Legislative Attacks on LGBTQ+ Lives Are Piling Up (And Passing) Around the Country

The ACLU is currently tracking 384 anti-LGBTQ bills in the United States. In what are perfect examples of "First They Came" by Martin Niemöller, conservatives and the GOP are not just coming for our lives, but in a number of instances they're getting away with it, too. Here's a look at five of the cases where LGBTQ+ lives are being threatened around the country, and why it should incense you to vote these people out of office.

 

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Anti-Drag Bill Passes In Tennessee

In a move straight out of the movie Footloose, Tennessee passed a bill last week prohibiting "adult cabaret performances" in public or in the presence of children. The new law also bans drag from being within 1,000 feet of schools, public parks, or places of worship. In what is a clear attack on 1st Amendment rights, and rooted in obvious homophobia, the law is just one example of the many issues facing LGBTQ+ Americans today.

Credit: San Jose Museum of Art

Iowa GOP Proposes Anti-Gay Marriage Bill Backed By God

Eight Iowa GOP members co-sponsor House Joint Resolution 8 (IA HJR8), which would seek to end gay marriage and to define marriage strictly between one man and one woman. Actually, in their theocratic vision, they take it even further than that, saying, “In accordance with the laws of nature and nature’s God, the state of Iowa recognizes the definition of marriage to be the solemnized union between one human biological male and one human biological female.”

This is obviously an egregious overstepping of Church into State and is trying to undo legal precedents enacted to protect LGBTQ+ Americans.

Mississippi Bans Treatment for Gender Dysphoria

The DSM-5, which dictates much of the medical practices in America, defines Gender Dysphoria as "clinically significant distress or impairment related to gender incongruence, which may include desire to change primary and/or secondary sex characteristics." Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves just signed into law a bill that prevents healthcare treatments for youth diagnosed with Gender Dysphoria. This also strips parents of the ability to get their children potentially life-saving care.

Montana Passes Bill Strictly Defining Sex In a Major Setback to Nonbinary, Trans, and Intersex Rights

Montana's legislature passed Senate Bill 458 which created a rigid definition of “sex." SB 458 defined sex as, "the organization of the body and gametes for reproduction in human beings and other organisms,” incorrectly clarifying their belief that humans have “exactly two sexes, male and female, with two corresponding gametes. The sexes are determined by the biological indication of male or female, including sex chromosomes, gonads, and nonambiguous internal and external genitalia present at birth, without regard to an individual’s psychological, chosen, or subjective experience of gender.”

In passing SB 458, the Montana legislature said a giant fuck you to the legal existences of intersex, nonbinary, and transgender people in their state, and set a dangerous legal precedent going forward.

Florida Bill Bans Inclusion Initiatives and Gender Studies in Colleges

In an absolutely bizarre attack on the Florida education system, House Bill 999 aims to ban funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at state colleges, as well as to remove gender studies classes from the curriculum. HB 999 goes even further, though, and gives boards of trustees more power on who they hire and fire, and also bans critical race theory from being taught.

Numerous higher education groups immediately publicly condemned the bill, including the American Association of University Presidents, the American Federation of Teachers, and the National Coalition Against Censorship, all of whom stated the bill would “destroy higher education as we know it.”

Keep your eyes open to the laws that are attacking the LGBTQ+ community, and now more than ever let's make sure we're staying vocal in our vigilance against hatred.

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