Todd Parr wrote one of the nation's most banned children's books. What is that book called?
The Family Book
The Family Book is one of Parr's most popular and most controversial books. The book teaches kids about all kinds of families – ones that live together, ones that live far apart, ones that are big, ones that are small, and the kicker: ones that have two moms and ones that have two dads.
It made the list of the American Library Association’s Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books of 2010-2019, coming in at number 67. It was also one of the most banned picture books of 2021-2022.
The State Department issued a travel warning to which country this week citing conditions for LGBTQ+ people?
Uganda
The East African, majority-Christian nation passed a bill to apply the death penalty to homosexuality in late May - a law that bans even identifying as LGBTQ+ - and now the U.S. is warning travelers that they "could face harassment, imprisonment, blackmail, and violence" if they're even perceived as being LGBTQ+.
“Be mindful,” the advisory said, “that any public identification with the LGBTQI+ community, as either a member or supporter, could be grounds for prosecution, and that even private consensual same-sex relations are illegal.”
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Donald Trump was arraigned in federal court this week. What allegations are the charges related to?
That Trump kept classified documents illegally
Trump pled not guilty to 37 charges in a federal court in Miami this week. He is accused of hiding boxes of classified documents – including classified military information, documents about the U.S.’s nuclear programs, intel on foreign adversaries, and “plans for a possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack” – in the bathroom of Mar-a-Lago where many employees without clearance had access to them.
When asked if President Joe Biden would consider pardoning Trump, out White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre laughed.
Protesters in Philadelphia are pressuring the local Marriott hotel and Museum of the American Revolution not to host conference events for which anti-LGBTQ+ hate group?
Moms for Liberty
Moms for Liberty (M4L), a Republican-funded group that opposes LGBTQ+ and racially inclusive content in schools, will hold its second annual national conference at the Philadelphia venues. The conference's speakers include four Republican presidential candidates and other anti-queer conservatives.
Citizens have issued a petition asking Marriott not to host the conference. A third of the museum's employees have signed a letter stating that M4L's values are in opposition to the museum's. Neither the museum nor the hotel have withdrawn their offers to host.
Which major medical association voted this week to protect access to gender-affirming care for transgender youth and adults?
The American Medical Association
This week, the American Medical Association passed a resolution opposing any criminal and legal penalties against patients seeking gender-affirming care, family members or guardians who support them in seeking medical care, and healthcare facilities and clinicians who provide gender-affirming care.
The resolution was in response to Republican legislation in numerous states that has restricted access to such care for trans youth and adults.
What reason did transgender influencer Rose Montoya give for going topless at a White House Pride event?
She wanted to join two trans male friends showing their post-surgical chests
“My trans masculine friends were showing off their top surgery scars and living in joy, and I wanted to join them,” Rose Montoya said in a video explaining her actions.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Montoya and the two men in the video wouldn't be invited to future White House events. Montoya has since deleted the video which showed her topless at the event.
Several Republicans spent the week outraged at the White House for allegedly violating the Flag Code this week. What was the White House accused of doing?
Flying the Progress Pride flag in between two American flags
Republicans spent the week sharing a cropped picture of the White House at last weekend's Pride celebration that showed a banner of the Progress Pride flag hanging in between two American flags at the same height. Some, like Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), said that the American flags have to be higher, according to the Flag Code.
The pictures they shared didn't show the American flag flying above all the other flags on the roof of the White House.
Other Republicans were more direct about why they were mad.
“Shame on them! Shame on them for hanging that flag out there!” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). “Because it shouldn’t be about what people do sexually that causes us to hang a flag somewhere."
Which state became the first in the nation this week to outlaw book bans?
Illinois
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signed the landmark bill into law on Monday. It says libraries will lose their funding if they remove books from the shelf based on someone’s personal or partisan disapproval.
“Here in Illinois, we don’t hide from the truth, we embrace it,” said Pritzker in a statement.
Which Republican governor defied his party and signed a bill this week mandating insurers cover gender-affirming care?
Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo
Lombardo signed the bill even though not a single Republican lawmaker voted in its favor. Some believe he did it in hopes it would sway Democrats to support funding for the construction of a new major league baseball stadium on the Las Vegas Strip.
He told reporters that the bill "is not as draconian or detrimental" as conservatives think.
Which conservative media outlet recently said that the intersex-inclusive Progress Pride flag is a symbol of "grooming and pedophilia"?
Fox News
Fox News published an article that cited "critics" who claimed the flag was an “homage to the cult of pedophilia infecting many institutions and represented an unwanted takeover of traditional gay symbolism.”
Numerous social media users criticized Fox News for its article, noting that the network has amplified similar anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric while declining to cover instances of actual child sex abuse.
