Issue Highlights
Justice for people, animals and the environment are inextricable, Arcus Foundation says
Bryan Simmons, communications vice president at the Arcus Foundation, joins Mongabay’s podcast to discuss the 25-year-old foundation’s philosophy, human rights focus, and how the latter is linked with conservation.
Trump order moves toward federal gender-affirming care ban
In addition to limiting federal funding, the order directs the Department of Defense to exclude coverage for gender-affirming care under TRICARE, the military’s health care system, and requires the Office of Personnel Management to negotiate reduced premiums by eliminating coverage for pediatric transgender treatments under federal employee health plans. Whistleblower protections are also mandated for those opposing gender-affirming treatments within health care systems.
We’re in a polycrisis. Philanthropy should adopt a systems-focused approach. - Alliance magazine
The interconnected nature of these issues make diagnosing problems significantly more difficult. Rarely do local issues stem from a single root cause, instead they emerge from a complex set of factors that intersect and relate to one another. As crises become increasingly interconnected and self-reinforcing, solutions must become more diverse and closer to the very problems they seek to solve.
Nonprofits Dread Attempts to Scrutinize Diversity Initiatives - The New York Times
Human Rights Watch seemed to gain an enthusiastic new supporter: The same person signed up for four of its newsletters, including daily, weekly and monthly updates on its work.
Its new fan subscribed under the name Zenith Flowers. The person’s email: deiatruth@opm.gov, the same email the Trump administration set up for federal employees to report on colleagues who defy new executive orders to end diversity programs.
LGBTQ Social Justice
ICC for first time recognizes LGBTQ people as victims of gender persecution
Karim Khan, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, announced a request for arrest warrants against Taliban officials accused of targeting women and others perceived as defying the group’s strict gender norms in Afghanistan. It is the first time LGBTQ people have been explicitly named as victims in a gender persecution case before the court.
As Trump blocks funds for LGBTQ rights abroad, fear and confusion spread
USAID, imposed a communications blackout, allowing no one except officials at the highest level to discuss with outsiders the implications of the freeze. They fired staff and removed USAID web pages describing agency programs.
As mpox surges, Ugandan advocates send urgent warnings to LGBTQ communities
Uganda records 512 new mpox cases in two weeks; total reaches 2,127 cases, 12 deaths
Trump’s reactionary orders harm trans and intersex people worldwide, says ILGA World
“this policy is even more dangerous as it sets a precedent that might inspire similar initiatives in other countries,” ILGA World said.
Trump issues executive order aiming to erase transgender students in schools
Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE), which was founded last year in a merger between the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund and National Center for Trans Equality, also threatened legal action. The organization labeled the president as a “bully-in-chief” and said he is trying to “outlaw kindness and common decency in schools and make it illegal for teachers to call their students by the name they want to be called.”
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Is Rolling Back Trans Protections | Them
The EEOC also reportedly told employees to stop processing claims of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Trump Directs Federal Government To Restrict Access to Gender-Affirming Care for Youth | Them
The executive order, titled “Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation”, is likely to be challenged in court.
Trump Bars Transgender Women From U.S. Prisons for Female Inmates - The New York Times
In an executive order, the president also moved to end gender-related medical treatments for transgender people in prison.
Inmate Sues the Trump Administration Over Transgender Executive Order - The New York Times
She is represented by two nonprofit legal advocacy groups, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and G.L.B.T.Q. Advocates and Defenders, and by a private law firm, Lowenstein Sandler.
Trump bans transgender service members from U.S. armed forces
Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign on Monday announced plans to sue the Trump-Vance administration “to block implementation of yet another discriminatory and dangerous attempt to bar patriotic transgender military service members from serving openly in the U.S. armed services,” Lambda Legal said in a press release.
Rubio instructs staff to freeze passport applications with ‘X’ sex markers | Trump administration | The Guardian
Secretary of state tells staff ‘sex is not changeable’ in email following Trump executive order on gender
BREAKING: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION REMOVES LGBTQ AND HIV RESOURCES FROM WHITE HOUSE AND OTHER GOVERNMENT WEBSITES | GLAAD
Mentions of “lesbian,” “bisexual,” “gay,” “transgender,” “sexual orientation,” “gender identity,” and related terms are no longer accessible on WhiteHouse.gov, and the search term “LGBTQ” now brings up zero results on the site. In addition, some LGBTQ-specific pages have been taken down from the Centers for Disease Control, Department of State, and more. GLAAD will continue to monitor federal agency websites in the coming days and weeks to track any LGBTQ-related webpage takedowns.
The battle to protect LGBTQ rights is winnable--but will take a fight
Legal advocates are gearing up to challenge Trump’s executive orders, and they have the law and the Constitution on their side. But to succeed, Democrats cannot bow to hate, even in the name of compromise.
Forecasting Equality: Expected Changes to LGBTQ Legislation in 2025 | by Movement Advancement Project | Jan, 2025 | Medium
This forecast takes stock of recent years in anti-LGBTQ legislation and suggests what may lie ahead in 2025.
Potential Federal Policy Changes Potential State Level Policy Changes Policies to Watch States to Watch
Mexico City Sex Workers Storm Judicial Building Demanding Justice Over Anti-Trans Violence | Them
The action was in protest of the release to house arrest of a man suspected in the stabbing of a trans woman earlier this month.
Great Apes & Gibbons
Elephants, gorillas and chimps hold out in Cameroon’s largest protected landscape
A new survey finds that populations of forest elephants, lowland gorillas and chimpanzees have remained relatively stable in a large landscape in southeastern Cameroon.
Five-month-old male gorilla, victim of illegal wildlife trade, seized in Istanbul
Zeytin is one of the latest victims of the booming illegal trafficking of wild apes. Both eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei) and western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) are critically endangered and listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which prohibits its commercial trade.
Philanthropy
Alex Soros: 'These people are bullies. And you fight back.'
By 2017, OSF staff numbers had swelled to 1,700; now they hover around 500. Total donations, says OSF, will continue to be about $1.2bn a year. Soros insists that he is a committed European, pointing to OSF’s expanding work in Ukraine. But since he took over, the foundation has focused more on climate and green jobs and increased spending in the US to civil rights groups that work on issues such as immigration, the right to vote and political inequality — all seen in a polarised America as loyal Democratic causes.
Standing Strong for DEI | The Center for Effective Philanthropy
It’s essential to stand firm in the face of those who are seeking to intimidate us from doing what is right and just and, more than that, to speak out and speak up. We must do so for the sake of our country, for the sake of our core values (the very ones so many of us touted widely in 2020), and for the sake of excellence and effectiveness.