Growing Threat to Human Rights with Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation
As we spend the month of June celebrating the lengths we have come in the fight for equality for the LGBTQ+ community, it is important to remember the fight is not over. Rideshare2Vote is monitoring bills throughout the nation that stand to limit the rights and freedoms of those in the LGBTQ+ community as we look toward upcoming elections and how we can best help protect those in the community.
In the past three years, conservative lawmakers have increased their political attacks against the LGBTQ+ community. The ACLU is currently tracking 491 anti-LGBTQ bills, with issues centering around healthcare, public accommodations, schools and education, free speech and expression, accurate IDs, civil rights, and other anti-LGBTQ bills.
The healthcare issue includes bills targeting access to medically-necessary healthcare for transgender people. As of June 9, the ACLU is tracking 130 healthcare-related bills. Eight bills target public accommodation, including those that prohibit transgender people from using public facilities such as bathrooms and locker rooms. Bills classified under the issue of free speech and expression include those that restrict how and when LGBTQ people can be themselves and limit access to books about the LGBTQ community. 43 bills are being tracked that fall under this issue.
The ACLU is also tracking 16 bills that attempt to limit one’s ability to change their gender information on IDs and records, including driver’s licenses and birth certificates. Finally, the organization is tracking 40 bills that attempt to undermine and weaken nondiscrimination laws, including those which allow employers to consider an individual’s sexual orientation during the hiring process. The ACLU is not the only organization concerned with human rights violations against the LGBTQ+ community.
On June 6, 2023, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) declared a State of Emergency for LGBTQ+ Americans for the first time ever, issuing warnings and a guidebook to ensure safety for LGBTQ+ residents and travelers. Even other countries have warned citizens about traveling to the United States. Venezuela and Uruguay issued warnings in 2019 due to the “proliferation of acts of violence and indiscriminate hate crimes.” Since 2021, state lawmakers have begun targeting those under 18, with 42 bills in 22 states aiming to restrict education about gender identity and sexual orientation. Of those 42 states, Florida is the only one to move the bill into law, creating a firestorm of questions regarding freedom of speech and the right to the pursuit of happiness. However, the passing of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” Bill has encouraged conservative lawmakers in other states to push copycat bills across the country through their state Houses.
Seven of the 22 states have Democratic governors, causing the bills to have an unlikely chance of passing. The majority of the bills would ban lessons about sexual orientation and gender identity to fifth, sixth, or eighth grade. However, seven of the proposed bills would ban these lessons from kindergarten to 12th grade or the entirety of required education. Florida has set a perilous precedent, prohibiting adolescents from safely learning how to approach their changing emotions and identity, leaving them to face this next part of their life alone and as an outcast. Bills such as the one in Florida stand only to increase rates of depression and anxiety in children and young adults in a country that already stigmatizes mental health issues.
Despite Republicans pushing to “Make America Great Again,” their views and laws have created a nation in which citizens live in fear, and other countries and organizations worry about the safety of their citizens when traveling here. We must elect officials whose goal is to protect the citizens and allow our youth to feel comfortable with their identity. Rideshare2Vote strives to help elect Democratic candidates who want to protect our citizens and lift our nation. We must catch up in the fight to preserve human rights and work with our elected officials to get back on track in ensuring every American has the equal right to the pursuit of happiness.
by Delany Doggett
