According to the data provided by the American Civil Liberties Union, the number of anti-LGBTQ measures that were submitted in state legislatures across the United States reached a new record of at least 510 in the previous year. This amount represents a considerable increase from the previous year. That’s roughly three times as many bills of a similar nature that were introduced the previous year.
According to data collected by the organization up until the 21st of December, the number of bills about education and health care reached unprecedented heights. There was a heavy emphasis placed on regulating curriculum in public schools, particularly about debates on gender identity and sexuality. This was in addition to a renewed push to restrict the access of transgender kids to gender-affirming health care.
Care that affirms a person’s gender identity is an essential component of medical therapy that is backed by an abundance of scientific evidence. The process involves taking a holistic approach to assisting individuals in making the transition from the gender they were assigned at birth to the gender they identify with emotionally.
The environment has been fast changing as a result of the continuous influx of new bills that have been introduced. According to Kat Carrick, a professor at the LGBT Health Policy and Practice Program at George Washington University, a measure that was presented to the public yesterday is already regarded to be out of date.
There was a considerable increase in the number of education-related laws that were introduced across the country in the previous year, as indicated by data provided by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The number of legislation that was introduced in 2021 was, in point of fact, more than twice as much as the number that was introduced in 2020.
Another change that has taken place is the transition toward different types of bills. Following in the footsteps of Florida’s contentious legislation, which has been derided as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, several states have submitted plans that are similar to Florida’s to restrict talks about sexual orientation or gender identity in schools. Several other states have also introduced measures to prohibit drag shows, so Tennessee is not the only state that is making an effort to do so.
Gillian Branstetter, a communications strategist with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), was interviewed by CNN in April. In the interview, she brought attention to the expanding scope and size of these attacks during the past few years, particularly around the year 2020-2021. “This year, there has been a noticeable decline in the overall number of bills, but what is even more concerning is the severity of the ones that remain.”
Several states have lately proposed legislation that would require schools to notify parents whenever a kid begins using a different name or pronoun, even if the student has not given their agreement to the change. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has provided data indicating that a significant proportion of the measures that have been submitted in the education sector this year are what they describe as “forced outings” bills.
According to Branstetter, these measures are founded on the erroneous idea that teachers are encouraging transgender identification among pupils in a clandestine manner without the knowledge of the parents. It is essential for the growth and well-being of young people that they create a relationship of trust with their teachers.
In the table located above, the group that is labeled as “other school barriers” includes two different sorts of bills that have the potential to influence the usage of preferred pronouns by students, particularly if those pronouns are different from the pronouns that were assigned to them at birth. These proposals have two primary goals: either they will provide teachers the freedom to deny using students’ preferred pronouns outright or they will prevent teachers from using students’ preferred pronouns outside of parental approval.
Furthermore, it includes laws that are referred to as the “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” which are designed to improve transparency in the educational system. This legislation seeks to accomplish this by requiring schools to disclose their curriculum in a public forum and by providing parents the ability to review books and other reading materials that are available in school libraries. Increased parental supervision, according to proponents of the Republican party, can effectively prevent children from being exposed to what they believe to be “radical” literature as well as inappropriate conversations about issues about race, gender, and sexuality.
The year was marked by the passage of a substantial number of measures that were subsequently signed into law in several states. 16% of all bills that were submitted across the country in 2023 are accounted for by this. Tennessee and North Dakota both enacted ten anti-LGBTQ measures, making them two of the states with the most anti-LGBTQ legislation.