The issue of transgender rights is back in the news after a recent Supreme Court hearing and Donald Trump's reelection as president returns legal and cultural issues to the national conversation.
One Georgia-based transgender activist said she fears a new generation of Americans will have to join many of the same battles fought to gain LGBTQ rights.
Monica Helms transitioned to live as a woman in the 1990s and emphasized despite many victories over the years, she fears people who are "different" may always have to fight for acceptance.
"It's always going to be a battle," Helms acknowledged. "They figure out one thing or another. Trans people have targets on their back. They want to eliminate us from existence and we've been around since Roman times."
Helms recalled she knew as young as age six she was a girl but did not act on making a change in her life until after eight years in the U.S. Navy. Soon after, she formed the Transgender American Veterans Association. She has also been an author and activist in the civil rights movement.
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week in a case which would uphold a ban on gender-affirming care in as many as 25 states. She pointed out a lot of the cultural bias against trans people stems from fear and inaccurate information.
"They have a feeling, oh, well, you know, we're predators. We're gonna go into bathrooms to look at kids," Helms explained. "And, oh, it's like, what the heck? You know, if I need to go to the restroom, I go in there to go to the restroom."
Helms may be best remembered as the creator of the first transgender pride flag and being the first openly transgender delegate to the Democratic National Convention. She added the biggest misconception about transgender people is they elect to be who they are.
"That we chose to be who we are, and we didn't choose this," Helms stressed. "We were born with it. And the fact that we were born with it, many of the scientific organizations, medical organizations have come to that conclusion."
get more stories like this via email
Mississippi voting rights advocates said their fight is not over, even after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case challenging the state's lifetime voting ban for people with certain felony convictions.
The decision in Hopkins v. Mississippi leaves in place a provision of the state's 1890 Constitution, originally designed to disenfranchise Black voters.
Paloma Wu, deputy director of impact litigation at the Mississippi Center for Justice, called the ruling a setback, but said it reaffirms the long-term commitment to restoring voting rights.
"With the poll tax and the understanding clause, the literacy test, this was all part of the same 1890 Constitution and it is still achieving its goal," Wu argued. "Black people in Mississippi under our current felony disenfranchisement scheme are still disenfranchised at twice the rate as white Mississippians."
Wu pointed out Mississippi is one of only three states to permanently bar people with certain felony convictions from voting unless the governor grants them clemency, or a bill to do so is passed individually by two-thirds of the state legislature. Wu stressed it would take a constitutional amendment or omnibus suffrage bill for lasting change.
With legal options exhausted, advocates are shifting their focus to legislative action. House Concurrent Resolution 3 has been introduced to ease barriers to restoring voting rights. However, Wu cautioned statutory changes alone cannot fully undo the damage of Mississippi's constitutional voting restrictions.
"We need automatic re-enfranchisement," Wu contended. "You know you end up in this kind of really messy horse-trading where people say, 'Well, I want to add a couple disenfranchising crimes, and then I'll take away a couple disenfranchising crimes.' Well, it might look OK on its face, but when you really start crunching the numbers, you might be really not talking about getting that many people's right to vote back."
Despite the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the case, Wu insisted the conversation about voting rights in Mississippi is not over. Thousands of Mississippians are still barred from voting, for reasons their advocates say unjustly punish people long after they have served their sentences.
get more stories like this via email
Bloomington is among the Indiana communities kicking off Black History Month over the weekend.
Historian Carter G. Woodson launched what was initially Negro History Week in 1926 - to honor the contributions of Black educators, inventors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, and artists.
Martin Luther King III is the only surviving son of the late civil rights leader, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
As a human rights activist and third chairman for the Drum Major Institute, King said he is dedicated to continuing his father's works. He said giving people opportunities every day is the path to creating a legacy.
"It's about building something every day - hopefully, something that can make a difference in our community, in our society," said King. "It doesn't have to be massive. It can just be something small, but it's what you do to make a contribution in life."
Reaction nationwide from President Donald Trump's executive order to dismantle Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs is producing mixed opinions.
King acknowledged the importance of recapturing civility in the current political space. He said the country has to recreate dignity, respect and the treatment of people as human beings where everyone is included.
Congress first designated Black History Month in 1986. King said despite this national recognition over the years, the U.S. is still a divided nation.
He noted that on a trip to India with his wife and daughter to visit the Dalai Lama, their numerous questions to the spiritual leader were met with the same answer - everything is connected.
"We have to understand that message, that we are one," said King. "Whether we are Christian, or whether we are Jewish, or whether we are Muslim, or whether we are Buddhist or Hindu, or whether we are even atheist or agnostic - when we start from the point of We Are One, then we're automatically connected."
In 1968, Robert F. Kennedy delivered the news of Dr. King's assassination at a downtown Indianapolis park. Kennedy-King Park now serves as a gathering spot for local Black History Month observances.
King's granddaughter is making her own history. At age 16, Yolanda King is an author and speaker on issues like gun violence, climate change, women's rights, discrimination and education reform.
get more stories like this via email
State data show that hate-crime reports almost doubled between 2019 and 2023 - so the Civil Rights Division is promoting its new CA vs Hate hotline. Since its launch in May 2023 - the hotline has received more than 1,000 reports of hate incidents - but almost none from rural counties such as Del Norte, Sutter and Mariposa.
Kevin Kish, director of the California Civil Rights Department, said the state is partnering with community groups to increase trust.
"We know that when people are afraid, when they feel isolated, it is unlikely for them to turn to government, at least not without a trusted intermediary who helps them do that," he explained.
Kish added that people who fail to report hate incidents may worry they won't be taken seriously, they may have a language barrier, or fear contacting the authorities. The hotline number is 8-3-3-8-no hate. It is open Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m.to 6 p.m. or you can report on the website, CA vs hate.org.
Gaonou Vang, communications and narrative manager with the grassroots organization Hmong Innovating Politics, said the Trump administration's focus on mass deportation worries many in the Hmong community.
"This continues to really deeply affect our communities, further perpetrating stigmatization, stereotypes and extreme xenophobia that we have faced since the beginning of the pandemic and beyond," Vang said.
The hotline connects people to legal services, counseling and mental health resources, financial assistance and community-based organizations. It will only refer people to law enforcement upon request, and callers are not asked for immigration status.
get more stories like this via email