This year, State legislators have introduced a record 238 bills to limit the rights and freedoms of LGBTQ Americans. That's more than three per hour. About half of these bills target transgender individuals.
Nearly 670 antiLGBTQ bills were filed in 2018 according to NBC News' analysis of data from Freedom for All Americans and the American Civil Liberties Union. Nearly all 50 states have weighed at most one bill.
Over the years, the number of anti-LGBTQ laws filed each year has risen from 41 bills in 2018 and 238 in just three months of 2022. This year's historical tally follows what some advocates have called the " worst decade in recent history for LGBTQ state legislative assaults." Last year 191 bills were introduced.
This legislation would limit LGBTQ issues in school curriculums and allow religious exemptions to discriminate towards LGBTQ people. Trans people will be limited in their ability to use bathrooms that are compatible with their gender identity, and to receive gender-affirming healthcare.
The bill's supporters claim they are about protecting children's rights and parental rights. Their opponents argue they are discriminatory and more about gaining political points with conservative voters.
"It's important that people pause and reflect on what's happening, especially in the context of health care. Because what we're seeing, Chase Strangio (deputy director for transgender justice, ACLU LGBT & HIV Project), said that the state should be able to declare a population so undesirable that their medical treatment that they need to survive becomes a criminal offense. "
The number of anti-LGBTQ legislations has reached record levels. However, research also shows that almost 70% of Americans support same sex marriages, up from 54% in 2014.
LGBTQ advocates and experts claim that the increase in state bills is less about public sentiment than it is about lobbying for conservative and religious groups.
Activists claim that groups pushed for legislation because of a string progressive wins. These include two landmark Supreme Court decisions which legalized homosexual marriage in 2015. Another that granted LGBTQ people nationwide protection against workplace discrimination in 2020.
The bills are also part of a larger political strategy to use transgender persons as a " wedge question" in order to motivate right-wing voters.
"Conservative politicians and conservative religious leaders, as well as religious organizations and scholars, often present themselves to be defenders traditional values and traditional institutions and institutions in society," Gabriele Magni, assistant professor of political science at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, said. "LGBTQ rights are a natural target because it goes against one of the oldest institutions of society, which is the family. "
NBC News' analysis using Freedom for All Americans and the ACLU data showed that anti-LGBTQ measures have increased significantly in recent years. As of March 15, About 65 percent of all anti-LGBTQ legislation filed -- 154 -- was anti-trans.
"The authors and dark money groups that are pushing them for these bills do not want it to become possible to be trans in this country," stated Gillian Branstetter. Branstetter is a long-standing trans advocate and media manager for the National Women's Law Center. "
Measures that prohibit trans students from participating on school sports teams that are in line with their gender identity have been very successful. According to the ACLU and Human Rights Campaign,
Advocates also highlight the mental health issues plaguing trans youths, and how anti-trans policies may exacerbate them.
Last year's survey by The Trevor Project (a LGBTQ youth suicide prevention and crisis intervention agency) found that nearly 42% of LGBTQ youths surveyed thought they would commit suicide. Another small survey The Trevor Project did in the fall showed that 2/3 of LGBTQ youths felt that debates over anti-trans legislation had negatively impacted their mental well-being.
Bills have not only taken a toll upon trans people, but also changed the lives of their families.
While Lizette Trujillo is balancing her work as a small business owner, she has spent the past three years meeting with trans advocates. She traveled back and forth from Arizona to Phoenix's Capitol and "dropping everything to fight for her transgender son Daniel, 14 years old."
Trujillo stated, "It's exhausting and it's painful. It's something I have to prepare every year and it's something I have to advocate to my child." "
Although the moment in LGBTQ rights is "very dark," Branstetter said, advocates have had many wins.
Arizona Republican senator, who broke with his party, blocked legislation that would have prohibited transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming treatment. Idaho Republicans stopped a bill in the Idaho Senate that would have made it a crime for parents to allow their minor children to receive such care.
However, a directive from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last month highlighted alternative avenues legislators can use to target LGBTQ Americans if they are unable to pass anti-LGBTQ legislation through their state legislatures.
The Texas Legislature failed last year to pass a bill making it a felony to provide gender-affirming treatment to minors. Abbott's directive came after Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General, issued a non-binding legal opinion declaring that Transition care for minors constitutes child abuse according to state law.
Paxton claimed that transition-related medical care causes children "physical injury". However, doctors claim they are supported and considered necessary by appropriate medical organizations.
Branstetter stated that it is important to consider the cruelty of Texas' governor's order, as these bills are the ramp towards trans children's misery. "
Trujillo stated that "this moment feels scarier than in years past" but she is still fighting to stop the slews of anti-LGBTQ policies being proposed in her state. Arizona has presented the third-highest number of anti-LGBTQ legislation so far this year (17), behind Iowa and Tennessee.
Trujillo stated, "This takes up a lot in my life, however, I do it in hope that my kid won't have too much to do for himself and that he will be in a better place." '"
