Latest news with #LGBQ
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Federal judge orders Trump administration to restore some research on women's health and transgender mental health issues
A federal judge ruled on Friday that the Trump administration must restore medical research articles from a government database, which were removed for promoting 'gender ideology,' per The Christian Post. The authors of the articles, Harvard medical researchers Gordon Schiff and Celeste Royce, sued the Trump administration over the removal of their research from the Patient Safety Network, according to The Harvard Crimson. One of the articles in question was removed for commenting on the diagnosis of endometriosis, an often-debilitating medical condition, for women, transgender and non-gender-conforming individuals. Another paper was removed for commenting on the importance of recognizing groups at risk for suicide, stating that young people, veterans, men, Indigenous, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer groups are at particular risk. Massachusetts District Court Judge Leo Sorokin argued that the articles' removal violated the First Amendment. 'This is a flagrant violation of the plaintiffs' First Amendment rights as private speakers on a limited public forum,' he stated according to The Christian Post. 'Because irreparable harm necessarily flows from such a violation, and the balance of harms and the public interest favor the plaintiffs, the motion for a preliminary injunction is allowed in part.' In January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled 'Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.' The order described Trump's intention to 'defend women's rights' and only officially recognize two genders. Also in January, Trump issued an order titled 'Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.' The order stated that medical professionals across America are 'maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children' who desire to change their genders. To carry out these orders, the Trump administration scrubbed thousands of data entries concerning LGBQ and transgender physical and mental health from national databases. Entries about contraception, HIV and women were also removed. Multiple federal judges have granted injunctions against Trump's executive orders, including allowing transgender medical operations to go through for young people and requiring that related medical research be restored to government databases.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump reportedly eyes $26m in funding cuts for US national parks
The Trump administration is reportedly eyeing dozens of grants across the National Park Service for termination, according to reporting from the New York Times, one of several moves destabilizing the US's investment in public lands. According to the newspaper, staff members at Elon Musk's unofficial 'department of government efficiency' have created a spreadsheet of federal grants earmarked for cuts, with total funding cuts amounting to some $26m. The proposed eliminations follow a familiar pattern for the Trump administration, with reasons given for program cuts including 'climate change/sustainability', 'DEI' and 'LGBQ'. Programs listed for potential elimination include 'Scientists in Parks', which places undergraduate and graduate students as well as early-career scientists across the country in natural resource management-focused positions. The focus on DEI, LGBTQ+ issues and climate change matches cuts 'Doge' has made across the federal government, and specifically at the Department of the Interior, which houses the National Park Service. The interior department and the NPS were heavily hit by Doge's early rounds of layoffs, along with the US Forestry Service, which manages nearly 200m acres (81m hectares) of public land. Since then, the administration has continued to slash at the NPS's workings. Earlier this spring, the department closed the National Park Service Academy, which was a partnership designed to bring Americans from underrepresented backgrounds into the park service and make a more diverse set of Americans feel comfortable working in and exploring the outdoors. Earlier this week, the Washington Post reported that the administration had suspended air quality monitoring programs at national parks across the country, issuing stop work orders to two companies providing the monitoring. Some park service staffers have requested that the stop work orders be rescinded. More cuts appear to be on the horizon. According to the National Parks Conservation Association, the full cost of proposed cuts could bring a 75% reduction to NPS services in order to meet the goal of more than $1bn in reductions. Critics have said that cuts to the NPS, Department of the Interior and US Forestry Service not only risk the preservation of America's national parks, but could put land management and fire reduction in jeopardy as well. They also have the potential to hit rural, and often conservative, parts of the country economically the hardest. National parks in particular can be an economic engine, generating more than $55.6bn in economic input, according to the National Park Service. Resistance within the National Park Service to the Trump administration's plans has been spirited, with more than 300 billboards erected across the country protesting cuts, and protesters rallying in support of parks across the country in recent months.
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Teen Girls' Suicide Risk Is Rising. Sexual Identity Stress May Be a Factor
This article was originally published in The Conversation. The alarming national rise in suicidal thoughts and behaviors among teenage girls has made headlines recently. Experts point to social media, cyberbullying and COVID-19 as potential new sources of stress for teenagers. However, a well-known source of stress that now affects more teenagers compared with a decade ago has been overlooked in explanations for this increase – stress related to sexual identity. As scholars focused on education policy, we conducted research showing that the increase in suicidal thoughts and behaviors corresponds with a dramatic rise in the number of female high school students who identify as LGBQ – lesbian, gay, bisexual or questioning. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter While some LGBQ youth are growing up in supportive environments, our findings suggest that an increasing number may be experiencing a double bind – a communication dilemma in which a person receives two or more mutually conflicting messages. Many LGBQ youth may believe it's safe to 'come out' due to greater access to information and the increased visibility of LGBQ people in U.S. society. But coming out earlier in life could expose them to discrimination and social stress in their schools, families and communities. This stress related to sexual orientation can contribute to a greater prevalence of mental health concerns, including suicide. We analyzed national data from over 44,000 U.S. high school students who took the Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021. We did this to understand these parallel national trends of rising suicide risk and rising LGBQ identification among teens. Between 2015 and 2021, the percentage of high school girls identifying as LGBQ jumped from 15% to 34%. During this same period, all females who reported they thought about suicide increased from 23% to 29%. Creating a plan to commit suicide rose from 19% to 23%. But looking at the data more closely reveals something crucial: Girls who identified as LGBQ consistently reported much higher rates of thinking about, planning and attempting suicide. In 2021, about 48% of LGBQ females considered suicide, compared with roughly 20% of heterosexual females. When we accounted for this difference statistically, we found the overall rise in female suicidal thoughts and behaviors were explained by more students identifying as LGBQ. Meanwhile, the percentage of male students identifying as LGBQ increased only slightly, from 6% in 2015 to 9% in 2021, with similar smaller changes in suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Related The increase in LGBQ identification among more female students in the past decade likely indicates greater access to information and social acceptance. It may also reflect the greater visibility of LGBQ people, including in popular media and leadership roles, which may help young people better understand and label their own identity. Today's teenagers, regardless of sexual orientation, have more language and representation to help them make sense of their experiences than previous generations did. Some teens have supportive parents and attend schools that are supportive of their sexual orientation. However, identifying as LGBQ may still come with significant challenges for many youth. Research has consistently shown that LGBQ youth face unique stressors. They include discrimination, rejection by family members and friends and bullying and harassment. Studies incorporating several generations of LGBQ people over the past 50 years find that, despite more societal acceptance, LGBTQ+ people born in the 1990s reported stressors at least as high as older generations born in the 1950s-80s. And younger generations reported the highest rate of suicide attempts. Our findings highlight a critical point. The rising rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors among all teenage girls cannot be understood in isolation from their social context and identities. While more young people feel able to openly identify as LGBQ, many still face substantial challenges that can affect their mental health. We believe this understanding has important implications for how we address the crisis. Simply implementing general suicide prevention programs may not be enough. Experts may need to craft targeted support that addresses the specific challenges and pressures faced by LGBQ youth. Related Schools play a crucial role in supporting student well-being. However, states such as Indiana, Florida and Iowa have recently restricted resources and support for LGBQ and trans students. Since 2021, legislators in at least 24 states have attempted to pass similar laws. Other states, such as Montana, Tennessee and Arizona, don't outright ban this curriculum. But they severely restrict how educators can discuss sexual orientation and gender identity by adding additional burdens on educators, including parental notification requirements. The Trump Administration, meanwhile, has started to roll back earlier federal efforts to protect LGBQ and trans students and recently deleted the Youth Risk Behavior Survey data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website. Our research suggests this approach could be dangerous. If we want to address rising suicidal thoughts and behaviors among teenage girls, we need to understand and support LGBQ youth better. Rather than reducing support, schools, parents and youth advocates could maintain and expand their resources to support LGBQ youth. This includes efforts to create safe and affirming school environments, and training staff and teachers to support LGBQ students effectively. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
