Let's get to some headlines. Columbia University began suspending students at the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on Monday afternoon. These students won't be able to finish their semester or graduate. They're also banned from university housing and academic buildings according to CNN. The school set a deadline that morning telling protesters that if they didn't leave by 2pm, they'd risk suspension. The school informed students that they quote, will not divest from Israel, say to a plot, a student organizer with the Encampment said in a news conference on Monday that the university refused to comply with the protesters' demands. We demand divestment. We will not be moved unless by force. Now once that 2pm deadline hit, hundreds of university faculty, staff and other students began forming a human chain around the Encampment in Solidarity with the protesters. Students at Columbia have occupied the main lawn for almost two weeks now. Monday was the last day of classes. As of now, the university commencement ceremony is still scheduled for May 15th.

I attended that university and I can tell you that the number one thing they care about is those lawns. Shame. Mm-mm. They love those lawns. They don't want you on them. They

don't want you messing up their grass. Especially with graduation coming up honey. Those lawns are their primary care.

Easily. A federal appeals court ruled on Monday that certain state insurance plans must provide coverage for gender affirming care. The forced circuit issued the ruling, the first of its kind in the country, which dealt with cases brought in West Virginia and North Carolina. The North Carolina case was brought by state employees who weren't able to get healthcare coverage for their transgender children. And in West Virginia, trans folks on Medicaid were limited to coverage for some treatments like hormones, but not for surgery. The court ruled that these policies are discriminatory affirming two lower court rulings. It's a big win. We spoke with Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, who is part of the legal team in the North Carolina case.

There is serious harm for being denied coverage for the healthcare that you need. And in this day and age right now, where we're seeing 24 states ban this care or restrict this care for transgender youth, this is an important reminder that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Their constitution should and does include all of us. And we will continue this fight at every venue possible.

The states are already seeking review from the Supreme Court. We'll see if the highest court takes up this case. But in the meantime, these exclusionary policies are not in place right now. So trans folks in not just West Virginia and North Carolina, but South Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland are covered under state insurance

plans.