By  Ari Drennen | WASHINGTON – A short video posted Tuesday on the Daily Wire’s YouTube channel contained a by-now familiar disclosure: the platform had suspended Candace Owens, “prohibiting her from posting or appearing on any of the Daily Wire’s YouTube channels.” Multiple Daily Wire personalities have triggered enforcement actions by the platform for their frequent vitriol against LGBTQ people.

In announcing the news, Daily Wire personality Michael Knowles did not say how long the suspension was expected to last, but Daily Wire CEO Jeremy Boreing stated in June that Owens and Knowles had both received two strikes against their accounts for violating YouTube’s policies on hate speech. Three strikes against a YouTube account in a 90-day period can lead to its termination. Because the Daily Wire did not confirm the timing of the first strike, it is possible that it occurred prior to the current 90 window, leaving the podcaster with two strikes.

In response to a request for comment, a YouTube spokesperson stated: “We issued a strike to the Candace Owens Podcast channel for violating our hate speech policy, which prohibits content promoting hatred against protected individuals or groups, including the LGBTQ+ community.”

The video “Carlee Russell The Female Jussie Smollet?!” appears to have been removed from Owens’ channel. Media Matters previously reported on comments featured in the video, which followed Owens’ publication of an interview titled, “Is Homosexuality Ruining Western Civilization?” and included the claim that “it is gay men that are abusing children” in the Catholic Church.

Independent analysis still shows, however, that Owens’ YouTube channel, which is estimated to earn as much as $1.1 million per year, remains monetized with advertiser content. Knowles’ show, which Social Blade estimates to bring in as much as $3 million annually, is monetized as well. 

Knowles responded to his own prior suspension by removing the most extreme anti-LGBTQ rhetoric from his show and telling his audience that they could find the content — including a members-only segment he called “Trans Tuesday” — on the Daily Wire’s website. Owens, meanwhile, plowed ahead with vicious attacks against gay people. 

Content from before Owens’ previous suspension featured accusations that anybody who shopped at the retail chain Target was “gay” and “a pervert,” claims that “transgenderism” is “a cancer and we should fight it,” and boasts that the podcaster could beat up a nonbinary naval service member. YouTube’s hate speech policies say content that “repeatedly targets, insults, and abuses a group based on protected group status across multiple uploads” may lead to penalties. 

YouTube’s enforcement of its policies related to the LGBTQ community has been uneven. In April, after repeatedly targeting TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney, Daily Wire personality and “What is a Woman” filmmaker Matt Walsh had advertiser revenue stripped from his channel, only to have it restored 90 days later despite Walsh publicly vowing not to change his behavior.

The banner image on Owens’ YouTube channel advertises her show as streaming live on DailyWire+, Rumble, and X (formerly Twitter). YouTube, notably, is missing from that list.

***************************************************************************************

The preceding article was previously published by Media Matters for America and is republished with permission.

By Rebecca Farmer | BOULDER, Colo. – The Movement Advancement Project (MAP) released Banning Medical Care and Legal Recognition for Transgender People, the fifth in MAP’s report series, Under Fire: The War on LGBTQ People in America. 

The report details how the dramatic increase in political attacks on transgender youth are just the tip of the iceberg and part of a coordinated effort to eliminate transgender people of all ages from public life.

This year alone, state legislatures introduced more than 725 anti-LGBTQ bills shattering previous records. In 2023, more states enacted bans on transgender youth medical care than passed bans on marriage equality in 2004, one of the worst years in the fight for marriage equality.

“While most of the public focus has been on recent efforts to ban medical care for transgender youth, these attacks are part of a much larger, coordinated effort to try to erase transgender people from public life entirely,” said Logan Casey, Senior Policy Researcher & Advisor at MAP.  “Anti-LGBTQ extremists want to make it impossible for transgender people to be ourselves and to be legally recognized according to our gender identity.”  

This latest report in the Under Fire series from MAP identifies five core tactics opponents are using in their attempts to erase transgender people from public life: 

Tactic 1: Banning health care for transgender youth

The pace at which states are banning access to this care is remarkable. For example, prior to 2021, no states banned medical care for transgender youth.

Today, 22 states have enacted this kind of ban – 19 of them during this year alone. Currently more than 1 in 3 transgender youth live in a state that bans or severely restricts health care for them.  These kinds of laws have been enacted in all but two states in the U.S. South, leaving transgender youth in nearly an entire region without access to medically necessary care.  

Tactic 2: Banning health care or severely restricting health care for transgender adults

Bill introduced across the country are more explicitly targeting transgender adults’ access to care. Nearly one-third of youth-focused medical care ban bills introduced in 2023 would also limit health care for at least some transgender adults.

Some legislation seeks to ban healthcare for transgender adults by redefining a minor to include adults up to age 26.

At least nine states explicitly exclude transgender-related healthcare from Medicaid coverage for adults as well as youth. Some states also ban coverage transgender-related care in state health insurance plans.  Roughly one in seven bills attacking transgender health care included provisions to ban or restrict coverage in private health insurance.  

Tactic 3: Limiting transgender people’s ability to live openly and participate in daily life

Anti-LGBTQ forces are increasingly targeting the ability of transgender people to live openly and safely as themselves throughout their daily lives. This includes making it impossible or extremely difficult to obtain accurate ID, banning the use of bathrooms, restricting social transition, and more.  

ID documents: Four states ban people from updating the gender marker on their birth certificates and another 12 states impose invasive and overly burdensome medical requirements.  

Bathroom bans: Nine states now ban transgender people from using bathrooms and other facilities that match their gender identity. 

New bans, especially in Florida, are expanding their scope to apply not only to schools but also to other government-owned buildings and spaces; Florida’s ban includes major airports, sports arenas, and much more.  

Forced outing: Five states now require schools to out transgender students to their families, often regardless of whether this might put the child at risk of harm.  

Tactic 4: Rolling back legal recognition and protections

Opponents are also working to overturn the existing but limited protections for transgender people, while also working to enact new ways to remove opportunities for legal recognition.

Just in 2023, four states have enacted a new kind of law that defines “sex” throughout state law to allow discrimination against transgender and nonbinary people. Two additional states’ governors issued executive orders to the same effect.  

Fewer than half of states have explicit nondiscrimination protections for transgender people. Some states are working to undermine those existing protections with religious exemptions. 

Tactic 5: Criminalizing and harassing supporters of transgender people

Even supporters of transgender equality are being targeted. Healthcare providers for transgender people are facing loss of their licenses or even criminal penalties for providing medically necessary care that is endorsed by major medical associations.

In five states, it is now a felony to provide best-practice medical care to transgender youth.  Dozens of hospitals have reported receiving bomb threats and other serious harassment for providing medically necessary care to transgender youth.  

Many bills in recent years also target parents who support their transgender children. Florida legislation introduced in 2023 would have allowed the state to remove children from their families if the parents were even suspected of supporting them in receiving best-practice medical care. 

“Make no mistake – this swift and coordinated attack on transgender people in the U.S. is part of a larger war on LGBTQ people,” said Casey. “It’s essential that we see beyond one bill or policy to understand the broader scope of what is occurring. This is a coordinated and organized effort to try to erase not just transgender people, but LGBTQ people overall, from being able to publicly live our lives.” 

The entire “Under Fire” series is available here. 

About MAP: MAP’s mission is to provide independent and rigorous research, insight and communications that help speed equality and opportunity for all. MAP works to ensure that all people have a fair chance to pursue health and happiness, earn a living, take care of the ones they love, be safe in their communities, and participate in civic life. www.mapresearch.org

By Suzanne Trimel | WASHINGTON – A wave of state legislation sweeping the nation is creating the conditions to intimidate educators into self-censorship in schools, according to a new PEN America report released this past month.

“Educational Intimidation: How ‘Parental Rights’ Legislation Undermines the Freedom to Learn” examines the rise of what PEN America has dubbed “educational intimidation bills,” a category of legislation that has the effect of prompting self-censorship in schools through indirect mechanisms, rather than direct edicts. Under the guise of advancing “parental rights,” nearly 400 of these bills have been introduced that risk empowering ideologues to intervene in the curricular and extracurricular decisions of teachers, librarians, and school administrators, overriding the judgment of educators and the views of the majority.

These intimidation bills are distinct from “educational gag orders,” a class of bills previously documented by PEN America that directly ban what can be taught in classrooms, targeting discussions of race, racism, gender, aspects of American history and other “prohibited” or “divisive” concepts. Intimidation bills compound the crisis in public education, casting a chilling effect through new tools that radically expand the avenues for lone parents, government officials, and citizens to monitor and exert control over pedagogical decisions.

“This rising tide of educational intimidation exposes the movement that cloaks itself in the language of ‘parental rights’ for what it really is: a smoke screen for efforts to suppress teaching and learning and hijack public education in America,” said Jonathan Friedman, director of Free Expression and Education programs at PEN America. “The opportunity for parents to inspect and object to school curricula is already commonly granted in public school systems, as it should be. But this spate of provisions dramatically expands these powers in ways that are designed to spur schools and educators to self-censor. These bills risk turning every classroom into an ideological battleground, forcing teachers out of the profession, and jeopardizing the future of millions of students.”

In its Index of Educational Intimidation Bills that accompanies the report, PEN America has identified 392 educational intimidation bills introduced in state legislatures between January 2021 and June 2023, 39 of which have passed into law in 19 states. The organization catalogs 12 types of educational intimidation provisions, including those that:

• would require teachers to post all instructional or professional development materials on public websites, making it easy for any citizen to object;
• would restrict students’ library access or make it easier for individual parents to get books banned for all students;
• invite parents to opt students into or out of certain content, creating unwieldy “a la carte” curricula that risk defeating the unifying purpose of public schools;
• expand the concept of “obscenity” beyond its well-established legal definition, opening educators and librarians up to criminal penalties;
• would deputize teachers with requirements to police students’ gender expression.

The report documents how many of these laws and policies are already responsible for educational censorship across the country. An art teacher in Tennessee no longer teaches about Mexican artist Frida Kahlo or artist and AIDS activist Keith Haring because of the state’s HB 529, which requires teachers to alert parents to any LGBTQ+ content so they can withdraw their children from the lesson. Fear of discipline or criminal liability under some of these new state laws has driven school districts to ban books with sexual or LGBTQ+ content, from Missouri, to Virginia, to Florida, to, most recently, Iowa.

Laws and policies in Florida, Indiana, and at least seven other states require that parents be notified of any significant changes to their child’s gender expression or sexual orientation, turning teachers into what North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum called in a veto message, “the pronoun police.” One school district in Florida even banned ‘Safe Space’ stickers, because the presence of a student in such a space could “trigger a duty” for the school staff to notify a parent of their child’s “well-being.” Such measures, argue the report’s authors, compromise the role of educators and schools in supporting students and exercising professional judgment to engage families constructively in issues affecting their children.

Among the key findings from the report include:

• Between January 2021 and June 2023, 392 educational intimidation bills have been introduced in state legislatures, 39 of which have passed into law. An additional nine policies have been adopted via executive order or enacted as part of state regulatory policy.
• At least 19 states have passed educational intimidation bills or adopted them via state policy.
• These bills overwhelmingly emanate from conservative legislators: 377 of the 392 have been introduced by Republicans.
• Over 80 bills would force teachers to monitor students’ gender expression, forcibly outing students to their parents regardless whether educators believe that such a disclosure is warranted, or how it will be received. Outing provisions are in effect, by law or by executive order, in Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Utah, Kentucky, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Virginia.
• Of the intimidation bills introduced in 2023, 45 percent have an anti-LGBTQ+ provision, including the forced outing of students.
• Missouri (31) has introduced the most educational intimidation bills in the nation, followed by Texas (21), Oklahoma (20), South Carolina (18), Indiana (17) and Mississippi (16).

The ideological motivation behind the bills is another key focus. As the authors explain, the bills are based on model legislation produced by a small group of conservative think tanks and activist groups, with the vast majority sponsored by Republican legislators, sometimes in concert with, or following other legislation that includes more direct censorious prohibitions. One bill proposed in Kansas was described by a supportive lawmaker as a “slick little way” of preventing critical race theory from being taught in classrooms.

The report authors express grave concern about increasing “experimentation and copycatting” across state lines to introduce these laws. Bills that fail during one legislative session are often reintroduced or recycled in the next, and in the current political climate, even provisions that are less extreme in their wording can be interpreted or applied in ways that advance censorship. Similar policies are also being adopted at the district level, making the true impact difficult to quantify.

“These bills are not what they seem,” Friedman continued. “They are the next phase in a years-long campaign to incite panic and impose ideological strictures on schools. Education in a democracy must be characterized by openness and curiosity, by the freedom to read, learn, and think. These bills strike at that foundation, in novel, sometimes subtle, yet potentially irrevocable ways. Their spread should not be taken lightly.”

*************************************************************************************

The preceding article was previously published by PEN America and is republished with permission.

By Erin Reed | WASHINGTON – Over the past two years, over a dozen states—all under Republican governance—have enacted policies that forcibly disclose the gender identities of transgender youth to their families, ban LGBTQ+ literature in educational settings, and prohibit educators from discussing LGBTQ+ topics.

Driven by a wave of right-wing, anti-trans sentiment, teachers have been labeled as “groomers” and terminated for even showing incidental support for LGBTQ+ people, such as showing classroom films with LGBTQ+ characters in them. At the same time, books with LGBTQ+ themes are facing scrutiny, and students are subjected to exhaustive investigations into their gender—often instigated by parents who question the legitimacy of a transgender student’s athletic victory.

Now, a new Navigator Research survey reveals significant public backlash against the GOP’s stance on LGBTQ+ issues in schools.

Navigator Research surveyed 1,000 registered voters between August 17-August 21 to ask about education policy in general. When asked about the top three issues voters care about, only 28% listed “being exposed to woke issues about gender and race in school” as one of their top three issues. Instead, topics such as safety from gun violence, education quality, and providing mental healthcare in school garnered widespread support.

See the survey results on education priorities here:

The survey delved into specific policies enacted in conservative states, revealing broad public disapproval. Policies involving book bans and mandatory genital inspections for youth athletes in order to confirm their sex were especially unpopular, with 92% and 84% opposition, respectively. Additional measures, such as the prohibition of Advanced Placement African-American History, suspensions for teachers who show support for LGBTQ+ students, and bans on classroom discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity, also faced strong opposition—each garnering over 65% disapproval in the survey. Opposition was even widespread among parents, who opposed each of these policies.

See the survey results on specific policies here:

These findings pose a significant challenge for conservatives who are doubling down on an anti-LGBTQ+ platform. When considered alongside other polls, such as a Fox News survey in which 86% of respondents identified attacks on transgender children as “a problem,” the data suggest that Republicans are experiencing substantial backlash. This is particularly relevant given the considerable focus they have placed on targeting transgender individuals in schools and in personal lives. According to the Navigator survey, a mere 34% of voters indicated trust in the Republican Party on these issues. Democrats currently enjoy a 10-point advantage on matters related to race and gender in educational settings, buoyed by strong support from independent voters.

Anti-trans politics have not been successful for Republicans in recent elections, either. In Georgia, Herschel Walker featured an anti-trans swimmer, Riley Gaines, in his final election ads to try to make the race about transgender issues – he lost his election bid. Similar defeats happened in Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, where millions were spent on anti-trans election ads failed to bring about Republican victories. Most recently, Ohio Republicans spent $2,000,000 on anti-trans ads to try to convince voters that voting no on a constitutional amendment ballot initiative designed to make abortion protections harder to pass would actually lead to “trans surgeries for kids.” The referendum suffered a massive double-digit defeat.

Despite this, Republicans persist in prioritizing anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ policies in their campaigns. To date, 16 states have imposed restrictions on discussing LGBTQ+ topics in schools, while 23 states have enacted sports bans targeting transgender youth. In Georgia, a teacher was recently dismissed for reading the Scholastic Kids book “My Shadow Is Purple” in a showy hearing featuring school administrators grilling her support for LGBTQ+ students. Similarly, in Florida, a teacher lost her job simply for screening a Disney film that included an LGBTQ+ character. In Oklahoma, students who wish to participate in sports must complete “biological sex affidavits.” Just this past weekend, Iowa teachers started distributing legal notices and forms to parents seeking permission for nickname use, such as “Joe” for a student named Joseph. These policies starkly contrast with the voter sentiments revealed in the survey, signaling a discord between public opinion and legislative action.

There are indications that Republicans may be recognizing the political liability associated with these issues. During a recent debate, when GOP primary candidate Nikki Haley was questioned about transgender individuals in schools, she quickly shifted the conversation to reading remediation. Other candidates also refrained from extensively discussing the topic, largely sidestepping the issue altogether. It’s probable that their internal polling aligns with recent external surveys, revealing both the topic’s limited traction and a notable absence of strong support. Nevertheless, the policies continue to be heavily pushed by Republicans in state legislatures, and voters will see their record when they do head to the ballot boxes in 2024.

***************************************************************************

Erin Reed is a transgender woman (she/her pronouns) and researcher who tracks anti-LGBTQ+ legislation around the world and helps people become better advocates for their queer family, friends, colleagues, and community. Reed also is a social media consultant and public speaker.

Follow her on Twitter (Link)

Website here: https://www.erininthemorning.com/

******************************************************************************************

The preceding article was first published at Erin In The Morning and is republished with permission.

LOS ANGELES – New research from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law and Clark University finds 40% of Florida parents surveyed said they would like to move out of Florida—20% very much so and 19% somewhat—because of the state’s Don’t Say Gay law.

Almost 11% said they were very likely to move in the next two years, and another 6% said that it was somewhat likely. The most common barriers to relocating outside of Florida included employment factors, caregiving responsibilities, and financial limitations.

On July 1, 2022, Florida’s HB 1557, the Parental Rights in Education Act, also known as the Don’t Say Gay law, went into effect. The bill prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity through 3rd grade. In May 2023, the Florida legislature expanded the original law to ban classroom instruction on LGBTQ issues through 8th grade.

Using data gathered from a diverse sample of 106 parents in Florida, researchers examined their perspectives on the state’s Don’t Say Gay law and its expansion. One-third disagreed with the law, and 46% disagreed with the expansion. However, almost half agreed with the original law and 43% agreed with its expansion.

There were stark differences in how the parents viewed the state’s Don’t Say Gay law. For instance, 90% of parents who disagreed with the law felt that it provoked hostility toward LGBTQ people, while 68% of those in favor of the law felt it protected parents’ rights.

It is important to understand the diverse viewpoints Florida parents have around the state’s Don’t Say Gay law,” said study author Abbie E. Goldberg, Professor of Psychology at Clark University and Affiliated Researcher at the Williams Institute. “These parents live in the same neighborhoods and send their children to the same schools. They have the power to work across differences to build strong communities that support the well-being of all children.”

ADDITIONAL FINDINGS

• Two-thirds of Democrats and more than half of Independents disagreed with the Don’t Say Gay law. In addition, 80% of Democrats and 60% of Independents did not approve of the expansion to older children. Almost 90% of Republicans approved of both the original law and its expansion.
• Parents with a college degree or higher were significantly less likely to agree with the Don’t Say Gay law than those with less than a bachelor’s degree.
• Parents with LGBTQ friends and family were significantly less likely to agree with the law than those without LGBTQ people in their lives.
• About half of the parents surveyed said that the Don’t Say Gay law targets LGBTQ students, othering them (50%), provokes hostility against the LGBTQ community (47%), heightens tensions between teachers (46%), and protects parents’ rights and empowers parents (45%).
• In the year after Don’t Say Gay was enacted
  • 19% of parents surveyed said they observed the removal of books from school libraries and classrooms, and 13% observed the removal of signifiers of LGBTQ inclusivity such as Safe Space stickers.
  • 12% of participants said that their children had expressed fear, anxiety, or avoidance of school related to the law, and 9% expressed fears about the future living in Florida.
  • 16% of participants said that they were more involved in their children’s school (e.g., to make sure their voice was heard)
  • 11% of participants had participated in advocacy against Don’t Say Gay legislation, while 5% had participated in advocacy in support of it.

Read the report

By Movement Advancement Project | BOULDER, Colo. – The past three years have brought a dramatic — and still ongoing—escalation of attacks on LGBTQ people across virtually every aspect of our lives. Now that most states’ legislative sessions have adjourned for the year, MAP is taking a look at just how far states’ LGBTQ policies have changed so far in 2023, drawing on the more than 50 policies we track in our LGBTQ Equality Maps.

The policy areas discussed below are just a few of the many policies affecting LGBTQ people’s lives; visit our Equality Maps to learn more.

Dramatic Escalation in Anti-LGBTQ Legislation In 2021, new records were set for the number of anti-LGBTQ bills introduced and enacted into law by state legislatures. In 2022, those records were broken.In 2023, those records were further shattered, when state legislatures introduced more than 725 anti-LGBTQ bills — with more than 75 signed into law so far. This more than doubles the numbers from just last year. MAP’s report series, Under Fire: The War on LGBTQ People in America, connects the dots between the various political attacks that seek to undermine equality and erase LGBTQ people from public life. Significant Backsliding in Legal Equality For Transgender People MAP’s Equality Maps track over 50 LGBTQ-related laws and policies, assigning scores for each policy and creating rankings for each state.Looking at MAP’s Gender Identity Policy Tally, which focuses on laws primarily affecting transgender people, at the beginning of 2023, 14 states earned a “Negative” rank, the lowest category in MAP’s rubric. By mid-year, 20 states were in the “Negative” category, illustrating the swift and dramatic impacts of this year’s legislative session.Put another way, at the beginning of this year, 25% of transgender people lived in “Negative” category states, but by July 24, more than one-third (34%) of transgender people live in these states. The map on the left shows the country as of January 1, 2023, before this year’s legislative sessions. The map on the right shows states as of July 24, 2023, following the conclusion of most states’ legislative sessions. While MAP tracked more than 725 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in 2023, the majority of those specifically targeted transgender people, along with the majority of the 75+ bills that were signed into law so far this year. The stark difference is reflected in our snapshot of state-by-state LGBTQ laws for sexual orientation as compared to gender identity: only four states currently have a “Negative” rank on our Sexual Orientation Policy Tally, compared to 20 states with a “Negative” rank on our Gender Identity Tally. Extremist Attacks on Transgender Health Care In 2023 alone, 18 states enacted new bans on medically necessary health care for transgender youth, and several more states may yet enact a ban this year. In total, 21 states have enacted this kind of law. At the beginning of 2023, just three states had enacted this kind of law, and prior to 2021 no bans of this kind existed. Currently, nearly one in three (32%) transgender youth live in these states. Five states’ bans make it a felony crime to provide best practice medical care to transgender youth. However, not all these bans are currently in effect. In fact, lawsuits have been filed against these bans in at least 12 of these states, and to date all decisions except one have been victories for transgender youth and their families. Additional information —Citations: Expanded details on state bans of medical care for transgender people. This includes information about what each state’s ban covers, the status of litigation challenging the laws, which are in effect, a timeline of when the laws were passed, and which governors issued a veto. MAP report: LGBTQ Policy Spotlight: Bans on Medical Care for Transgender People Targeting Transgender People in Bathrooms In 2023, six states enacted new bathroom bans, including Florida’s new ban that far and away exceeds others in its extremism and scope. Florida’s ban applies to not only government buildings but also all publicly owned or leased places, ranging from major airports and convention centers to public parks, schools and colleges, and more. Florida’s law also carries potential criminal penalties, which means that a transgender person could face jail time for using the bathroom at a university, during a sports game, while at the DMV, or even during a layover at a Florida airport. Additionally, in 2023 four states (indicated on the map by the yellow caution icon), have enacted an entirely new type of law, defining “sex” throughout state law in ways that explicitly allow for and enable discrimination against transgender people. While these laws are not themselves bathroom bans, they may be used to allow bathroom bans (and other discriminatory policies) moving forward. Banning Transgender Children From Playing Sports In 2023, six states enacted new bans on transgender people’s ability to play school sports according to their gender identity, for a total of 22 states. Two of these states (Alabama and Texas) expanded their existing K-12 bans to also apply to college, and the four other states (Wyoming, Kansas, North Dakota, and Missouri) enacted entirely new bans. As a result, 31% of transgender youth live in states that ban them from playing school sports. Positive Developments While 2023 has been a record-shattering year, including stark backsliding in legal equality for transgender people in many states across the country, there have also been important and positive developments. For example, in response to the rapidly spreading attacks on transgender healthcare across the country, so far in 2023, 11 states and the District of Columbia took action to protect access to gender-affirming health care. Now, a total of 14 states and D.C. have some kind of transgender healthcare “shield” laws, protecting both providers and recipients of gender-affirming care. Looking Forward As some states continue their legislative sessions, MAP will continue tracking these laws and policies affecting LGBTQ people. Our Equality Maps are updated and maintained in real time and can always provide the most up-to-date picture of the policy landscape shaping LGBTQ people’s lives. (Please note that the count of bills and the maps shown here are accurate as of July 24, 2023. Due to the nature of legislative sessions, these can change quickly. Please refer to our Equality Maps, which are updated in real-time, for up-to-date details.)

Founded in 2006, the Movement Advancement Project (MAP) is an independent, nonprofit think tank that provides rigorous research, insight, and communications that help speed equality and opportunity for all.

LOS ANGELES – A new study from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law finds that 81% of transgender adults in the U.S. have thought about suicide, 42% of transgender adults have attempted it, and 56% have engaged in non-suicidal self-injury over their lifetimes.
 
Using data from the U.S. Transgender Population Health Survey (TransPop), researchers examined the prevalence of hazardous drinking, problematic drug use, serious psychological distress, suicidality, and non-suicidal self-injury between transgender and cisgender adults. Results from this study, which is the first national probability sample of transgender people in the U.S., support previously reported findings that showed significant disparities in health outcomes for transgender as compared with cisgender Americans.
 
While transgender and cisgender adults reported similar rates of hazardous drinking and problematic drug use, transgender people were significantly more likely to experience poor mental health during their lifetimes. Compared to cisgender adults, transgender adults were seven times more likely to contemplate suicide, four times more likely to attempt it, and eight times more likely to engage in non-suicidal self-injury.
 
Notably, transgender nonbinary adults reported higher rates of harmful substance use and poor mental health than transgender men and women.
 
“The rates of suicidal ideation and self-injury among transgender people are alarming—particularly for transgender nonbinary adults,” said study author Ilan H. Meyer, Distinguished Senior Scholar of Public Policy at the Williams Institute. “A lack of societal recognition and acceptance of gender identities outside of the binary of cisgender man or woman and increasing politically motivated attacks on transgender individuals, increase stigma and prejudice and related exposure to minority stress, which contributes to the high rates of substance use and suicidality we see among transgender people.”

ADDITIONAL FINDINGS

• Nearly one-third of transgender individuals reported hazardous drinking (28%) and problematic drug use (31%).
• Among transgender adults, 44% reported recent suicidal ideation, 7% reported a recent suicide attempt, and 21% reported recent non-suicidal self-injury.
• The majority (82%) of transgender people have accessed formal mental health care, compared to 47% of cisgender adults. About one-quarter (26%) of transgender people sought support from other sources such as religious and spiritual leaders and alternative medicine practitioners, compared to 20% of cisgender adults.
• Transgender nonbinary people were four times more likely to engage in hazardous drinking compared to transgender women.
• Compared to transgender men, transgender nonbinary people were four times more likely to report problematic drug use, three times more likely to experience serious psychological distress, six times more likely to have recently thought about suicide, and four times more likely to have engaged in non-suicidal self-injury at some point in their lives.

“Evidence-based interventions are needed to mitigate the risk of serious mental health outcomes among transgender people,” said lead author Jeremy D. Kidd, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University. “This might include increasing access to gender-affirming care, or improving transgender community connectedness, which are related to lower rates of suicidality.” 

NEW YORK — Over the course of 11 months, researchers at the Anti-Defamation League tracked at least 356 anti-LGBTQ+ incidents of harassment, vandalism and assault, motivated by hate, in cities and towns across the United States. On Thursday, the ADL released its report detailing the heightened threats facing LGBTQ+ Americans today, in coordination with GLAAD. 

These incidents stretch across 46 states from California to Connecticut, and include demonstrations designed to intimidate drag show organizers and attendees, bomb threats against hospitals that offer gender-affirming healthcare and a mass shooting at a queer-friendly nightclub that took the lives of five people in Colorado. 

More than 40 of the 356 incidents tracked by the ADL from June 2022 to April 2023 occurred in California alone. 

The blue circles on the map represent incidents involving drag, orange is where education was involved, green represents government and navy blue is for health care. Other incidents outside those kinds of incidents are marked with a purple circle. 

The Year in Review: Anti-LGBTQ+ Hate & Extremism Incidents report reveals that of all the instances of anti-LGBTQ+ hate, 49% — nearly half — were perpetrated wholly or substantially by individuals associated with extremist groups. 

“This first of its kind report provides a sobering snapshot of the deluge of hatred the LGBTQ+ community faces every single day, sparked in large part by organized extremist activity,” said ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt. “We hope these stark findings serve as a wakeup call to lawmakers, civil society leaders, and community leaders to stand up to this onslaught of hate and support our LGBTQ+ community.”

“This new report makes abundantly clear that extremism is escalating against LGBTQ people and endangers every American,” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “A supermajority of Americans support LGBTQ people and our right to be safe. Extremists, including elected officials, must be held accountable for inciting violence and using vile rhetoric against marginalized people who just want to live in safety and peace. Targeting people for who they are, or for their race and faith, is an attack on fundamental freedoms, and the health and well-being of all in our country.”  

The report also tracked those instances where no one known to have associated with those hate groups was involved. In all, there were 305 incidents of harassment, 40 incidents of vandalism and 11 incidents of assault.

Those numbers stand in stark contrast to the crime statistics released by Calif. Attorney General Rob Bonta this month, in his inaugural State of Pride report, as reported by the Los Angeles Blade. 

According to Bonta, there were over 391 reported hate crime events in California between 2021 and 2022, motivated by sexual orientation bias, and 45 hate crimes motivated by anti-transgender or anti-gender non-conforming bias. Earlier this month, Bonta noted in 2021, California experienced an alarming 32.6% overall increase in reported hate crimes, the highest number of reported hate crimes in the state since the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. 

The Blade asked spokespersons at GLAAD and ADL to clarify why California’s numbers could be so high compared to the 356 incidents tracked by those advocacy organizations.  

The report, they said, was not “an effort to catalog every expression of anti-LGBTQ+ extremism and hate.” 

ADL used victim reports, the media and partner organizations to compute its data, the spokespeople said.  

“ADL & GLAAD recognize that many cases of anti-LGBTQ+ hate and extremism are not reported publicly for a variety of reasons and thus this report does not claim to represent every instance of harassment, vandalism and assault,” they said, adding “the report does not attempt to assess the total amount of anti-LGBTQ+ hate online.” 

Of course, hate expresses itself in many forms beyond physical confrontation and intimidation. “The report includes cases where individuals or groups were directly targeted with harassment online via anti-LGBTQ+ content, including through direct messages, on listservs or in social media settings where they would have the reasonable expectation of not being subjected to anti-LGBTQ+ hate,” the ADL told the Blade. 

Read the full report at the ADL’s website by clicking here. 

LOS ANGELES – A new study by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law finds 20% of LGBT high school students—an estimated 371,000 youth—experienced hunger last month because there was not enough food at home.

Among older youth ages 18-24, 14%—an estimated 703,000 LGBT people—reported not having enough to eat in the past week.

Researchers analyzed data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey and the U.S. Census Household Pulse Survey to examine experiences of food insecurity among LGBT and non-LGBT high school youth and older youth ages 18-24. 

Results show that racial inequities in hunger due to food insecurity exist for both age groups. More youth of color experience hunger than their white, non-Hispanic peers. For instance, among LGBT high school students, Black (33%), Latino (24%), Asian (29%), and multiracial (21%) youth reported hunger at higher rates compared to white, non-Hispanic youth (14%). Among older youth, slightly more (15%) LGBT youth of color reported food insufficiency than white LGBT youth (13%). 

Programs like the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program can be reliable food sources for youth who don’t have enough to eat. But accessing those programs can be difficult for LGBT youth. 

Nearly a third of LGBTQ+ youth (32%) who completed GLSEN’s 2021 National School Climate Survey missed a day of school in the past month because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable. More than one in five (22%) avoided lunchrooms and cafeterias because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable. 

Among older youth, only 23% of income-eligible LGBT adult households are enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

“It is essential that the needs of LGBT youth are centered in conversations about food insecurity and interventions targeted to the community are developed,” said lead author Moriah L. Macklin, Research Data Analyst at the Williams Institute. “Policy interventions, including ensuring all students have access to school lunch through the National School Lunch Program regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, providing summer EBT, and making SNAP accessible for college students and other young adults, are vital to addressing food insecurity among LGBT youth.”  

Read the report 

WASHINGTON – A Gallup Poll released Monday showed that support for same-sex marriage is maintaining a position of Seventy-one percent of Americans who think it should be legal, matching the previous year’s percentage.

Gallup noted that public support for legally recognizing gay marriages has been consistently above 50% since the early 2010s.

The latest figures are from Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs poll, conducted May 1-24.

When Gallup first polled about same-sex marriage in 1996, barely a quarter of the public (27%) supported legalizing such unions. It would take another 15 years, until 2011, for support to reach the majority level. Then in 2015, just one month before the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision, public support for legalizing gay marriage cracked the 60% level. In 2021, it reached the 70% mark for the first time and has been there each of the past three years.

Support Relatively Low Among Republicans, Weekly Churchgoers

Gallup has recorded increases in support for same-sex marriage across all major subgroups over time. Today, majorities of all but two key subgroups — Republicans (49%) and weekly churchgoers (41%) — say gay marriages should be legally recognized.

Republican support for gay marriage has hovered around the 50% mark since 2020, with slight majorities backing it in 2021 and 2022. The latest 49% recorded for this group is statistically similar to the level of support Gallup has recorded in recent years.

Like all other subgroups, weekly churchgoers (41%) are more supportive of gay marriage now than they were in the previous two decades. However, their level of support has been steady since 2018 — ranging between 40% and 44%.

Bottom Line

Same-sex marriage has received majority support in the U.S. for over a decade, and support has been on an upward trajectory for most of Gallup’s polling since 1996.

Gay marriage became the law of the land after the Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell decision, and President Joe Biden signed bipartisan legislation to ward off future judicial attempts at undoing its legality late last year.

Among many groups — including older adults, Protestants and residents of the South — perspectives on gay marriage have gone from majority opposition to majority support over the course of Gallup’s trend spanning more than a quarter of a century. But two groups remain holdouts on the issue, with Republicans evenly divided on the legality of same-sex unions and weekly churchgoers maintaining their position against it.