Mental Health is Political: Issue 7
A newsletter at the intersection of mental health and politics.
A lot has happened in a week! Trump has officially been indicted for federal crimes. The Supreme Court ruled that Alabama’s gerrymandered congressional maps violated the Voting Rights Act. We’ve finally (maybe) reached the end of the Scandoval. Kim Cattrall is reprising her role as Samantha Jones in the second season of And Just Like That. To quote the wise Scheana Shay, it’s all happening.
In this issue of Mental Health is Political, I discuss important Supreme Court rulings, corporate Pride, Desantis’s ongoing slate of hate, and more. Settle in with your mid-day coffee and let’s dive in to the news.
The good. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Memphis ruled that the bill best known as the Tennessee drag ban bill is unconstitutional. Specifically, the federal judge determined the bill was both too vague and too broad. The bill itself seeks to restrict “adult cabaret performances” (defined as “adult-oriented performances that are harmful to minors”) in public and in spaces where there may be children – and seems designed to be intentionally vague, allowing for the potential prosecution of drag performers and other ways of gender expression in the state. In short, it gives the go ahead for the state to target trans and gender diverse people. However, there is absolutely no evidence that exposure to varying gender identities and expressions is harmful to children’s mental health or wellbeing. Rather, gender-based discrimination is associated with poor mental health outcomes. Let’s hope the courts will put a stop to this bill entirely.
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the ability of Medicaid recipients to sue nursing homes and state-owned care facilities. That is, beneficiaries of Medicaid have the right to sue states if their rights are violated when receiving care through state funded programs. The case, Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County v. Talveski, was decided by a 7-2 vote, with a majority opinion issued by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. This is a major win for patients and families receiving Medicaid support who deserve the ability to hold the state accountable if their healthcare provider violates their rights. We know that physical and mental health are linked – and access to safe, effective healthcare should be a fundamental human right regardless of income or employment status.
The not so good. One particularly headline worthy feud in the wake of rising anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is Disney v. Desantis. It started when Disney publicly criticized Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which prohibits teachers from including any discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary classrooms. In practice, the bill seeks to prevent any representation of LGBTQ+ people or stories in Florida classrooms – of course, stories that include straight couples and cisgender people are seemingly not a problem (shocking, I know!). Since Disney’s public criticism of the bill, Desantis has retaliated, and now Disney is suing. You can find a full timeline of events here. To kick off Pride Month, Disney hosted its annual Gay Days celebration earlier this month, while just this weekend white supremacist protesters flew Nazi flags and held pro-Desantis signs outside of Disney. (The Florida Governor has notably not spoken out about the protest.) The feud doesn’t seem to be slowing down, though it is refreshing to see such a large, popular organization stand up against Desantis’s hateful actions.
There has been a lot of public discourse over the past few weeks about how corporations, including major league sports, celebrate Pride. In reflecting on this discussion, it’s important to hearken back to the origins of Pride. Pride began in protest, and it has since morphed into a nationwide celebration of the LGBTQ+ community. And while it can be argued that corporations openly celebrating and demonstrating support for Pride Month is important (see Disney v. Desantis above), many have also criticized how corporations use the month to profit from Pride without taking meaningful action to support LGBTQ+ rights (often referred to as rainbow capitalism). Does that mean corporations should put away the Pride logos and sports leagues should stop hosting Pride nights? No, even if the Republican “culture war” crusaders would love to see that happen.
Instead, we have to go a step further than just calling for representation. When it comes to corporate Pride, we need to push for these corporations to put their money where their rainbow logos are. We must be proactive in creating environments that are designed for and supportive of all identities — because research shows that inclusive environments promote mental health and wellbeing.
The this is bad, y’all. We knew this was coming, but it’s still deeply upsetting nonetheless: Texas Governor Greg Abbot signed into law a gender affirming care ban for minors. Many neighboring and nearby states have followed suit, making it increasingly difficult for families to access affirming care for their trans and gender diverse children. In Florida, three families are challenging the state’s gender affirming care ban, with a judge temporarily blocking the law as it applies to the children of families involved in the lawsuit – however, the law still applies to all other minors in the state for the time being. As rates of mental health distress stay at alarmingly high levels for LGBTQ+ youth, particularly gender diverse youth, let’s remember what the science says: gender affirming care is safe, effective, and life saving for kids.
Some seriously disturbing news comes out of West Virginia this week. Over 40 women and girls are suing the West Virginia State Police. State police allegedly set up secret cameras to film women and girls in the locker room at their training academy. Sexual violence is a serious problem in the police force, and police are rarely held accountable. To quote an article summarizing research on police sexual violence, Dr. Philip Stinson and colleagues state: “Our research suggests that cases of police sexual violence may not be aberrations from the norm within an otherwise honorable profession, but a much more common issue in policing heretofore intentionally hidden.” Sexual violence has very real mental health consequences1, and we have a lot of work to do to address this systemic problem.
Take Action.
Yesterday marked the 7th anniversary of the horrific Pulse night club shooting in Florida. Support organizations on the ground in Florida who are fighting Desantis’s slate of hate, such as: Equality Florida, PRISM Florida, and the OnePULSE Foundation.
Support one of the many emergency funds that are helping people and families impacted by anti-LGBTQ+ legislation here.
If you’re thinking about buying some Pride Month merch, buy it from queer artists, makers, and queer-owned businesses.
Write and call your representatives to let them know that you unequivocally support LGBTQ+ rights in your state. It doesn’t matter if you live in a blue or red state — your voice is needed to combat the nationwide slate of hate we’re seeing build at a rapid pace.
On a brighter note, I’ll end with some good news from the weekend. J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell made history as the first nonbinary Tony award winners. While awards shows have a long ways to go in terms of making categories and awards more inclusive, this is a welcome first.
That’s it for this week’s issue of Mental Health is Political. As always, thank you for reading, sharing, and subscribing. See you next week!