LGBTQ state of emergency declared in the US by Human Rights Campaign
The largest LGBTQ advocacy group in the United States declared its first-ever national state of emergency Tuesday, decrying the increase in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation it says is trying to regulate the lives of queer Americans.
The Human Rights Campaign said over 70 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been signed into law so far this year — more than double last year’s record.
Most of the recent proposals and policies impact transgender people, HRC said.
Over 525 state bills that “attack the LGBTQ+ community” have been introduced this legislative session alone — almost entirely by Republican lawmakers.
Of those, 220 target the transgender community, the organization said.
Mere days into Pride Month, HRC released a guidebook with “Know your rights” information to support LGBTQ+ travelers and those already living in states with adversarial laws.
The organization’s legislative impact report found there has been a steady increase in anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in state legislatures over the past few years.
It also found that in 2020, the primary focus of the bills shifted from LGBTQ+ people in general to transgender and non-binary youth.
The number of adversarial bills took a staggering leap in just under a decade — skyrocketing from 115 in 2015 to over 500 in 2023.
These bills limit bathrooms transgender people can use, ban gender-affirming care, ban transgender people from sports, and ban drag performances, among other things.
They also “aim to legislate LGBTQ+ people out of all aspects of life,” according to the report.
The report also noted that LGBTQ+ youth who attend schools with an inclusive curriculum “feel safer, are safer and do better in school.”
HRC president Kelley Robinson called out Florida, Tennessee and Texas for their negative policies, which include “banning educators from talking about LGBTQ+ issues and teaching Black history” and “banning gender-affirming care and abortion care.”
Robinson pointed to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, asserting that the Republican “weaponized his position as a lawmaker to target LGBTQ+ families.”
“These laws are fueled by an anti-LGBTQ+ Republican establishment — and coordinated, well-funded extremist groups like the Alliance Defending Freedom, Heritage Foundation, and the Family Policy Alliance — insistent on trying to control our families and lives,” Robinson said.
The Alliance Defending Freedom called HRC’s statement “slanderous,” and said it was committed to religious liberty, parental rights, and the “sanctity of life.”
“No amount of false accusations will deter us from our mission,” senior vice president Jeremy Tedesco said in a statement, according to Reuters.
Jeremy Redfern, a spokesperson for DeSantis, called the state of emergency a “stunt.”
Advocates of the bills that HRC deems anti-LGBTQ say they are looking to protect children from misguided parents and doctors who support gender transition — though major medical associations endorse gender-affirming care as necessary and often life-saving.
Twenty states now ban gender-affirming care, and 32 states introduced such legislation this year, putting half of all transgender youth at risk, according to HRC.
There are currently 22 states with transgender sports bans and nine states with bathroom bans.
With Post wires
