“For the LGBTQ community, today marks the beginning of Pride Month – a month dedicated to celebrating the vibrancy of our community, living our truth, remembering those we have lost and those who have paved the way, and preparing for the next year of hard work and accomplishments ahead of us.

As we kick-off Pride month, I’d like to look back on the legislative season and my time as Policy Fellow at Equality Federation, tracking and analyzing bills that impact the LGBTQ community. Here are two of the major highs and lows in trends this legislative season.

Equality Federation congratulates Basic Rights Oregon on the historic passage of HB 2673A. This legislation allows transgender individuals to amend both name and gender marker on their birth records without going to court.

In a case brought by Transgender Law Center, on behalf of high school senior Ash Whitaker, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s ruling that transgender students are protected from discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

As we mark a year from the Pulse massacre that claimed the lives of 49 people, Equality Federation stands with Equality Florida in their campaign to #HonorThemWithAction.

Governor Abbott has called for a special session to continue pushing for an anti-transgender bathroom ban.