The Advocate

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Gay Rep. Garcia Vows to Check Boebert & Greene on Oversight Committee

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Republicans now in control of the House of Representatives and progressive lawmakers fear the GOP will use their slim majority to engage in frivolous investigations into the Biden administration.  

With his appointment to the powerful House Oversight and Reform Committee, California’sgay Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia says he will act as a safeguard against such moves by Republicans. The committee works to oversee the “efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of the federal government and all its agencies,” according to its website. 

The Democrat announced his appointment to the committee on Twitter yesterday while noting a certain excitement about his opportunity to be a thorn in the side of two outrageous far-right Republican members on the committee.

“I just got appointed to the House Oversight Committee. You can bet that I am going to take on and push back on Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert’s bullsh*t every single day. LFG,” Garcia wrote.

Garcia has not been shy in criticizing some of Congress’s most right-wing members.

The freshman lawmaker is the first out gay immigrant elected to Congress, and in the few weeks that he’s been on Capitol Hill, he’s already made his mark.

In December, he was elected by his peers to be the incoming class president for the Democratic Party — a position that is often a starting-off point for party leadership.

After new members’ swearing-in ceremonies were delayed because of historic dysfunction among Republicans who couldn’t decide on electing a new House speaker until the 15th round of votes, Garcia swore his oath on the Constitution, and photos of his parents, his U.S. citizenship certificate, and a rare first-edition Superman comic book that he loaned from the Library of Congress.

Representatives for the congressman did not immediately respond to an interview request for Garcia.

However, in November, Garcia toldThe Advocate that he was looking forward to joining Congress, particularly to challenge some of the worst anti-LGBTQ+ people elected to federal office.

“[“Marjorie Taylor Greene] is somebody that has zero interest in allowing gay people to live full lives, so I think she shouldn’t be in Congress,” Garcia said. “I think she represents exactly what’s wrong in our country.”

He also had a hunch: “I’m sure she’s not going to like me very much,” he said.

McCarthy appointed vocal conspiracy theorists and anti-LGBTQ+ lawmakers Greene and Boebert to the committee last week. 

House Oversight Chair James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, is excited about Georgia’s Greene, Colorado’s Boebert, and Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona joining the committee, tellingAxios, “it’s probably the most exciting committee” in history.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre mocked the unserious nature of the far right-wing lawmakers on a crucial committee like Oversight during a January 18 press briefing.

“It appears that House Republicans have handed over the keys to the most extreme MAGA members of the Republican caucus,” Jean-Pierre said. “These are members who have promoted violent rhetoric and dangerous conspiracy theories, including suggesting violence against political opponents, trafficking in antisemitic lies, and defending and downplaying a violent insurrection against our democracy.”

According to critics, the committee will spend much time on nonsense and political games, especially with people like Boebert, Gosar, and Greene. Republican leaders have announced several investigations: the laptop of Hunter Biden, the country’s pandemic response, and right-wing media complaints about Anthony Fauci.

In an appearance on Newsmax on Friday morning, Comer committed to taking action against DirecTV for removing the channel from its services.

“Congress didn’t hold hearings a year ago for [One America News] because it was OAN and not CNN, and Democrats were in charge in Congress. You’re in charge now. Are you gonna hold hearings for Newsmax?” the network’s anchor Rob Finnerty asked the Republican.

“Yes,” Comer replied. “There’s gonna be a committee that’s gonna hold hearings. We’re sitting, we’re gonna meet later today and try to discuss which committee’s gonna do what. That’s certainly on the agenda. I’m very concerned by this.”

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Flipping the Script on Stories of Black Trans Women

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It can often feel like joy and optimism went on sabbatical around 2015 and have yet to reappear. Counter that despair with the Black Trans Femmes in the Arts, a young organization building community and mobilizing resources for underrepresented artists. Since its founding in 2019 by Jordyn Jay, the grassroots organization has raised over a million dollars to support Black trans artists. Members of the collective have appeared on HBO Max’s Legendary, staged exhibitions at Los Angeles’s Armand Hammer Museum, and performed on Broadway.

Jay says their organization is necessary because disparities of funding and safe spaces, and the general inaccessibility of art education, contribute to a lack of representation for Black trans women in the arts.

Jay states that, “Today, BTFA addresses all of those concerns by providing funding for projects led by Black trans femmes artists via BTFA Productions, providing artists with free studio space in New York City at BTFA Studios, creating programming for Black trans femmes to support their development as artists, businesspeople, and individuals, and connecting Black trans femmes to the resources needed to survive and thrive.”

Black trans femmes have contributed so much to American (and world) culture and BTFA’s ultimate goal is to allow these women to “take ownership of their cultural production” and continue to create without limitations.

Find out more about BTFA, and contribute to their cause, at btfacollective.org.

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Grindr Users Warned After Men Were Drugged, Robbed During Hookups

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Police officials in London have warned people who use Grindr of an alarming string of robberies associated with the hookup app.

Between December 31 and January 9, four men were drugged and robbed by two men who Metropolitan Police officials say they met on Grindr.

The victims reported agreeing to meet up with individuals from the app but that they became unconscious during the encounter and woke up realizing they had been robbed of their belongings, according to a Metropolitan Police statement.

The drugs did not cause lasting damage to the victims, but the suspects were able to flee the country, police officials said.

Now London detectives are appealing to the public and asking anyone with information or who may have been a victim themselves to reach out.

“We believe other victims may have been targeted,” detective superintendent Dan O’Sullivan said.

“However, for personal reasons, [they] may not have wanted to report it. If you have been a victim, you can report in confidence to us or speak to an officer from the LGBTQ+ community.”

Before meeting up with people they met on Grindr, users are advised to consider their safety. Police officials recommend telling a trusted person about one’s arrangements, watching one’s drinks for signs of tampering, and removing valuables from sight.

One should also verify the identity of somebody one may meet up with by insisting on getting video or photo proof that the person is who their profile photo claims they are.

Other tips include using messaging apps instead of social media accounts to communicate for added security and using reverse image search tools to check on the authenticity of any photos a potential connection sends.

“Although the suspects have fled the country and the risk to the community is reduced, we are continuing to engage with our partners and those from LGBT independent advisory groups,” O’Sullivan said.

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Florida Medical Boards Tighten Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Minors

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Transgender youth in Florida will no longer be able to access gender-affirming treatment — even during clinical trials.

The Florida Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine adopted new rules on Friday banning hormone replacement therapy and puberty blockers for minors.

Also, at a joint meeting of the boards, the Board of Osteopathic Medicine unanimously voided an exception that made it possible for young people to receive medical treatment when enrolled in studies conducted by state universities. This exception resulted from a contentious meeting last year when the two boards voted to have separate standards for different providers when providing gender-affirming medical treatment to minors. As a result, the rules of the two boards are now aligned.

In a Tallahassee hotel where the meeting was held, attendees shouted expletives leading to tense moments that prompted law enforcement officials to position themselves at the front of the room.

“Shame on the Florida Boards of Medicine and Osteopathy for continuing this assault on the health of young people and the rights of their parents to seek the best care possible for their children,” Nikole Parker, director of transgender quality at Equality Florida, said in a statement. “This rule puts transgender youth at higher risk of depression, anxiety, and suicidality and strips parents of the right to make decisions about care for their kids.”

Supporters and advocates pleaded with doctors on the Florida Board of Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine to retain access to what many described as lifesaving care. One transgender man gave himself a hormone injection during his speaking period. Many spoke of feelings of suicidal ideation passing with access to gender-affirming care.

However, the board was unimpressed and voted in favor of the governor’s ban anyway.

“Those are the facts that have been purposely ignored by Boards of Medicine and Osteopathy stacked with DeSantis allies and campaign donors who have put their toxic politics over people’s health and wellbeing,” Parker said.

“Transgender Floridians exist. Transgender youth exist. Gender-affirming care is lifesaving care — and it is care that is supported by every major medical organization, an overwhelming majority of medical providers, and should be left to young people, their families, and their doctors; not politicians.”

A press conference was held beforehand to condemn the political moves of the Boards and the DeSantis Administration, which attracted more than 150 advocates for transgender and youth rights. 

Transgender young people and families whose lives would be affected by the proposed rule spoke at the press event alongside legal experts, medical professionals, and community leaders.

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Pauli Murray Will Be First Black Queer Person on U.S. Currency

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Pauli Murray, nonbinary Black activist, lawyer, priest, and poet, will be featured on a quarter in the next round of the U.S. Mint’s American Women Quarters Program, making Murray the first Black queer person to appear on U.S. currency.

Murray’s quarter will be issued in 2024. Others in the 2024 group are Patsy Takemoto Mink, the first woman of color to serve in Congress; Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, a Civil War–era surgeon, women’s rights advocate, and abolitionist; Zitkala-Ša, a writer, composer, educator, and activist for Native Americans’ rights; and Celia Cruz, the Cuban-American singer known as the Queen of Salsa.

“All of the women being honored have lived remarkable and multi-faceted lives, and have made a significant impact on our Nation in their own unique way,” Mint Director Ventris C. Gibson said in a press release. “The women pioneered change during their lifetimes, not yielding to the status quo imparted during their lives. By honoring these pioneering women, the Mint continues to connect America through coins which are like small works of art in your pocket.”

Murray, born in 1910 in Baltimore, was assigned female at birth but questioned their gender and is now understood as nonbinary. They grew up in Durham, N.C., and became a lawyer and activist against sexism and racism. They graduated at the top of their class from Howard University School of Law.

Murray’s book States’ Laws on Race and Color, published in 1951, was described by civil rights lawyer and future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall as the Bible for civil rights litigators. In the 1950s, Murray joined the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkin, Wharton, and Garrison, where they met their longtime partner, Irene Barlow, who was office manager there.

In the 1960s, Murray served on the Committee on Civil and Political Rights as part of President John F. Kennedy’s Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and continued to be active in the Black civil rights movement but objected to the fact that movement organizations were largely led by men while women did much of the work. In 1966, they helped found the National Organization for Women, “but later moved away from a leading role because s/he did not believe that NOW appropriately addressed the issues of Black and working-class women,” according to the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice.

Murray taught an American studies program at Brandeis University from 1968 to 1973. In 1973, following Barlow’s death, Murray entered General Theological Seminary, and in 1977 they were the first Black person perceived as a woman to become an Episcopal priest in the U.S.

Murray wrote several other books, including a poetry collection, an autobiography, and a volume on the government of Ghana. Their best-known book, Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family, chronicles the difficulties faced by her grandparents in Durham due to racism. It has remained in print since its initial publication in 1956.

Murray died of cancer in 1985. Their life and significance were chronicled in the documentary film My Name Is Pauli Murray, released in 2021.

David J. Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, issued a statementpraising the Mint’s honoring of Murray.

“The announcement by the U.S. Mint that it will include civil rights activist Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, the first Black queer person to be featured on U.S. currency, deserves celebration,” he said. “This moment is a reminder that wherever there is history there is Black history and that Black history has always included the contributions of Black queer, trans, and nonbinary/nonconforming members of our beautifully diverse community.

“Commemorating the life and legacy of Murray, who was a groundbreaking leader of racial and gender equality and progenitor of effective civil rights tactics, and was also one of the first women, first gender nonbinary person, and the first Black woman to be ordained as an Episcopal priest, is an important step toward recognizing the contributions that Black LGBTQ+/same-gender loving people have made to American history. Especially at a time when the evangelical right is using religion to separate, segregate, and inspire hate.

“We commend the U.S. Mint for honoring Pauli Murray, amongst a number of influential and groundbreaking women. The lives, contributions, and stories of Black trans, queer, and nonbinary/nonconforming people are fundamental to Black history and should continue to be told and celebrated.”

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Gay Man Robbed, Beaten Beyond Recognition in San Francisco

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In an assault outside a popular San Francisco leather bar early Sunday morning, a gay man sustained severe internal and external injuries and suffered a heart attack.

As Barry Miles left the popular Folsom Street venue, Powerhouse, on the night of February 4, two men attacked him and stole his wallet.

On Instagram, he shared stunning photos showing his bloodied, bruised, battered, and swollen face, making it hard for him to be recognized.

“My face hit the sidewalk,” he wrote on Instagram. “[A]lso a front tooth was knocked out, and [I have] a small fracture in my neck.”

He added, “I’m pretty banged up.”

He also said that he also had a heart attack due to high cholesterol, for which he had to have two coronary stents placed.

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A well-being check was conducted on nearby Langton Street just minutes after midnight on Sunday, February 5, according to the San Francisco Police Department, the San Francisco Standardreports.

“The victim was unable to provide details regarding what led up to his injuries,” police officials told the outlet. “Officers responded to a business on the 1300 block of Folsom Street, where the male stated he had come from, and during their initial investigation, officers were unable to determine that a crime had occurred at that location.”

A leader in the San Francisco Bay Area’s LGBTQ+ community set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for Miles. Gary Virginia wrote in the fundraiser’s description that Miles is self-employed and asked for any size donation to help Miles recover.

Barry’s Recovery Fund after an assault & robbery, organized by Gary Virginia

At the hospital, he is receiving treatment for injuries that are not life-threatening but will require extensive medical care. Miles’ return to work has not been determined since he runs a housekeeping business. The fund states it will be used to pay Miles’ living expenses and to cover the cost of an expensive front tooth implant.

“Barry is a community leader, titleholder, volunteer, and fundraiser for many organizations that have benefited numerous charities near and far,” the fundraiser says. He is involved in the Krewe de Kinque Mardi Gras club and appeared in a charity Bare Chest Calendar, among other activities.

As of publication, the fundraiser earned more than its original $10,000 goal.

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Charles Silverstein, an Author of The Joy of Gay Sex, Dies at 87

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Dr. Charles Silverstein died this week at the age of 87.

Best known for making the presentation before the American Psychiatric Association in 1973 that led to the removal of homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual’s list of mental illnesses, Silverstein was also a co-author of the landmark book The Joy of Gay Sex.

More than simply a sex manual with graphic drawings — though there was plenty of that — The Joy of Gay Sex, first published in 1977, was a first-of-its-kind guidebook for every aspect of the gay experience.

“The first time I had sex with a guy was a big learning experience. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. Fortunately, he did,” Dr. Silverstein recalled when I spoke to him in 2021. That night would prove to be a catalyst for him. In his 2011 memoir, For the Ferryman, he writes that it was in that moment that he decided to dedicate his life to fighting for the acceptance of gay people. He wanted future generations of gay men to be spared the pain and struggles that he faced.

The full text of my conversation with Dr. Charles Silverstein (originally recorded for the LGBTQ&A podcast) is below. It was one of his last interviews. He talks about his work with the Gay Activists Alliance, the earliest Pride marches where the gay community would greet each other by saying “Happy Birthday,” and the lasting legacy of The Joy of Gay Sex. 

Jeffrey Masters: I want to talk about your role in helping to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder. But first, can you talk about why it was originally classified as that? What was the evidence that seemed to back that up?

Charles Silverstein: Well, everything about sexuality is based upon the moral beliefs of a society and since homosexuality had been condemned as immoral, it just automatically was assumed that it should go into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual as a mental disorder. Everything that wasn’t basically a heterosexual, missionary position, motivated by reproduction was considered abnormal. And homosexuality, since invariably, you waste your seed, was considered ipso facto a disorder.

JM: When you were getting your Ph.D. and being taught this, did you initially believe that?

CS: I was very confused then. When I was getting my Ph.D., I was in the closet because I certainly was not going to let anyone in the program know that I was gay, because that would get me thrown out. There was a period before I got to college where I wanted to change, and I went into therapy for the purpose of changing. Obviously, it didn’t work, and it never works, but it was what most people did in those days.

JM: We now refer to that as “conversion therapy,” but back then it was just considered “therapy,” right? The only purpose was to “cure” you.

CS: Yes, to change you into someone who was quote, “normal,” meaning heterosexual, and that was my goal. All I accomplished was I had the opportunity of going to bed with some nice women who thought I was an appropriate match, but I wasn’t.

JM: And eventually, you did make this presentation before the American Psychiatric Association. Was there a big debate over who would be the one to make the presentation?

CS: Since I was a psychologist, or at least working on my Ph.D. in psychology, it was decided that I should make the professional presentation, meaning the presentation, all the research and clinical work that suggested that homosexuality was not a mental disorder. And then Jean O’Leary, who had been a nun but was no longer a nun, she left the church. She would make the presentation from the point of view of ordinary people, about discrimination in the city of New York. So it was a very well-organized presentation. We knew what everybody was going to do.

JM: And this was identified as a goal of the movement. You weren’t simply working on your own.

CS: It had been started years before. Frank Kameny gets some of the credit for that. There are a number of psychiatrists who also were pushing to have homosexuality eliminated. Like every social movement, you always stand on the shoulders of the people who came before. Frank Kameny was not a part of this. Frank was a difficult person to get along with. Everyone who knew him would tell you that. He was a fierce fighter, but he could not have worked with us, and we wouldn’t have had him helping us.

JM: Thinking about people like Frank Kameny, Jim Obergefell, Aimee Stephens: We often connect historic events with people. Was your name connected to this? Did you feel like a celebrity in the gay community?

CS: In some places, my name is connected with it, but I really do like to say these changes that occurred, are not because of any one person at any one time, but it’s really the sum total of a number of people who fought, sometimes against the enemy, sometimes with each other, because we had lots of that. There is no one person that can claim responsibility for these changes. We worked together. I was chosen to make this presentation because I knew the research, I knew the data, and I could present it well.

JM: During all this time, you were a member of the Gay Activists Alliance, an early gay organization.

CS: They were a radical organization. Let me contrast it with Frank Kameny. When Frank had demonstrations, everybody had to be a good boy and good girl. There was a dress code, men had to wear suits, women dresses, shoes had to be shined. The GAA was quite the different. We weren’t good boys, we were bad boys, and we wanted to be bad boys, and therefore, we were out there not dressed nicely, but dressed in ordinary clothes to make as much trouble as possible. What Frank and his group wanted to do was knock on the door of society and say, “Let us in. Oh, please, let us in.” What the radical movement in the early ’70s did was, not to say that we want to knock on the door, we wanted to fucking break it down, and march through and tell society, “We’re changing you. You’re going to change, and you better live with it.” It was much more aggressive, but not violent. Aggressive, but not violent. And so, what we did, we had these, what were called zaps, and a zap was a demonstration where we would go to an organization and we’d break it up, and we found that professional organizations are the biggest sissies around, and they called us sissies, but they were the real sissies. They didn’t know how to deal with us. They would be having a meeting and some of our members would get up and say, “We’re taking over,” and they would step to the side, because they didn’t know what to do, and that’s why we kept winning everywhere we went.

JM: You wrote that the members of the GAA were the strangest group of people you’d ever met. Why is that?

CS: That was at The Firehouse. See, our center was The Firehouse on Wooster Street, because it was a place that we thought of as a place of liberation, that anyone could come in. You had to walk through the door, you didn’t need a membership card, you didn’t have to pay any dues. People who were oppressed could feel self-identified and walk in. Therefore, we had some lunatics that used to walk in through the door, and that’s what I was talking… We had some very strange people that came in, and no one was ever thrown out.

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Transgender Women Killed in Georgia, North Carolina

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Two more violent deaths of transgender Americans have been reported, one in December and one in January.

Destiny Howard, 23, was found shot to death in Macon, Ga., December 9, according to the Human Rights Campaign. She was also known as Destin Howard or Destin Cheves, Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents reports. Her body was found in the parking lot of a software business, notes TV station WMGT, which misgendered her.

“It is heartbreaking to learn of yet another young Black trans woman whose life was taken by gun violence,” Tori Cooper, director of community engagement for HRC’s Transgender Justice Initiative, said in a press release. “Destiny’s life mattered, and it was taken far too soon. Initial reports of Destiny’s death misgendered her, denying her the dignity to be seen as she desired. Our society must recognize that trans women are women and that their lives have worth, and work to end the violence that takes far too many of our lives.”

The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office is investigating Howard’s death. Anyone with information is asked to contact the sheriff’s office at (478) 751-7500 or Macon Regional Crime Stoppers at (877) 68-CRIME.

She is at least the 37th trans, nonbinary, or gender-nonconforming person to have died by violence in 2022 — 36 of whom have been named. A 31-year-old trans woman was shot to death in Vallejo, Calif., in November, but her name has not been released.

In the January incident, KC Johnson, 27, of Wilmington, N.C., is missing and presumed dead. She was last seen January 12 or 13 in Wilmington (reports vary), and police believe she was killed January 13, according to local paper Star News. She would be the second trans, nonbinary, or gender-nonconforming person killed in 2023.

Police have not located her remains, although they are trying to determine if a body found in Savannah, Ga., is Johnson’s, TV station WWAY reports. But they have made an arrest. William Hicks, 26, of South Carolina, is charged with first-degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and kidnapping, Star News reports.

Police say he met Johnson on social media, according to WWAY. He was arrested in Myrtle Beach, S.C., on a fugitive warrant, and is being held in a South Carolina jail.

Johnson was a native of Wilmington who attended Abide University and worked as manager of a Domino’s, Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents reports. Her partner, Bulla Brodzinski, described Johnson as the love of her life, the site notes.

The LGBTQ Center of the Cape Fear Coast held a candlelight vigil for Johnson last Friday, going from Wilmington City Hall to the spot where she was last seen. About 50 people attended, “from people who don’t have a connection to our community to allies with deep connections,” Caroline Morin, the center’s executive director, told Star News.

Speaking to WWAY, Morin added, “I think any time we have someone from within the community — the LGBTQ community as a whole but especially the trans and nonbinary community — when they’re murdered it’s an immediate message to us that something is happening, that we’re already familiar with. So a big thing that kind of comes for us next is what’s going to happen as our community going to respond appropriately. Will some sense of justice happen in this instance, and then what do we do to keep moving forward for those of us who are left behind?”

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Gay Jewish Student’s Alleged Neo-Nazi Murderer Faces Judge

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It has been five long years of seeking justice since gay University of Pennsylvania student Blaze Bernstein was murdered.

His family hopes a judge will move the case against the teen’s accused killer forward. The suspect is scheduled to appear for a pre-trial hearing in a California court Friday, according to the news site Forward.

Samuel Woodward, now 25, is accused of killing 19-year-old sophomore Blaze Bernstein in 2018 because he was gay, prosecutors say. Bernstein was also Jewish.

Several delays in the Orange County Superior Court trial have resulted from Woodward changing his legal representation multiple times and the original prosecutor being appointed as a judge.

Woodward was active in the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen at the time of the murder.

He was charged and subject to a hate crimes enhancement for allegedly stabbing his former high school classmate more than 20 times. He faces a maximum sentence of life without parole if convicted, as compared to 26 years to life maximum without the hate crimes component.

Bernstein, a pre-med student, reconnected with his Orange County School of the Arts classmates through Snapchat. Woodward, of Newport Beach, Calif., picked up the queer teen from his parents’ house in the nearby town of Lake Forest when Bernstein was home for winter break in January 2018. Then the two went to Borrego Park in Lake Forest. 

Bernstein may have leaned in for a kiss, according to a police search warrant.

Bernstein was found buried in a shallow grave at a park near his parents’ home.

A ProPublica investigation found that Woodward’s neo-Nazi group sent 250,000 messages on the chat service Discord celebrating Bernstein’s murder after Woodward pleaded not guilty.

Bernstein’s father, Gideon Bernstein, said in a news conference at the time that “we suffer an added layer of pain from learning he was likely killed because of who he was.”

Bernstein’s mother, Jeanne Pepper, told Forward earlier this month that she was upset with the amount of delay and lack of justice her family has received. She worries that nothing has come of her son’s death.

“The children that were 13 years old when this happened to Blaze are 18 now — they’re legal adults,” Pepper told the outlet. “Are they ready to live in a world full of violence and hate? Have we done anything in the last five years to instill a sense of humanity in people? I don’t think so.”

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Queer Youth Negatively Affected by Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws, Debates: Trevor Project Poll

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Debates over LGBTQ+ rights are having a negative effect on the lives of young people in the community, according to a new poll.

“An overwhelming majority of LGBTQ youth have been negatively impacted by recent debates and laws around anti-LGBTQ policies and that many have also experienced victimization as a result,” says a press release on the poll, conducted for the Trevor Project by Morning Consult between October 23 and November 2 and released this week.

The poll included 716 LGBTQ+ youth ages 13–24 around the U.S. It assessed emotional responses to anti-LGBTQ+ policies as well as which other social issues often give LGBTQ youth stress and anxiety. It came in a year in which more than 220 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced around the nation, most of them targeting transgender youth; many more are being introduced in 2023 — 150 across 23 states in the first two weeks of the year, the Trevor Project reports.

Among the key findings: Eighty-six percent of transgender and nonbinary youth say recent debates about state laws restricting the rights of transgender people have negatively impacted their mental health. A majority of those trans youth (55 percent) said it impacted their mental health “very negatively.” Seventy-one percent of LGBTQ+ youth overall say state laws restricting the rights of LGBTQ+ young people have negatively impacted their mental health.

Seventy-one percent of LGBTQ+ youth — including 82 percent of transgender and nonbinary youth — say that threats of violence against LGBTQ+ spaces, such as community centers, Pride events, drag shows, or medical providers that serve transgender people, often give them stress or anxiety. Nearly half (48 percent) of those LGBTQ+ youth say it gives them stress or anxiety “very often.”

As a result of anti-LGBTQ+ policies and debates in the last year, trans and nonbinary youth say they have had a range of harmful experiences, including cyberbullying or online harassment (45 percent); stopping speaking to a family member (42 percent); not feeling safe going to the doctor or hospital (29 percent); having a friend stop speaking to them (29 percent); bullying at school (24 percent); their school removing Pride flags or other LGBTQ-friendly symbols (15 percent); and physical assault (10 percent).

Among all LGBTQ+ youth, one in three report cyberbullying or online harassment, one in four say they stopped speaking to a family member or relative, and one in five say they experienced bullying.

Regarding policies that will bar doctors from providing gender-affirming medical care to trans and nonbinary youth, 74 percent of these young people say they feel angry, 59 percent feel stressed, 56 percent feel sad, 48 percent feel hopeless, 47 percent feel scared, 46 percent feel helpless, and 45 percent feel nervous.

Policies that prevent trans youth from playing on the sports teams aligned with their gender identity make 64 percent of trans and nonbinary youth feel angry, 44 percent feel sad, 39 percent feel stressed, and 30 percent feel hopeless, according to the poll.

There were also bad reactions to anti-LGBTQ+ school policies, given debates around respecting students’ identities and pronouns, censoring LGBTQ-inclusive curricula, and banning books. New policies that require schools to tell a student’s parent or guardian if they request to use a different name/pronoun or if they identify as LGBTQ+ at school make 67 percent of transgender and nonbinary youth feel angry, 54 percent feel stressed, 51 percent feel scared, 46 percent feel nervous, and 43 percent feel sad.

Fifty-eight percent of LGBTQ+ youth, including 71 percent of transgender and nonbinary youth, feel angry about new policies that bar teachers from discussing LGBTQ+ topics in the classroom. Among trans youth, 59 percent feel sad and 41 percent feel stressed.

Sixty-six percent of LGBTQ+ youth, including 80 percent of transgender and nonbinary youth, feel angry about policies that will ban LGBTQ-inclusive books from school libraries. Nearly half of LGBTQ+ youth, including 54 percent of trans youth, also felt sad about these book bans.

Black LGBTQ+ youth sampled reported disproportionately higher rates of racism, police brutality, doing poorly in school, and gun violence giving them stress or anxiety “very often” compared to white LGBTQ+ youth. Trans and nonbinary youth polled reported disproportionately higher rates of transphobia, losing their health care, anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes, and threats of violence in LGBTQ+ spaces giving them stress or anxiety “very often” compared to cisgender LGBQ+ youth.

“Right now, we are witnessing the highest number on record of anti-LGBTQ bills introduced this early in any legislative session. We must consider the negative toll of these ugly public debates on youth mental health and well-being. LGBTQ young people are watching, and internalizing the anti-LGBTQ messages they see in the media and from their elected officials. And so are those that would do our community harm,” Kasey Suffredini, vice president of advocacy and government affairs at the Trevor Project, said in the release.

Suffredini added: “The Trevor Project is proud to see that more than two-thirds of LGBTQ youth, including 81 percent of transgender and nonbinary youth, have seen, read, or heard about our work to fight back against anti-LGBTQ bills. We are prepared for the fight ahead and will not stop advocating for a safer, more accepting world for all.”

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