Love, Love, Love Is All It Takes.

The Beatles were on the right track with…

All you need is love

All you need is love

All you need is love, love

Love is all you need

Like the torture of a dripping water, drip, drip, drip... that wears you down, the onslaught anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ laws are wearing us down and taking a toll on our health.

A New Report on LGBTQ Youth Sheds Light on the Mental Health Struggles 

The Trevor Project surveyed 28,000 LGBTQ young people between the ages of 13 and 24.

Teen Vogue

By Fortesa Latifi

May 3, 2023

A new survey conducted by The Trevor Project shed light on the mental health struggles and hopes of LGBTQ young people. In a time when anti-LGBTQ legislation is at an all-time high, it’s critical to understand the needs of the communities that are being targeted. Through surveying more than 28,000 LGBTQ young people between the ages of 13 and 24, The Trevor Project brings us closer to that understanding. Teen Vogue read through the findings and this is what we want you to know.

Nearly 1 in 3 LGBTQ young people said their mental health was poor most of the time or always due to anti-LGBTQ policies – which shows that the political is personal and when politicians advance anti-LGBTQ legislation, they’re harming the mental health of their targets. This is especially important to note in 2023, when the highest amount of discriminatory legislation is being proposed in state houses across the country.

The Republicans must be doing a dance over this! After all isn’t that what they have been trying to do? Cause us the most pain while gathering votes for themselves.

Roughly half of transgender and nonbinary young people found their school to be gender-affirming, and those who did reported lower rates of attempting suicide. Again, look at how affirmation saves lives. Just in finding their school to be affirming, transgender and nonbinary young people are less likely to attempt suicide.

Love is all it takes!

What a difference between an affirming school systems and a non-affirming school systems, it is the difference between life and death.

Affirming gender identity among transgender and nonbinary young people is consistently associated with lower rates of attempting suicide. Again – look at the power of affirmation. With LGBTQ young people at a higher risk of suicide, affirmation of gender identity and sexual orientation couldn’t be more important.

I think of the opening of Charles Dickens’s Tale of Two Cities — 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Pa. House passes bill adding LGBTQ protections to state nondiscrimination law

PennLive

By Zack Hoopes

May 02, 2023

After a two-decade effort, a bill that would add sexuality and gender identity to Pennsylvania’s non-discrimination law passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday, a milestone hailed by LGBTQ advocates.

House Bill 300 passed on a 102-98 margin, with all but two Republicans voting against, and all but one Democrat in favor.

The measure now heads to the GOP-controlled Senate, with some proponents expressing optimism Tuesday that the bill could clear that chamber as well. Gov. Josh Shapiro has voiced support for the bill.

[…]

HB300 amends the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, which governs the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission – the body that investigates and adjudicates complaints of discrimination in housing, employment, and public services. The commission can levy fines, and refer cases to court for further resolution.

In addition to race, religion, and other attributes listed in current law, HB300 would add “sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression” to the list of prohibited types of discrimination.

Love Love Love Is All You Need

Michigan adds LGBTQ protections to anti-discrimination law

AP News

By Joey Cappelletti

March 16, 2023

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation Thursday codifying LGBTQ protections into the state’s civil rights law, permanently outlawing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in the state.

The legislation follows a state Supreme Court ruling last year that the Michigan’s Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act, which outlaws discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations and education on the basis of sex, extended to sexual orientation as well.

Whitmer’s signature Thursday ensures that the high court’s ruling cannot be reversed in the future and goes one step further in extending protections to include gender identity or expression. It comes at a time, Whitmer said, when there’s a “nationwide assault on our LGBTQ-plus community, especially our trans neighbors, family and friends.”

“There are state legislatures across this country dedicating themselves to legalizing discrimination,” Whitmer said. “In Michigan, we will keep expanding freedoms and getting things done on the issues that actually make a difference in people’s lives.”

It is like night and day… states that affirm and states that despise us. Low suicide rates versus high suicide rates. Blue states versus Red States.

Love versus hate.