A California nonprofit dedicated to helping transgender and gender-nonconforming people find good jobs is looking to expand its mission in 2025, back from the brink of closure last year.

Trans Can Work, based in Los Angeles, shut down last January when its funding fell through and reopened in June thanks to a 3-year grant from the James Irvine Foundation.

Toni Newman, board chair of the group, said the trans community suffers from extremely high rates of unemployment.

"Every American, regardless of who they are -- race, age, and gender -- should be able to get a job in America that they're qualified for and have some type of economic security," Newman contended. "Why are our numbers so high, at 65% living at the poverty level or below? Just because we are different? That's un-American, and it's wrong."

A 2021 study from the McKinsey company found transgender adults are twice as likely as their cisgender peers to be unemployed. When they do find a job, they make 32% less money per year, even with similar or higher education levels. They also found more than half of transgender employees said they are not comfortable being "out" at work. And two-thirds remain in the closet in professional interactions outside their own companies.

Newman noted the job center's goal for 2025 is to place at least 500 clients in new careers.

"We help you with your resume, help you with your clothing, help you to get ready for the interview, get you a laptop if you need a laptop," Newman outlined. "Then walk you into the interview and help place you in the job."

Trans Can Work also receives support from the Transgender, Gender Diverse, and Intersex Wellness and Health Equity Unit of the California Department of Public Health.

The organization OutNebraska is holding an event not only to raise money for LGBTQ+ issues but to help people better understand the issues and their importance in the community.

The Classy-Tacky Ball is as much a "friendraiser" as a fundraiser. OutNebraska focuses on advocacy, education and celebration.

Abbi Swatsworth, executive director of OutNebraska, said the group sees the event as a chance to help community members be better allies for LGBTQ+ people and teach them how to be civically engaged.

"Whether that is through volunteering for boards or commissions, voting in elections, how to contact your policymakers, how to talk to your local school board," Swatsworth outlined. "Those sorts of things."

The event is scheduled for April 5 in Lincoln.

Swatsworth added efforts include speaking up where LGBTQ+ voices typically have not been heard and pointed out there are plenty of ways for people to get involved.

"That might look like phone banking or helping to recruit other volunteers, or helping community members connect with their elected officials," Swatsworth explained.

For those who may not be comfortable reaching out or being in public, Swatsworth noted OutNebraska also needs people to do data entry, tidy up the office and help staff the Pride events scheduled statewide this summer.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox could sign a bill that would ban LGBTQ+ pride flags from Utah's public schools and government buildings.

The bill's Republican sponsors argue it's all in an effort to encourage political neutrality among government workers and teachers.

Chad Call, executive director with the Utah Pride Center, called the bill "wild government overreach" and unconstitutional.

Call said folks in other communities can use or wear symbols that indicate their values. He said he sees the pride flag being no different.

"Those symbols are largely recognized as free speech in this country," said Call. "This bill is, in our opinion, an infringement on that free speech, especially in the workplace where people have a right to express themselves. We feel like pride flags are in alignment with that."

Call encouraged Cox to veto the bill and consider how many Utahns in the state would be impacted.

Just over 6% of the state's adult population identifies as LGBTQ+, according to UCLA's Williams Institute.

Call argued that Cox and other lawmakers have an obligation to adequately represent all Utahns, not just a select few.

The Utah Pride Festival is taking place on June 7 and 8 in Salt Lake City. The celebration is organized by the Utah Pride Center.

Call said while he doesn't know if Cox will sign HB 77 into law or not, he added that Utah Pride and other local pride celebrations will still take place.

"We will still gather together the first week of June," said Call. "We will still fly our pride flags, even if the city can't join us in that. We will still gather and we will still come together and celebrate something that we have for decades in the state."

As LGBTQ+ plus rights have come under fire across state legislatures, Call said he has a simple message to LGBTQ+ plus folks who may feel discouraged and disappointed with their elected officials.

"Our community is stronger than this," said Call. "Our community has been through challenges and situations like this in the past. It doesn't make them OK, but it does make us a resilient and strong community."

Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed a measure that removes gender identity protections for LGBTQ+ people from Iowa's civil rights code. Opponents call it "mean spirited."

Senate File 418 makes Iowa the first state in the country to remove civil rights protections for a group of people who have been protected by law, taking the words "gender identity" out of its code.

Anne Discher, executive director of the group Common Good Iowa, said the measure belies Iowa's open-minded reputation and sends the wrong message to the rest of the nation.

"Basically, it is saying that it's OK to discriminate against trans people in the workplace, in housing, in school and in their financial lives," Discher explained.

Supporters of the measure, which was the first bill Reynolds signed in 2025, said including gender identity in Iowa's civil rights code threatens "common sense" laws banning transgender participation in sports and clarify who can use which public restrooms. Iowa passed its Civil Rights Act in 1965.

Hundreds of protesters rallied against the bill at the Statehouse in Des Moines before Reynolds signed it. Discher argued Iowa lawmakers are not representing their constituents.

"I really firmly believe this bill does not reflect the true beliefs of most Iowans," Discher stressed. "I think it's
incredibly more extreme than Iowans truly are in their hearts."

If it is not challenged in court, the measure is scheduled to take effect July 1.


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