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Overview of over 300 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in 2022

As Republican politicians continue to push for limits to LGBTQ+ rights, many LGBTQ+ people & their allies promise to continue fighting

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Graphic via The Human Rights Campaign

In May 2021, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) officially announced the worst year for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in recent history. At the time, state lawmakers introduced over 250 bills ā€“ from anti-Trans sports legislation to religious refusal measures ā€“ in statehouses across the country, 17 of which were enacted into law. 

Now, LGBTQ+ rights in states seem to be taking even more of a hit. According to HRC, over 300 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have surfaced in 36 Legislatures. As the legislation increases ā€“ 41 such measures were introduced in 2018 ā€“ so does the number of bills passed and enshrined into state law, though LGBTQ+ advocates often challenge the laws in court.  

The legislation overwhelmingly targets Trans youth, according to the organization, from blocking participation in sports to baring access to gender-affirming care. Lawmakers have also attempted, and in some cases passed, legislation limiting how LGBTQ+ issues can be taught in schools and keeping Trans kids from using restrooms that correspond with their gender identity. 

ā€œ2022 is on track to surpass last yearā€™s record number of anti-transgender bills,ā€ Cathryn Oakley, state legislative director and senior counsel at the HRC, told the Blade, calling the ā€œlegislative attacksā€ on Trans youth ā€œcraven, baseless, and an effort to create more division, fearmonger, and rile up radical right-wing voters at the expense of innocent kids.ā€

Proponents of the bills say they are to ā€œprotect” parental rights, children and religious freedom. However, LGBTQ+ advocates and people continue to denounce the legislation as discriminatory and harmful. 

This year, one of the most talked-about anti-LGBTQ+ measures was Floridaā€™s so-called ā€œDonā€™t Say Gayā€ bill, which Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law last month. The legislation will ban classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3 if it survives legal challenges. 

Days after DeSantis signed the bill, the first lawsuit against the measure emerged, arguing the statute ā€œwould deny to an entire generation that LGBTQ people exist and have equal dignity.ā€

ā€œThis effort to control young minds through state censorship ā€”and to demean LGBTQ lives by denying their reality ā€” is a grave abuse of power,ā€ the lawsuit says.

Since Republican sponsors successfully pushed the bill through, other states have followed in Floridaā€™s footsteps. Ohio, for example, introduced its version of the legislation roughly a week after DeSantisā€™ signature. 

In Alabama, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed an anti-Trans bathroom bill with a last-minute amendment to keep educators from discussing gender identity and sexual orientation in grades K-5. Ivey didnā€™t stop there, also signing a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for minors. 

Like Florida, LGBTQ+ advocates were quick to announce legal challenges to the legislation. Some of the most prominent LGBTQ+ and civil rights organizations ā€“ including the HRC, GLAD and Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) ā€“ announced a legal challenge in federal court against Alabamaā€™s gender-affirming care ban. 

In terms of legislation introduced, Tennessee has far outpaced other states, according to LGBTQ+ rights organization Freedom for All Americans. The groupā€™s legislative tracker found over 30 bills limiting LGBTQ+ rights in the state ā€“ including a ā€œDonā€™t Say Gayā€ bill and a ban on LGBTQ-themed literature in schools. But, unlike other Republican-controlled states, none have made it out of the statehouse. 

Arizona has also been a hotspot for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, with at least 17 bills, according to Freedom for All Americans. In March, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed two bills limiting the rights of Trans people in the state ā€“ one banning some types of medical care for Trans youth, and the other preventing Trans students from participating in school sports consistent with their gender identity.

ā€œAcross the country, moderate Republicans are strugglingā€”and too often failingā€”to stop the takeover of their party by dangerous extremists,ā€ Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), told the Blade at the time, adding: ā€œWe are in danger of watching large segments of our nation give way to authoritarian extremism.ā€

In other states, anti-LGBTQ+ legislation became law without support from its governor ā€“ Democratic or Republican. In fact, two Republican governors vetoed anti-Trans sports bills in late March.  

Anti-LGBTQ+ Bills in 2022 (Graphic via The Human Rights Campaign)

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, both Republicans, vetoed legislation that barred Trans youth from participating in sports. Cox said the bill had ā€œseveral fundamental flaws and should be reconsidered,ā€ while Holcomb said the measure was in search of a problem. 

In the end, however, the Utah House overturned Coxā€™s veto days later. Holcombā€™s veto still stands. 

ā€œThis [Utah] bill focuses on a problem of ā€˜fairnessā€™ in school sports that simply does not exist ā€” but its negative impacts on the mental health and well-being of trans and nonbinary youth are very real,ā€ said Sam Ames, director of advocacy and government affairs at The Trevor Project. ā€œThese youth already face disproportionate rates of bullying, depression, and suicide risk, and bills like this one will only make matters worse.ā€

In recent weeks, two Democratic governors vetoed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation from their Republican-controlled legislatures. 

Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear vetoed legislation that would ban Trans girls from playing on sports teams in Kentucky schools that match their gender identities from sixth grade through college. GOP lawmakers quickly overturned the decision

ā€œShame on the Kentucky General Assembly for attacking trans kids today,ā€ said Chris Hartman, executive director for the Fairness Campaign. Shame on our commonwealthā€™s lawmakers for passing the first explicitly anti-LGBTQ law in Kentucky in almost a decade.ā€ 

Kansas Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed last weekend two anti-LGBTQ+ measures, the ā€œParentsā€™ Bill of Rightsā€ and the ā€œFairness in Womenā€™s Sportsā€ Acts. 

GOP lawmakers in Idaho decided last month to effectively kill a bill criminalizing gender-affirming care, one of the most extreme proposals in the country. It would have made it a felony ā€” punishable by up to life in prison ā€” to provide minors with hormones, puberty blockers or gender-affirming surgery.

In a statement, Idaho Senate Republicans said they ā€œstonglyā€ oppose ā€œany and all gender reassignment and surgical manipulation of the natural sexā€ on minors. But they also wrote that the controversial legislation ā€œunderminesā€ a parentā€™s right to make medical decisions for their children.  

ā€œWe believe in parentsā€™ rights and that the best decisions regarding medical treatment options for children are made by parents, with the benefit of their physicianā€™s advice and expertise,ā€ the senators wrote. 

Texas is one of the 14 states with no anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, as the state only holds legislative sessions in odd years. However, the Lone Star State has made headlines for anti-Trans orders from Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. 

Abbott, in February, directed the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to investigate reports of gender-affirming care on minors as ā€œchild abuse.ā€ The order followed an official opinion from state Attorney General Ken Paxton that called the treatment a form of ā€œchild abuseā€ under Texas law. 

Since, two Texas judges have ruled against the policy ā€“ one in district court and the other after an appeal. Still, Paxton vows to keep fighting for the order in court. 

But even as Republican politicians continue to push for limits to LGBTQ+ rights, many LGBTQ+ advocates, people and allies promise to continue fighting against the discriminatory efforts ā€“ whether in court or on the streets. 

ā€œThe Human Rights Campaign strongly condemns these harmful, potentially life-threatening bills and will continue to use every tool at our disposal to fight for the rights of transgender youth and all LGBTQ+ people,ā€ Oakley said.

In a January 2022 poll by The Trevor Project, an organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ youth under 25, and Morning Consult, over two-thirds of LGBTQ youth said recent debates over state laws that target transgender people have negatively impacted their mental health.

 “These results underscore how recent politics and ongoing crises facing the globe can have a real, negative impact on LGBTQ young people, a group consistently found to be at significantly increased risk for depression, anxiety and attempting suicide because of how they are mistreated and stigmatized in society,” Amit Paley, CEO of The Trevor Project, said in a statement.

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Congress

House passes spending bill as Greene threatens to oust Johnson

51 of 52 anti-LGBTQ riders were defeated

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) speaks at a press conference on Sept. 20. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The U.S. House of Representatives averted a government shutdown on Friday with a vote of 286-134 to pass the $1.2 trillion spending bill, over the objections of hard-right members like U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).

The congresswoman subsequently filed a motion to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who is himself an ultraconservative legislator. The move marked the second time in six months that the party has called for a vote to oust their own leader.

ā€œToday I filed a motion to vacate after Speaker Johnson has betrayed our conference and broken our rules,ā€ said Greene, who refused to say whether she would call up the resolution to call for a snap vote, which likely means the matter will be delayed until after the two-week recess.

Greene and Johnson are at odds over the content of the minibus appropriations package, with the congresswoman calling it a “Chuck Schumer, Democrat-controlled bill” that does not contain conservative policy demands on matters like immigration and LGBTQ issues.

The speaker, meanwhile, proclaimed, ā€œHouse Republicans achieved conservative policy wins, rejected extreme Democrat proposals, and imposed substantial cuts while significantly strengthening national defense.ā€

With respect to anti-LGBTQ riders submitted by Republican members, more than 50 were ultimately stripped from the bill, which the Human Rights Campaign celebrated as “a victory,” crediting lawmakers for their “bipartisan, bicameral negotiations.”

Of the 52 anti-LGBTQ riders, only one survived in the $1.2 trillion package passed on Friday: A ban on flying Pride flags at U.S. embassies.

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Congress

Massive defeat for anti-trans, anti-LGBTQ riders in spending bill

Proposal has only one rider that would target community

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U.S. Capitol
U.S. Capitol (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

On Thursday, Congress unveiled the much-anticipated spending bill to avert a government shutdown. The bill, which includes funding for major government departments such as Health and Human Services and Education, featured fierce negotiations over conservative ā€œpolicy riders.ā€ 

These policy riders included bans on coverage for gender-affirming care, DEI bans, sports bans and more. Despite some indications that Democrats might compromise due to the sheer number of conservative policy riders, it appears those fears did not come to fruition. Democrats held firm in negotiations, and the most impactful anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ riders were nowhere to be found.

One policy rider proposed for the Food and Drug Administration would have defunded any hospital that ā€œdistributes, sells or otherwise uses drugs that disrupt the onset of puberty or sexual development for those under 18,ā€ a measure targeting not only transgender youth but also those experiencing precocious puberty. 

Another rider sought to bar any government funding toward ā€œsurgical procedures or hormone therapy for the purposes of gender-affirming careā€ in the Department of Health and Human Services. This move would have significantly impacted private and subsidized insurance in the Healthcare Marketplace. It also aimed to bar the enforcement of President Joe Bidenā€™s executive order titled ā€œPreventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity,ā€ which broadened anti-discrimination protections for trans individuals.

Additional riders included bans on funding for any organization thatĀ ā€œpromotes transgenderism,ā€Ā Title IX protections for trans youth, bans on legal challenges against states over anti-LGBTQ+ laws, book bans, DEI bans and more.

In total, over 40 riders were proposed and negotiated in the spending bills. None of these were found in the final bill.

Ultimately, the final spending bill released contained only a single anti-LGBTQ rider: A ban on Pride flags being raised or displayed above foreign embassies. The policy, while certainly qualifying as anti-LGBTQ and a regression to Trump-era policies, notably does not bar personal displays of Pride flags by embassy workers.

In the past, some embassies have gotten around such bans by not ā€œflying a flag over the embassyā€ but rather, painting portions of the embassy in rainbow colors or draping flags on the side of buildings.

News of the defeat of the most impactful anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ riders comes after a significant push from Equality Caucus Democrats and the Biden administration against the riders. ā€œAs you negotiate government funding for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24), we write to strongly urge you to reject any attempts to include anti-LGBTQ+ provisions in any final FY24 funding agreement,ā€ said a letter signed by 163 representatives on behalf of the Congressional Equality Caucus to the Biden administration.

However, Republicans also pushed hard for their inclusion. In a shutdown threat issued Feb. 21 from the House Freedom Caucus, Republicans indicated that bans on gender affirming care and trans participation in sports were necessary to prevent a potential shutdown.

Previously, U.S. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) stated that such bans are the “hill we will die on.” In a report published by Axios, one Republican lawmaker stated, ā€œPeople are predicting a shutdown even if it’s just for a few days.ā€ Others concurred, citing gender affirming care riders as one of the potential reasons for such a shutdown.

Many anti-LGBTQ leaders in the Republican Party reacted negatively to the bill. U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.)Ā expressed angerĀ at funding for the New Jersey Garden State Equality in Education Fund, calling it ā€œforce feeding the LGBT agenda in schoolsā€ and stating that it enables ā€œgender mutilation surgeries in minors,ā€ ā€œbiological menā€ in womenā€™s bathrooms and trans participation in sports.

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) decried the lack of a DEI ban. U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) stated that Republicans ā€œsurrenderedā€ to Democrats on hormone therapy. The House Freedom Caucus published a lengthy list of healthcare and equality centers that the budget would fund, urging the GOP to vote ā€œnoā€ and to shut down the government.

In a press release published by House Appropriations Democrats, they stated that the bill rejected over a hundred poison-pill riders, many of which targeted LGBTQ people. For example, the Labor-HHS-Education portion of the bill blocked provisions around gender affirming care, sports bans and nondiscrimination.

See the House Appropriations Democrats statement:

Press release, House Appropriations Democrats on Labor-HHS-Education

The bill must pass by Friday evening to avert a government shutdown, though the impacts of such a shutdown would likely not be felt until Monday. If passed, the bill would keep the government funded through September, at which point all of the riders could resurface during the peak of the 2024 presidential election.

However, for the next several months, LGBTQ riders will not pose a significant threat in a year where trans and queer individuals have faced attacks at historic levels.

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Erin Reed is a transgender woman (she/her pronouns) and researcher who tracks anti-LGBTQ+ legislation around the world and helps people become better advocates for their queer family, friends, colleagues, and community. Reed also is a social media consultant and public speaker.

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The preceding article was first published at Erin In The Morning and is republished with permission.

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Congress

Padilla, FCC introduce measure to improve 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

HHS launched effort in 2022

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U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) (Screen capture: YouTube)

U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), joined by U.S. Rep. Tony CƔrdenas (D-Calif.), Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, introduced a measure on Thursday to improve the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Calls are currently routed to mental health professionals and local public safety officials based on the caller’s area code ā€” even though, as the lawmakers and officials noted during their announcement ā€” in many cases, the area code, especially for cell phone numbers, does not match the location from which they are calling.

Under the new proposal, Padilla said, “We’re going to be in a position to be able to provide care as quickly and as safely as possible.”

“In the same way that 911 calls in the case of an emergency are routed to local providers, local first responders, so ambulances can come out and help quickly when you call 911, 988 should be tied to a caller’s location, not their area code,” he said.

Calling Padilla, Tillis, and CĆ”rdenas “great champions of mental health,” Rosenworcel noted, “that’s not our stock and trade” at the FCC.

“We are people who deal with technology and communications,” she said, “but we came to realize that we could work with Congress to make sure that everyone in this country who’s going through a crisis has someone to call and someone who can listen ā€” and that’s why in 2022, we set up 988, the easy-to-remember three digit number for anyone who is in crisis.”

A press release from Padilla’s office explains the details for how the update to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline will work:

“The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) announced today seeks to address the discrepancies and inefficiencies of the current system by proposing the adoption of a rule that would require a georouting solution to be implemented for all wireless calls to the 9-8-8 Lifeline while balancing the privacy needs of individuals in crisis. 

Georouting refers to technical solutions that enable calls to be directed based on the location of the caller without transmitting the callerā€™s precise location information.Ā These solutions would permit wireless calls to the 9-8-8 Lifeline to be directed to nearby crisis centers based on factors such as the cell tower that originated the call rather than the area code of the wireless device used to place the call.”

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline offers LGBTQ-affirming counseling, which is accessible by pressing three.

A 2023 survey by the Trevor Project, which included more than 28,000 LGBTQ participants aged 13-24, found that 41 percent had seriously considered suicide within the past year and 56 percent wanted ā€” but were unable to get ā€” mental health care within the last year.

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