Are the Tides Turning? LGBTQ Legislation Wins this Week

March 29, 2024
ALEXANDER

LGBTQ Legislation Wins this Week

Recently, it seems that for every step forward the LGBTQ community makes, legislation just takes us ten steps, or ten years, back. It has been a record year for anti-LGBTQ legislation bills and bans. We are tired of it. Even with all of the bad news, there are some glimmers of hope this week. We are still fighting the good fight!

This week, Washington Governor Jay Isnlee signed Senate Bill 5462 requiring Washington school districts to adopt curriculum that includes the “histories, contributions, and perspectives” of marginalized groups, including the LGBTQ+ community along with people of color and disabled persons. This expands on the current requirement that includes school studies inclusion of Indigenous people and enslaved people. This bill will go into effect October 1st, 2025. Washington joins Oregon, California, Nevada, Colorado, Illinois, and New Jersey in adding LGBTQ required inclusion in schools. The thought behind such a bill is that when students see themselves represented in curriculum, they are more apt to engage and excel. Before we start cheering, these 7 states are the complete opposite of the other 7, Iowa, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Alabama and Florida, that have introduced "Don't Say Gay" bills that prohibit any reference to the LGBTQ community in schools.

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HRC reported that Georgia’s state legislative session came to a close early this morning, with legislators failing to advance any of the more than 20 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in Georgia this year. The activism and rallying by the LGBTQ community, allies, and the business sector have been credited as to defeating the progression of these bills. In February, hundreds of LGBTQ+ community members, allies and advocates staged “Pride to the Capitol,” a day of LGBTQ+ solidarity, joy and resilience in the face of an onslaught of legislative attacks in Atlanta and around the country. Volunteers made countless trips to the Capitol to testify, showing up in force with the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and partner organizations like Georgia Equality, Georgia Youth Justice Coalition and more. The bills would have granted businesses the right to discriminate against the community, require students to use the bathroom of their birth sex, implement "Don't Say Gay" in the classroom, restrict healthcare to trans youth, and ban drag performances in the state.

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HRC Director Bentley Hudgins released this statement this morning:

“MAGA politicians in Georgia tried it all in service to their anti-LGBTQ+ agenda, including silencing debate and gutting unrelated, popular bills that had bipartisan support to ram through policies that would have put young LGBTQ+ Georgians in harm’s way. They failed. Everyday Georgians heroically showed up, over and over again, to demand that our lawmakers get back to the business of solving real problems. We showed up to reject the failing anti-LGBTQ+ agenda. We showed up for each other, for our communities. We won on many fronts - but unfortunately, our immigrant family, union siblings and voting rights advocate allies need continued support and we stand strongly together. We will continue to organize for a future where every Georgian is treated with dignity, respect and equitable opportunity. ”