Ohio governor signs transgender bathroom ban for students
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(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has signed a transgender bathroom ban for students into law.
The law requires students in the state’s K-12 schools, as well as colleges and universities, to use the restroom or facility that aligns with their sex assigned at birth.
The law notes it is not intended to prevent schools from building single-occupancy facilities and does not ban someone of the opposite gender from entering to help another person.
Ohio joins at least 14 other states in banning transgender people from using bathrooms that align with their gender identity, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
Supporters say the ban eases concerns about student’s privacy and protection. Critics of the bill say it creates unfounded fears about transgender students and may instead put trans students in danger of discrimination or violence.
DeWine’s office previously declined ABC News’ request for comment ahead of the bill’s signing. He told reporters this past summer that he has to look at “specific language” in the legislation.
“I’m for people, kids, to be able to go to the bathroom with the gender assignment so that they have that protection, but I’ll have to look at the specific language,” DeWine told reporters.
Transgender health care, bathroom access, sports participation and more have been a key focus for Republican legislators nationwide in recent years — a wave that has prompted hundreds of anti-LGBTQ bills in the 2024 legislative session alone, as tracked by the American Civil Liberties Union.
DeWine has gone against state Republican legislators on transgender issues in the past. He vetoed a transgender youth care ban bill in December 2023, which would have restricted gender-affirming puberty blockers, hormone therapy or surgeries.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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(LOS ANGELES, Calif.) — The destruction caused by the Eaton Fire in Los Angeles County, which has destroyed more than 14,117 acres across the region in the last week, is threatening Altadena’s rich and diverse history that captures the plight, success and perseverance of the local communities of color.
The Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy, a nonprofit founded by Indigenous groups who have called the now-greater Los Angeles basin their home for thousands of years, was given back some of its land at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains in Altadena in 2022. However, the Eaton Fire has left part of the recently acquired land significantly damaged.
The organization credits traditional ecological knowledge for having “nurtured the land” and aided in its protection, with plans to continue recovering the land with native plants and practices.
“Our immediate focus is on assessing the full extent of the damage, supporting our neighbors, and collaborating with local partners to ensure community recovery,” said the organization in a statement. “We will provide ongoing updates as we work toward healing and rebuilding the Conservancy and surrounding areas.”
Los Angeles County is battling wildfires across 45 square miles of the densely populated county, leaving thousands of structures damages, thousands of residents displaced and at least. 25 people dead.
The destruction has also impacted decades of progress for other communities of color in the region who settled in Altadena, which is now 41% white, 27% Hispanic, 18% Black and 17% multiracial.
In the 1960s, a combination of urban renewal, white flight and the political movements of the time caused rapid demographic shifts in the Altadena region, according to Altadena Heritage.
The end of widespread discriminatory redlining practices made Altadena a place where Black, Hispanic and Indigenous residents looking for a home could find a bargain.
The town became home to several iconic Black figures, including Sidney Poitier, the first Black actor to win an Oscar, prominent author Octavia Butler, artist Charles White, abolitionist Ellen Garrison Jackson Clark and others.
Veronica Jones, president of the Altadena Historical Society, says Altadena offered “more opportunities away from what the city [of Pasadena] offered children of color at that time.”
Many of those who lost homes in the fire are from families that have been in Altadena for generations.
One of those residents is Kim Jones. For Jones, Altadena has been her family’s home for four generations; she says her family moved to Altadena due to racism and segregation in the South in the ’60s.
Jones says speaking about the heartbreak of losing everything is her attempt to be “the family historian” now that the material memories are gone.
She said her grandmother, who had a home on Lincoln Avenue, was one of the first Black families in the neighborhood.
Kendall Jones, Kim’s son, lost memories of his father, who passed away two years ago, in the blaze.
“Part of me is devastated that all that is gone and the memories of him, but at the same time, I’m also hopeful that my family can rebuild and move past this because no matter what, we’re still alive and no one got hurt, and that’s the most important thing,” he told ABC News.
Kim Jones said her 52 years of memories were in the house – “I have pictures from my childhood. Kendall has pictures. My mother had a tiny cabinet and dishes that were her grandmother’s. Jewelry. I had photos from my grandmother, who had lived with them before she passed.”
Earnestine Brown-Turner also lost her home in the blaze. She had evacuated to her daughter’s Los Angeles home, which is in an evacuation warning zone. When Brown-Turner was packing to evacuate, she took little with her and expected to return with her home intact.
When she and her family came back, everything was gone: “We kind of still had the hope as we were driving up the neighborhood, but there was no neighborhood left,” said Imani Brown-Turner.
The Brown-Turner family had memories from enslaved family members, including quilts and photos. Those are all gone.
As residents process the grief of losing everything they had, concerns about the future hang heavy over their heads. The region had already been experiencing signs of gentrification ahead of the destructive blaze.
Veronica Jones noted that the homes in Altadena now sell for hefty price tags, as Altadena becomes a desired area for new residents at the base of the beautiful San Gabriel mountains.
“The area is starting to be revitalized again,” said Kim Jones. “We want to come back. We want to come back and rebuild.”
As families prepare to rebuild their homes from scratch, she fears some residents will be preyed upon for quick sales of their land: “But there’s no quick sale. There’s no quick sale because California is expensive to live in. I want my family home to be a family home for the next generation and the generation after that.”
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(WASHINGTON) — The state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter is an attractive target “for violent extremists to attack,” especially after the vehicle ramming in New Orleans that killed 14 people, though there are no known threats to the funeral, according to a new security assessment obtained by ABC News.
“State funerals are considered no-notice events that significantly reduce planning timelines for potential hostile actors,” the document said. “However, state funerals still present attractive targets due to the large gathering of senior US government officials, foreign dignitaries, and heads of state, as well as the symbolic nature of the venues and media attention expected.”
Carter, who died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100, will be honored with a state funeral at Washington National Cathedral on Thursday. President Joe Biden will deliver a eulogy and President-elect Donald Trump is expected to attend.
The memorials for Carter begin on Saturday when he’s transferred from his hometown of Plains, Georgia, to Atlanta. A ceremony will be held at the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta on Saturday afternoon.
Carter’s remains will be transferred to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday and he will lie in state at the Capitol from Tuesday to Thursday. After the service at Washington National Cathedral, Carter’s remains will return to Plains.
The assessment also noted other specially designated security events this month, including the certification of the Electoral College on Jan. 6 and Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. The simultaneous events “may increase the perception of a target-rich environment for a variety of threat actors,” the document said.
“Targets could include the planned special events and ceremonies related to the State Funeral and associated First Amendment-protected activities around these ceremonies,” the assessment said. “While there is no indication that the intersection of these two events will lead to an increased threat picture, the potentially large crowds for both may provide an attractive target to threat actors.”
The document also specifically mentioned the New Year’s attack in New Orleans, noting “the use of vehicle-ramming alone or in conjunction with other tactics has become a recurring tactic employed by violent threat actors in the West.”
The document added that “large crowds gathering in publicly accessible locations to observe or participate in State Funeral events could become targets of opportunity for a vehicle attack.”
Fourteen people were killed and dozens were hurt when a man drove a truck through crowds on Bourbon Street early on New Year’s Day. The suspect, who also died in the attack, posted several videos online “proclaiming his support for ISIS,” and mentioning he joined ISIS before this summer, according to the FBI.
(NEW YORK) — In a now-deleted video posted to Instagram, Selena Gomez appeared in tears over the deportation of Mexican people as President Donald Trump’s mass deportation operation takes effect.
“I just wanted to say that I’m so sorry. All my people are getting attacked, the children,” Gomez said between sobs in her initial post. “I don’t understand. I’m so sorry. I wish I could do something but I can’t. I don’t know what to do.”
The video was accompanied with the text, “I’m sorry,” followed by an emoji of a Mexican flag.
The singer closed with an emotional promise that she would “try everything” to help.
Screenshots have also circulated of a subsequent Instagram story that has since been deleted, in which Gomez wrote, “Apparently it’s not ok to show empathy for people” and indicated receiving backlash for her emotional video.
Sam Parker, a 2018 Republican Senate candidate from Utah, reacted to Gomez’s video with an X post that read, “Deport Selena Gomez,” which is now pinned to his profile.
In response, Gomez turned back to Instagram stories and wrote, “Oh Mr. Parker, Mr. Parker. Thanks for the laugh and the threat.”
ABC News has reached out to Sam Parker for comment.
Born in Texas, Gomez is of Mexican descent and has proudly spoken out about her heritage. In 2021 following the release of her debut Spanish EP, Revelación, she starred in a short film as part of the Artist Spotlight Stories in which she detailed her Mexican identity and family history.
“I wanted to share my story because I’m very proud of who I am,” she said in the video. “As a Mexican woman, I’ve learned so much and continue to learn so much.”
Gomez also recently starred in “Emilia Perez,” a musical film depicting the story of a fictional Mexican drug cartel that was nominated for 13 Oscars on Thursday.
Trump has long vowed to secure the border and conduct mass deportations. On the first day of his administration, he declared a national emergency at the southern border and signed an executive order seeking military assistance to fulfill this mission.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday that her country has received 4,094 migrants, most of whom are Mexican nationals, deported from the U.S. since Jan. 20.
On Sunday, Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz that military aircraft will be utilized daily and promised to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history.
In response to Gomez’s video, Homan told Fox News on Monday that he has “no apologies” and remained steadfast in his commitment to enforcing the deportation operations.
“I don’t think we’ve arrested any families. We’ve arrested public safety threats and national security threats, bottom line,” Homan added. “It is all for the good of this nation, and we’re gonna keep going,” he said.
“Deportation flights have begun,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X on Friday, attaching photos of handcuffed migrants filing into a military aircraft.
Trump also said Friday that the deportations were “going very well.”
Ahead of planned deportations, Mexico’s foreign secretary had advised Mexicans in the U.S. to not open their doors for law enforcement unless necessary.
“If [migration authorities] knock on your door, ask them to show you a warrant and put it under the door. They can’t enter a house if they don’t have a warrant from a judge,” said Juan Ramón de la Fuente, Mexico’s foreign secretary, emphasizing each individual’s right to remain silent.
With 422 million followers, Gomez is the #1 most followed woman on Instagram.
Gomez has spoken out politically in the past. In 2020, she engaged in a video interview with then-Senator Kamala Harris, discussing the importance of voting and supporting mental health initiatives.
Among Gomez’s activism efforts include campaigns and initiatives with UNICEF, as well as her makeup brand’s Rare Impact Fund which advocates for mental health services and education.
