Republicans are kicking off 2023 with a slew of anti-trans and anti-queer bills—and if this sounds like a broken record, I’m sorry to tell you it is, but for good reason. Conservatives are working hard to ostracize and delegitimize marginalized folks and are attacking the LGBTQ+ community wherever they can, ranging from sports bans to health care barriers to criminalizing drag shows. (Yes, it’s quickly gotten that outrageous.)
The coverage is heavy, frustrating, and at times deeply demoralizing, but we owe it to ourselves and our peers to keep up the fight and raise awareness about what’s happening in each state, no matter how much power Republicans hold over those constituents.
With this in mind, let’s dig into some of the latest legislative hate efforts from across the nation. Just weeks into January, we can already discuss anti-trans sports bills and anti-trans health care bills (for both adults and youth), plus Republican missions to (squints) jail librarians.
Yes, it’s that bad.
South Dakota lawmakers introduced a misleadingly titled anti-trans bill (HB 1080) called “Help Not Harm” that would ban physicians from prescribing hormonal therapy and from performing gender-affirming surgeries on minors (which doesn’t happen anyway). The bill would also allow people to receive damages if such care were provided. Physicians who provide such care could also be subject to review by a medical board, as reported by local outlet KELO. The bill makes exemptions for people born with a “medically verifiable disorder of sex development,” which likely refers to people who are intersex.
Over in Utah, as reported by local outlet 2 KUTV, lawmakers are pushing several anti-trans bills. One, SB 93, seeks to prevent trans youth from updating their birth certificates until they turn 18. Another (SB 16) seeks to ban gender-affirming surgery for minors (which, again, doesn’t happen by the rule of thumb) has been updated to bar puberty blockers and hormonal therapies as well.
Sadly, Republicans in more than a dozen states have introduced anti-trans health care legislation across the country. At the time of writing, these states include Virginia, Utah, Texas, Tennessee, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Kansas, and Kentucky.
On Tuesday, Nebraska Republicans introduced an anti-trans sports LB 575 called “Sports and Spaces.” It would ban youth from participating in sports teams that don’t align with their sex as assigned at birth. The bill would also bar trans youth from using locker rooms that align with their gender identity.
Republican State Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha introduced the bill, and it’s not her first rodeo: She also introduced LB 574, the misleadingly titled “Let Them Grow Act,” which seeks to ban gender-affirming surgeries for people under 19.
Over in North Dakota, Republicans are racing to ban even more books. As reported by the Associated Press, Mike Lefor, who serves as House Majority Leader, introduced HB 1205 seeking to ban books with “sexually explicit” content from all public libraries in the state. Not just keep them out of young adult sections. Not just exclude them from certain programming. Not just from school libraries. Ban them from public libraries, period.
And yes, that “sexually explicit” includes depictions of gender identity and sexual orientation. The measure proposes up to 30 days imprisonment for librarians who don’t remove such books from libraries if the bill becomes law. Folks could also face a $1,500 fine and a Class B misdemeanor.
Yes: Republicans are openly trying to censor books in public libraries and trying to imprison librarians over it.
This is scary for these states and these residents. But while Republicans have a stronghold in some places, that’s no excuse to leave folks behind. We know voter suppression runs rampant in states with Republican control (looking at you, Florida and Texas, among others) and we know marginalized folks face additional barriers to voting that (intentionally) keep them from protecting their own interests. Book censorship is being discussed in North Dakota today, but it could be Massachusetts or California very, very soon.
We can’t think any state is safe from Republican hysteria as they work to make it more normalized and legitimate, and even if it never spreads to progressive bubbles, we still owe it to every person in this country to advocate for progressive ideals and protections of our rights.
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