Hi folks! I am so excited to be bringing the very first guest-authored Good News Roundup. This one comes from the lovely Jess, aka Jess (KoalatyGay, lol) on here! Check out all the hope they’ve gathered for us, and then go see what else they’re working on!
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Happy Wednesday to all of you lovely readers! I’m standing in for Ben with this mid-month Good Queer News roundup. Before we get started, let’s acknowledge what a rough stretch into the midterm elections this has been. I won’t recap the bad news I read to bring you the good stuff, but if you’re on social media, you’ve likely heard an earful.
As we carry through the remainder of this month, let’s remember to make these good queer news stories count and to make sure to VOTE in the midterms! We create a better future when we work together to make it happen!
Polling and Reports
Polls from The 19th report more Americans oppose gender-affirming care bans than support such bans. Additionally, support for trans healthcare bans are dropping even with republicans. Considering many GOP candidates are running on anti-trans campaigns alone, this doesn’t bode super well for them!
A report from the HRC Foundation finds that LGBTQ people are a very civically engaged group, and 92% of queer and trans registered voters plan to vote in the midterms (compared to 68% of non-queer voters). When we show up at the polls together, we have a collective power that makes impact.
Midterm Candidate News
Amongst the stories of some Democratic candidates wavering on transgender rights, some candidates (and incumbents) are doubling down on their support.
Kentucky
The governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, stuck to his pro-trans stance on a CNN interview where he asserts, “We don’t throw people under the bus,” after the interviewer asked about Beshear’s veto of a trans sports ban. When the interviewer mentioned some Democrats’ flip on trans rights, Beshear goes on to express, “That is not the party that we are. We start as a party of compassion and empathy.” Reminder, this is coming from the governor of KENTUCKY!--a state that’s been voting for a Republican presidential candidate for the last seven election cycles.
Ohio
In Ohio, Democratic senator candidate Sherrod Brown responds to anti-trans attack ads without throwing trans kids under the bus. Unlike some other dem candidates running for office in Ohio (*cough* Amy Acton and Marcy Kaptur *cough*), Brown manages to confront anti-trans attack ads from his opponent–GOP incumbent Jon Husted–by stating the facts: “Jon Husted protected men who abused young girls.”
Montana
The Democratic candidate in Montana’s 1st Congressional District is also refusing to buckle on transgender rights. In a debate with his anti-trans opponent, Sam Forstag was asked about transgender issues, and Forstag replied with, “Let’s leave sports to the leagues that actually run them. Let’s let people live their lives with dignity and make their own private personal decisions, and let’s keep politics the heck out of it.”
As the debate carried on, Forstag pointed out, “this fear-mongering from [my opponent] is to distract from the fact that he does not have any solutions to make working people’s lives better.” Sick burn, Forstag!
State News
Colorado
The Colorado Medical Society–a major physician group in the state–declared they oppose the ballot proposal that seeks to ban gender-affirming care for trans youth.
President Sean Pauzauskie said: “CMS members hold diverse political views but share a core principle: medical decisions belong in the exam room. CMS flatly opposes interference by government or other third parties that compromise physicians’ abilities to use their medical judgment as to the information or treatment that is in the best interest of their patients.”
New York
Mayor Mamdani’s The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH) has allocated $9 million for nonprofits that provide gender-affirming care for transgender youth. This funding is part of a larger plan to close the gap left in the wake of hospitals closing their doors to trans youth in an act of capitulation to the Trump administration.
Virginia
Virginia’s governor, Abigail Spanberger, spoke against the Trump administration’s policy change that removes medicaid coverage for gender-affirming healthcare. She told the Advocate, “Once again, the Trump administration [is] targeting and using as pawns people who rely on Medicaid for their healthcare coverage, and in this case, children.” It’s great to see politicians naming these attacks for what they are–(weak) attempts at capitalizing on political capital.
Local News
Students at Pennsylvania’s Fairview High School elected a transgender girl as their homecoming queen this year! Sadly, the school faced some backlash from few but loud voices in the community. When time came for the board meeting following homecoming, a teacher organized a group of support for the homecoming queen, leaving the room packed for standing only. No one spoke at the meeting against the trans queen. That’s what happens when we rally together and for each other!
Take Action
Vote early and/or make a plan to vote on election day (Tuesday, November 3).
Text 10 friends and ask them if they’ve made their voting plans yet
Attend this 50501 Webinar on Deescalation and Safety at the polls!
Thanks again to Jess for writing such a fabulous roundup! If you’re interested in submitting a guest article or becoming a regular contributor, you can submit using this google form! If you’ve already submitted, thank you!! There’s a lot of great stuff in there and I’m doing my best to go through it all and get stuff set up on the content calendar :)
All my love as always,
Ben