LGBTQ+ people are still being discriminated against in our country's laws. This series will cover 2023 bills that The Human Rights Campaign listed on their website as harmful to the LGBTQ+ community. In this article we will continue diving deeper into Anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. As always please continue to further your own research, and I will attach links to my sources at the end of this article.
We will begin with South Carolina and H.3728. This bill was written to "PROVIDE NECESSARY DEFINITIONS, TO PROHIBIT CERTAIN CONCEPTS FROM BEING INCLUDED IN PUBLIC SCHOOL". This phrasing attacks LGBTQ+ education, under the guise of broad terms like, "certain concepts". The bill includes a long list of topics no longer allowed to be taught, discussed, or even spoken of in a performance. Certain sections force teachers to avoid talking about LGBTQ+ people completely.
The bill also bans any material considered not age appropriate. It is so non-specific that it could be used to support any argument against teaching LGBTQ+ history to any age. Thus banning any student, administrator, teacher, staff, school/district employee, OR volunteer from engaging in any gender or sexual diversity training, or counseling unless it is directly prescribed as part of a CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN. In layman's terms this line prohibits anyone in the school district from learning about how to sensitively deal with people of differing gender identities and sexualities unless they are required by the school to go through corrective training. This corrective training is also spoken more about and will be given only to those who violate the above statement. Not for those who discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals but instead for those who stand up against this homophobic law.
This section continues to offer little to no support for LGBTQ+ individuals and states only that this section does not prohibit factual discussion of historic moments if they are the history of an ethnic group (as described by the South Carolina State Standards) is a fact-based discussion of controversial aspects of history or current events, or is fact-based discussion on historical oppression of minorities. These minorities are restricted to those oppressed based on race, sex, ethnicity, class, nationality, religion, and geographical region. Finally this section ends by stating the local education agency may take disciplinary action if this law is violated.
The next bill is Texas SB17 and SB12. SB17 prohibits Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) offices in any state college or university. They will no longer be allowed on campus taking a "position of neutrality" and promoting "equal treatment for all". While this seems counter intuitive, a DEI office is defined as a place offering direct support and aid for people of differing race, ethnicity, sex, etc. This bill is a little confusing since it has its own direct definition of a DEI office that may not correlate with every DEI office known. I encourage you to continue your own research on this bill to see if your DEI office would be considered prohibited in Texas.
Bill SB12 criminalized drag performances. This bill begins by regulating "sexually oriented performances" and restricting them to private property with no one under the age of 18 in attendance. If a drag show is produced and a minor is in attendance it becomes a class A misdemeanor and the owner of the property is given a civil penalty of $10,000. This bill allows the municipality or county to regulate drag shows but they are not allowed to fund, or organize them. This act took effect September 2023.
Ten more bills have been passed with similar ideals and wordings in states all over the US. As a free democratic country how can we allow bill after bill to crack down on LGBTQ+ education, expression, and life? We continue to fight for our very existence and we will continue to fight until we have our rights given to us. Fight with me. Educate yourself and others. And please remember to always stay safe.
About the Author
Anna Buescher is a current junior at Butler university studying Biology and French. She uses she/they pronouns and identifies as a queer woman. She is passionate about LGBTQ+ rights, climate change, fungi and much much more. You can reach out to her at abuescher@butler.edu.