Hkalam Samson, a Baptist minister in Myanmar who once called attention to his country’s human rights abuses at the White House, was sentenced to six years in prison on Friday on charges of terrorism, unlawful association and inciting opposition to the regime in Myanmar. (Paddock, The New York Times)
Read MoreThe Republican-controlled Kansas Legislature passed a bill into law that bans transgender girls and women from participating in girls and women’s sports. The lawmakers had failed twice in past years to override vetoes by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. (Lysen, Mesa & Horton, KCUR)
Read MoreRepublican governors in Indiana and Idaho have signed into law bills banning gender-affirming care for minors, making those states the latest to restrict transgender health care as Republican-led legislatures continue to curb LGBTQ+ rights this year. (AP/NPR)
Read MoreThe North Dakota Senate has passed a number of bills dealing with transgender people. One of the measures is HB 1254. It would ban and criminalize gender-affirming care for transgender minors. It imposes felony charges on doctors who perform sex assignment surgeries, and misdemeanors for doctors who prescribe hormone therapies or puberty blockers to children. (Thompson, Prairie Public Broadcasting)
Read MoreClergy members across the Archdiocese of Baltimore abused hundreds of children and teenagers over the course of six decades, abetted by a church hierarchy that systematically failed to investigate and restrict their access to children, according to a detailed report from the Maryland attorney general released on Wednesday. (Graham, The New York Times)
Read MoreOn Tuesday (April 4), the abuse reform task force announced it will “consider alternative pathways” to set up the Ministry Check website. Those pathways include “dividing the work among smaller firms that share our values,” according to a task force statement. (Smietana, Religion News Service)
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