Tag: LGBTQ

National State of Emergency for LGBTQ+ Americans

June 7, 2023 / CounterPoint

The Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. on Tuesday and released a guidebook pointing to laws it deems discriminatory in each state, along with “know your rights” information and resources to help people relocate to states with stronger LGBTQ+ protections.

We have officially declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the United States for the first time following an unprecedented and dangerous spike in anti-LGBTQ+ legislative assaults sweeping state houses this year. More than 75 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been signed into law this year alone, more than doubling last year’s number, which was previously the worst year on record.

Sounding the alarm about the current political climate, the nation’s largest organization devoted to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Americans said travel advisories aren’t enough to help people already living in states where lawmakers have targeted LGBTQ+ people.

The HRC guidebook provides information about filing complaints for civil rights violations and points to resources for financing moves and finding employment, particularly in the 17 states with a trifecta of Democratic leadership in both legislative chambers and the governor’s office.

Leaked emails give a glimpse of the religious-right networks behind transgender health care bans.

March 20, 2023 / CounterPoint

On a Saturday afternoon in August 2019, South Dakota Republican state Rep. Fred Deutsch sent an email to 18 anti-trans activists, doctors, and lawyers with the text of a bill he planned to introduce that would make it a felony for doctors to give transgender children under 16 gender-affirming medical care. “I have no doubt this will be an uphill battle when we get to the session,” Deutsch warned the group. “As always, please do not share this with the media. The longer we can fly under the radar the better.”

The emails demonstrate close collaboration between groups working behind the scenes to push bills banning transgender health care, including ADF—which has defended state-sanctioned sterilization of trans people in Europe—and the ACPeds—which has opposed adoption by gay couples and supported conversion therapy for LGBTQ youth. In recent years, ADF has drafted legislation banning trans children from using school restrooms or playing on school sports teams that align with their gender identity. (Both groups are also staunchly anti-abortion; ADF, which drafted the Mississippi abortion ban at the heart of the case that overturned Roe v. Wade, is currently representing ACPeds in a closely-watched lawsuit to ban an abortion pill, mifepristone, nationally.)

“These are groups who we know are not interested in the best-practice care for trans kids,” says Cathryn Oakley, state legislative director and senior counsel for the Human Rights Campaign. “These bills are coming from national organizations whose purpose is to harm LGBTQ people.”

Inside the secret working group that helped push anti-trans laws across the country

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters. On a Saturday afternoon in August 2019, South Dakota Republican state Rep. Fred Deutsch sent an email to 18 anti-trans activists, doctors, and lawyers withthe text of a bill he planned to introduce that would make it a felony for doctors to give transgender children under 16 gender-affirming medical care.

Check out the list of big wins Michigan Democrats are delivering, from LGBTQ rights to tax relief

March 9, 2023 / CounterPoint

Michigan Democrats are showing what’s possible when Democrats win control of a government. After the party got a trifecta in Michigan for the first time in decades, lawmakers have not wasted time. The Michigan House voted to repeal the right to work and to reinstate the prevailing wage law, and on Wednesday, the House voted to expand the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. The state Senate passed those bills last week, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has said she plans to sign them. The state Supreme Court had ruled that the existing law covers sexual orientation and gender identity, but as we know, putting things into law is more permanent than relying on the courts.

But those were just the latest moves by Michigan Democratic lawmakers:

Check out the list of big wins Michigan Democrats are delivering, from LGBTQ rights to tax relief

Michigan Democrats are showing what’s possible when Democrats win control of a government. After the party got a trifecta in Michigan for the first time in decades, lawmakers have not wasted time. On Wednesday, the Michigan House voted to expand the…