State legislators have passed more than 700 new laws and a variety of notable or controversial laws will take effect this week, including policies surrounding transgender athletes, chaplains in schools and a tampon tax.
Despite steady gains, the LGBTQ+ community is severely underrepresented in elected office.
For many lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender workers, having to stand up for yourself is nothing new, making unionizing the logical next step. By the end of last year, union filings were up more than 17 percent in the Chicago area.
A few states have proposed or passed laws defining "male" and "female," and more such legislation may be coming. Critics say the definitions amount to erasure of those who choose gender identities different than the one they were given at birth.
Public support for the LGBTQ+ community has grown steadily for decades. But some state legislators are pushing back against changing attitudes.
Too often it’s our youth who are the targets of racial- and gender-based animus and attacks. Rather than making life harder for children, public officials should be protecting them.
More than 40 percent of American adults know someone who is transgender and yet 46 percent favor making it illegal to provide transgender medical care to minors. Support for anti-trans bills has been growing for years.
While the state’s two proposed bills targeting libraries and librarians failed, the effort to address what books libraries may stock and lend will appear in the next legislative session. Many of these bans target LGBTQ+ themes.
The GOP-controlled Legislature has promised to try and override many of Kelly’s vetoes, which cover a variety of issues including transgender rights and income tax rates. The governor sees her re-election as a mandate to check legislative excesses.
Texas has seen more anti-LGBTQ+ protests than any other state besides California and accounts for about 12 percent of all protests nationwide. But many business owners aren’t going to let protesters stop them from hosting drag events.
The Republican-dominated state Assembly has quickly overridden Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto on a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for trans youth. The override passed with a 29-8 vote; just one Republican voted against.
Advocates of the bill say that it would empower parents to take charge in their kids’ education and limit the exposure to objectionable content, while critics say it would allow discrimination against kids.
With a life-long love of government and politics, Sarah McBride is starting her second term in the Delaware Legislature.
Last week, the Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine banned minors from utilizing puberty-blocking hormones and gender-affirming treatments, even in clinical trials. The rule must be filed to take effect.
Republican and Democratic legislators can be counted on pulling in opposite directions on ESG investing, police reform and LGBTQ issues, where the focus will be on transgender rights and school curriculum.
State lawmakers convene this week and will tackle a variety of issues this session, including amending the state’s near-total abortion ban, relieving urban traffic congestion and gender reassignment surgery.
