Advocates in the News
How algorithms, alpha males and tradwives are winning the war for kids’ minds
The 19th, July 2025
The vast majority of young men stumble onto the manosphere through innocent online queries, and algorithms set the trap, explained Geoff Corey, director of Advocates for Youth’s sex education project AMAZE.
“They are looking to make friends, to look better, to win over girls or become better people,” Corey said. “Then, they discover that it seems like the only people creating content geared towards men are people who give them an easy answer for what they want, and that easy answer somehow leads to trickery, violence, unhealthy behaviors, bottling up emotions.”
Supreme Court decision ‘sanctions discrimination,’ parent of trans teen says
NBC News, June 2025
Trans young people like Violeta Acuna, 19, are afraid of the ruling’s impact on trans youths and their mental health.Acuna, who lives in Pomona, California, started hormone replacement therapy when she was 17 after she experienced anxiety and depression due to gender dysphoria, which is the distress caused by a misalignment between one’s birth sex and gender identity. Within two months of starting the treatment, she said, her mental health improved. “If I had not had that opportunity, I probably wouldn’t be here speaking,” Acuna said.
How civil rights investigations against schools have changed under Trump admin
The Hill, June 2025
“It’s definitely been tough to have students come to us who are considering filing an Office of Civil Rights [OCR] complaint because they’ve experienced discrimination at their school, and have to sort of say, ‘I’m not even sure if it’s a good idea at this moment,’ given the way that the Trump administration is enforcing Title IX,” said Emma Grasso Levine, senior manager of Title IX policy and programs at the Title IX advocacy project Know Your IX.
Trump Is Using Title IX as a ‘Battering Ram,’ Experts Say
iNSIDE HIGHER ED, MAY 2025
“The news out of Penn, to me, was just another example of the way they are, unfortunately, using [Title IX] as a battering ram to beat down safe and inclusive school environments for trans students,” said Emma Grasso Levine, senior manager of Title IX policy and programs at Advocates for Youth, a youth sexual health and LGBTQ+ equality advocacy organization.
Why this nonprofit made a $1.2 million decision to reject federal funding under Trump
The 19th, May 2025
Advocates for Youth says that it can’t serve marginalized young people and adhere to the president’s executive orders, restrictions and censorship on race and gender.
Don’t SLAPP Me: NWLC Leads Amicus Brief in Support of New York Student Survivor Against Retaliatory Defamation Suit
The national Women’s Law center, April 2025
If you are a survivor and are thinking about speaking out (or already have spoken out) and are worried about facing retaliation, including being targeted with a SLAPP, you can learn more about your rights, risks, and options using NWLC’s and Know Your IX’s toolkit: Survivors Speaking Out: A Toolkit About Defamation Lawsuits and Other Retaliation by and for People Speaking Out About Sex-Based Harassment.
‘Keep Your Money!’ Some Nonprofits Push Back on Federal Funding Freezes; Others Take a Quiet Approach
The Philanthropy Chronicle, March 2025
Advocates for Youth, a 40-year-old organization that advocates for young LGBTQ people, recently turned down $1.4 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Governor Mills Stood up for Students and Survivors—Who Will Join Her?
COMMON DREAMS, March 2025
Even as we identify and invest in alternate approaches to protecting students from gender-based discrimination, we cannot grant right-wing politicians leeway to weaponize Title IX for their own political gain.
National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day 2025
POZ, april 2025
Advocates for Youth says that it can’t serve marginalized young people and adhere to the president’s executive orders, restrictions and censorship on race and gender.
Meet Our New Education Secretary, Who Has One of the Worst Resumes I’ve Ever Seen
Jezebel, March 2025
“McMahon’s responses to Senate questioning demonstrate she has no understanding of the harmful, anti-survivor Title IX policies President Trump ordered the Department of Education to enforce,” Grasso Levine said.
Connecticut considers adding emergency contraceptive vending machines to college campuses
CT INSIDER, MARCH 2025
Nimisha Srikanth, 24, is a public health graduate student at Yale University and one of the student leaders working with legislators to expand access to reproductive care on college campuses.
Some of the most common barriers students face when accessing reproductive care is transportation, knowledge on where to go, cost and the clinic’s hours of operations. Even if there’s an on-campus pharmacy, Srikanth said some students may feel ashamed or stigmatized to go.
Dobbs stripped reproductive rights. Columbia students are fighting to protect them.
cOLUMBIA SPECTATOR, MARCH 2025
“I felt like, as a student and not just as an organizer, I deserved to have those answers,” Ramya Arumilli, a Reproductive Justice Collective organizer and Barnard senior, told The Eye. “Access to information is so important.”
“We’re Just Supporting Our Kid the Best We Know How”: Meet the Families Who Traveled to D.C. to Stand Up for Gender-Affirming Care
VOGUE, DECEMBER 2024
Last week, The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) heard oral arguments in United States v. Skrmetti, a critical case from Tennessee that will decide the future of medical access to gender-affirming care for youth nationwide.