https://www.queeringmedicine.com/

Queering Medicine, Lansing, MI (2026)

06/01/2026

QM’s weekly update on LGBTQ+ health and policy news for those living in the Lansing area🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️⚕️

*🏳️‍🌈🚬 Research published last month identified two potential pathways driving a higher rate of e-cigarette use among LGBTQ+ youth compared to their cisgender, heteros*xual peers: minority stress due to stigma and discrimination contributing to va**ng as a coping mechanism, and va**ng as a tool for identity formation and gaining a sense of belonging.

*🏳️‍🌈⚖️ On Wednesday, a claim of retaliation by a le***an former Amazon employee in Michigan was approved to proceed by a federal court. The former employee sued the company after she was reassigned and later fired soon after reporting workplace harassment based on her s*xual orientation.

*🏳️‍⚧️🏛️On Thursday, a bill to approve construction of the Smithsonian Women's History Museum failed to pass after the legislation was amended to bar transgender women from being featured in the museum as women, leading the Democratic Women's Caucus to pull their support.

*🏳️‍🌈🏛️🦠 On May 22, it was reported that the CDC web page with information about mpox safety for Pride events, festivals, parties, and intimate contact was removed from its website. A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson stated that the page "does not align with Administration priorities."

*🏳️‍🌈🩸🪖⚖️ On May 18, a federal appeals court vacated a lower court ruling which had upheld policies banning people living with HIV from joining the military, and agreed to rehear a case against this longstanding ban.

For details, visit https://buttondown.com/QueeringMedicine

05/25/2026

QM’s weekly update on LGBTQ+ health and policy news for those living in the Lansing area 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️⚕️

*🏳️‍⚧️🏫🏛️ On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would require elementary and middle schools that receive federal funds to obtain parental permission before changing names, pronouns, or gender markers on school forms or allowing trans students to use facilities consistent with their identity, while also restricting schools from teaching anything defined as “gender ideology” by a Trump executive order. The bill must be voted on by the Senate, where it has a low likelihood of passing.

*🏳️‍🌈⚕️🌍 Earlier this month, the federal government issued new guidance that will end direct financial support by the CDC for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in most countries later this year, instead switching to bilateral financial agreements between recipient countries and the State Department that include new stipulations.

*🏳️‍⚧️⚖️ On Tuesday, a U.S. district judge renewed a preliminary injunction which blocks the Trump administration from sending trans women in federal custody who are plaintiffs in the Doe v. Blanche case to men's prisons.

*🏳️‍⚧️⚕️ On May 15th, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Texas Attorney General announced a settlement with Texas Children’s Hospital which will require the hospital to end all gender-affirming care for trans youth, pay the state of Texas $10 million, and establish the nation’s first-ever “detransition clinic,” which must be free to patients for the first five years of operation.

*🏳️‍⚧️👧⚖️ On Tuesday, a federal judge in Texas ordered a hospital in Rhode Island to turn over medical records from trans children, after another federal judge had already blocked the subpoena. The records are to be held in the judge's court while the Department of Justice appeals the blocking of the subpoena.

For details, visit https://buttondown.com/QueeringMedicine

05/19/2026

QM’s weekly update on LGBTQ+ health issues impacting those living in the Lansing area 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️⚕️

*🏳️‍⚧️🗳️ On Tuesday, it was reported that the Wayne County Clerk rejected a challenge by Michigan House of Representatives candidate Frank Liberati to remove his primary opponent, a trans woman named Joanna Whaley, from the election due to not listing her deadname on the ballot despite having legally changed her name.

*🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🌐A report published last week ranked six major social media platforms in regard to LGBTQ+ safety and free expression, finding that none earned a passing score and all platforms but one declined in their scores from the year prior. In particular, Meta’s platforms and YouTube dropped in their scores due to removing significant hate speech protections from LGBTQ+ users and suppressing LGBTQ+ content.

*🏳️‍⚧️⚖️ On Wednesday, a federal judge ruled against the U.S. Department of Justice in its attempt to obtain information on trans youth who received gender-affirming care from a hospital in Rhode Island, stating that the DOJ had misrepresented and withheld information from the court.

*🏳️‍⚧️⚕️On Monday, NYU Langone notified patients that it and several other healthcare institutions received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Texas demanding information about trans youth patients receiving gender-affirming care, as well as information about their doctors. This is the first known instance in which the Trump administration has used criminal subpoenas against a healthcare institution to target trans youth healthcare, rather than merely civil subpoenas.

*🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🏫On Wednesday, hundreds of high school students in Watertown, Wisconsin staged a walk-out when an instrumental piece dedicated to the Stonewall veteran and LGBTQ+ advocate Marsha P. Johnson was cut from the school's spring concert by the local school board.

*🏳️‍⚧️⚕️🍁Since March, at least two American students under age 19 attending McGill University in Quebec have been denied HRT by the university's healthcare system. These Canadian doctors cited Trump's executive order against gender-affirming care for those under 19 and, seemingly due to a misunderstanding of a related federal reporting form, believed Canadian doctors might also be targeted.

For details, visit https://buttondown.com/QueeringMedicine

05/11/2026

QM’s weekly update on LGBTQ+ health issues impacting those living in the Lansing area 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️⚕️

*🏳️‍🌈📊 A report released Tuesday found that 36% of LGBTQ+ youth ages 13–24 and 40% of trans youth reported suicidal ideation in 2025, and trans youth who wanted hormones but could not access them were nearly twice as likely to attempt su***de as those with access to HRT. LGBTQ+ youth who reported living in very accepting communities attempted su***de at less than one-third the rate of those who reported living in very unaccepting communities.

*🏳️‍⚧️🗳️ On April 28th, Frank Liberati, a Democrat running for the Michigan House of Representatives, filed a complaint against his primary opponent, a trans woman named Joanna Whaley, claiming she violated election law by not listing her former name on the ballot. However, Michigan election law includes exemptions to that requirement for common law name changes, which Whaley appears to qualify for.

*🏳️‍⚧️🏠 On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development submitted a proposed rule which would require all homeless shelters that receive federal funds to house people according only to their assigned s*x at birth.

*🏳️‍⚧️📜 The White House released its U.S. Counterterrorism Strategy for 2026, which states that among other goals, they will prioritize "neutralization of violent secular political groups" with ideologies that are "radically pro-transgender," justifying this goal by referring to the killing of Charlie Kirk by "a radical who espoused extreme transgender ideologies."

*🏳️‍⚧️🎓 On Monday, the U.S. Department of Education announced the launch of a Title IX investigation into Smith College, a private all-women's college, for admitting trans women and allowing them to use women's spaces.

*🏳️‍⚧️⚕️⚖️ On Thursday, a federal judge temporarily blocked Federal Trade Commission investigations into two medical associations involved in trans healthcare guidance, writing that the investigations appear to be motivated by the administration's hostility to viewpoints supporting gender-affirming care.

*🏳️‍⚧️📊On Monday, a new study from researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University was released undermining the often-circulated claim that most transgender youth eventually stop identifying as trans, finding that the studies cited to support this claim lack the statistical and methodological strength to draw any meaningful conclusions about the rate of “desistance” among trans youth.

*🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🏫On April 30, the DOJ announced that they have opened civil rights investigations into 36 school districts in Illinois regarding allegedly delivering curricula discussing s*xual orientation and gender identity, without alerting parents of their rights to opt their children out of these lessons. Federal officials will also look into whether schools are allowing trans students to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity.

For details, visit https://buttondown.com/QueeringMedicine

05/04/2026

QM’s weekly update on LGBTQ+ health issues impacting those living in the Lansing area 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️⚕️

*🏳️‍🌈✊🏿🫂 A recent study found that among Black q***r teen boys, a positive sense of identity and a sense of belonging were among the most influential factors associated with reductions in depression symptoms and suicidal behaviors.

*🏳️‍⚧️🏛️🚻 On April 20th, a State Department memo was obtained announcing a ban on trans State Department employees using restrooms and other facilities corresponding with their gender identity.

*🏳️‍⚧️🏫⚖️ On April 27th, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to revive a lawsuit brought by two parents who had unsuccessfully sued their school district for accommodating their child’s preferred name and pronouns without outing them to the parents, after having refused to hear a similar case the week prior.

*🏳️‍⚧️📊 In April, research was published that estimated Michigan's rate for suicidal ideation among trans youth to be 58%, compared to the national average of 48% for trans youth.

*🏳️‍⚧️⚖️ On Wednesday, it was reported that a federal judge issued a 90-day injunction requiring the Oregon Department of Corrections to presume that trans women should be housed according to their gender identity, instead of using their current process of presuming that they should be placed in men's prisons.

For details, visit https://buttondown.com/QueeringMedicine

04/21/2026

QM’s weekly update on LGBTQ+ health issues impacting those living in the Lansing area 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️⚕️

*🏳️‍⚧️⚕️ A study published in March found that the implementation of a DoxyPEP intervention in Seattle was associated with a county-wide reduction in syphilis cases by 53% among cisgender men, 47% among cisgender women, and 33% among trans and nonbinary people.

*🏳️‍⚧️🏀⚖️ On Wednesday, a federal appeals court upheld a lower court’s refusal to issue a preliminary block against a trans-inclusive sports policy in Minnesota that allows trans girls to continue to compete in high school girls’ sports.

*🏳️‍🌈⚖️ On April 10th, the U.S. government agreed in a court settlement to allow the Pride flag to fly permanently at the Stonewall National Monument after it had previously been taken down, agreeing that the flag qualifies as a historical exemption from the National Park Service’s recent policy of only allowing U.S. agency flags to fly at national parks.

*🏳️‍⚧️🪖 On Thursday, the Department of Defense revealed in a court filing that they have begun involuntary removal processes against trans people in the military.

*🏳️‍🌈⚖️ On Thursday, a man was sentenced to seven years in prison for plotting to commit hate-motivated violent acts against two locations in the city of Owosso, northeast of Lansing, based on perceived ties to the LGBTQ+ community.

*🏳️‍⚧️⚖️In March, a trans woman employee at an Ann Arbor homeless shelter filed a civil rights lawsuit against the shelter foundation, alleging that management downplayed repeated harassment by coworkers based on her gender identity and s*xual orientation, as well as a threatening email that circulated among staff.

For details, visit https://q***ringmedicine.substack.com/

04/13/2026

QM’s weekly update on LGBTQ+ health issues impacting those living in the Lansing area 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️⚕️

*🏳️‍⚧️⚕️⚖️ On Wednesday, a federal judge upheld a temporary block against key portions of two Trump administration executive orders which threatened to withhold federal funds from healthcare providers who offer gender-affirming care to trans youth under 19, keeping the policy frozen while the case moves through appeals.

*🏳️‍🌈🏫⚖️ On April 6th, a federal judge overturned a preliminary injunction against the parts of Iowa’s “don’t say gay” law that banned certain books in classrooms and school libraries while requiring teachers to obtain parental permission before providing accommodations for trans students, allowing the full law to take effect.

*🏳️‍⚧️🏫🏛️ On April 6th, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it revoked civil rights settlements with multiple school districts that had been found to be discriminating against trans students, undoing civil rights agreements that had been put in place under prior administrations.

*🏳️‍⚧️🎱 On April 3rd, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association announced a ban on trans women competing in women's snooker events.

*🏳️‍⚧️⚕️On April 6th, Children's Minnesota, the state's largest pediatric system, restarted offering gender-affirming care to trans minors. The gender-affirming care suspension was in place since February 27, lasting a little over one month.

For details, visit https://q***ringmedicine.substack.com/

04/06/2026

QM’s weekly update on LGBTQ+ health issues impacting those living in the Lansing area 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️⚕️

*🏳️‍🌈⚕️⚖️ On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Colorado’s ban on “conversion therapy” for minors, recognized by experts as a form of anti-LGBTQ+ torture, must be sent back to a lower court and scrutinized under a strict First Amendment test that it is expected to fail. While the court decided bans on talk therapy that attempt to change a child’s s*xual orientation or gender identity are likely unconstitutional, it did not rule against banning other types of this “therapy” such as electroshock or medication interventions. The ruling is likely to threaten existing conversion therapy bans in several other states, including Michigan.

*🏳️‍🌈🏫 A recent report on the experiences of LGBTQ+ students in U.S. K-12 schools found that 2 in 3 LGBTQ+ students reported feeling unsafe at school during the 2023-24 school year, 53% reported experiencing anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, and a majority reported facing harassment for their s*xual orientation or gender identity. The report also found that LGBTQ+ students in schools with greater LGBTQ+ inclusion, strong anti-bullying policies, and GSAs reported higher grades and a stronger sense of belonging.

*🏳️‍⚧️🏃🏛️ On Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota State High School League for allegedly violating Title IX by allowing trans girls to participate in girls' school sports.

*🏳️‍⚧️🏛️ On Tuesday, the governor of Wisconsin vetoed five anti-trans bills, including a gender-affirming care ban for trans minors, an anti-trans sports bans, and a bill that would have required teachers to out trans students to their parents.

*🏳️‍⚧️🏛️ On Wednesday, a bill that would have prevented trans people from obtaining or renewing a teaching certification in Kentucky failed to advance and will not move forward this session.

*🏳️‍⚧️🏛️🚽 On Tuesday, the Governor of Idaho signed the most extreme anti-trans bathroom law in the U.S., which gives up to a year in prison for anyone "knowingly and willfully" using a bathroom that doesn't match their s*x assigned at birth in any business or space open to the public. It carries up to five years in prison for a second offense, and a fourth offense would trigger the state's persistent violator statute, carrying up to life in prison.

*🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️💵 A study published in March found that LGBTQ+ adults are more likely to be worried about being able to afford health care, food, housing, and transportation than non-LGBTQ+ adults.

For details, visit https://q***ringmedicine.substack.com/

03/30/2026

QM’s weekly update on LGBTQ+ health issues impacting those living in the Lansing area 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️⚕️

*🏳️‍🌈🎒 A study released earlier this month found that in the first year and a half of high school, cisgender heteros*xual students experienced a small increase in positive attitudes towards their LGBTQ+ peers, and this change in attitudes was associated with improvements in social well-being.

*🏳️‍⚧️🥇 On Thursday, the International Olympic Committee released a new policy banning trans women from participation in all women’s events at the Olympic games and any other IOC event, and instituting DNA s*x testing to determine eligibility in the women’s category.

*🏳️‍⚧️🇺🇳 Delegates at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women recently voted to block consideration of a proposal by the United States to adopt a definition of gender as binary and based on assigned s*x at birth.

*🏳️‍⚧️⚕️ On Thursday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission upheld a 2015 policy allowing health insurers to limit gender-affirming care coverage for federal workers.

*🏳️‍⚧️⚕️📰 This week, the American Medical Association confirmed that their policy continues to support gender-affirming care as medically necessary, after confusion emerged following an unclear response to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons’ recent statement citing the Trump administration’s HHS report to recommend that gender-affirming surgeries for trans youth be delayed until age 19.

For details, visit https://q***ringmedicine.substack.com/

03/23/2026

QM’s weekly update on LGBTQ+ health issues impacting those living in the Lansing area 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️⚕️

*🏳️‍⚧️⚕️⚠️ Researchers at Northwestern University are advertising on social media sites to recruit trans youth for a new study called AYAGDOS. The project is facing backlash from trans community leaders who warn against participation due to the researchers’ history of promoting the widely discredited “rapid onset gender dysphoria” hypothesis commonly used to claim being trans is not real, as well as past allegations of research misconduct with human subjects.

*🏳️‍⚧️🛂 On March 11th, the Trump administration finalized a new rule regarding the Diversity Immigrant Visa program (also known as the “green card lottery”), requiring applicants to list their “biological s*x at birth,” even if it differs from their passport or birth certificate. Trans applicants for the green card lottery risk facing increased scrutiny as a result of the rule.

*🏳️‍⚧️🏛️ On Tuesday, the U.S. House committee advanced a bill known as "Stop the Sexualization of Children Act" which would prohibit all schools receiving federal funding for programming or materials containing topics such as "gender dysphoria and transgenderism." The bill now heads to the full House, where it is expected to pass.

*🏳️‍⚧️🚴‍♀️ On Tuesday, 90 human rights and sports groups released a joint statement warning the International Olympic Committee about the harm that will be done to all women if they bring back chromosomal and hormone testing to Olympic competition.

*🏳️‍⚧️⚕️⚖️ On Thursday, a federal judge announced that he would vacate the declaration issued in December by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, which has been used to pressure hospitals around the country to stop providing gender-affirming care to trans minors by threatening that providers of this care would be "deemed not to meet professionally recognized standards of health care".

For details, visit https://q***ringmedicine.substack.com/

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