Latest news with #MovementAdvancementProject
NBC News
15-07-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Transgender bathroom bill added to Texas flood-relief special session
Texas lawmakers will convene next week for a special session to consider legislation addressing the deadly floods that devastated parts of the state earlier this month — and a bill regarding which restrooms transgender Texans can use. When Gov. Greg Abbott initially called for a special session in June, it was to tackle six bills he had vetoed during the regular session, among them a contentious measure that would have banned hemp products containing THC. But after flash floods overwhelmed parts of central Texas on July 4 — resulting in at least 120 deaths with many more still missing — the intended focus shifted to flood relief. However, when the governor's 18-point agenda was released last week, it included far more than flood-related measures. In addition to considering bills that would restrict hemp products, Abbott has also asked lawmakers to consider legislation 'further protecting unborn children and their mothers from the harm of abortion' and legislation 'protecting women's privacy in sex-segregated spaces.' On Monday, the first day lawmakers were able to file bills for the special session, none of the 82 measures filed mentioned the deadly July 4 floods, according to KXAN-TV, NBC's Austin affiliate. Republican state Rep. Valoree Swanson introduced the so-called bathroom bill, which would require transgender people to use bathrooms that correspond to their birth sex in public schools, government buildings and correctional facilities. If House Bill 32, known as the Texas Women's Privacy Act, becomes law, public entities that violate the measure could face financial penalties and be subject to civil lawsuits. Currently, 19 states across the country restrict which bathrooms and other sex-segregated facilities transgender people can use, according to Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ think tank.
Chicago Tribune
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Wisconsin Supreme Court clears the way for a conversion therapy ban to be made permanent
The Wisconsin Supreme Court cleared the way Tuesday for the state to permanently enact a ban on conversion therapy in a ruling that gives the governor more power over how state laws are enacted. The court ruled that a Republican-controlled legislative committee's rejection of a state agency rule that would effectively ban the practice of conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ people was unconstitutional. The decision, which has a broad impact far beyond the conversion therapy issue, takes power away from the Legislature to block the enactment of rules by the governor's office that carry the force of law. The 4-3 ruling from the liberal-controlled court comes amid the national battle over LGBTQ+ rights. It is also part of a broader effort by the Democratic governor to rein in the power of the GOP-controlled Legislature. What is known as conversion therapy is the scientifically discredited practice of using therapy to 'convert' LGBTQ+ people to heterosexuality or traditional gender expectations. The practice has been banned in 23 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ+ rights think tank. It is also banned in more than a dozen communities across Wisconsin. Advocates seeking to ban the practice want to forbid mental health professionals in the state from counseling clients with the goal of changing their sexual orientation or gender identity. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed in March to hear a Colorado case about whether state and local governments can enforce laws banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ children. In both 2019 and 2020, the Wisconsin professional licensing board for therapists, counselors and social workers proposed a rule that listed conversion therapy as 'unprofessional conduct.' But the Legislature's powerful Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules — a Republican-controlled panel in charge of approving state agency regulations — blocked the proposed rule twice, most recently in 2023. The rule was in effect briefly in 2022 and took effect again in April 2024 when the Legislature adjourned without permanently suspending it. Republicans who supported suspending the conversion therapy ban have insisted the issue isn't the policy itself, but whether the licensing board had the authority to take the action it did. The Supreme Court ruled that the legislative committee has been overreaching its authority in blocking a variety of state regulations during Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' administration. The court's ruling means the Legislature will not be able to block it again. Evers called the ruling 'incredibly important' and said it will stop a small number of lawmakers from 'holding rules hostage without explanation or action and causing gridlock across state government.' But Republican Sen. Steve Nass, co-chair of the legislative committee in question, said the ruling gives Evers 'unchecked dominion to issue edicts without legislative review that will harm the rights of citizens.' The Legislature's attorney argued that decades of precedent backed up their argument, including a 1992 Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling upholding the Legislature's right to suspend state agency rules. Evers argued that by blocking the rule, the legislative committee is taking over powers that the state constitution assigns to the governor and exercising an unconstitutional 'legislative veto.' The Supreme Court agreed. The court found that the Legislature was violating the state constitution's requirement that any laws pass both houses of the Legislature and be presented to the governor. The Legislature was illegally taking 'action that alters the legal rights and duties of the executive branch and the people of Wisconsin,' Chief Justice Jill Karofsky wrote for the majority. She was joined by the court's three other liberal justices. Conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley said the ruling 'lets the executive branch exercise lawmaking power unfettered and unchecked.' She and fellow conservative Justice Annette Ziegler said in dissents that the ruling shifts too much power to the executive branch and holds the Legislature to a higher legal standard. 'Progressives like to protest against 'kings'—unless it is one of their own making,' Bradley wrote. Conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn, in a dissent, said the court's ruling is 'devoid of legal analysis and raises more questions than it answers.' Hagedorn argued for a more narrow ruling that would have only declared unconstitutional the legislative committee's indefinite objection to a building code rule. The conversion therapy ban is one of several rules that have been blocked by the legislative committee. Others pertain to environmental regulations, vaccine requirements and public health protections. The full impact of the ruling was still being reviewed, a spokesperson for the state licensing board said. Environmental groups hailed the ruling. The decision will prevent a small number of lawmakers from blocking the enactment of environmental protections passed by the Legislature and signed into law, said Wilkin Gibart, executive director of Midwest Environmental Advocates. The court previously sided with Evers in one issue brought in the lawsuit, ruling 6-1 last year that another legislative committee was illegally preventing the state Department of Natural Resources from funding grants to local governments and nongovernmental organizations for environmental projects under the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
What is conversion therapy? A breakdown of the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling on banning the practice
MADISON - In a ruling that gave the governor more power over how state laws are enacted, the Wisconsin Supreme Court cleared the way for the state to institute a ban on conversion therapy. In a 4-3 ruling July 8, the liberal-controlled court ruled that the Republican-controlled legislative committee's rejection of a state agency rule that would ban the practice of conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ people was unconstitutional. Here's what you need to know about conversion therapy and how this ruling impacts Wisconsinites. Conversion therapy is a discredited practice in which counselors instruct gay patients to change their sexual orientation, using therapy to "convert" LGBTQ+ people to heterosexuality or into traditional gender expectations and roles. In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association removed the diagnosis of homosexuality as a mental illness from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Before the removal of the classification, LGBTQ+ individuals could be institutionalized against their will, fired from their jobs and denied a mortgage, among other things. Many proponents of conversion therapy contend that sexual orientation is a mental health condition that can be healed through intervention from mental health professionals. While this idea has since been discredited through scientific research, some religious communities and families still seek out the practice of conversion therapy. Conversion therapy has been banned in 23 states and the District of Columbia, according to LGBTQ+ rights think tank Movement Advancement Project. A 2023 report by The Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization focused on suicide prevention and crisis intervention for LGBTQ+ youth, found more than 1,300 active conversion therapists operating in all U.S. states except Vermont and Hawaii. A national poll conducted in 2019 by Ipsos/Reuters found that 56% of U.S. adults support making conversion therapy on youth by mental health practitioners illegal, compared to 18% who think it should be legal. A 2025 Data for Progress survey found that 60% of likely voters oppose the practice. The survey found that the stance on conversion therapy varies between political parties, with 72% of Democrats opposing the practice while only 46% of Republicans oppose it. The Wisconsin profession licensing board for therapists, counselors and social workers labeled conversion therapy as unprofessional conduct since April 2024. This provision was blocked twice by the Legislature's Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules — a powerful Republican-controlled panel in charge of approving state agency regulations, which prompted the lawsuit brought by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers In the July 8 decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that the committee overstepped its authority in blocking the ban on conversion therapy, among other state regulations put forth during Evers' administration, from being enacted. The ruling could have sweeping implications for the interaction between the Legislature and the governor's office, as it determines whether the legislative committee can continue to block rules created by the governor's office, rather than going through the full Legislature to create policy. In the majority opinion, Chief Justice Jill Karofsky disputed the notion that the ruling strips power from the Legislature, noting that the ruling does not prevent the Legislature from creating rules and laws through the legislative process. '…the Legislature retains power over the administrative rulemaking process regardless of our determination here,' she said. 'The Legislature created the current process. It alone maintains the ability to amend, expand, or limit the breadth of administrative rulemaking in the other branches — as long as it adheres to the constitution.' Evers, a staunch supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, has worked on trying to enact the conversion therapy ban since 2020, but the Legislature prevented it from going into effect. Evers applauded the ruling and said Republicans have been allowed to overstep their power and cause gridlock by holding up administrative rules for years. "It's pretty simple — a handful of Republican lawmakers should not be able to single-handedly and indefinitely obstruct state agencies from doing the people's work," he said in a news release. 'Wisconsinites want to protect our constitutional checks and balances. Today's Wisconsin Supreme Court decision ensures that no small group of lawmakers has the sole power to stymie the work of state government and go unchecked." Republican lawmakers, however, saw the ruling as a way to give the executive branch more power while stripping the Legislature of its checks-and-balances role. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, criticized the court for removing oversight. 'For decades, case law has upheld the constitutionality of the legislative rules committee to serve as a legitimate check on the powers of the Governor and the overreach of the bureaucracy. Today's decision overrules those cases," Vos said in a statement. "As Justice Rebecca Bradley said in her dissent, 'Progressives like to protest against 'kings' – unless it is one of their own making.'' Co-chair of the Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, echoed this. "The liberal judicial junta on the state Supreme Court has in essence given Evers the powers of a king," Nass said in a statement. "Today's ruling is another devasting attack on the Wisconsin Constitution and on the authority of the Legislature, the only branch of government now controlled by Republicans." While Fair Wisconsin Executive Director Abigail Swetz celebrated the ruling as a "powerful step in the right direction," she said there is "still have more work to do" to remove the harmful practice. "A bill banning conversion therapy by all licensed professions passed through the legislature and signed by the governor would be an even more powerful step. Wisconsin State Senate Bill 324 would do exactly that, and I look forward to seeing it become Wisconsin law," Swetz said in a press release. The bill, introduced in June by Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, and Rep. Lee Snodgrass, D-Appleton, would prohibit conversion therapy in Wisconsin. It has yet to receive a public hearing. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to take up a case next term that challenges Colorado's ban on conversion therapy. The case would determine whether state and local governments can enforce laws banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ youth. The conservative-led court will take up the case during a time in which transgender people are facing increasing attacks by President Donald Trump and his administration. After taking office in January, Trump signed an executive order stating the United States would not "fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support" gender-affirming care. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors. In 2023, the court had turned away a similar challenge related to conversion therapy bans, despite federal appeals courts coming to differing decisions when weighing state bans on the issue. Anna Kleiber can be reached at akleiber@ This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin high court rules conversion therapy ban can be enacted
NBC News
08-07-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Wisconsin Supreme Court clears the way for a conversion therapy ban to be enacted
MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Supreme Court cleared the way Tuesday for the state to institute a ban on conversion therapy in a ruling that gives the governor more power over how state laws are enacted. The court ruled that a Republican-controlled legislative committee's rejection of a state agency rule that would ban the practice of conversion therapy for LGBTQ people was unconstitutional. The decision, which has a broad impact far beyond the conversion therapy issue, takes power away from the Legislature to block the enactment of rules by the governor's office that carry the force of law. The 4-3 ruling from the liberal-controlled court comes amid the national battle over LGBTQ+ rights. It is also part of a broader effort by the Democratic governor, who has vetoed Republican bills targeting transgender high school athletes, to rein in the power of the GOP-controlled Legislature. What is conversion therapy? What is known as conversion therapy is the scientifically discredited practice of using therapy to "convert" LGBTQ people to heterosexuality or traditional gender expectations. The practice has been banned in 23 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ rights think tank. It is also banned in more than a dozen communities across Wisconsin. Since April 2024, the Wisconsin professional licensing board for therapists, counselors and social workers has labeled conversion therapy as unprofessional conduct. Advocates seeking to ban the practice want to forbid mental health professionals in the state from counseling clients with the goal of changing their sexual orientation or gender identity. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed in March to hear a Colorado case about whether state and local governments can enforce laws banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ children. What is happening in Wisconsin? The provision barring conversion therapy in Wisconsin has been blocked twice by the Legislature's powerful Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules — a Republican-controlled panel in charge of approving state agency regulations. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling means the conversion therapy ban can be enacted. The court ruled that the legislative committee has been overreaching its authority in blocking a variety of other state regulations during Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' administration. The lawsuit brought by Evers targeted two votes by the joint committee. One deals with the Department of Safety and Professional Services' conversion therapy ban. The other vote blocked an update to the state's commercial building standards. Republicans who supported suspending the conversion therapy ban have insisted the issue isn't the policy itself, but whether the licensing board had the authority to take the action it did. Evers has been trying since 2020 to get the ban enacted, but the Legislature has stopped it from going into effect. Evers and legislative leaders did not immediately respond to messages seeking reaction to the ruling. Legislative power weakened by ruling The Legislature's attorney argued that decades of precedent backed up their argument, including a 1992 Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling upholding the Legislature's right to suspend state agency rules. Evers argued that by blocking the rule, the legislative committee is taking over powers that the state constitution assigns to the governor and exercising an unconstitutional "legislative veto." The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed with Evers. The court found that the Legislature was violating the state constitution's requirement that any laws pass both houses of the Legislature and be presented to the governor. Instead, in this case the Legislature was illegally taking "action that alters the legal rights and duties of the executive branch and the people of Wisconsin," Chief Justice Jill Karofsky wrote for the majority. She was joined by the court's three other liberal justices. Conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn, in a dissent, said the court's ruling is "devoid of legal analysis and raises more questions than it answers." Hagedorn argued for a more narrow ruling that would have only declared unconstitutional the legislative committee's indefinite objection to a building code rule. Fellow conservative justices Annette Ziegler and Rebecca Bradley also dissented, saying the ruling shifts too much power to the executive branch and holds the Legislature to a higher legal standard. Bradley said the ruling "lets the executive branch exercise lawmaking power unfettered and unchecked." The issue goes beyond conversion therapy The conversion therapy ban is one of several rules that have been blocked by the legislative committee. Others pertain to environmental regulations, vaccine requirements and public health protections. Environmental groups hailed the ruling. The decision will prevent a small number of lawmakers from blocking the enactment of environmental protections passed by the Legislature and signed into law, said Wilkin Gibart, executive director of Midwest Environmental Advocates. The court previously sided with Evers in one issue brought in the lawsuit, ruling 6-1 last year that another legislative committee was illegally preventing the state Department of Natural Resources from funding grants to local governments and nongovernmental organizations for environmental projects under the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program.
08-07-2025
- Politics
Wisconsin Supreme Court clears the way for a conversion therapy ban to be enacted
MADISON, Wis. -- The Wisconsin Supreme Court cleared the way Tuesday for the state to institute a ban on conversion therapy. The court ruled that a Republican-controlled legislative committee's rejection of a state agency rule that would ban the practice of conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ people was unconstitutional. The 4-3 ruling from the liberal-controlled court comes amid the national battle over LGBTQ+ rights. It is also part of a broader effort by the Democratic governor, who has vetoed Republican bills targeting transgender high school athletes, to rein in the power of the GOP-controlled Legislature. What is conversion therapy? What is known as conversion therapy is the scientifically discredited practice of using therapy to 'convert' LGBTQ+ people to heterosexuality or traditional gender expectations. The practice has been banned in 23 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ+ rights think tank. It is also banned in more than a dozen communities across Wisconsin. Since April 2024, the Wisconsin professional licensing board for therapists, counselors and social workers has labeled conversion therapy as unprofessional conduct. Advocates seeking to ban the practice want to forbid mental health professionals in the state from counseling clients with the goal of changing their sexual orientation or gender identity. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed in March to hear a Colorado case about whether state and local governments can enforce laws banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ children. What is happening in Wisconsin? The provision barring conversion therapy in Wisconsin has been blocked twice by the Legislature's powerful Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules — a Republican-controlled panel in charge of approving state agency regulations. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling means the conversion therapy ban can be enacted. The court ruled that the legislative committee has been overreaching its authority in blocking a variety of other state regulations during Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' administration. The lawsuit brought by Evers targeted two votes by the joint committee. One deals with the Department of Safety and Professional Services' conversion therapy ban. The other vote blocked an update to the state's commercial building standards. Republicans who supported suspending the conversion therapy ban have insisted the issue isn't the policy itself, but whether the licensing board had the authority to take the action it did. Evers has been trying since 2020 to get the ban enacted, but the Legislature has stopped it from going into effect. Legislative power at stake The Legislature's attorney argued that decades of precedent backed up their argument, including a 1992 Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling upholding the Legislature's right to suspend state agency rules. Overturning that ruling would be deeply disruptive, attorney Misha Tseytlin argued. Evers argued that by blocking the rule, the legislative committee is taking over powers that the state constitution assigns to the governor. The 1992 ruling conflicts with the constitution and has 'proved unworkable,' Evers said. The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed with Evers. The issue goes beyond conversion therapy The conversion therapy ban is one of several rules that have been blocked by the legislative committee. Others pertain to environmental regulations, vaccine requirements and public health protections. Evers argued in the lawsuit that the panel has effectively been exercising an unconstitutional 'legislative veto.'
