What’s At Stake for LGBTQ+ Rights in 2024?My theory on to why Trump dislikes us so much dates back when the courts were about to order to include us in Canada in 2012 us in the pageant. I think his macho facade was terrified that he might have the “hots” for a trans woman.
Anti-trans politicians will undoubtedly be busy once again this year, but LGBTQ+ activists and advocates have no plans to back down.
Them
By Nico Lang
January 2, 2024
After a year of legislation that relentlessly targeted LGBTQ+ Americans, the community is already facing another potentially record-breaking legislative session in 2024. More than 500 bills were put forward in 2023 seeking to restrict rights and protections for queer and trans people, in arenas from public restroom access to gender-affirming health care, and LGBTQ+ advocates do not expect that historic pace to slow down with a presidential election on the horizon. If re-elected to the White House, former President Donald Trump has already floated a federal transition ban — pledging that, on day one, he will sign an “executive order instructing every federal agency to cease the promotion of sex or gender transition at any age.”
While no one can be certain what state legislatures are cooking up next year, experts say the political calendar has already started to take shape. Erin Reed, an independent journalist who covers anti-LGBTQ+ legislation across the country, says that observers are beginning to get an understanding of what 2024 holds from Republican bills pre-filed before the next wave of legislative sessions even starts. Missouri Republicans have pre-filed more than 20 bills targeting LGBTQ+ rights in advance of the 2024 legislative session, including legislation that would allow teachers to refuse using trans students’ pronouns and shield doctors sued for refusing to provide gender-affirming care. Lawmakers in New Hampshire and South Carolina have already begun filing their own bills; a pre-filed bill in South Carolina would make the state just the second to impose criminal penalties for trans people who use bathrooms that align with their gender.
The legislation is a sign that conservatives targeting LGBTQ issues are emboldened and will look to build upon last session, when lawmakers passed legislation banning gender-affirming care for minors and barring transgender athletes from playing in sports that match their gender identity.
One target for lawmakers appears to be removing the expiration date from the gender-affirming care ban and a grandfather clause that allowed minors to continue hormone therapy or puberty blockers if they were already prescribed them — even as many clinics across the state have already stopped providing this care to minors.
[…]
Another focus for some Republicans will be blocking or controlling discussions of LGBTQ issues and sexuality in the classroom. Legislation filed by state Sen. Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican, for example, would ban classroom discussions on gender identity or sexual orientation for students in kindergarten through third grade.
Brattin’s bill appears similar to Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law that was enacted last year. Opponents have said this type of legislation creates a chilling effect on teachers and LGBTQ students, barring kids from mentioning their LGBTQ family members and loved ones.
Fischer also pointed to another bill from Hudson that purports to ban colleges from “discriminating against a religious student association.” However, Fischer said this bill is written in a way that would allow religious associations to discriminate against LGBTQ students who wish to join.
[…]
Another bill from state Rep. Mazzie Christensen, a Hamilton Republican, would allow the state to cut funding from libraries “that offer obscene materials to children.” The bill appears to build on a similarly worded rule from Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, a Republican candidate for governor in 2024, that went into effect in May.
“These bills are about protecting children and the fact that anyone would oppose these commonsense measures is absolutely disturbing,” Christensen said in a statement.
But it is not just “Save the Children” that they are going after also adults. Them said…
Other states have likewise begun restricting care to adults: In Missouri, Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued an “emergency rule” in April placing onerous and burdensome restrictions on trans health care for patients of all ages. And Florida’s own trans medical care ban, which was signed into law in May, has compromised providers’ abilities to provide gender-affirming care to any patient. It requires all gender-affirming care to be administered in person (with telehealth is no longer allowed) and by a physician only. That prohibits nurse practitioners, who provide the vast majority of trans health care in the state, from providing transition-related care
If Republicans are poised to expand trans health care restrictions in 2024, Branstetter says it’s part of a trend of GOP lawmakers attempting to get the “biggest bang for their buck.” She points to another bill likely to be imitated in 2024: Kansas’ so-called “Women’s Bill of Rights,” which rewrote the state’s definition of sex as defined solely by a person’s reproductive biology at birth. That move led the Kansas Department of Health to stop correcting trans people’s birth certificates and the state’s attorney general, Kris Kobach, to attempt to block gender marker updates on driver’s licenses.
I mean a bad year with the Republicans posturing to show how tough they are against us, us who are only 0.5% of the population! I even foresee here in Connecticut more anti-trans bill proposed by the Republicans.
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