Latest news with #DefendingWomenfromGenderIdeology
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Prisoners have no 'constitutional right' to sex changes, red-state AG tells court in brief backing Trump
Federal and state authorities are operating within the bounds of the U.S. Constitution when they deny federal prisoners access to taxpayer-funded sex change procedures for transgender inmates, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita told a U.S. district court this week. Rokita filed a 24-state amicus brief in support of President Donald Trump's legal effort to uphold his executive order, "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government," which prohibits the use of federal taxpayer dollars for transgender procedures for inmates. "If we're to lose this case, the floodgates will open, and you will see an unending amount of these cases being filed. Costs are going to go up for the state of Indiana to accommodate these unneeded, unnecessary and dangerous surgeries," Rokita told Fox News Digital in an interview Wednesday. Trans Inmate In Prison For Killing Baby Must Get Gender Surgery At 'Earliest Opportunity': Judge Rokita is also helping his state fight a two-year legal battle brought on by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of a transgender inmate — convicted of killing his 11-month-old baby — to receive a sex-change surgery. The federal judge in the case, Clinton appointee Richard Young, repeatedly ruled that the inmate must be given gender surgery at the "earliest opportunity," despite Indiana's law barring the state Department of Corrections from using taxpayer funds to cover sex reassignment surgeries for inmates. Rokita has filed an appeal of that decision. Read On The Fox News App "It's absolutely imperative that not only President Trump's executive orders stand, but that Indiana wins this case," Rokita said. Aclu Sues Indiana Over Denial Of Sex Reassignment Surgery For Inmate Who Strangled 11-Month-old To Death Both Rokita and the Trump administration's cases deal with the accusation that prohibiting so called "gender-affirming care" for inmates violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of "cruel and unusual punishment." In the Trump case, an inmate anonymously identified as Maria Moe, is being represented by advocacy groups GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders and National Center for Lesbian Rights and Lowenstein Sandler LLP. Once Trump signed the executive order, Moe was transferred to a men's prison facility, and BOP records changed the sex from "female" to "male," the complaint says. Several inmates who signed onto the lawsuit as plaintiffs were also transferred to men's facilities to match their biological sex, but are now being sent back to women's facilities after U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, issued a preliminary injunction blocking the executive order last week. Trans Inmate Who Killed Baby And Identifies As Muslim Woman Sues Chaplain For Allegedly Not Allowing Hijab "The politics of some of these courts these days, and playing into this is really a head scratcher," Rokita said. "But the chaos that would ensue in the prison system, with all these jailhouse lawyers, all of a sudden… the expense of the taxpayer would be astronomical."Original article source: Prisoners have no 'constitutional right' to sex changes, red-state AG tells court in brief backing Trump
Fox News
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Prisoners have no 'constitutional right' to sex changes, red-state AG tells court in brief backing Trump
Federal and state authorities are operating within the bounds of the U.S. Constitution when they deny federal prisoners access to taxpayer-funded sex change procedures for transgender inmates, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita told a U.S. district court this week. Rokita filed a 24-state amicus brief in support of President Donald Trump's legal effort to uphold his executive order, "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government," which prohibits the use of federal taxpayer dollars for transgender procedures for inmates. "If we're to lose this case, the floodgates will open, and you will see an unending amount of these cases being filed. Costs are going to go up for the state of Indiana to accommodate these unneeded, unnecessary and dangerous surgeries," Rokita told Fox News Digital in an interview Wednesday. Rokita is also helping his state fight a two-year legal battle brought on by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of a transgender inmate — convicted of killing his 11-month-old baby — to receive a sex-change surgery. The federal judge in the case, Clinton appointee Richard Young, repeatedly ruled that the inmate must be given gender surgery at the "earliest opportunity," despite Indiana's law barring the state Department of Corrections from using taxpayer funds to cover sex reassignment surgeries for inmates. Rokita has filed an appeal of that decision. "It's absolutely imperative that not only President Trump's executive orders stand, but that Indiana wins this case," Rokita said. Both Rokita and the Trump administration's cases deal with the accusation that prohibiting so called "gender-affirming care" for inmates violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of "cruel and unusual punishment." In the Trump case, an inmate anonymously identified as Maria Moe, is being represented by advocacy groups GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders and National Center for Lesbian Rights and Lowenstein Sandler LLP. Once Trump signed the executive order, Moe was transferred to a men's prison facility, and BOP records changed the sex from "female" to "male," the complaint says. Several inmates who signed onto the lawsuit as plaintiffs were also transferred to men's facilities to match their biological sex, but are now being sent back to women's facilities after U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, issued a preliminary injunction blocking the executive order last week. "The politics of some of these courts these days, and playing into this is really a head scratcher," Rokita said. "But the chaos that would ensue in the prison system, with all these jailhouse lawyers, all of a sudden… the expense of the taxpayer would be astronomical."
The Guardian
06-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
US arts funding agency sued over Trump order targeting LGBTQ+ projects
Several arts organizations are suing the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) over its new requirements following Donald Trump's executive order barring the use of federal funds for the promotion of 'gender ideology'. The groups, which are seeking funding for projects that support art about or are made by transgender and non-binary people, say they have in effect been unconstitutionally blocked from receiving grants from the agency that was built to promote artistic excellence, despite having received funds for similar projects in the past. 'Because they seek to affirm transgender and non-binary identities and experiences in the projects for which they seek funding, plaintiffs are effectively barred by the 'gender ideology' certification and prohibition from receiving NEA grants on artistic merit and excellence grounds,' says the lawsuit, filed on Thursday. It goes on to say that the NEA's gender ideology prohibition goes against the agency's governing statute and 'violates the first and fifth Amendments by imposing a vague and viewpoint-based restriction on artists' speech'. The lawsuit argues that Congress had already made clear when creating the NEA that the only criteria for judging applications were 'artistic excellence and artistic merit'. The groups are being represented in the litigation by the American Civil Liberties Union. 'This gag on artists' speech has had a ripple effect across the entire art world, from Broadway to community arts centers,' Vera Eidelman, senior staff attorney at the ACLU, said in a statement. 'Grants from the NEA are supposed to be about one thing: artistic excellence. During his first day in office, Trump issued an executive order titled directing that federal funds 'shall not be used to promote gender ideology'. The order is titled Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government. The Trump administration's rollbacks of LGBTQ+ rights have since greatly impacted the arts world. Last month, Trump named himself the chair of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC after accusing it of hosting drag shows that are 'specifically targeting our youth'.
Fox News
22-02-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Wisconsin Democratic governor proposes replacing 'mother' with 'inseminated person' in state law
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, is facing backlash for introducing a budget recommendation that changes the word "mother" to "inseminated person," and "paternity" to "parentage" in certain parts of state law. The Evers administration's budget recommendation for the 2025-2027 fiscal period advises several other gendered terms be changed, as well. References to "wife" or "husband" are changed to "spouse" in the proposal. In other places, the word "father" is changed to "parent," and "mother" is swapped out for the phrase "parent who gave birth to the child." The budget was introduced by the state Senate's Joint Committe on Finance on Tuesday. Wisconsin radio host Dan O'Donnell noted the language change in a post on X, calling it "beyond parody." Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, commented on the post, writing simply "red flag!" The Republican Governors Association (RGA) issued a statement in response to the language changes. Evers' "latest left-wing push" is "offensive to mothers," RGA executive director Sara Craig said in a statement. "Being a mother is the greatest privilege I will have in my lifetime, and every mother I know feels the same. If Tony Evers can reduce motherhood to an 'inseminated person' then our society is lost." When introducing the budget proposal, Evers said his plan would eliminate income tax on tips, prevent homeowners from seeing property tax increases and improve the state's infrastructure, among other things. However, he made no mention of the language in the bill. The cultural battle over gendered language has raged for the last few years with debates over the use of terms like "chestfeeding" instead of "breastfeeding" or "birthing person" instead of "mother." On his first day back in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump attacked the issue head-on with an executive order called "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government." In the order, President Trump makes it official government policy "to recognize two sexes, male and female," saying they are "not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality." The order also explicitly states that "'sex' is not a synonym for and does not include the concept of 'gender ideology.'" Earlier this month, Trump issued another order on gender ideology called "Keeping Men out of Women's Sports." The order is designed to prevent transgender athletes from competing against women. On Friday, during an event at the White House, the president had a heated exchange with Gov. Janet Mills, D-Me., in which he threatened to pull federal funding if the state does not comply with his order. The exchange ended with both saying they would see the other in court over the issue. READ THE BUDGET RECOMMENDATION – APP USERS, CLICK HERE: Fox News Digital reached out to Evers' office for comment.
USA Today
30-01-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
How will Trump's orders on K-12 education, gender and DEI square with NY's policy?
One Executive Order, "Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling," focused on DEI and gender. The second — "Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families" — aims to redirect federal funds to help parents send their children to private schools. Two executive orders issued by the Trump administration on Jan. 29 seek to bring the president's promised change to education in three politically divisive areas: gender, DEI and school choice. Some officials in New York were predictably concerned with Trump's push into schools, where decisions are generally made at the local and state levels. But the executive orders raised many questions yet to be answered, leaving it to cabinet members to figure out the details. One executive order, "Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling," focused on DEI and gender. The second, "Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families," aims to redirect federal funds to help parents send their children to private schools. JP O'Hare, spokesman for the state Education Department, said the department is reviewing the executive orders, noting that the executive branch of the federal government lacks authority to "disregard acts of Congress." "This review is informed by our belief that State and local control remains the bedrock of our nation's education system, and this principle will not be enhanced through federal curriculum mandates," O'Hare said. "We remain committed to ensuring that schools are safe, welcoming environments for all students, which is a bipartisan issue. We will continue to work with the Legislature and Governor to ensure that our schools remain devoted to truth, excellence, and free inquiry." At stake: Federal aid and grants, which make up a much smaller part of school district budgets than local or state funds, but that are relied upon by many districts to improve education for students with disabilities and students from poverty. "To know that some of those dollars could be affected, it could make things catastrophic," Yonkers Schools Superintendent Anibal Soler Jr. said. Yonkers schools are receiving about $38.1 million in federal aid and grants this year. What did Trump's executive order on gender say about schools? The Jan. 29 orders come on the heels of Trump's Day 1 executive order, 'Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,' that aimed at codifying traditional male-female definitions with "clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male." The new order outlines restrictions on K-12 schools acknowledging transgender and nonbinary identities. It is a wide departure from New York's education laws and guidance. About 0.6% of the population is estimated to identify as transgender; estimations of intersex individuals in the U.S. vary from 0.018% to 1.7%, depending on criteria uses for people whose hormones, chromosomes, reproductive organs and/or sex anatomy are not aligned. The Trump order asserts that actions that could be taken against K-12 teachers and schools that support 'social transition.' 'Social transition' includes using a 'gender identity' that differs from the person's identified sex at birth, from using a different name or pronoun; calling a child 'nonbinary'; or supporting the use bathrooms and locker rooms and sports team participation that differs from a child's identified sex at birth. Federal funds could be in jeopardy if any school staff or teachers 'directly or indirectly support or subsidize the social transition of a minor student,' including 'deliberately concealing the minor's social transition from the minor's parents.' But respecting and supporting a transitioning student is a hallmark of the state Education Department 2023 guidance, "Creating a Safe, Supportive, and Affirming for Transgender and Gender Affirming Students." That included the decision on whether to include parental figures. "Only the student knows whether it is safe to share their identity with caregivers," the guidance states. The U.S. Department of Education and other federal agencies are charged with developing an 'Ending Indoctrination' strategy within 90 days. The executive order also directs the U.S. Attorney General to work with state attorneys general and local district attorneys in legal actions against teachers or school officials who are 'sexually exploiting minors' or 'unlawfully practicing medicine by offering diagnoses and treatment without the requisite license,' or 'otherwise unlawfully facilitating the social transition of a minor student.' New York State Attorney General Letitia James' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump's executive order on DEI: Stop 'anti-American ideologies' The development of "diversity, equity and inclusion" policies in America's schools became a cultural flashpoint during the early 2020s. Some states, including New York, pushed schools to identify and address traditional biases in everything from curriculum to library books to hiring practices. At the same time, states with conservative legislatures moved to restrict DEI efforts or the teaching of opponents called "critical race theory." Trump's executive order insists that America's schools currently indoctrinate children in "radical, anti-American ideologies" without parental oversight and that "innocent children are compelled to adopt identities as either victims or oppressors solely based on their skin color and other immutable characteristics." He's calling on the secretaries of education, defense and health and human services, working with the attorney general, to provide a plan within 90 days to eliminate federal funding or support for "discriminatory equity ideology." In New York, the state's educational leadership, the Board of Regents and state Education Department, began a major push in 2021 for all school districts to create sweeping DEI policies. "For the first time, in my recollection, in public school history, there is a recognition that we haven't created a system that provided equitable opportunities for all young people," Lester Young, chancellor of the Board of Regents, told the Journal News/lohud then. The state stopped short of requiring such policies, concerned that doing so could create a backlash. Regardless, many districts across the region, and the state, saw contentious debate about DEI at school board meetings. A Journal News/lohud review in late 2021 found that about half of the 54 districts in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties had started to develop extensive DEI policies and plans. Areas addressed by many districts included: hiring practices, staff training, curricula and reading lists, community engagement, and school "climate." "We value the strength of our diversity," Yonkers' Soler said. The executive order also addressed "patriotic education." The order reupped the President's Advisory 1776 Commission, created during the first Trump presidential term, "to promote patriotic education" and promote the United States Semiquincentennial this July 4, with the U.S. marking 250 years since the Declaration of Independence was adopted. A major push to prioritize school choice Trump's school-focused Jan. 29 executive order aims to free up federal funds to expand school choice programs and to push states to make federal dollars available for private schools. It gives the Education Department 60 days to 'issue guidance regarding how States can use Federal formula funds to support K-12 educational choice initiatives.' It also directs the department to prioritize school choice when awarding discretionary grants. "It's a little scary because if more (families) could choose private schools, it could be like the impact of charter schools on public education," Soler said, noting that Yonkers' graduation rate is over 90%. "We hope our families would trust us. And stay with us." Like with the DEI order, the reaction to the school-choice order is likely to vary greatly among the states. In state with Republican-controlled legislatures, where efforts are already underway to drive public dollars to private schools, the executive order is likely to be well-received. In New York, however, run by a Democratic governor and a strongly controlled Democratic Legislature that is close to teachers unions, school choice is not a priority and the executive order is likely to be fought. The order also directs the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a plan for states receiving block grants for families and children to use that money for private institutions, including religious ones.
