People attend a rally as part of a Transgender Day of Visibility, Friday, March 31, 2023, by the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin, File)

The proposed rule sends a political counterpunch toward a wave of Republican-led states that have sought to ban trans athletes from competing in school sports that align with their gender identities. If finalized, the proposal would become enshrined as a provision of Title IX, the landmark gender-equity legislation enacted in 1972.

(WTTW)

On Friday, people around the world came together for the annual Transgender Day of Visibility, a day to celebrate the resilience of transgender and nonbinary people.

Pictured is a transgender rights protest outside of the White House in Washington in 2018. (Sarah Silbiger / The New York Times / Redux via CNN)

In a presidential proclamation on Thursday and a subsequent statement on Friday, Biden acknowledged “a wave of discriminatory state laws” aimed at trans Americans, squarely blaming “MAGA extremists” for “advancing hundreds of hateful and extreme state laws that target transgender kids and their families.”

Customers inside UpRising Bakery and Cafe in Lake in the Hills. (WTTW News)

UpRising Bakery and Cafe owner Corinna Sac plans to relocate her business after months of harassment, protests and threats. The attacks came after the cafe announced plans last July to hold two family-friendly drag shows as part of an event series.

A pile of challenged books appear at the Utah Pride Center in Salt Lake City on Dec. 16, 2021. (AP Photo / Rick Bowmer, File)
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More than 1,200 challenges were compiled by the association in 2022, nearly double the then-record total from 2021 and by far the most since the American Library Association began keeping data 20 years ago.

The ice is lit in rainbow light for Pride Night before an NHL hockey game between the Anaheim Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings, Monday, April 26, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo / Ashley Landis, File)

The Chicago Blackhawks will not wear Pride-themed warmup jerseys before Sunday’s Pride Night game against Vancouver, a person with knowledge of the matter told The Associated Press, because of security concerns involving the law that Russian President Vladimir Putin signed in December.

Tubes direct blood from a donor into a bag in Davenport, Iowa, on Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. (AP Photo / Charlie Neibergall, File)

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday announced draft guidelines that would do away with the current three-month abstinence requirement for donations from men who have sex with men. Instead, all potential donors would be screened with a new questionnaire that evaluates their individual risks for HIV.

Russia Brown, a former CTA employee, is now suing the transit agency and his union alleging discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination. (WTTW News)

In 2019, WTTW News covered his successful push for the CTA to add gender affirming care to its health insurance policy. The employee behind that push has since been fired and is now suing the agency and his union. 

(WTTW News)

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law a bill that provides more protection for patients coming to Illinois to seek gender-affirming health care. The move comes as several states attempt to restrict gender-affirming care for transgender people.

President Joe Biden signs the Respect for Marriage Act, Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo / Andrew Harnik)

The new law is intended to safeguard gay marriages if the U.S. Supreme Court ever reverses Obergefell v. Hodges, its 2015 decision legalizing same-sex unions nationwide. The new law also protects interracial marriages. 

In this image from House Television, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., announces final passage of the bill with protections for same-sex marriages, on the House Floor on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Washington. The bipartisan legislation, which passed 258-169, would also protect interracial unions by requiring states to recognize legal marriages regardless of “sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin.” (Senate Television via AP)

President Joe Biden is expected to promptly sign the measure, which requires all states to recognize same-sex marriages, a relief for hundreds of thousands of couples who have married since the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision that legalized those marriages nationwide.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Nov. 29, 2022. (WTTW News)

In an interview, Sen. Tammy Duckworth spoke on a number of legislative issues that U.S. lawmakers are taking up during the lame-duck session before a new Congress is sworn in early next year.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Nov. 15, 2022. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite, File)

The bill, which would ensure that same-sex and interracial marriages are enshrined in federal law, was approved 61-36 on Tuesday, including support from 12 Republicans. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters following a closed-door policy meeting on the Democrats' lame duck agenda, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)

Twelve Republicans voted with all Democrats to move forward on the legislation, meaning a final vote could come as soon as this week, or later this month. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the bill ensuring the unions are legally recognized under the law is chance for the Senate to “live up to its highest ideals” and protect marriage equality for all people.

An art exhibition at Wrightwood 659 depicts same-sex desire. (WTTW News)

Called “The First Homosexuals,” the show is about a time when the art world released a flood of new representations of same-sex desire.

(WTTW News)

“Title Nine at 50: Past, Present, Future” is a three-day event at Northwestern University’s Evanston campus running Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It's free and open to the public and this story will be screened on Friday as part of the symposium.