These days, weeks, and years are hard - from watching the prosecution blame George Floyd’s death on anything but the police officer who killed him, to the killings of Adam Toledo and Daunte Wright by police, to the frequent reports that there has been another killing, another officer unpunished, another protest met with even more brutality from the state. These guilty verdicts help a little - but it isn’t enough. It’s far from enough.  

"Transgender young people have the right to lead healthy lives. They have the right to supportive and safe environments, and to full participation in activities, including sports.  The fact is we are all privileged to know the young trans and non binary people in our lives. It is our responsibility  to do everything we can to make our world safer and more welcoming for gender expansive youth," said Debra Hauser, President, Advocates for Youth.

Advocates for Youth applauds the Biden Administration’s proposed changes to Title X, the nation’s federal family planning program designed to provide affordable reproductive health services to those in need, including youth and young adults.

We need to listen to protestors rather than responding with escalation and further violence. We need to defund, divest, and invest in programs that can actually help our communities, instead of continuing to give money and guns to those forcing young people of color to live in fear. 

Advocates for Youth applauds the reintroduction of the EACH (Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Care) Act, legislation which lifts bans on abortion coverage, led by Representatives Lee (D-CA), Degette (D-CO), Shackowsky (D-IL), and Pressley (D-MA) in the House and Senators Duckworth (D-IL), Murray (D-WA), and Hirono (D-HI) in the Senate. We are proud to support this groundbreaking legislation to ensure that every person, whatever their income, however they are insured, and wherever they live can get affordable abortion care when they need it. 

Justice for immigrants is crucial to the work of Advocates for Youth. All young people have the right to lead healthy lives and the right to safe and supportive environments. No young person should be held in a cage and treated as an enemy of the state.