National Briefs
Anthony Veasna So wins posthumous award for LGBTQ fiction
NEW YORK —Robert Jones Jr.'s historical novel "The Prophets'' and Anthony Veasna So's posthumous debut story collection "Afterparties'' are among the winners of the 34th annual Triangle Awards, given for outstanding LGBTQ literature.
So, who died suddenly in 2020 at age 28, became the first posthumous winner of the Triangle honor for best LGBTQ fiction. Jones' novel, which imagines a love affair between two enslaved Black men, was named the outstanding debut fiction book.
Other winners announced Wednesday include Ari Banias' "A Symmetry" for best trans and gender-variant literature, Cheryl Boyce Taylor's "Mama Phife Represents'' for best lesbian poetry and John Keene's "Punks'' for best gay poetry. Brian Broome's "Punch Me Up to the Gods'' was cited for best gay nonfiction, and "Mouths of Rain: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Thought," edited by Briona Simone Jones, won for best lesbian nonfiction.
Florida students win yearbook flap over "Don't Say Gay" bill
SANFORD, Fla. —After an outcry from students and parents over yearbook censorship, a Florida school board overruled their superintendent's plan to cover up a page showing students waving rainbow flags and a "love is love'' sign during a walkout against the state's so-called "Don't Say Gay" law.
The superintendent told the board that the page violated their policy by seeming to endorse a student walkout. Stickers to cover the entire page had already arrived and would be added before yearbooks are handed out this week, she said.
Seminole County School Board members rejected that plan Tuesday night, voting 5-0 to order smaller stickers that don't cover up the page's words and pictures while explaining that the March protest over the Florida Parental Rights in Education bill outside Lyman High School was unauthorized.
"I would be happy out of my own personal pocket to pay for different stickers to say this was not a school-sponsored event,'' Board Chair Amy Pennock said to applause from the crowd.
The Florida bill, signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in March, bans classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.
Students at the school in Longwood, which is near Orlando, responded to the censorship plan by creating a hashtag "(hash)stopthestickers" in social media.
It caught the attention of lawmakers including Democratic Rep. Carlos G. Smith, Florida's first LGBTQ Latino legislator, who tweeted that the "censorship is a direct result of the law these students were protesting. (hash)WeWillNotBeErased in this so-called `free state.'''
The governor frequently refers to the "free state of Florida" in his news conferences.
"We're now all over the world on this,'' complained board vice-chair Abby Sanchez, who offered to help pay for the smaller stickers. "This is the most ridiculous thing. These are our children! We need to do what's right for them.''
More than 30 students, parents and teachers spoke out in opposition to the sticker plan. "It is silencing the LGBTQ-plus community and silencing the journalistic community,'' Sara Ward, a student on the yearbook staff, told the board.
"I want to be clear to each and every student that this was not about the Lyman High School administration looking to try and target any student, to try and silence any voice,'' Superintendent Serita Beamon said as she tried to explain her decision.
She denied that covering up the entire page would violate the First Amendment or the board's policy, which she said authorizes prior restraint of school sponsored publications.
"There is some speech that is prohibited. And that includes speech that is likely to cause substantial disruption or that materially interferes with school activities or the educational process,'' Beamon said.
The board wasn't having it.
Board member Karen Almond said she had personally witnessed the student walkout, which was peaceful, and said there's nothing wrong with the yearbook page.
"We all make mistakes. ... We own up to it, and we try to do what we can to fix it,'' Sanchez said. "As students, I am proud of you for bringing it to our attention.''
Faculty advisor Danielle Pomeranz said her students were just doing their job by documenting an event that happened on the campus. She assured the board that the smaller stickers could be ordered and added in time for students to get their yearbooks this week.
Yearbook staffer Skye Tiedemann summed up the night as a clear win for student speech.
"Don't be afraid to speak up," Tiedemann said, "because students, they do have a chance to change things."
Mixed Texas ruling allows trans youth parent investigations
By Paul J. Weber and Acacia Coronado, Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas —The Texas Supreme Court on Friday allowed the state to investigate parents of transgender youth for child abuse while also ruling in favor of one family that was among the first contacted by child welfare officials following an order by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
The court did not rule on the merits of the investigations—which were the first of its kind in the U.S.—only that lower courts in Texas overstepped by trying to block all cases from going forward.
The mixed ruling by Texas' highest civil court, which is made up of nine elected Republican justices, comes at a moment when GOP lawmakers across the U.S. are accelerating efforts to impose restrictions on transgender rights. Both parties in the lawsuit called the decision a victory.
Lambda Legal, which helped bring the lawsuit against Texas on behalf of the parents of the 16-year-old girl, called the decision a win because it put the state's investigation into their family on hold. Although the ruling does not prevent Texas from launching investigations into other families, the state would be foolish to do so now because those families could also seek an injunction, said Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, counsel and health care strategist for Lambda Legal.
"It would be both futile and a complete waste of resources for them to do so," Gonzalez-Pagan said.
Texas went farther than any state in February when Abbott issued a first-of-its-kind order that instructed child welfare officials to investigate reports of gender-confirming care for kids as abuse.
A judge in Austin put that order on hold after a lawsuit brought on behalf of the 16-year-old girl whose family said the state was already investigating their family. It was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal.
The lawsuit marked the first report of parents being investigated following Abbott's directive and an earlier nonbinding legal opinion by Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton labeling certain gender-confirming treatments as "child abuse.'' The Texas Department of Family and Protective Service has said it opened nine investigations following the directive and opinion.
Brian Klosterboer, a staff attorney with the ACLU leading the case, said the court's decision was "largely good news,'' citing the relief for his clients as well as the finding that Paxton's opinion and Abbott's directive are nonbinding and do not have a legal effect. Klosterboer said the court's decision clarifies that the governor does not have the authority to change Texas law and though the state's family services agency can decide whether to investigate, it is up to the courts whether the agency can take action against any family reported under this directive.
"His directive is I think what caused the most harm because it created a lot of fear and panic across the state'' Klosterboer said.
According to Klosterboer, Paxton's office filed an appeal within minutes of the decision.
In a social media post following the ruling, Paxton said he had "just secured a win.'' Abbott's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Across the country, Republicans have leaned into the debates over transgender rights as LGBTQ Americans have grown increasingly visible in society and pop culture.
In March, the Arizona Legislature passed bills to prohibit gender confirmation surgery for minors and ban transgender athletes from playing on girls sports teams, and Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed them.
Two other GOP governors, in Indiana and Utah, bucked their party and vetoed legislation to ban transgender players from girls sports.
In Texas, the groups bringing the lawsuit also represent a clinical psychologist who has said the governor's directive forces her to choose between reporting clients to the state or losing her license and other penalties.
The governor's directive and Paxton's opinion go against the nation's largest medical groups, including the American Medical Association, which have opposed Republican-backed restrictions on transgender people filed in statehouses nationwide.