GAY TEEN BECOMES UTAH’S YOUNGEST ELECTED OFFICIAL
Gay nineteen-year-old Jackson Lewis is Utah’s youngest elected official. Lewis was elected to Canyons School Board District 1. Endorsed by the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund—Lewis said he was inspired to run due to the threats state lawmakers made against vulnerable students.
In August, Utah became the first state to completely ban a list of books from schools statewide, reports LGBTQ Nation. In January, the state passed a law banning trans people from using ‘privacy spaces’ such as changing rooms and restrooms within public schools and other government facilities that align with their gender identities.
THE TREVOR PROJECT: 700% INCREASE IN REACH-OUTS TO ITS CRISIS SERVICES
LGBTQ advocacy organizations have reported a flood of calls and chats to their crisis communication hotlines after the election results last month, following a campaign that was rife with anti-trans attacks, reports MSNBC.
The Trevor Project reported a nearly 700% increase in reach-outs to its crisis services on Nov. 6, the day after the election. The organization said it saw “significantly high outreach from LGBTQ+ young people needing support in direct response to election results.”
One-third of those who contacted its crisis services after the election identified themselves as Black, Indigenous or people of color, the organization said.
EASED REGULATIONS ON ORGAN TRANSPLANTS BETWEEN DONORS AND RECIPIENTS WITH HIV
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has eased the regulations on kidney and liver donations between HIV-positive donors and HIV-positive recipients, something that HHS says will increase access to these organs, reports the Advocate.
A rule on interpretation of the HIV Organ Policy Equity Act removes requirements for clinical research and institutional review board approval for such donations, “based on research demonstrating the safety and effectiveness of kidney and liver transplants between donors and recipients with HIV,” said an HHS press release.
NO WORD YET ON FATE OF TRANS MILITARY MEMBERS
The incoming Trump administration has not yet made a decision about whether to discharge transgender people serving in the military.
“No decisions on this issue have been made,” incoming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to the Washington Examiner last month.
Roughly 15,000 members of the U.S. military identify as transgender and could be pushed out if Trump followed through on a statement he made during his first term.
WALMART CAVES IN TO CONSERVATIVES, PULLS LGBTQ MERCH
Walmart confirmed last month that it’s ending some of its diversity initiatives, removing some LGBTQ-related merchandise from its website and winding down a nonprofit that funded programs for minorities.
The nation’s largest employer, which has about 1.6 million U.S. workers, joined a growing list of companies that have stepped back from diversity, equity and inclusion efforts after feeling the heat from conservative activists.
