By Jose Cortes SAN SEBASTIAN TUTLA, Mexico At a dusty migrant camp in southern Mexico, 19-year-old Luzmar Rodriguez

President Joe Biden has condemned the “hysterical” threats against LGBT+ communities across the US, following a historic surge in state-level legislation targeting LGBT+ people, particularly trans youth, and a rise in homophobic and transphobic rhetoric and abuse. His remarks alongside UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on 8 June followed the announcement of a White House strategy to protect LGBT+ rights and safety, including the launch of a LGBTQI+ Community Safety Partnership with federal law enforcement agencies, and federal support for affirming mental healthcare and LGBT+ youth in foster care and LGBT+ youth experiencing homelessness. The Biden administration also is directing the US Department of Education to address the spike in book bans and challenges to library materials that are disproportionately by and about LGBT+ people. “Our fight is far from over, because we have some hysterical and I would argue prejudiced people who are engaged in all of what you see going on around the country,” the president said in remarks from the White House. “It’s an appeal to fear and it’s an appeal that is totally, thoroughly unjustified and ugly,” he said. The president also urged Congress to pass the Equality Act, which has languished in the US Senate after its passage, twice, in the US House of Representatives. “I’m not giving up on this,” Mr Biden added. That landmark legislation would extend discrimination protections to LGBT+ people in federal civil rights law by prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity across federally protected public accommodations and facilities, including employment, education and housing. “It’s wrong that a person can be married in the morning in the United States and be fired in the afternoon by their employer because they’re gay,” Mr Biden said. “It’s wrong that the violence and hate crimes targeting LGBTQ people is rising. It’s wrong that extreme officials are pushing hateful bills, targeting transgender children, terrifying families, and criminalising doctors,” he added. “These are our kids. These are our neighbours. It’s cruel. It’s callous.” The president was set to announce the White House plan for federal LGBT+ protections at a Pride event on Thursday afternoon, but it was postponed due to air pollution from Canadian wildfires blanketing the East Coast. Over the last several years, Republican state lawmakers have introduced hundreds of state-level bills impacting LGBT+ people, including 220 bills specifically targeting trans and nonbinary Americans and their healthcare, according to the Human Rights Campaign’s analysis. More than 75 such bills have been signed into law. At least 19 states have enacted laws or policies banning affirming healthcare for young trans people against the guidance of health providers and major medical groups, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics. LGBT+ communities also have reported increased threats of violence, discrimination and harassment, parallel to volatile rhetoric that has consumed right-wing media, social media platforms and debate among Republican elected officials, including in the halls of Congress, where House Republicans have advanced legislation mirroring the anti-LGBT+ bills dominating state capitols. “You’re loved, you’re heard, and this administration has your back,” Mr Biden said in his remarks, addressing LGBT+ communities. “We are not relenting one single second to make sure you’re protected.” Read More Rachel Levine on Congress bigots, Don’t Say Gay and life as Biden’s top trans official: ‘Despair doesn’t motivate change’ Biden’s troubled journey on LGBT+ rights is a ‘beautiful thing’, top US diplomat says America’s largest LGBT+ civil rights group issues ‘state of emergency’ across US

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A Utah mother of three on trial for allegedly murdering her husband in 2022 with a poisoned cocktail said she had normal explanations for taking so-called “exotic vacations” after the death, according to court documents. A month before she was arrested, Kouri Richins emailed officials in Summit County to explain a series of trips to Salt Lake City, Spain and Mexico, according to the documents obtained by the New York Post. “You asked about any exotic vacations I have taken since Eric’s passing. I went on two trips last year. One, my kids tried out at a soccer camp in SLC [Salt Lake City] to qualify to play in Spain in June and both my kids made it. So yes, I took them to Spain in October 2022. I have attached their invitation letters,” read one message. “I took my kids and my mom came with us in August of 2022 to Mexico. As I hope you understand, the months prior to this since Eric’s death have been hard to deal with,” she said elsewhere. “Eric and I went to Mexico every year, sometimes twice. We traveled A LOT. We have taken the boys to Mexico a few times,” she continued. Ms Richins was arrested on 8 May and charged with first-degree murder and possession of a controlled substance, with prosecutors alleging she killed her husband by spiking a Moscow mule cocktail with a lethal dose of fentanyl. The Utah woman wrote a children’s book about dealing with grief and went on local television to promote its release weeks before she got arrested. “It was right up until the end that she was carrying on as though nothing had happened, and that she was a victim, and she was a martyr and promoting her book,” lawyer and Richins family spokesman Greg Skordas told The Independent. Her defence has argued in court that she is not guilty and there is “no substantial evidence to support the charges,” Fox 13 reported. Ms Richins was denied bond by a Utah court as her trial progresses. Eric Richins was remembered as a dedicated father, local businessman and coach of youth sports. “He spent countless hours coaching and teaching the boys to ‘play aggressive’ and ‘give it their all!’” according to an obituary. “Eric truly cared about every single child he coached and wanted the absolute best for all of them.” Both members of the marriage have suggested, directly or through their representatives, that the other was having an affair. In the months before Richins’s death, the couple appeared to be manoeuvring for control of the family finances, with Eric changing his will and life insurance policies, while Kouri allegedly attempted to alter Eric’s life insurance partner and benefits related to his stone masonry business. Read More Author charged with husband’s poisoning murder sobs in court as she’s denied bail How Kouri Richins turned from grieving widow to accused killer by poison: ‘It wasn’t necessarily unexpected’ Utah mother charged with poisoning husband was more than $2m in debt, new documents reveal

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