State of emergency declared for LGBTQ+ people in the US

In the light of pride month, Human Rights Campaign (America’s largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization) declared a national state of emergency for members of the community for the first time in its four-decade history.

Human Rights Campaign noted over 70 anti-LGBTQ bills were passed in statehouses this legislative session, double last year's previous record, Reuters reported.

Moreover, some 525 bills were introduced, virtually all by Republicans, including more than 220 affecting transgender people, Human Rights Campaign added.

“LGBTQ+ Americans are living in a state of emergency. The multiplying threats facing millions in our community are not just perceived, they are real, tangible and dangerous,” the group’s president, Kelley Robinson, according to CNN.

Researchers and LGBTQ+ advocates in the United States have tracked an increase in hate speech in social media and threats of violence, which, they warn, extremist groups may see as a call to action.

Recently, members of two far-right groups, the Patriot Front and the Proud Boys, gathered outside of a Unitarian church in Columbus, Ohio, leading to the cancellation of a drag queen story hour, several media reported.

The Department of Homeland Security warned that white supremacists are using social media platforms to present skewed framing of divisive issues like abortion, guns and LGBTQ+ rights, potentially driving extremists to attack public places across the U.S.

Domestic extremist groups see conservatives as potential allies, according to anthropologist Sophie Bjork-James. “Anti-LGBTQ sentiment is one of the easiest ways to build a broader coalition among the radical right," she said to Voice of America.

Heather Scott, an Idaho Republican lawmaker,  told an audience that drag queens and other LGBTQ+ supporters are waging a "war of perversion against our children."

Image: Bret Kavanough

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his supporters have labeled as a “groomer” anyone who believes children can learn LGBTQ+ people exist, arguing that simply by talking about gay relationships to a child, you are sexualizing that child.

Jennifer McCoy, a professor of political science at Georgia State University, said that when people with influence, like political figures, sports or entertainment stars, religious leaders or media figures, engage in rhetoric against specific groups, supporters can interpret it as a call for action.

The annual number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills filed has skyrocketed from 41 bills in 2018 to at least 525 bills in 2023.

The slate of legislation includes measures that would restrict LGBTQ+ issues in school curriculums, permit religious exemptions to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people and limit trans people’s ability to play sports, use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity and receive gender-affirming health care.

One of the most famous of the anti-LGBTQ+ laws is the piece of Florida legislation banning instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in schools between kindergarten and third grade, the so-called “don’t say gay” law.

“A state hasn’t passed a law like this in more than 20 years,” said Shannon Minter, the legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and a trans man. “Like many other people, I thought there was no way they would, because it’s so draconian and obviously unconstitutional.”

After becoming a law in Florida, a coalition of 14 GOP-led states wants a federal court to uphold the “Don’t Say Gay” law, signaling that more states could be on board with passing their own versions of the law.

In February 2022, Texas Republicans Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton, not only banned gender-affirming medical care for trans youth but reframed their parents as child abusers. Paxton signed a legal opinion that parents or doctors who helped children transition were abusers who should be investigated by law enforcement.

Paxton was followed by Arizona’s governor, Doug Ducey, who, after barring minors from gender-affirmation treatment, wouldn’t even state for the record that trans people were real.

Paxton and Ducey were supported in the media by commentators like Tucker Carlson, who claimed “no one had heard of this trans thing four years ago.”

It’s things like these that have forced some families to uproot their lives and flee their homes in search of safer states, said Human Rights Campaign, adding that they would release a “know your rights guidebook” with information of state-by-state laws, and resources designed to support LGBTQ+ people living in hostile states.

Proponents of anti-LGBTQ+ bills claim they’re about protecting children, parental rights, religious freedom or a combination of these. Opponents, however, say they’re discriminatory and are more about scoring political points with conservative voters than protecting constituents.

But as the number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills hits record highs, so has support for the collective’s rights. Nearly 8 in 10 Americans support laws that protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination in jobs and housing, according to a Public Religion Research Institute survey, and nearly 70% of Americans support same-sex marriage, up from 54% in 2014.

Nevertheless, this anti-LGBTQ+ renewed movement, channeling itself through overheated rhetoric about “parents’ rights”, now threatens to undo much of the progress America has made on LGBTQ+ rights over the last 15 years.