TIME OUT YOUTH STATEMENT ON ANTI-LGBTQ+ BILLS IN NC LEGISLATURE – April 3, 2025
LGBTQ+ youth are under attack in North Carolina. A wave of harmful legislation in the North Carolina legislature – SB 516, SB 442, and HB 595 – is designed to erase the identities, dignity, and rights of queer and trans young people. Though these bills have not yet passed into law, they pose a very real and serious threat while sending a dangerous message: that our youth don’t belong. Time Out Youth fiercely rejects this message and unequivocally opposes SB 516, SB 422, and HB 595.
SB 516 reintroduces the trauma of a bathroom bill to our state, with additional restrictions attacking state IDs and birth certificates. This bill jeopardizes the safety of trans folks when using the restroom in places such as public schools, domestic violence shelters, and prisons. It also would block updates to gender markers on birth certificates and state IDs (such as driver’s licenses). SB 442 would allow adoptive and foster parents to discriminate against trans youth, requiring that unsupportive parents still be approved as guardians. It also shields discriminatory parents from investigations into abuse and neglect based on their refusal to support their child. HB 595 serves as an extension of the already passed “Don’t Say Gay” bill (SB 49) here in North Carolina. It would add additional restrictions to sexual health curriculums, create more avenues for book bans and removals in public schools, and prohibit any discussions of sexuality or gender through 6th grade (currently 4th grade).
Together, these bills amount to a direct and deliberate assault on trans and queer youth. If passed, they will strip away safety, dignity, and access to life-saving support. They threaten to turn critical supportive environments – foster care, schools, shelters, and beyond – into hostile and harmful spaces, especially for Black, brown, trans, and nonbinary young people who already face disproportionate risks. This is not just policy – it is cruelty disguised as law.
Time Out Youth believes that, more than anything, our queer and trans youth deserve to be protected, loved, and supported for who they are. Instead, they are being targeted by hateful and discriminatory legislation. Today, and every day, Time Out Youth is fighting to ensure our LGBTQ+ youth can move through the world as their full selves. We believe in a North Carolina that celebrates and honors trans youth – one that holds their rights dearly and protects them. We will continue to provide updates about this legislation. For more information on these bills and to get involved in the fight against their passage, please visit our partners at Equality NC.
Signed, the Team at Time Out Youth
TIME OUT YOUTH STATEMENT ON ANTI-TRANS EXECUTIVE ORDERS – January 29, 2025
Time Out Youth firmly opposes and rejects the Trump administration’s attacks on the trans community, especially our trans youth. His latest executive order, which aims to restrict federal funding for gender-affirming healthcare for those under the age of 19, is an affront to the rights of young people and their families. The evidence on this is clear: medical organizations and experts worldwide support gender-affirming healthcare as a vital resource for trans youth. Time Out Youth strongly believes that healthcare decisions for youth should be solely between doctors, their patients, and their families. We also express deep concern with the inclusion of 18-year-olds – who are legally adults – in this restrictive executive order. In North Carolina, House Bill 808 already prevents trans youth under the age of 18 from accessing the care they need. Now, this executive order threatens to expand those harmful policies nationwide, with dire consequences for young people in our state and beyond.
We urge our community to stand strong in the face of these attacks. Every day, a new order or policy attacking our community and allies is announced. Their goal is to cause confusion and introduce harmful restrictions. They aim to erase the contributions of our trans, nonbinary, and intersex communities and deny the realities of their lives. Let us be clear: the government cannot decide who you are.
It is important to remember that these executive orders are not established law. They are guidelines and policies from a hostile Presidential administration. Many details have not been specified yet and the current administration will face legal challenges as our LGBTQ+ community and allies fight back. Regardless of law or policy, our community will persist and persevere. We will continue to create spaces where LGBTQ+ youth not only survive, but thrive. We are here in this fight – together.
Signed, the Staff and Board at Time Out Youth
TIME OUT YOUTH STATEMENT ON INAUGURATION DAY AND MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY – January 20, 2025
Today we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — a visionary changemaker who showed us the power of courage, collective action, and of unyielding hope, even in the face of fear and oppression. His relentless advocacy for the Black community and civil rights left a deep and long-lasting impact on our country. We recognize the profound significance that his legacy brings to this moment.
Today also marks the beginning of Donald Trump’s second term as President. Many of us feel the weight of uncertainty and fear pressing down. We feel the fear of losing progress, of losing safety, of losing hope. We also know that LGBTQ+ youth, particularly those who are Black, brown, trans, and nonbinary, are some of those most at risk from this hostile administration.
Acknowledge that fear. It is valid.
But if history has taught us anything, it is that fear may be loud, but it cannot outlast love, or the power of people who refuse to be broken. Dr. King once said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” So today, we will not be silent. We will continue to protect our community, and to create spaces where every LGBTQ+ young person feels seen, valued, and loved, immensely and wholly.
If you feel tired, if you feel scared, know that we are in this together. You are seen. You are loved. Your future is our future, and as long as you keep going, so will we.
With you, always, the Team at Time Out Youth
TIME OUT YOUTH STATEMENT ON THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION – November 6, 2024
Today’s election outcome is a painful reminder that parts of our country still struggle to see and value the fullness of who you are. To our LGBTQ+ youth – especially our trans, Black, and brown youth – who may feel unseen or forgotten: we believe in your power, your resilience, and your right to live openly and authentically. We will never stop fighting by your side. No President, legislator, or school bully can take away the light you carry or the impact you’re capable of making in this world. Since 1991, when Time Out Youth was founded in the wake of the AIDS epidemic, we have been here through highs and lows, standing hand-in-hand with LGBTQ+ young people and empowering them to live without fear. Today, we are even more resolute and are ready for the challenges ahead.
Outside our walls, we see the mounting challenges facing our youth – laws limiting access to safe spaces, healthcare, and essential rights. But within our walls, we hold tight to our mission of creating a safe, affirming space full of love and unrelenting hope. Every day, we witness small victories: laughter filling the hallways, young people connecting with counselors who truly see them, and someone moving into their first home. As the world grows harsher, our mission only grows more vital. So today, take care of yourselves, check in with your community, and know that we are here, as we have been for over three decades and six Presidential administrations. We’ve worked tirelessly to keep our queer youth alive since 1991, and we aren’t going anywhere.
Signed, the Staff and Board at Time Out Youth
Time Out Youth continually and intentionally supports our LGBTQ Youth as they navigate what can sometimes be a difficult path. In 2023, the North Carolina General Assembly Passed the following bills, which directly impact the youth we serve:
- SB49, which targets LGBTQ+ youth and prevents teachers from creating safe, inclusive classrooms;
- HB808, which bans initiation of best practice, medically necessary health care for transgender adolescents simply because they’re transgender; and
- HB574, which prohibits transgender students from participating in school sports consistent with their gender identity.
TIME OUT YOUTH STATEMENT ON SB49, HB808, and HB574 – August 17, 2023
Time Out Youth stands hand-in-hand with our transgender and queer youth, who will carry the burden of the cruel and heedless decision of the North Carolina General Assembly to override the Governor’s veto, allowing North Carolina to place a ban on youth gender-affirming care, banning trans youth from participating in sports, and putting in place “Don’t Say Gay” laws, diminishing our educator’s ability to effectively care for their students. The devastating decision will have severe consequences for our youth and their families, including a decision that no government should be able to make – to revoke a doctor’s right to care for their patients and offer life-saving treatment. We adamantly oppose this decision and will continue to fight for the rights of all the young people that we serve. Our trans queer youth are brilliant and brave, and deserve protection, love, and support. Time Out Youth has always been a space where our youth are celebrated for exactly who they are. We hold them closer today and lift their voices above the noise of hate emerging from this group of cowards who allow irrational fear to govern our state.
TIME OUT YOUTH STATEMENT on ANTI-TRANS LEGISLATION – April 21, 2022
Time Out Youth stands in the steadfast defense of transgender and gender non-conforming youth. We stand united with drag performers and trans-affirming healthcare workers and educators. The discriminatory legislation that is being introduced in the NC House and Senate is not only unfair, but it flies in the face of the idea of liberty and justice for all.
These restrictive bills seek to limit the rights of transgender youth for self-expression by dissolving safeguards to inclusion in sports and access to life-affirming medical care. These bills also seek to censor and sanitize the racial history of America while essentially erasing LGBTQ+ representation in education.
We believe that LGBTQ+ youth are worth fighting for and deserve legal protections for their peace of mind and safety. If this legal bigotry continues unchecked, their unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness remains in peril.
“Time Out Youth condemns any and all measures that are being taken in our state to make the very existence of our trans youth illegal. We will continue to provide a safe and affirming space for LGBTQ youth to be themselves in a state hell-bent on doing the opposite. We are grateful that our brilliant and vibrant youth share their light with us and we will do whatever we can to make sure their light is not dimmed by those whose jobs are to protect them.” – Sarah Mikhail, Executive Director.
Our youth are at stake and they are watching.