Virginia removes Trans accommodations in new guidelines
New guidelines on Trans students that remove accommodations and add instances of required parental notification were established by Virginia's Department of Education on July 18. Under the newly elected Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, these guidelines are a stark move away from the 2021 guidance released during Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam's term.

Separation by sex assigned at birth for restrooms, locker rooms, and some programs is a part of the guidelines, which allow parents to opt out and request that their children use a sex-separated facility instead if federal law requires schools to allow Trans students to use facilities based on gender. Unless otherwise approved by a parent, the policies also suggest that students should be referred to by their names and pronouns found in official records.

The guidelines also instruct school divisions to discourage teachers from hiding information about a student's gender from their parents, and say that parents should be able to object prior to offers of gender-related counseling.

It's unclear how widely the policies will be implemented. A 2020 state law requires school boards in Virginia to make regulations similar to the Department of Education's guidelines. Despite the rule, only 10% fully adopted the original set of guidelines, according to the Virginia Mercury.

Louisiana governor's veto on gender-affirming care ban overturned by state legislature
A Louisiana bill banning hormone treatments, puberty-blocking drugs, and gender-affirming surgeries for minors that was originally vetoed by Gov. John Bel Edwards is set to become law at the beginning of next year.

After the veto, the House and Senate gathered for a one-day override — only the third of its kind in the state. The House voted 75 to 23 while the Senate voted 28 to 11.

Louisiana is one of 20 other states that have passed similar bans. In states with similar laws, like Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee, judges have found that they violate the right to equal protection under the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution.

One argument raised by supporters of the bill is that it will prevent minors from states where gender-affirming care is banned from traveling to Louisiana to receive it. However, a report from the Louisiana Department of Health showed that between 2017 and 2021, only a couple dozen minors received that care, with no gender-affirming surgeries reported.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, anti-LGBTQ+ laws have been introduced across 41 states this year alone.