Photo courtesy of ABC News
Eight years after same-sex marriage was nationally legalized in the United States, LGBTQ+ rights are now in more danger than ever. In 2023 alone, 520 bills have been proposed in the US state legislature, according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). 187 of them have passed already.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is currently tracking over 500 of these bills. Its interactive map details the number of bills proposed in state legislatures per state. Texas, for example, has proposed 54 anti-LGBTQ+ bills. In comparison, Florida has proposed 10, South Carolina has proposed 20, North Dakota has proposed 17, and New Jersey has proposed 6.
These are truly unsettling numbers. The Human Rights Campaign reports that the majority of the nation agrees: “64% of all likely voters think there is “too much legislation” aimed at “limiting the rights of transgender and gay people in America” — including 72% of Democrats, 65% of Independents, and 55% of Republicans [source].” If the majority of Americans disagree with the actions – or the vast number of legislation in general – one would think that the politicians representing such people would attempt to reflect this sentiment. Sadly, that’s not the case. “There have been more anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in state houses this year than in each of the previous five years; with the increase in LGBTQ Erasure bills, bills that strip away dozens of legal protections and rights for LGBTQ+ people, coming as the newest form of attacks on the community,” as stated by the Human Rights Campaign.
Photo via ACLU website
To make matters worse, although much of the public disapproves, more than half of these proposed bills have either been passed into law or are currently advancing in courts (ALCU). Unfortunately, the minority is louder than the majority. There has been an increase in hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people in recent years. In an article detailing a briefing from the Department of Homeland Security, “According to DHS, about 20% of all hate crimes reported throughout the country in 2021 were motivated by bias linked to sexual orientation and gender, citing the FBI’s hate crime statistics” (ABC News).
Even after the considerable progress the United States has made, small, loud numbers of hateful people can commit crimes against and assault anyone that they disapprove of. What’s truly devastating is the effects this cruelty has on LGBTQ+ people, especially queer youth. The Trevor Project reported, “LGBTQ youth are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers”. Suicide and homicide are already some of the leading causes of death in teenagers, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Some people go as far as to say these proposed bills are an attack against LGBTQ+ rights. CNN stated, “‘We have seen the scope and scale of these attacks increase over the last few years, starting around 2020-2021,’ said Gillian Branstetter, communications strategist for the ACLU. ‘This year, it’s not just the total number that has gotten worse, but the extremity of the bills.’” Over the past few years, anti-LGBTQ+ attacks have increased drastically in numbers, severity, and range. Even states that tend to be liberal have proposed such laws, as the American Civil Liberties Union proved.
Of the 520 bills proposed, 220 of these specifically target transgender and genderqueer people (HRC). Many of these regard the use of different names than a given birth name at school. CNN described this with more detail: “Several states have introduced “forced outing” bills, which would require teachers to alert parents when a student begins going by a different name or pronouns, even without the consent of the student. Sixty of the education-related bills introduced this year are “forced outings” bills, according to ACLU data.” This can be incredibly dangerous to students, as many of them would risk their safety by telling their parents this information.
The Trevor Project released a Homelessness Report regarding the correlation between LGBTQ+ youth homelessness and gender identity. Up to 39% of transgender, nonbinary, and genderqueer youth have experienced homelessness or housing instability. Similarly, 14% of all LGBTQ+ youths in America have been kicked out or abandoned, with 40% citing their gender identity or sexuality as the reason (Trevor Project Homelessness Report).
The danger for LGBTQ+ people in the United States is increasing exponentially, seemingly headed in such a direction that queer people may have fewer rights in a few years than 20 years ago. This cannot be allowed to happen. LGBTQ+ people have been forced into hiding at the risk of being shunned – or even losing their lives – for far too long. The “land of the free” must be held accountable for its actions clearly attempting to rob such freedom from a large community that is not going away.