As of April, there have been roughly 267 anti-LGBTQ+ pieces of legislation introduced across the U.S. according to Freedom for All Americans, a campaign for LGBTQ+ rights. The majority of those bills target trans people. GOP members around the nation have continuously gone further in limiting LGBTQ+ people’s civil rights and copying each other when a new step is taken. With the 2022 midterm elections on Nov. 8, many of these legislators are up for reelection and have made “parental rights” their key issue.
During the summer months, many states will begin their campaigns for governor, senators and representatives. Key issues are always changing. In 2018, immigration and socialism were heavily discussed as migrant caravans made their way to the U.S. border and Republicans rallied around what they called the “radical left.” This year the talk of the country is all about trans people and how much they can participate in society.
After signing the “Fairness in Women’s Sports” act on the first day of pride month last year, a bill that prohibits trans girls from participating in K-12 sports, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the controversial “Parental Rights in Education” bill or “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which restricts speech on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Although the governor’s office has insisted the law is not based on discrimination, the intentions of the legislators has been heavily criticized around the country by activists and even Disney, which disavowed the bill after public backlash against its funding of the legislators.
Professor of history and politics at NSU, Charles Zelden said that this is all designed to fire up the Republican base, and it’s working.
“Their sales pitch is: the world you’re living in is changing and you don’t like it… we’re going to fight to stop this from happening. What they are doing, where they have the authority to do it, is passing legislation,” said Zelden.
Spokesperson for Governor DeSantis, Christina Pushaw tweeted that the law would be “more accurately described as an Anti-Grooming Bill.”
Adjunct professor and gender studies scholar, Zachary Scalzo said that the root of this rhetoric is ignorance, “The real irony of the situation is that if we actually did have more hands-on discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation, we perhaps wouldn’t have such easy spreads of misinformation about it.”
These bills have already been copied by other states, 19 in total, who have introduced bills that limit how educators discuss the LGBTQ+ community, according to the think-tank Movement Advancement Project.
Most recently, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law a bill which prohibits gender-affirming care for minors in the state. The bill criminalizes providing critical care to trans minors. The bill caused the Department of Health and Human Services to issue new guidelines that urge hospitals to protect trans individuals or risk funding.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed two bills in early April, one that makes it a felony to provide gender affirming care to trans individuals under 19 and another which prohibits classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity, according to NBC News.
“If the Good Lord made you a boy, you are a boy, and if he made you a girl, you are a girl,” said Ivey at the signing.
The Department of Justice, in response, warned that “intentionally erecting discriminatory barriers” against LGBTQ+ individuals would be against federal protections in a letter sent to all the U.S. attorneys general.
This sweep of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is no coincidence. In late February, Florida senator Rick Scott issued his “11-Point Plan to Rescue America.” Outlining all potential Republican policy objectives, the plan makes transphobic claims.
“Men and women are biologically different, ‘male and female He created them,’” wrote Scott, adding, “We will protect women’s sports by banning biological males from competing.”
Many major sports organizations and leagues have declared that giving transition requirements for trans women give them little to no advantage and makes them eligible to compete against cisgender women.
Is this a winning strategy for Republicans? According to a poll from ABC News and IPSOS: “62% of Americans oppose legislation that would prohibit classroom lessons about sexual orientation and gender identity in elementary school, while 37% of Americans support legislation that would.”
According to a CNN poll on the importance of education: 81% of Americans said it was extremely or very important for the 2022 midterms.
The Associated Press and University of Chicago recently found that 31% of respondents felt that schools focused too little on gender and sexuality while 23% felt it was the opposite. These sentiments are along party lines.
Ultimately, Zelden stated that for Democrats, it’s about getting out the vote.
“This is programming for the decided. They’re already going to vote for you, you’re trying to give them a reason to make sure they show up… it’s an arms race,” said Zelden.
As for the conservative base, Scalzo said that once the damage has been done in a widespread moral panic, it takes a long time to undo.
