After years of progrs on gay rights, how did the US bee so anti-LGBTQ+? | US news | The Guardian

Contents:

• AFTER YEARS OF PROGRS ON GAY RIGHTS, HOW DID THE US BEE SO ANTI-LGBTQ+?
• GAY RIGHTS

AFTER YEARS OF PROGRS ON GAY RIGHTS, HOW DID THE US BEE SO ANTI-LGBTQ+?

The fight for gay rights the Uned Stat has e a long way sce the Stonewall Uprisg of 1969, when gay and trans patrons of the Stonewall Inn New York Cy fought back agast police tryg to arrt night marked the begng of the gay rights movement the US, a s-long fight that jt a few years ago rulted the momento 2015 Supreme Court cisn legalizg gay marriage the lg on June 26, 2015, didn’t end the stggle for equaly and protectn. Across the untry, LGBTQ Amerins still face legalized discrimatn unr the law when to hog, jobs, parentg, and even June, ’s important to celebrate how far the US has e regnizg gay rights — and to be proud of that fact — but only if we also remember how far we still have to go to ensure that the equal rights and digny of LGBTQ Amerins are regnized unr the are some of the battl for equaly that are still beg fought across the untry. Gay Conversn TherapyIn a vast majory of stat, kids n still be sent to so-lled “gay nversn therapy, ” a harmful practice that the Amerin Psychologil Associatn has nmned.

Employment DiscrimatnIn most stat, gay and trans dividuals n be fired om their job on the basis of their sexual orientatn or genr inty.

At the heart of the issue is the right of all Amerins to public acmodatns—that is, safe accs to goods, servic, facili, and privileg the public ’s a b wonky, but the battle beg fought over bathrooms is about whether trans and gay dividuals have a right to e all of the facili the rt of Amerins e a way that acmodat their needs. There, young gay, lbian, bi, and trans kids are more likely to face vlence, end up danger or participate crime, and enunter trma that n affect their entire liv. Ameri has e a long way protectg the rights of gay, bi, and trans cizens, but there’s still work to do.

GAY RIGHTS

“I am eply alarmed by a wispread, profoundly negative ripti created by liberate actns to roll back the human rights of LGBT people at state level, ” he said, notg that the clu eply discrimatory measur seekg to rebuild stigma agast lbian and gay persons, limg prehensive sexual and genr tn for all, and accs to genr-affirmg treatment, sports and sgle-sex facili for trans and genr diverse persons. “This landmark lg is an important step forward ensurg equaly and digny for the lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr muny St. The mise of the homophobic Defense of Marriage Act 2013 was followed by the end of the feral ban on marriage equaly 2015.

Wispread acceptance of same-sex marriage rights, gay people servg the ary and the need for protectns for LGBTQ+ people followed. As recently as 2020, the urt, then wh two Tmp appote, led that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protected gay, lbian and transgenr workers. A rash of laws ncerng the teachg of human sexualy school curricula, banng trans stunt athlet and strippg parents of the right to help their genr-variant children obta appropriate re have popped up numero red stat this same-sex marriage is now part of the fabric of Ameri, nservativ have chosen to explo Amerins’ unfaiary wh trans people and piggyback on parental anger over the perceived overreach of Covid-era school closur, nflatg wh an sid sense of “wokens”, the hop of fdg an electorally viable sluiceway for anti-LGBTQ+ most famo of the anti-LGBTQ+ laws is the piece of Florida legislatn banng stctn on sexual orientatn or genr inty schools between krgarten and third gra, the so-lled “don’t say gay” law.

The ernor and his supporters have labeled as a “groomer” anyone who believ children n learn LGBTQ+ people exist, argug that simply by talkg about gay relatnships to a child, you are sexualizg that child. ”To be gay, their view, is to be herently sexualized, a threat to nocence a way that straight Amerins are vehemence has ught even veteran LGBTQ+ advot by surprise. He was followed by Arizona’s ernor, Doug Ducey, who, after barrg mors om genr-affirmatn treatment, wouldn’t even state for the rerd that trans people were Florida lawmaker Michele Rayner-Goolsby, left, hugs her wife, Bian Goolsby, durg a march at cy hall St Petersburg agast the ‘don’t say gay’ bill.

Photograph: Bob Daemmrich/Zuma Wire/Rex/ShutterstockPolicians are supported the media by mentators like Tucker Carlson, who claimed “no one had heard of this trans thg four years ago”, or Charlie Kirk, channelg 1980s fears sayg “gays want to rpt your children” rejuvenated, the right wg is poised to make transphobia and homophobia rnerston of the midterms and 2024 electns, wh promis to liver “don’t say gay” legislatn stat cludg Michigan and New Perks, the print of the Fay Rearch Council, a nservative lobbyg group, veighed agast the ernors of Indiana and Utah for vetog legislatn banng trans women om participatg sports, llg the bills “timely, mastream protectns”. The Republin US reprentative Marjorie Taylor Greene vowed to troduce a feral “don’t say gay” bill if Republins w the Hoe this November, only to one-up herself days later by tweetg that for people to be pro-trans is to be pro-pedophilia.

”The bs-iendly wg of the GOP that would quietly team up wh Democrats to scuttle rabidly homophobic bills is now outnumbered, and legislators a dozen or more stat that lean even farther to the right than DeSantis are takg, the Natnal Center for Lbian Rights legal director, believ Florida is the tt se for a renewed ph for an aggrsive, Christian-natnalist program. ”The “don’t say gay” bill, Mter not, is very siar to what’s been passed Rsia, tetherg Amerin nservativ to their thorarian unterparts who have succsfully rolled back mocratic norms across eastern Europe.

“I’ve seen this movie before over the last 30 years: The right wg cid to target the LGBTQ muny, whether ’s around marriage or adoptn or trans kids playg sports or bathrooms, ” says the California state senator Stt Wiener, who is gay. “I thought was really important to ph back on the policy level, and to send a clear signal that California and other stat really re about the kids, ” he believ that “don’t say gay” is “patently unnstutnal” but also ntends that relyg on the judicial system to protect human rights may no longer be a sound optn. Broad Support For Same-Sex Relatnships: A May 2022 Gallup poll found that 71% of Amerins believe gay and lbian relatns are “morally acceptable, ” vers 25% who say they’re “morally wrong.

“Don’t Say Gay” Laws Unpopular: A March 2022 ABC/Ipsos poll found 62% of Amerins oppose legislatn like Florida’s Parental Rights Edutn law—known as “Don’t Say Gay”—that rtricts classroom teachgs on genr inty and sexual orientatn. Adults who intify as gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr or “somethg other than heterosexual, ” acrdg to a Gallup poll released Febary and nducted 2022. Some events Florida have been nceled rponse to ncerns over recently passed anti-LGBTQ legislatn—which rtricts genr-affirmg re, drag performanc and expand the tnal rtrictns the “Don’t Say Gay” law, among other measur—and LGBTQ anizatns have also issued travel advisori for the state.

Issue guidance to clu a wi range of optns related to SOGI that go beyond gay, lbian, or bisexual, such as those who intify as queer, asexual, or two-spir. 2 ln people are livg wh HIV; gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex wh men (MSM) make up the greatt share of new HIV diagnos; transgenr people have experienced marked creas HIV diagnos; and Black and Ain Amerin and Lato and Hispanic muni ntue to be disproportnately affected by HIV. 116 For example, lbian and bisexual women earn more than heterosexual women but ls than heterosexual men, who earn more than gay and bisexual men.

In regnn of the difficulti that LGBTQ stunts have fdg supportive and affirmg spac school, as well as the many rtrictive polici limg their abily to create and promote genr-sexualy allianc/gay-straight allianc (GSAs), the Edutn Department should issue new guidance affirmg stunts’ rights to create and mata GSAs. Every year, Gallup releas a survey of how many Amerins intify as lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr. Everyone will be eher gay or trans or nonnformg or whatever the list of 50 or 60 different optns there are.