Media

Back to school season is one of my favorite times of the year. Kids excitedly skipping to school, wearing backpacks that are almost bigger than they are. As kids in the Bay Area and the country begin another school year, LGBTQI+ students should feel excited about returning to class after summer break, seeing their friends, and finding joy in community as their most authentic selves both in the classroom and in extracurricular activities.

Gay California U.S. Rep. Mark Takano, chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, Rep. Ted Lieu of California, and Oregon U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, all Democrats, led 187 lawmakers on Monday in submitting a friend of the court, or amicus brief, to the U.S. Supreme Court in Chiles v. Salazar. The case challenges Colorado’s prohibition on conversion therapy, which bans licensed mental health care professionals from subjecting young people to the dangerous and discredited practice.

Gay California U.S. Rep. Mark Takano, chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, Rep. Ted Lieu of California, and Oregon U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, all Democrats, led 187 lawmakers on Monday in submitting a friend of the court, or amicus brief, to the U.S. Supreme Court in Chiles v. Salazar. The case challenges Colorado’s prohibition on conversion therapy, which bans licensed mental health care professionals from subjecting young people to the dangerous and discredited practice.

Advocacy groups on Tuesday sharply criticized the removal LGBTQ-specific references from the State Department’s 2024 human rights report.

President Donald Trump’s decision to seize control of Washington, D.C.’s police force and flood the city’s streets with National Guard troops has drawn urgent warnings from lawmakers, human rights advocates, and civil rights groups who say the move represents a dangerous escalation of presidential power and a direct threat to democracy.