“What more terrifying intrusion of the state could there be?”Īs the number of anti-LGBTQ bills hits record highs, research shows that so, too, has support for LGBTQ rights and policies prohibiting discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. “It’s important for people to pause and think about what is happening - especially in the health care context - because what we’re seeing is that the state should have the authority to declare a population of people so undesirable that their medical care that they need to survive becomes a crime,” Chase Strangio, the deputy director for transgender justice at the ACLU LGBT & HIV Project, said. Opponents, however, contend they’re discriminatory and are more about scoring political points with conservative voters than protecting constituents. Proponents of these bills say they’re about protecting children, parental rights, religious freedom or a combination of these.
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.
