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Timeline

Every entry in the archive, ordered by event date. Page 41 of 43, showing June 30, 2021 to March 22, 2023. Pages contain 50 entries each; entries for a given date may continue on the next or previous page.

2023 Events (77)

March(15)

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed SF482, barring transgender students from school restrooms matching their gender identity

On March 22, 2023, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 482 into law, enacting Iowa Code sections 216.9A and 280.33 and requiring K-12 public and nonpublic schools to designate restrooms, locker rooms, changing areas, and similar facilities for use only by students of the same "biological sex" as listed on their birth certificate. The law bars transgender students from facilities matching their gender identity and creates a citizen-complaint mechanism routed through the Iowa Attorney General, who may sue a noncompliant school. SF482 passed the Iowa Senate 33-16 and the House 57-39 before reaching the governor's desk.

Iowa Gov. Reynolds signed SF538 banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors

On March 22, 2023, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 538 into law, barring health care professionals from prescribing puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones or performing gender-transition surgeries for minors. The law took effect immediately, with the treatment prohibition applying after a grandfather period and narrow exceptions only for intersex conditions or medical complications; violations are treated as unprofessional conduct subject to licensing discipline and civil suit.

Idaho Gov. Little signed SB 1100, barring transgender students from K-12 school facilities matching their gender identity

On March 22, 2023, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed Senate Bill 1100, requiring every K-12 public school restroom, changing facility, and overnight sleeping quarters to be reserved for a single sex defined by birth anatomy and excluding gender identity. The law bars transgender students from facilities matching their gender identity, offers only a written-request accommodation to separate single-occupancy spaces, and lets students sue schools for $5,000 in statutory damages per violation.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed SB1, banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors

On March 22, 2023, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed Senate Bill 1 (SB0001/HB0001, Public Chapter 1) into law, prohibiting healthcare providers from performing surgery or administering hormones or puberty blockers to a minor for the purpose of enabling the minor to identify with or live as a gender inconsistent with the sex assigned at birth. The law creates private civil causes of action, including wrongful death, against providers and consenting parents, and authorizes the state attorney general to seek injunctions, disgorgement, and $25,000-per-violation civil penalties. The bill passed the Senate 26-6 and the House 77-16 and took effect July 1, 2023.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed Act 317, barring transgender students from school restrooms matching their gender identity

On March 21, 2023, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed HB1156 into law as Act 317, requiring K-12 public and open-enrollment charter schools to designate multiple-occupancy restrooms, locker rooms, and changing areas by a student's sex as listed on their original birth certificate. The law bars transgender students from facilities matching their gender identity and imposes minimum $1,000 fines on superintendents, principals, or teachers found noncompliant.

Utah Gov. Cox signed HB209 mandating statewide birth-certificate collection to enforce K-12 transgender-athlete sports ban

On March 17, 2023, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed H.B. 209 into law, adding a provision that requires every athletic association to collect and review a birth certificate or equivalent identifying document from each student athlete as a condition of registration. Chief sponsor Rep. Jordan Teuscher stated the mandate was designed to enforce H.B. 11, Utah's 2022 ban on transgender girls in girls' sports, by letting the state verify each athlete's birth-certificate sex against the sex designation of the interscholastic activity. The law built statewide verification infrastructure that operationalized enforcement of the ban.

Wyoming enacted SF0133, barring transgender students from girls' interscholastic sports in grades 7-12

On March 17, 2023, Wyoming SF0133 became law after Gov. Mark Gordon declined to veto it and allowed it to take effect without his signature. The law prohibits students of the male sex from competing on interscholastic sports teams designated for female students in grades 7 through 12 and establishes an administrative hearing process and an alternative eligibility commission. It took effect July 1, 2023.

Arkansas Gov. Sanders signed SB199 (Act 274) creating special malpractice liability for gender-affirming care providers of minors

On March 13, 2023, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed SB199 into law as Act 274, the Protecting Minors From Medical Malpractice Act of 2023, creating a dedicated civil right of action letting a minor or a representative sue a health care professional who performs a "gender transition procedure." The law exposes those clinicians to compensatory and punitive damages and lets a patient sue for up to 15 years after turning 18, far longer than Arkansas's standard two-year malpractice window. It was sponsored by Sen. Gary Stubblefield and Rep. Mary Bentley and passed both chambers along party lines.

Arkansas Gov. Sanders signed the LEARNS Act barring public-school instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation before grade five

On March 8, 2023, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed Senate Bill 294, the LEARNS Act, into law as Act 237 of 2023, a K-12 education omnibus. Section 16 of the enacted Act created Ark. Code § 6-16-157(c), which prohibits public school teachers from providing classroom instruction on "gender identity" or "sexual orientation" to students before the fifth grade. Observers compared the provision to Florida's law that critics call "Don't Say Gay."

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed SB0003, the nation's first law criminalizing drag and adult-cabaret performances

On March 2, 2023, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed SB0003, the "Adult Entertainment Act" (Public Chapter No. 2), the first state law in the nation to criminalize "adult cabaret performance" — defined to include "male or female impersonators" — on public property or anywhere a minor could view it. The measure, sponsored by Sen. Jack Johnson and Rep. Chris Todd, passed the Senate 26-6 and the House 74-19 and took effect April 1, 2023.

February(4)

Mississippi enacted HB1125 banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors and revoking providers' licenses

On February 28, 2023, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed HB1125, the Regulate Experimental Adolescent Procedures (REAP) Act, making Mississippi the seventh state to bar minors from receiving puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or gender-transition surgery. The law, which took effect immediately, strips the medical license of any provider who furnishes such care, blocks public funds and Medicaid from covering it, and lets patients sue providers for up to 30 years. It was passed by the Republican-led Mississippi Legislature over objections from LGBTQ advocates and medical groups.

Arkansas enacted Act 131 restricting 'adult-oriented performances' after narrowing an explicit drag ban

On February 24, 2023, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed Senate Bill 43 into law as Act 131, adding a definition of "adult-oriented performance" to state code and barring such performances on public property, with public funds, or where minors are present. As introduced, the bill explicitly defined drag by reference to a performer's gender identity and classified it as a regulated adult-oriented business, but sponsors rewrote it twice to remove all references to drag and gender identity after opposition from LGBTQ advocates and the ACLU of Arkansas. The enacted content-based version reframed the restriction around nudity, prosthetic genitalia, and appeals to the "prurient interest."

Utah enacted S.B. 100, barring schools from changing students' gender-identity records without parental consent

On February 16, 2023, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed S.B. 100, "School Gender Identity Policies," enacting Utah Code 53E-9-205. The law requires schools and local education agencies to ensure no policy shields a student's education record from the parent, and specifically bars any change to a student's education record regarding gender identity that does not conform to the student's sex without written parental consent. Because gender identity is the only record category singled out for this requirement, a school cannot document a student's social transition without parental notification and sign-off.

South Dakota Gov. Noem signed HB1080, banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors

On February 13, 2023, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed HB 1080, the "Help Not Harm" Act, barring health care professionals from providing puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or surgical interventions to transgender minors for the purpose of gender transition. Providers already treating trans minors were required to taper them off medication by December 31, 2023, and violators face license revocation and civil liability. South Dakota became one of the first states in 2023 to enact such a ban.

January(1)

Utah Gov. Cox signed S.B. 16, banning gender-affirming surgery and new hormone treatment for transgender minors

On January 28, 2023, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed Senate Bill 16, the "Transgender Medical Treatments and Procedures Amendments," one of the earliest state gender-affirming-care bans of the 2023 legislative wave. The law prohibits health care providers from performing sex-characteristic surgical procedures on minors and bars them from starting hormonal transgender treatment for any minor not already diagnosed with gender dysphoria before the bill's effective date. Minors already diagnosed and in treatment before that date were permitted to continue.

2022 Events (31)

October(3)

Former Kechi, Kan. police Lt. Victor Heiar arrested for using Flock cameras to stalk estranged wife

On October 26, 2022, Wichita police arrested then-Kechi, Kansas Police Department Lieutenant Victor Heiar, 32, after discovering he had used his access to the Wichita Police Department's Flock license-plate reader system to track his estranged wife's location without any law-enforcement purpose. Heiar pleaded guilty to computer crime and stalking, both misdemeanors, and was sentenced in April 2023 to a 24-month term probated to 18 months.

Lawsuit revealed Clayton County police's airport jet-bridge unit disproportionately stopped Black travelers, seized over $1M in cash

A federal lawsuit filed October 11, 2022, against Clayton County, Georgia, revealed that the county police department's airport "jet bridge interdiction" unit had disproportionately stopped Black travelers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Drawing on open-records data, the suit found that of 402 documented jet-bridge stops between August 2020 and April 2021, 56% fell on Black passengers -- versus roughly 8% of U.S. air travelers nationally -- while the program produced only three drug seizures against more than $1 million in cash and money orders seized. After a district court dismissal was partly reversed on appeal, Clayton County settled the lawsuit for $30,000 on August 18, 2026, confirming the program had already been terminated.

Oklahoma Gov. Stitt signed SB3XX, cutting ARPA hospital funding tied to gender-affirming care for minors

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed Senate Bill 3XX on October 4, 2022, appropriating $39.4 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to the University Hospitals Authority while barring their use at any facility providing gender-transition medical treatment to patients under 18. Facing the funding cutoff, OU Health's Oklahoma Children's Hospital announced it would stop providing gender-affirming care to minors.

July(2)

Border Patrol agent shot unarmed teen in Calexico eight times after two prior disciplined civilian shootings

On July 11, 2022, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Marcos Javier Andrade fired eight shots at 19-year-old Anthony Flores during an attempted traffic stop in Calexico, California, striking the unarmed driver in the neck, hip, shoulder, and hand. Flores, who was not engaged in any smuggling activity, survived with permanent disabilities and lasting psychological trauma. Federal prosecutors later revealed Andrade had previously been disciplined twice — in 2012 and 2017 — for firing his weapon at civilians, yet remained on active duty through the date of the 2022 shooting and for nearly four years after it.

South Carolina enacted FY2022-23 budget Proviso 23.4, barring MUSC from using state funds for gender-affirming care for transgender minors under 16

On July 1, 2022, South Carolina's FY2022-23 General Appropriations Act (H.5150, Act No. 239) took effect carrying Proviso 23.4, which bars the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) from using state appropriated funds for gender-affirming care for patients under 16. The General Assembly adopted the proviso in its June 15, 2022 conference report, and Governor Henry McMaster's June 22 line-item veto message did not strike it. This is the first-year enactment of a proviso South Carolina has renewed annually since.

June(3)

Federal judge found Arizona's prison healthcare system unconstitutional after 15-day trial

On June 30, 2022, U.S. District Judge Roslyn O. Silver ruled that the Arizona Department of Corrections had "failed to provide, and continues to refuse to provide, a constitutionally adequate medical care and mental health care system" for the roughly 34,000 people in its custody, violating the Eighth Amendment. The 200-page ruling followed a 15-day bench trial in a class action originally filed in 2012, after Silver rescinded a 2014 settlement in 2021 upon finding the state had committed "pervasive material breaches" of its terms.

South Carolina Gov. McMaster signed medical-conscience law shielding only race from care-refusal discrimination

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed H4776, the Medical Ethics and Diversity Act, into law on June 17, 2022, after it passed the House 76-31 and the Senate concurred 23-13. The law lets medical practitioners, institutions, and payers refuse to provide or pay for any nonemergency health care service that violates their religious, moral, or ethical conscience, with its sole anti-discrimination carve-out protecting patients only on the basis of race. LGBTQ+ advocacy groups and roughly 50 health care professionals who had urged a veto warned the law would restrict access to care such as gender-affirming treatment and fertility services for same-sex couples.

Louisiana Legislature enacted SB 44, banning transgender girls from school sports, without governor's signature

Louisiana's Senate Bill 44, the "Fairness in Women's Sports Act," became Act No. 283 on June 6, 2022, after Gov. John Bel Edwards declined to sign or veto it within the constitutional window. The law requires schools receiving state funding to designate athletic teams by biological sex and bars transgender girls and women from competing on female-designated K-12 and college teams, effective August 1, 2022.

May(5)

Oklahoma Gov. Stitt signed SB 615, requiring K-12 students to use restrooms matching birth-certificate sex

On May 25, 2022, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed SB 615, requiring every public school and public charter school serving pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade to designate multiple-occupancy restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms for the exclusive use of one sex as listed on a student's original birth certificate. A noncompliant student is limited to a single-occupancy facility, and a noncompliant district faces a 5% state funding cut. Three transgender students later sued to block the law; a federal judge dismissed the suit, and the dismissal remains on appeal.

Indiana Legislature overrode Gov. Holcomb's veto to enact HB 1041, a K-12 transgender sports ban

The Indiana General Assembly voted to override Gov. Eric Holcomb's veto of HB 1041 on May 24, 2022 — the House 67-28 and the Senate 32-15 — enacting House Enrolled Act 1041 into law. The statute bars students who are male based on sex assigned at birth from participating on girls'-designated K-12 athletic teams, creating a civil cause of action against schools that allow a transgender girl to compete while immunizing schools that exclude her.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed SB 2153, barring transgender women from college sports

On May 9, 2022, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed SB 2153 (Public Chapter 1005), barring students of the male sex from intercollegiate or intramural sports designated for "females," "women," or "girls" at public (and certain private) institutions of higher education, requiring institutions to rely on a student's original birth certificate. The same act created a private civil cause of action for violations of Tennessee's existing K-12 transgender sports ban enacted in 2021.

Georgia High School Association voted to bar transgender athletes based on birth-certificate sex

On May 4, 2022, the Georgia High School Association's executive committee voted unanimously, meeting in Thomaston, Georgia, to require student athletes to compete on teams matching the sex listed on their birth certificate, barring transgender students from teams matching their gender identity. The vote came five days after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed HB 1084, which authorized a separate committee to investigate and decide the same question — a process GHSA's executive committee bypassed. GHSA, which governs athletics for 465 public and private Georgia schools, said the rule would take effect for the coming school year.

April(9)

Georgia Gov. Kemp signed HB 1084, authorizing K-12 ban on transgender athletes in girls' sports

On April 28, 2022, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed HB 1084, the "Protect Students First Act," into law at the State Capitol in Atlanta. A last-minute floor amendment added April 5, 2022 empowers a newly created executive oversight committee to adopt a policy barring students whose gender is male from competing on girls'-designated K-12 athletic teams, with noncompliant schools forfeiting state QBE funding.

Oklahoma Gov. Stitt signed SB 1100, barring nonbinary sex designations on birth certificates

On April 26, 2022, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed Senate Bill 1100, amending the state's vital-records statutes to require that the biological sex designation on a birth certificate be either male or female and expressly prohibiting a nonbinary designation or any symbol representing one, including "X." The bill carried an emergency clause and took effect immediately, reversing a nonbinary-marker option the Oklahoma State Department of Health had begun permitting the prior year under a lawsuit settlement.

Florida Gov. DeSantis signed HB 7 restricting classroom and workplace speech on race and sex

On April 22, 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB 7 (Stop W.O.K.E. Act), barring K-12 schools, public colleges and universities, and employers from teaching or requiring training that endorses specified concepts about race, color, sex, or national origin. Federal courts subsequently blocked the law's workplace and higher-education provisions as unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination in separate lawsuits; the K-12 classroom provisions were not enjoined and remain in effect.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed HB1895, penalizing school districts that don't enforce the state's transgender sports ban

On April 22, 2022, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed House Bill 1895 (Public Chapter 909), amending the state's 2021 K-12 transgender sports ban to add a funding penalty. Under the law, the Tennessee Department of Education must withhold a portion of state education-finance funds from any local school district that fails to determine a student's sex at birth for school-sports eligibility purposes. The bill passed both chambers before Lee's signature and took effect July 1, 2022.

Kentucky General Assembly enacted a budget rider letting state child-placement contractors refuse services on religious grounds

On April 13, 2022, Kentucky's General Assembly enacted the 2022-2024 executive branch budget (House Bill 1, delivered to the Secretary of State as Acts Chapter 199), which included a rider barring state contracts for Department for Community Based Services child-placement work from interfering with a contractor's exercise of religion and letting a contractor who cannot perform a service due to religiously held beliefs have the state substitute another licensed contractor. The provision codifies a religious-refusal carve-out for state-funded foster-care and adoption placement contracting.

Kentucky Legislature overrode Beshear's veto to enact SB 83, banning transgender girls from school sports

The Kentucky General Assembly voted to override Gov. Andy Beshear's veto of Senate Bill 83 on April 13, 2022, enacting the bill as Acts Chapter 198. The law requires the Board of Education to designate school athletic teams by biological sex and bars transgender girls from competing on girls'-designated teams from sixth grade through college, creating a civil cause of action against noncompliant schools.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed SB 184, nation's first felony ban on gender-affirming care for minors

On April 8, 2022, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed SB 184, the "Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act," after the Alabama Legislature passed it a day earlier. The law makes it a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $15,000 fine, to provide puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or gender-affirming surgery to minors. It took effect May 8, 2022, becoming the first such criminally enforced ban in the United States.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed HB 322, barring trans students from birth-sex-assigned school restrooms and restricting K-5 LGBTQ instruction

On April 8, 2022, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed HB 322 (Act No. 2022-290) into law, requiring K-12 public school students to use multi-occupancy restrooms and changing areas designated by the sex listed on their birth certificate. The act, passed by the Alabama Legislature on the final day of its session, also prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in grades K-5 that is not deemed age-appropriate under state board standards, a provision added by last-minute floor amendment. The measure was enacted in Montgomery on the same day Ivey signed the separate SB 184 gender-affirming care ban.

Arizona Gov. Ducey signed SB 1399 shielding faith-based adoption agencies that deny LGBTQ+ and minority-religion families

On April 6, 2022, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed Senate Bill 1399, sponsored by Sen. Sine Kerr (R-Liberty), enacting A.R.S. § 8-921. The law bars the state from taking discriminatory action against faith-based adoption and foster-care agencies that decline to provide placement services consistent with their religious beliefs. Advocates warned it lets state-contracted agencies turn away LGBTQ+ and minority-religion prospective parents where foster children already outnumber licensed families roughly four to one.

March(7)

Arizona Gov. Ducey signed SB 1138, banning irreversible gender-reassignment surgery for minors

On March 30, 2022, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed SB 1138 into law, adding A.R.S. 32-3230 to prohibit physicians from providing "irreversible gender reassignment surgery" to any individual under 18, with narrow exceptions for intersex conditions, treatment of complications, and life-threatening emergencies. The statute restricts only surgery and does not limit puberty blockers or hormone therapy. Ducey signed it the same day as the separate SB 1165 transgender-athletes sports ban.

Arizona Gov. Ducey signed SB 1165, barring transgender girls from female school sports statewide

On March 30, 2022, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed SB 1165, the "Save Women's Sports Act," requiring public K-12 and college athletic teams to be designated by biological sex and barring transgender girls and women from female teams. The law passed the Senate 16-13 and the House 31-24 and overrode an existing Arizona Interscholastic Association policy that had accommodated transgender athletes.

Florida Gov. DeSantis signed HB 1557 barring K-3 LGBTQ instruction and mandating parental notification enabling forced outing

On March 28, 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB 1557, "Parental Rights in Education," barring classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade and requiring schools to notify parents of changes to a student's mental, emotional, or physical wellbeing while barring procedures that would let a student withhold that information from a parent. Critics said the notification mandate risks forcing schools to out LGBTQ+ students to parents without consent, and the law became widely known as the "Don't Say Gay" law.

Utah Legislature overrode Cox veto to enact HB 11, barring transgender girls from school sports

On March 25, 2022, the Utah Legislature voted to override Gov. Spencer Cox's veto and enact H.B. 11, requiring public K-12 schools to designate athletic teams by sex and barring students of the male sex from competing on teams designated for female students, based on their original birth certificate. The House voted 56-18-1 and the Senate 21-8-0 to override; as a fallback if a court blocks that provision, the law creates a School Activity Eligibility Commission to gate transgender students' participation through a case-by-case approval process.

Iowa Gov. Reynolds signed HF 2416, banning transgender girls and women from school sports

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed HF 2416 into law on March 3, 2022, barring transgender girls and women from competing on female sports teams in the state's K-12 public and accredited nonpublic schools, community colleges, and Board of Regents universities. The Iowa House had passed the bill 55-39 on February 21 and the Senate passed a substitute 31-17 on March 2, with the law taking immediate effect as Iowa Acts Chapter 1003.

Peter Navarro defied House Jan. 6th committee subpoena, refused to testify or produce documents

On March 2, 2022, then-White House senior trade adviser Peter Navarro failed to appear for his subpoenaed deposition before the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th attack, having already missed the committee's February 23 deadline to produce documents and asserting executive privilege on his own authority rather than the president's. The House voted to hold him in criminal contempt in April 2022, the Justice Department indicted him in June 2022, and a jury convicted him in September 2023 on two counts of contempt of Congress, resulting in a four-month prison sentence in January 2024. The D.C. Circuit unanimously affirmed both convictions on July 21, 2026, rejecting Navarro's argument that a mistaken belief in executive privilege excused his noncompliance.

February(1)

South Dakota Gov. Noem signed SB 46, barring transgender athletes from female school and college sports

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed SB 46, "An Act to protect fairness in women's sports," on February 3, 2022, after it passed both chambers of the legislature in late January. The law requires K-12, intramural, club, and college athletic teams sponsored or sanctioned by an accredited school, school district, activities association, or the state Board of Regents or Board of Technical Education to be designated by biological sex, barring transgender girls and women from competing on female teams. South Dakota was the first state to enact such a law in 2022, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

January(1)

Hawaii state Rep. Sylvia Luke agreed to accept $35,000 in campaign funds in exchange for steering COVID-19 testing emergency appropriations

On January 20, 2022, Hawaii state Rep. Sylvia Luke — then chair of the House Finance Committee — attended a dinner at Morton's Steakhouse in Honolulu at which businessman Tobi Solidum promised her $35,000 (half of a committed $70,000) in campaign contributions in exchange for her assistance in directing emergency state appropriations to fund COVID-19 testing contracts held by the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii, which Solidum's consulting firm managed. Luke was indicted on 12 bribery and conspiracy counts by a Hawaii grand jury on July 25, 2026, alongside four co-defendants.

2021 Events (18)

November(1)

Mississippi prison healthcare contractors delayed woman's cancer diagnosis for a decade, concealed result until days before her release

Prison healthcare contractors overseeing Susie Balfour's care at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl allowed mammogram follow-ups to lapse for up to three years at a time between 2011 and 2021, despite prison physicians' own recommendation for annual and later twice-yearly screening. A November 3, 2021 biopsy found her breast cancer had progressed to an advanced stage; Balfour said she was not told of the result until days before her December 27, 2021 release. She died of the metastasized cancer in 2025.

October(1)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed HB 25, barring transgender K-12 students from school sports matching their gender identity

On October 25, 2021, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 25 into law, enacted during the 87th Legislature's third called special session. The law requires public school students to compete in University Interscholastic League athletic competitions based on their sex assigned at birth, barring transgender K-12 student-athletes from competing consistent with their gender identity. It took effect January 18, 2022.

September(1)

Former Frazer Township, Pa. officer Michael McSherry pleaded guilty to stalking estranged wife he tracked with department's license-plate reader

Former Frazer Township, Pennsylvania police officer Michael McSherry was arrested September 28, 2021 and later pleaded guilty to stalking and official oppression for a months-long campaign against his estranged wife, Alexandria Griffith, that included logging into his department's license-plate-reader system at least 85 times between August 28 and September 15, 2021 to track her vehicle and her mother's, a hidden GPS tracker discovered under her car, a nanny camera, and repeated threats. On September 10, 2021, responding officers found McSherry holding a loaded handgun during a domestic incident in which he had thrown the couple's four-year-old son to the ground and threatened self-harm before a brief standoff ended in his arrest; a second arrest on September 28, after search warrants turned up additional phones and tracking devices, brought the stalking and computer-misuse charges. A Westmoreland County judge sentenced McSherry to 11.5 to 23 months in jail plus five years of probation, with several felony counts -- including child pornography and terroristic threats -- dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

June(2)

Ohio Gov. DeWine signed HB 110 budget rider letting medical providers refuse care on moral or religious grounds

On June 30, 2021, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed House Bill 110, the state's FY2022-2023 operating budget, into law, retaining a last-minute rider -- Amendment SC3909, the "Medical Practitioner Conscience" clause -- that lets any health care practitioner, institution, or payer refuse to perform or pay for a service that conflicts with their moral, ethical, or religious beliefs, with immunity from liability. DeWine declined to line-item veto the provision despite public pressure from LGBTQ+ and reproductive-rights groups, who said the facially neutral clause functions as a license to deny care, including gender-affirming treatment, to LGBTQ+ patients.