Anti-LGBTQ+ Bills Threaten the Livelihood of Queer People Across the US.
- May 14, 2023
- 2 min read
Content Warnings: anti-LGBTQ+, suicide.
Written by Emma Louise Constable
In 2023, the rise of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation has increased more than double from 2022 (180 bills) and almost ten times from 2018 (42 bills). As of April 3rd of 2023, 417 bills threaten the livelihood of Queer people across the US. Most of these bills target education, fueled by the fear-mongering politicians that thrive off of spreading misinformation about queer and trans youth. Not only do these politicians attack queer people in schools, but also medically, advocating for the removal of care for trans youth, making it a crime for these kids to get gender-affirming care.
In schools, most of the bills focus on curriculum censorship, with 62 bills. "Forced outing," which refers to outing the child to their parents if they express any type of expression on the LGBTQ+ spectrum, with 60 bills. And lastly, 58 bills focused on athletics, explicitly barring trans kids from competing with the gender that they express. Parents that are scared of LGBTQ+ influence on their kids are going so far as removing exposure to content that shows LGBTQ+ people in the forefront. This not only censors media that is helpful to kids but also may make kids feel isolated and unseen. Legislation that does not contribute to the previous categories mostly advocates for not using students' preferred pronouns and allowing parents to restrict any content in schools that they deem inappropriate for their kids, which does not allow for the exposure of diverse voices in classrooms.
Drag shows are also in the spotlight for these bills, especially since these are the first ever bills in our history to specifically target drag shows, classifying them as "adult cabaret." Drag is not always sexual. It is not dangerous. It is art.
Some bills have attacked health care for queer and trans youth, with "...more than two-thirds of the health care related bills are aimed at blocking trans youth from getting gender-affirming care..." (Choi). Most of these bills are based on fear, with the paranoia of parents who think that teachers will influence their kids to become trans as their fuel. This idea is dangerous, considering 86% of transgender youth have contemplated committing suicide, with 56% of them actually attempting suicide (NLM).
With these terrifyingly high numbers of trans youth, these bills may even raise the suicide rate amongst trans youth. With the "outing" bills as well, consider kids who live in unsafe and unsupportive households and the risk that these bills will put these kids in. Queer and Trans kids need their government support to survive, and stripping them of their rights will just further raise the suicidality rates. It will possibly have many, many other repercussions for such ignorant legislation.
Advocate, educate, and spread awareness, fear is the biggest flame in this fire.
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