2023 proved to be a record year in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, with close to 600 bills targeting the rights of queer and trans people brought to state governments nationwide. The momentum from 2023 has already carried into 2024. Here are some of the recent legislative actions so far in 2024.
Ohio’s Senate overode Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto of HB 68 and passed the bill, banning gender affirming care for transgender minors and banning trans girls from sports from kindergarten through college.
In an X spaces event on Jan. 26, Ohio and Michigan politicians discussed an “endgame” for gender affirming care for all Americans.
In Florida last week, Deputy Executive Director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Robert Kynoch wrote a memo reversing a policy that allowed transgender Floridians from receiving driver’s licenses that reflect their gender identity.
“Permitting an individual to alter his or her license to reflect an internal sense of gender role or identity, which is neither immutable nor objectively verifiable, undermines the purpose of an identification record and can frustrate the state’s ability to enforce its laws,” the memo states.
The policy also puts trans people in the state at risk of committing fraud by having a license that in fact reflects their gender identity. “Furthermore, misrepresenting one’s gender, understood as sex, on a driver license constitutes fraud under s. 322,212, F.S., and subjects an offender to criminal and civil penalties, including cancellation, suspension, or revocation of his or her driver license.”
Meanwhile, reports from LGBTQ+ groups show some bright spots where states are affirming the rights of LGBTQ+ people.
The Human Rights Campaign and Equality Federation put out their latest State Equality Index this week, which contains a “review of statewide laws and policies that affect LGBTQ+ people and their families.”
The report looks at the following categories to rate the state: LGBTQ+ rights in employment, public accommodation, housing and education. It also looks at whether or not the state bans conversion therapy, provides access to gender-affirming health care for trans citizens, has anti-bullying policies in place, laws against hate crimes and if the state allows gender marker updates on official identification.
The results show two very different Americas for LGBTQ+ people, depending on where they live.
States including California, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington scored high marks on the report and were deemed what the organization calls “Working Toward Innovative Equality,” meaning there are laws and policies in place to protect the LGBTQ+ community, and these states are actively working to address additional concerns for the community in innovative ways.
Alaska, Iowa, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin made the “Solidifying Equality” list, which means they have basic protections installed for the LGBTQ+ community, while also working to expand laws and policies for issues like LGBTQ+ youth, gender-affirming health care and criminal justice.
Arizona and Utah are listed under “Building Equality” with the very basic protections and policies in place, but they also may have anti-LGBTQ+ laws and religious refusal policies on the books.
Nearly half of the states in the country, however, fall under the “High Priority to Achieve Basic Equality” list, meaning there are few or no protections for LGBTQ+ citizens and the state may in fact have multiple anti-LGBTQ+ policies and laws in place. States that don’t check off any LGBTQ+ protection boxes on the report include Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Wyoming. This means, right now, LGBTQ+ people in those states can be fired for being LGBTQ+, denied gender affirming care, equal housing opportunities and more.
Overall in 2023, 50 pro-equality bills out of 253 proposed and 77 anti-LGBTQ+ bills out of 571 proposed were passed around the country.
In 2023, HRC declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ equality and that alert continues into 2024. “Even in states where the laws for LGBTQ+ are good and getting better, demand for gender-affirming care is increasing as folks from other states are forced to leave home in order to receive the healthcare that allows them to live and thrive,” the report states.
To see what your state rates, check out the full report here.