New York City Bar

An increasing number of states are enacting policies hostile to LGBTQ youth, like book bans and restrictions on participation in sports. Even in states like New York where there is greater state-level support for LGBTQ rights, similar policies aimed at stifling those rights have emerged at the local level. Amy Leipziger (Project Director, Free to Be Youth Project), Ashton Hessee (Legal Fellow, Free to Be Youth Project) and Gabriella Larios (Staff Attorney, NYCLU) of the City Bar’s LGBTQ Rights Committee unpack the damage to psychological and physical health that these bans and the anti-LGBTQ culture that they promote can have on LGBTQ youth – kids who are navigating the same developmental challenges as their peers while being saddled with these additional burdens. Amy, Ashton and Gabriella also speak to how queer and trans youth – and their parents and caregivers – can understand their rights and understand how to advocate for their rights in school. All three share stories from the frontlines of litigating a