Anti lgbtq legislation usa
Record number of anti-LGBTQ legislation filed in 2023
This year, state legislators introduced and passed a record-breaking number of legislative efforts targeting LGBTQ healthcare, access to public accommodations, inclusion in education, and more in the U.S.
The American Civil Liberties Union said it recorded at least 508 bills impacting the people in 2023, adding 84 of these bills were passed into law.
The go up in legislation coincided with an increase in threats of violence against the LGBTQ community, with federal security agencies sounding the alarm. However, activists state that despite the record-breaking wave of anti-LGBTQ bills, other lawmakers have stepped up to combat such efforts.
"We've also witnessed unbelievable moments of strength in states and communities across the country who contain made sure this political assault does not depart unnoticed or is made any easier for politicians opposed to our very existence," said Gillian Branstetter, Communications Strategist at the ACLU, in a declaration to ABC News.
The immense majority of legislation passed across the country has impacted gender-affirming care for minors, blocking trans youth from accessing tr
2025 anti-trans bills tracker
By the time students depart back to school this fall in North Dakota, two new bills will be in effect restricting some transgender athletes from playing on school sports teams. Gov. Doug Burgum signed these bills into law last month — yet just two years ago, when a similar ban passed the North Dakota Legislative Assembly, Burgum vetoed the bill. He noted at the occasion that the state had no record of any trans girls competing in girls’ sports and that the state had “a level playing field and fairness in girls’ sports.”
This is still accurate — he made the same comments when signing the bills last month — so what changed? The state legislature had finally built the momentum and support needed to send these bills to Burgum’s desk with a veto-proof majority, the outcome of a multiyear attempt by state Republicans to get these bills signed into law.
It’s a familiar trend for those who track legislation that restricts LGBTQ+ rights. Over the last five years, the number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills both introduced and passed into law at the state level has exploded, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis of information provided by the American Civil Liberties Union and The Trevor Project, a suicide prev
Roundup of Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation Advancing In States Across the Country
by Cullen Peele •
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As extremist lawmakers in state houses across the country continue advancing a record-breaking number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills in state legislatures, the Human Rights Campaign — the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization — is providing the below snapshot (updated weekly) to illustrate the hostile legislative climate facing LGBTQ+ people, and the scale and scope with which the continuing legislative assault is organism waged.
This weaponization of universal policy has been driven by extremist groups that have a long history in working to oppress the existence and rights of LGBTQ+ people. Several of these organizations own been deemed hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center, such as the Alliance Defending Autonomy and the Family Investigate Council.
Year-to-Date Snapshot: 2023 Anti-LGBTQ+ State Legislative Activity
Over 520 anti-LGBTQ+ bills own been introduced in express legislatures, a record;
Over 220 bills specifically target gender nonconforming and non-binary people, also a record; and
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A Summary History of LGBTQ+ Legislation and Representation within Congress
Last month, many across the country noted Pride Month in recognition of the LGBTQ+ community and its growing acceptance in American world. As such, it’s important to evaluate the history of LGBTQ+ legislation and representation in Congress, which has largely mirrored popular opinion—both in support of the movement and against it.
The precise beginning of Federal anti-gay legislation is difficult to decide. Many early laws and resolutions banned sodomy and “obscenities,” categories which included gay relationships without explicitly referencing homosexuality. One early measure, the Immigration Perform of 1917, specifically restricted immigration by individuals who exhibit “constitutional psychopathic inferiority,” a legislative classification also used to discriminate based on sexual orientation. Despite ambiguities in language, there are many early accounts of citizens facing legal punishment for Queer relationships, beginning as early as the seventeenth century, when many New England colonial laws ascribed the death penalty for charges of sodomy.
The first appearances of the words “homosexual”