Weekly Newsletter: LGBTQ+ News Updates, Actions, and Reasons to Hope
Happy Valentine’s Day! We love each and every one of you. Consider this edition of our weekly LGBTQ+ newsletter to be Basic Rights Oregon’s Valentine to you—we promise there’s some good news ahead!❤️
Here’s what you need to know:
The 2025 Oregon Legislative Session is now underway! This week, BRO testified in support of bills that will increase Oregonians’ access to both HIV testing and IVF treatments. Stay tuned for updates on more legislation around LGBTQ+ education, freedom of speech, food and housing access, and more!
BRO’s Seth Johnstone (he/him, front) testified in support of better access to HIV testing in the Oregon Legislature this week.
Meanwhile, some members of the Oregon Legislature are choosing to spend their time introducing anti-LGBTQ+ state bills that aim to weaken our access to gender-affirming care, isolate queer and trans kids at school, and ban more books. Here’s the good news: We’ve got a strong pro-equality majority in Salem, meaning these bills have very little chance of passing. If you hear anti-LGBTQ+ lawmakers talking about these bills, remember that’s all it is: talk. Which means you get to put your energy elsewhere. ✨
In national news: Some major holes are forming in the presidential administration’s attempts to roll back decades of LGBTQ+ progress. This week, we saw a federal judge push pause on an executive order seeking to ban gender-affirming care for youth nationwide. Another judge directed the CDC to restore LGBTQ+ health information on its website, and drag queens led an iconic protest against the administration’s attacks on queer art. Finally, the ACLU dropped a lawsuit challenging the new anti-trans passport policy—hopefully that means another victory is coming soon!
Unfortunately, this one hurts: The National Park Service removed the “TQ+” from a monument recognizing the Stonewall Inn as an historic site for the LGBTQ+ rights movement. This is a blatant, dangerous erasure of history—but our movement was fighting well before we even had any national LGBTQ+ monuments, and it will continue fighting now. In the words of Marsha P. Johnson, a black trans woman often credited with throwing the first brick at Stonewall: “No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.”
Here’s what you can do:
Gender-affirming care for youth is secure in Oregon, because our state laws allow it. But it remains banned in 26 states. Help trans youth and their families in those states by donating to the Trans Youth Emergency Project.
Portland’s Untapped Trivia is donating proceeds from the week of February 24 to Basic Rights Oregon. Come out for some fun—we might see you there! And if you can’t make it, remember you can always give directly to BRO on our website.
Worried about an ICE raid happening where you work, live or go to school? Our Resources section now includes helpful guidance on what your rights are and what to do if that happens.
Reminder: We’re screening cult lesbian classic But I’m a Cheerleader at the Tomorrow Theater next month! Tickets are free, but you still need to register. Thanks to our generous event sponsors NW Natural and Meyer Memorial Trust for making this event possible!
However you’re spending this Valentine’s Day weekend, remember that you are loved, you matter, and you are so much more than how your oppressors define you. Please do something loving for yourself this weekend.
Take care,
Team BRO 🌈