South Dakota lawmakers are scheduled to begin a new legislative session this week. Like previous years, bills surrounding Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer or Questioning matters are being floated - and advocates say it's another attempt to make that community feel less welcome.

Last year saw the state debate issues such as banning transgender girls and women from participating in team sports matching their gender identity. Gov. Kristi Noem is proposing that idea again this year.

Susan Williams, executive director of the Transformation Project Advocacy Network, said LGBTQ individuals see what's happening as a threat to their presence.

"When the Legislature spends a big amount of time and energy on something that affects a very small portion of South Dakotans, and it's discriminatory as well," said Williams, "it just feels so awful to them."

Supporters of the bills cite the need for fair competition among athletes, as well as religious-freedom protections. Sponsors deny they are trying to discriminate against anyone.

Another proposal that's surfaced would designate school bathrooms and locker room use as single-sex defined by birth, meaning trans students would be restricted in using rooms matching their gender identity. That plan also would allow for lawsuits if another student observes a violation.

Williams said she does see hope in that more parents of transgender students have been active in appealing to elected officials from their communities. She said the next challenge is to get more of the bill's sponsors to hear personal stories.

"Talk to transgender students," said Williams, "to talk to teachers who see these students going through things."

She said these conversations would be especially helpful when it comes to the bathroom-use bill, noting that in districts where such restrictions are already in place, they creates serious problems for transgender students.

Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union say the Legislature needs to focus on more pressing matters, such as education funding and child care.

New research out of the University of Minnesota reveals rural LGBTQ folks face unique, and often unmet, mental- and physical-health needs.

The Minnesota research, published last month, indicates social cohesion can play a major role in the health and well-being of LGBTQ people, and it documents how some organizations are trying to meet that need.

Marianna Tuttle, a research and communications fellow at the University of Minnesota's Rural Health Research Center, said community organizations can play a major role in supporting that sense of belonging.

"So the organizations we spoke with were doing a range of work," said Tuttle, "including support groups and relationship-building activities that may fall under the social and emotional support needs, to anti-bullying efforts and education for their entire community that could more broadly impact the environment folks live in."

One of the groups profiled in Tuttle's research is the Virginia Rural Health Association, which aims to improve health access and quality of care for the commonwealth's rural communities.

That association offers LGBTQ-specific programs through its Pride of Rural Virginia initiative, which has its next in-person program scheduled for August 6 at the Edinburg branch of the Shenandoah County Public Library.

Tuttle said prior research revealed rural LGBTQ folks saw a significant decrease in their social and emotional support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said Pride events, and other community gatherings, can provide an important mental-health boost by increasing visibility and providing a sense of belonging.

"They're not the end-all, be-all, but they're a really important and positive start," said Tuttle. "Having the entire town or the entire region come together to celebrate LGBTQ+ folks' presence, their membership in the community, is a really good place to start."

Nearly half of all LGBTQ youths in rural areas say their community is unaccepting of LGBTQ people, according to a 2021 Trevor Project report. Similarly, those same kids reported higher rates of discrimination against LGBTQ folks.

As Pride Month comes to a close and Disability Pride Month begins, advocates are raising awareness about the intersection of being LGBTQ+ and having a disability.

For many LGBTQ+ Americans, marriage equality came in 2015 when the Supreme Court decided Obergefell v. Hodges. But for people with disabilities, marriage can impact eligibility for certain Social Security benefits.

Chris Fagan is a self-advocate and president of People First St. Joseph. He said that's an obstacle for people who rely on those benefits.

"I have a boyfriend that is not only my boyfriend, but he is my best friend too," said Fagan. "We have needs also, and we also should be able to marry each other if we want to."

Author Sean Gold, an advocate for the disability community who is nonverbal, echoes the need for fully inclusive marriage equality.

He noted, "We fight for so much change, but with every big issue, even with Roe v. Wade, until we connect with how these issues connect with the disability community, nothing will change."

A bill has been introduced in Congress to eliminate a requirement that adults with disabilities remain single to receive Social Security benefits from a parent's earnings record.

Jessie Eikmann, a grocery store worker and poet from St. Louis, said among people without disabilities, there's often a lot of sexual gatekeeping of those with disabilities and false assumptions.

"They just assume that people like me with disabilities," said Eikmann, "that they really can't decide whether they're queer first of all, which is just silly to me, or that they just don't have sex."

Studies estimate 3 to 5 million LGBTQ+ Americans have a disability, and can face unique challenges - from limited access to fully inclusive health care and community services, to added barriers to employment and disproportionate incarceration.

For instance, 40% of incarcerated women identify as LGBTQ+, and nearly half of women in jail reported a disability.

June is Pride Month, and businesses are showing their support for the LGBTQ community in a number of ways. But some corporations are being called out for also supporting anti-LGBTQ candidates for office.

Ian Morton is the executive director of the Q Center in Portland. He said his community has come a long way from the days when participants in Pride parades couldn't show their faces for fear of retaliation from their employers.

But he added that the hypocrisy of some companies' support this month is disappointing.

"Seeing organizations who are willing to stand against the community that they would purport to serve or to celebrate," said Morton, "makes the LGBTQ+ community very wary of where they put their support, and whether that rainbow flag that goes up for the 30 days - if that's actually meaningful, or if it's just performative."

A report from last year found 25 major corporations that showed support during pride had also given a total of $10 million in donations to support members of Congress who earned a 'zero' rating on the Human Rights Campaign scorecard.

Craig Hill is the client and treasury manager with Beneficial State Bank, which works with the Q Center. He said his bank strives to work in service of social equity and environmental sustainability.

Hill said he thinks it's misleading for companies to hoist rainbow flags and, at the same time, support discriminatory policies at the legislative level.

"Some of the nation's biggest banks, for example, fund anti-LGBTQ+ policies with their political donations," said Hill, "despite publicly supporting those agendas and sponsoring Pride Month events. It's really a form of 'rainbow washing,' if we're being honest."

Hill said people can use websites like Mighty Deposit to find out how their financial institutions are using their money.

Morton said it's helpful to know he's working with companies that align with his own values.

"Having those moments whenever you recognize that the folks you're doing business with actually have concern about your community's wellbeing and want to show up in meaningful ways," said Morton, "that helps folks, especially in the nonprofit sector and in the advocacy sector, to give them the energy to soldier on."