
Title IX protection extended to transgender students amid surge of legislation attacking their rights
CBSN
The Department of Education announced Wednesday that transgender students are now protected under Title IX. The federal civil rights law, passed in 1972, protects people from discrimination based on sex, and now, gender identity and sexual orientation, in any educational setting that receives federal aid.
"The Supreme Court has upheld the right for LGBTQ+ people to live and work without fear of harassment, exclusion, and discrimination — and our LGBTQ+ students have the same rights and deserve the same protections," Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement. "Today, the Department makes clear that all students — including LGBTQ+ students — deserve the opportunity to learn and thrive in schools that are free from discrimination." The announcement comes amid a difficult year for LGBTQ+ youth. A recent survey from The Trevor Project found that of the nearly 35,000 LGBTQ youth between the ages of 13 and 24 who responded to the survey, 70% said that over the past year, their mental health was "poor" at least most of the time. More than half of transgender or nonbinary youth reported they seriously considered attempting suicide, the survey found.
Washington — The Senate this week is taking up the massive budget package containing President Trump's second-term agenda, a measure that squeaked through the House with a one-vote margin, solely with Republican votes. Its path through the Senate seems destined to be similarly narrow, with the package almost certain to be revised, since parts of it are opposed by a handful of GOP senators critical to its passage.

This year, WorldPride is coming to Washington, D.C. A series of events, organized by the nonprofit InterPride, aims to bring visibility and awareness of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer issues to an international stage. This year's location is leaving the community conflicted about showing up to the nation's capital amid an administration that has targeted them.

A suspect is in custody after what the FBI is calling a "targeted act of violence" at Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday. We are saddened and heartbroken to learn that an incendiary device was thrown at walkers at the Run for Their Lives walk on Pearl Street as they were raising awareness for the hostages still held in Gaza. My thoughts are with those injured and impacted by today's attack against a group that meets weekly on Boulder's Pearl Street Mall to call for the release of the hostages in Gaza.