500+ Anti-LGBTQ+ Bills Filed
Originally Published: June 5, 2023
As of May 2023, there have been an estimated 500+ bills across the country targeting LGBTQ+ people according to the ACLU, Trans Legislation Tracker, and more.
Photo: The ACLU map of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation across the country. This map continues to evolve as bills are introduced.
From the ACLU’s data, forty-six of the 50 states have had at least one bill introduced. The number of bills per state range from 1 in states like Maryland, California, and Colorado, to as many as 48 in Missouri and 53 bills in Texas. Meanwhile, Delaware, New York, Michigan, Illinois, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico have seen zero bills introduced. Ten states with a split state government have introduced a total of 76 bills.
A list of quick facts about the ACLU’s list:
-Of the 46 states with anti-LGBTQ+ legislation introduced, 22 are under full Republican control (Governor and State House) while 13 are under full Democratic control. The remaining 10 states have a split government.
-A total of 360 bills have been introduced in the 22 Republican controlled states; 55 bills have been introduced in the 13 Democratic controlled states. Republican controlled states have introduced over 6.5x (or a 554% increase) more bills than Democratic states.
-In the state’s with split governments, the five states with Republican controlled state houses (Democratic Governors) have introduced 53 anti-LGBTQ, or 70% of the overall 75 bills across all 10 states with split governments. In comparison, the two states with Democratic controlled state houses (Republican Governors) only saw 4 bills introduced (and those were sponsored by Republicans).
Topics covered by the bills include the following:
-Alabama’s HB405 would “define man, woman, boy, girl, father, mother, male, female, and sex for purposes of use of the terms in the Code of Alabama 1975.” That’s 50 years ago–1975. (Status: Advancing)
-Florida’s SB254 which grants state courts the authority to assume temporary emergency jurisdiction over or take physical custody of a child if the child has been “subjected to sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedures,” outlaws “prescriptions and procedures for patients younger than 18 years of age” and requires the immediate suspension of licenses of healthcare practitioners who violate this law. (Status: Passed into Law)
-Iowa’s HF508, which “recognizes freedom of religion as an unalienable right and recognizes the institution of marriage as…defined to be the union between one male and female,” provides that no Iowan can be held liable in court for refusing to recognize same-sex marriages, and “specifies reasons why….the federal Respect for Marriage Act is null and void and has no effect whatsoever in Iowa.” Because apparently states can completely ignore federal law! (Status: Advancing)
-Maryland’s HB359, the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” which sought to require junior varsity and varsity school athletic teams “to be expressly designated based on sex” while also expanding the ability for individuals who feel wronged to hold school systems financially liable in court. Notably sponsored by Southern Maryland Delegates Mark Fisher, Matt Morgan, and Todd Morgan. (Status: Defeated)
-Texas’s HB643, which expands the definition of a “sexually oriented business” to include any nightclub, bar, restaurant or similar commercial enterprise that hosts a “drag performance in which a performer exhibits a gender identity that is different than the performer’s gender assigned at birth using clothing, makeup, or other physical markers and sings, lip syncs, dances, or otherwise performs before an audience for entertainment.” Y’all are LITERALLY going OUT OF YOUR WAY to write discrimination into law. (Status: Advancing)
This is just a glimpse into what is currently happening in state legislatures across the country. There are also attempts to legislate the lives of LGBTQ+ people at the federal level. This isn’t just about “banning books/performance/curriculum to protect children.” This is about systematically categorizing LGBTQ people as “other,” and criminalizing our lives so it is easier to erase us.
