NEWS

California lawmakers have advanced a slate of ten new LGBTQ rights bills to Gov. Newsom’s desk, expanding protections for queer healthcare, privacy, and youth support. (Newsom has yet to sign any of these into law.) Across the country, Medicaid exclusions are deepening as more states enact bans on coverage for gender-affirming care, leaving trans people without access to essential treatment.

With federal operations halted, Erin in the Morning offers a shutdown day guide for LGBTQ people detailing what services are paused and how to navigate the disruption safely, also explaining how the government shutdown affects LGBTQ people, from delays in passport processing to stalled grant funding for queer programs.

The Supreme Court is preparing to hear a Colorado case challenging the state’s conversion therapy ban, a decision that could undermine protections for queer youth nationwide. Them unpacks how Chiles v. Salazar reflects a broader conservative strategy to roll back LGBTQ rights through the courts.

The Advocate reports that a VA doctor has been banned from providing private surgical referrals for trans patients, exposing intense overreach within veteran healthcare. Courts in Georgia have ruled that it is not discrimination for an insurer to refuse to cover gender-affirming care.

Parents in New Jersey fear losing vital coverage as new policies threaten healthcare access for trans children. And in Ohio, the state’s refusal to renew a grant means an LGBTQ youth housing program will soon close, leaving vulnerable teens without stable shelter or support.

Rx RESIST

1. Call your reps
   https://www.reddit.com/r/asktransgender/comments/1nsy0ae/call_your_senators_asap/

2. Support Miss Major

   https://www.them.us/story/miss-major-griffin-gracy-trans-stonewall-hosptialized-sepsis

3. Stand up for trans people with Chase Strangio

   https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2025/10/06/trump-lgbtq-attacks-trans-rights-chase-strangio/86478908007/

GOOD READS

• Why Are So Many Anti-LGBTQ Republicans Interested in Queer Sex — Uncloseted Media documents the growing list of conservative politicians who campaign on transphobia while engaging in the very behaviors they publicly condemn, from Wisconsin's Bill Berrien following nonbinary porn stars to North Carolina's Mark Robinson's affinity for trans porn.

• Debunking the Myth That Being Transgender Is a Choice — the founder of TransVitae tackles the persistent misconception that gender identity is chosen, clarifying that while identity develops through biological, psychological, and social factors, the only real choice transgender people face is whether to live authentically or continue suffering in silence.

• The Discrimination We All Live With — Trans News Network presents four detailed accounts of everyday discrimination from major corporations—backed by data showing 63% of trans people have experienced discrimination severe enough to permanently alter their lives.

• Why Hormones Change the Way Trans People Heal After Training — TransVitae explores how HRT fundamentally alters exercise recovery, with testosterone speeding muscle repair while estrogen reduces inflammation, offering practical guidance for transgender athletes to train sustainably.

• AI-Driven Therapy Apps Bring Relief, Concerns in Addressing Queer Mental Health — for The Washington Blade, Clinton Engelberger examines how AI chatbots offer accessible mental health support for LGBTQ+ communities but carry risks of algorithmic bias and over-reliance that providers should monitor carefully.

• What Would Trans Compromise Even Look Like? Katelyn Burns explains how puberty blockers were once the compromise position for youth gender care—and how conservatives systematically destroyed every middle-ground approach, making further compromise both pointless and dangerous.

• Our Joy Will Prevail — TransVerse shares Lily E. Rood's keynote address at SMYAL's fundraising brunch, delivering a powerful message about queer and trans joy as resistance against authoritarianism and a reminder that liberation is both individual and collective.

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