Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
LGBTQ+ Advocates Hail Colorado Police For Using Shooting Victims' Pronouns
When the names of those shot to death in a Colorado Springs LGBTQ bar were read at a police news conference Monday, one thing stood out from the procedure that has become routine in a nation plagued by mass shootings: The police chief stated the pronouns of the deceased. 鈥淜elly Loving. Kelly鈥檚 pronouns are she/her. Daniel Aston. Daniel鈥檚 pronouns are he/him. Derrick Rump. Derrick鈥檚 pronouns are he/him,鈥 and so on, went Chief Adrian Vasquez. It was a small gesture, but an important one, LGBTQ advocates said. (Pietsch, 11/22)
LGBTQ+ advocates and lawmakers in Colorado feel numbness, anger, and sorrow in the aftermath of the Colorado Springs shooting on Saturday that killed five people and injured at least 18 others at Club Q 鈥斅燼n LGBTQ+ bar that has stood as a community space for two decades. The timing of the killings just before the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) brought an even greater sense of devastation and urgency to LGBTQ+ people in the community and national advocates. (Rummler, 11/21)
More on the shooting 鈥
Several Colorado lawmakers are asking why the state鈥檚 red-flag law wasn鈥檛 used to seize weapons from the alleged gunman in the deadly shooting at an LGBT nightclub in Colorado Springs after a prior arrest for violent threats last year. (Frosch, Elinson and Caldwell, 11/21)
In other news about transgender health care 鈥
Dozens of House Democrats are calling on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to counter online threats of violence directed against several children鈥檚 hospitals across the country. In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Democrats asked the DOJ to outline the steps the agency is taking to counter anti-transgender threats of violence and to provide further guidance to health care providers on how to protect their staff and patients from such threats. (Weixel, 11/21)
A 21-year old transgender woman and her father have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense in federal district court in Maine. According to court documents, the woman, referred to as Jane Doe, and her father, a military veteran referred to as John Doe, live in Sagadahoc County. (Wight, 11/21)
