGBTQ asylum seekers

Read more at Out in New Jersey.

The Trump administration has set a cap of just 7,500 refugee admissions for 2026, a 94% reduction from the Biden administration’s 125,000-person target, according to a Presidential Determination published Oct. 31 in the Federal Register. A new report from UCLA’s Williams Institute warns the cuts will disproportionately harm LGBTQ refugees worldwide.

At least 62 countries currently maintain laws criminalizing consensual same-sex activity. Thousands of vulnerable individuals face extended waits in dangerous transit countries, according to the report.

LGBTQ refugees encounter unique obstacles under the reduced cap. Many are single adults who fled family persecution and lack reunification pathways that prioritize other refugees. Officials sometimes fail to recognize persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity, while refugees may fear disclosing their status. Extended waits create economic vulnerability, forcing many into exploitative work situations.

“The lack of reliable data on LGBTQI+ refugees makes the impact of this new cap even harder to measure,” Ari Shaw, director of international programs at the Williams Institute, said in a news release. “Without accurate data, policymakers and service providers cannot fully assess or respond to the needs of LGBTQI+ refugees.”

The Trump administration has not yet appointed a special envoy for LGBTQ rights, eliminating a key referral pathway established under Biden for at-risk individuals, according to the report.

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LGBTQ immigrants face more asylum rejections, though some still win cases

Read more at Gay City News.

In the midst of the Trump administration’s attacks on both the LGBTQ community and immigrants, the non-profit organization Immigration Equality is working to ensure that queer asylum seekers and refugees have access to legal services.

Immigration Equality, which has represented LGBTQ immigrants since it was founded in 1994, has been a haven for individuals who come from countries where they are persecuted for their identity. They offer both direct representation and a program where asylum seekers’ cases are vetted and matched with pro-bono lawyers. 

But since the Trump administration’s recent attacks on immigrants, the process of filing these individuals’ cases and fighting for their safety has become significantly more difficult. Immigration Equality’s director of law and policy, Bridget Crawford, noted in an interview with Gay City News that Trump has been attacking all cases, not just a certain few. 

“A lot of what the Trump administration seems to be focused on is not efficient, fair adjudication of claims,” she said. “It seems to be focused on eliminating the claims altogether and preventing people from making them, or quickly dispensing with them without due process.”

Alongside blocking initial claims from being made and removing more than one-third of immigration judges, the appellate courts are also shifting their decisions to move less favorably toward immigrants, despite many of these cases having overwhelming evidence that they meet the requirements for refugee status and protection. 

All of these obstacles have resulted in an uptick in Immigration Equality’s cases being denied, and these issues are being further inflamed after Trump recently announced the pause of many immigrant cases, following the shooting of two West Virginia National Guard members. 

But Crawford made sure to note that despite these hardships, Immigration Equality is still winning cases.

“We still have many people, both trans and LGB, who are successful in their claims,” she said. “The reality is that under the law, as it is written, and the precedent as it’s been established for decades, these are very strong claims — people continue to win because they meet the definition of asylum under our law.”

These policies have invoked fear in immigrants pursuing a case, as they are scared of not having their case heard and fear showing up for their case and being put into detention centers, despite following all the correct procedures. Being LGBTQ amplifies this fear.

“As an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, we have long witnessed mistreatment of our population in the immigration detention system,” Crawford said. A 2024 report published by Immigration Equality revealed that under both Democratic and Republican administrations, there were consistent reports of “sexual harassment, verbal and sexual abuse, physical abuse, prolonged solitary confinement, and inadequate medical care.”

The few protections that were in place to prevent this abuse have gradually been gutted, according to Crawford. These included internal watchdog agencies like the Civil Rights Civil Liberties (CRCL). In the past, if someone filed a complaint of mistreatment, it would be investigated by these internal agencies. Recently, though, these complaints have not been looked into. 

Against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s restrictive immigration policies, the work of Immigration Equality is  their clients find hope in them, Immigration Equality finds hope in its clients.

“They are the reason we all went into this work in the first place,” said Crawford. “We have these incredible stories of bravery and perseverance that serve as a source of inspiration for all of us. So many of our clients have survived so much worse, and we look to them for a sense of perspective.”

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Texas is making a list of transgender Texans. It’s using driver’s licenses to help

Read more at Houston Public Media.

The state of Texas has continued collecting information on transgender drivers seeking to change the sex listed on their licenses, creating a list of more than 100 people in one year.

According to internal documents The Texas Newsroom obtained through records requests, the Texas Department of Public Safety has amassed a list of 110 people who tried to update their gender between August 2024 and August 2025. Employees with driver’s license offices across the state, from El Paso to Paris to Plano, reported the names and license numbers of these people to a special agency email account. Identifying information was redacted from the records released to The Texas Newsroom.

The data was collected after Texas stopped allowing drivers to update the gender on their licenses unless it was to fix a clerical error. It is unclear what the state is doing with this information.

An agency spokesperson did not respond to questions about why the list was created and whether it was shared with any other agencies or state officials. The Texas Newsroom filed records requests in an attempt to find the answers but did not receive any additional information that sheds light on what the state may be doing with these names.

In recent years, GOP lawmakers have passed multiple laws restricting the rights of transgender Texans, including two new measures that went into effect this year.

One defines “male” and “female” on state documents as being based on a person’s reproductive system. The other, known as the “bathroom bill,” bars governments from allowing people to use a restroom at public buildings, parks or libraries that do not match their sex at birth.

While it’s unclear how the state plans to enforce the bathroom bill, transgender activist Ry Vazquez told KUT News she was asked to show her ID before using a restroom in the state Capitol earlier this month. Vazquez said she and three other people were then cited with criminal trespassing and banned from the building for a year.

Landon Richie, the policy coordinator with the Transgender Education Network of Texas, is concerned that the list the state is keeping will be used to pass more state laws targeting the rights of transgender Texans.

“The state collecting this information raises a lot of red flags, not just in terms of people’s privacy and ability to exist not under a magnifying glass,” he said. He added that he wonders “how this information will be leveraged in terms of drafting and crafting additional legislation” to chip away at the civil rights and freedoms of transgender Texans.

There are roughly 161,000 transgender adults living in Texas, or less than 1% of the population, according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.

For years, transgender people in Texas could update their state IDs to match their gender identity by obtaining a court order and then submitting this document to the state agencies that issue driver’s licenses and birth certificates. After the state restricted updates to driver’s licenses last fall, the state’s health agency followed suit, blocking changes to birth certificates other than to correct hospital errors or omissions.

In March, The Texas Newsroom reported that the state was collecting information on people who continued to ask for these changes despite the policy shift.

The attorney general, whose office determines what records are public, allowed the agency to keep other documents about the policy shift secret. But it did release a list of the four employees with access to the special email account.

The Texas Newsroom also obtained records that show the agency investigated threats against the driver’s license division chief after news of the policy change was made public. But no case was referred to the Travis County Attorney’s Office for prosecution.

The Texas Newsroom has requested an updated version of the list.

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North Carolina county dissolves library board for refusing to toss book about a trans kid

Read more at The Advocate.

A county government in central North Carolina has dissolved its entire public library board after trustees voted to keep a children’s picture book about a transgender character on library shelves, turning a local book challenge into one of the most severe reprisals yet in the national campaign against LGBTQ-inclusive materials.

The Randolph County Board of Commissioners voted 3–2 last week to dismiss all members of the county library board, weeks after trustees declined to move or remove Call Me Max, a picture book about a transgender boy who asks his teacher to use his chosen name. The decision followed a public hearing that drew nearly 200 residents and revealed a community split almost evenly between those calling for the board’s removal and those urging commissioners to respect the library’s review process.

Library staff and trustees had reviewed the complaint earlier this fall and, in October, voted to keep the book in the children’s section, concluding it complied with the county’s collection policies, local CBS affiliate WFMY reported. Commissioners nonetheless moved to dissolve the nine-member board outright — a step allowed under North Carolina law but rarely taken.

Free-expression advocates said the action represents a dramatic escalation in the political response to book challenges. Kasey Meehan, director of the Freedom to Read program at PEN America, told The Washington Post that Randolph County’s decision is among the harshest penalties she has seen imposed over a single title.

“It’s a pretty dramatic response to wanting to have diverse and inclusive books on shelves,” Meehan said.

Opponents of the book claimed the dispute was a matter of child protection. Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the conservative North Carolina Values Coalition, which urged supporters to attend the commission meeting, argued that Call Me Max teaches children that their parents may be “wrong” about their gender.

The book has been banned by several school districts and was prominently invoked by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022 while promoting his so-called “don’t say gay” legislation restricting classroom discussions of gender identity, a law later challenged in court.

To critics, the Randolph County episode demonstrates how procedural safeguards are increasingly overridden when LGBTQ+ inclusion is at stake. Kyle Lukoff, the book’s author, who is a trans man, said the case is especially troubling because the library followed its own policies and was still punished.

“Policies can be helpful, but this is ultimately a question of power,” Lukoff told The Post. “If there are people in power who believe trans people don’t belong in their communities or the world at large, they will twist those policies to make it a reality.”

Randolph County, home to about 150,000 people, voted nearly four to one for President Donald Trump. Commissioners have not announced when or how they plan to reconstitute the library board.

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