GLAAD DEBUTS PSA FEATURING TEXAS FAMILY WITH TRANSGENDER CHILD CALLING FOR NATIONWIDE SUPPORT FOR LGBTQ YOUTH

GLAAD DEBUTS PSA FEATURING TEXAS FAMILY WITH TRANSGENDER CHILD CALLING FOR NATIONWIDE SUPPORT FOR LGBTQ YOUTH

New public service announcement will run nationwide after premiering during the GLAAD Media Awards 

Mom Amber Briggle on stage at the GLAAD Media Awards in emotional speech: “I want parents everywhere to know that my child is no different than any other.”

Wednesday, April 6, 2022 – GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization, today announces the launch of new PSAs centering Texas mom Amber Briggle. Amber speaks about her family in the PSA videos, including her transgender teenaged son, Max. Audience members at the 33rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles got a sneak peak of the PSA on Saturday, where Amber introduced the video and shared her story on stage.

GLAAD is working to secure donated airtime for the PSAs and today announced that Comcast NBCUniversal, Paramount, WarnerMedia, and The Walt Disney Company will run versions of the PSA nationwide.

Watch the PSAs below:
            60 second version
            30 second version
            10 second version

“I want parents everywhere to know that my child is no different than any other,” said Texas mom Amber from the GLAAD Media Awards stage after she was introduced by transgender stars Nicole Maines and Jazz Jennings (LINK TO CLIP HERE). Briggle also offered a directive for the entertainment industry leaders in the audience: “when you’re making TV shows and movies and writing stories on the news, I am begging you: humanize and normalize families with trans kids and trans people of every age and background.”.

Transcript of Amber’s speech available here.

Briggle also spoke about Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his wife, Angela, accepting an invitation for dinner at her home in 2016: “We invited Attorney General Ken Paxton and his wife Angela to our home for dinner a couple of years back just so they could meet a transgender child and see how much we love our kids… But a few weeks ago they sent Child Protective Services to our home to sit at that same table and question us. I was sure they were going to take my kids away, and I have never been more terrified… While a court has barred Texas from investigating parents of trans kids, who knows if that temporary ban will be lifted or what the next political attack will be.”

“Now more than ever, it is critical that stories about LGBTQ people and our families are told,” said GLAAD CEO & President Sarah Kate Ellis. “The story of the Briggle family in Texas is the story of so many families across the country. It’s a story that resonates with me as a mom: a story about loving and supporting your children, even in the midst of unthinkable, unprecedented attacks on our children. Today, as a mom, I call on all moms out there: love and support all kids, including LGBTQ kids. They need us, and we have the power to make change.” 
The PSA directs viewers to the new site equality-now.org, which features information on LGBTQ youth and calls on visitors to show public support for them. The site is owned and managed by GLAAD, with support from partners at the Equality Federation Institute, the Freedom for All Americans Education Fund, the National Center for Transgender Equality, and the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund.

The PSA was created as part of GLAAD’s efforts to spread humanizing stories about LGBTQ young people and their families. The video premieres at a time when a growing number of states across the country are proposing and passing bills that could cause harm to LGBTQ youth, including a February 2022 Texas directive which calls for investigations into parents of transgender. In late March 2022, a Texas appeals court reinstated a temporary injunction ensuring families seeking gender-affirming care for their trans children cannot be investigated by state authorities. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton responded by asking the Texas Supreme Court to block the lower court’s order. Every major medical association has issued statements of support for gender-affirming care as evidence-based, peer-reviewed, with wide consensus in the medical and scientific communities as safe and lifesaving for trans youth.

More than 225 anti-LGBTQ bills have been filed in the first three months of 2022. 65 percent of those bills were focused on transgender people, mostly transgender youth. These laws would negatively impact access to medical care for transgender people, LGBTQ discussions in classrooms, social and family services, and student sports, among other issues.