�Թϲ�����

President Biden is marking Transgender Day of Visibility by celebrating the contributions that transgender Americans have made to the country while criticizing Republican-led efforts to pass legislation that the White House says is “dangerous” to transgender people. “To everyone celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility, I want you to know that your president sees you,” he said in a recorded message. “Our entire administration sees you for who you are — made in the image of God deserving of dignity, respect and support.” (Scott and Wager, 3/31)

Amy Schneider can’t stop winning. After wrapping a record-shattering stint on “Jeopardy!” and getting engaged to the love of her life, the trailblazing trivia phenom visited the White House for Trans Day of Visibility. On Thursday, the former software engineering manager from Oakland, Calif., spoke with reporters at the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room about issues affecting the trans community and objectives for her trip to Washington, D.C. “The White House was good enough to invite me here and be visible, I suppose,” Schneider said from behind the presidential lectern. “I’m just really, really honored to be here and really grateful that this is being celebrated and the trans people are being celebrated in a place like this.” (Carras, 3/31)

Transgender Day of Visibility was first celebrated in 2009, when Michigan activist Rachel Crandall-Crocker noticed the only prominent day for trans people was a day of remembrance for victims of violence, not a day of celebration or joy. It’s since been marked with rallies and celebrations worldwide. More than a decade later, celebrating trans visibility remains an important calling, said Kimm Topping, safe schools program manager at the Safe Schools Program for LGBTQ Students. “Not all of us can be visible and be seen, especially folks who are at the intersection of racism and ableism and so many other forms of oppression, who cannot be visible and open,” Topping said. “This is on behalf of the entire community for us to be visible and say, you’re safe here, and it’s okay to be ourselves and to exist.” (Tziperman Lotan, 3/31)

The State Department on Thursday announced that it will make an “X” gender marker available on U.S. passports beginning April 11, and the option to select the marker for other forms of documentation will become available next year. On State Department public forms, the “X” gender marker will be defined as “Unspecified or another gender identity.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the definition “is respectful of individuals’ privacy while advancing inclusion.” (Forgey, 3/31)

A group of over a dozen students, parents, educators and advocates filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state’s Board of Education, alleging that newly enacted state legislation would “stigmatize, silence, and erase LGBTQ people in Florida’s public schools.” (Lavietes, 3/31)

About 200 faculty, students and community activists gathered at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center to protest the decision to close the state’s only transgender youth health care program to new patients. Marking International Transgender Day of Visibility, the protesters carried transgender pride flags and faced cars passing by the medical center on Harry Hines Boulevard, eliciting honks and waves of support from drivers. (Wolf, 3/31)

When Texas Gov. Greg Abbott put in motion abuse investigations into the parents of some transgender kids, child welfare supervisor Randa Mulanax said what happened next strayed from normal protocols. There was unusual secrecy, with texts and emails discouraged. Allegations about trans kids received elevated status. In Texas, fewer than three in 10 child welfare investigations end with findings that harm likely occurred — classified as “reason to believe” — but the changes looked to Mulanax like these cases would be predetermined from the start. (Weber, 4/1)

One in five high school students does not identify as heterosexual, and many said they faced mental health challenges in the past year, a federal study released on Thursday finds. The Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention polled just under 8,000 U.S. high school students between Jan. and June of 2021. The study focused on students’ experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic and took into account respondents’ identities such as race and sexuality. In the report, some 22.5% of respondents said they were gay, lesbian or bisexual, or that they identified in some other way or were questioning their sexual identity. (Ceron, 3/31)