And the human rights campaign is declaring a state of
emergency for the LGBT Q plus community. Senior reporter
Chloe Yellow has been tracking this story. Chloe,
what is going on here? It means that conditions
in the US are dangerous for the LGBT Q community
for the first time in its 40 year history.
The human rights campaign, which is America's largest LGBTQ
civil rights organization is sounding the alarm on safety conditions
for the community. Hence the emergency declaration human rights
campaign, President Kelly Robinson said in a statement,
quote, LGBT Q plus Americans are living in a
state of emergency. The multiplying threats facing millions in
our community are not just perceived, they are real
tangible and dangerous. Adding that quote as we kick
off LGBT Q Pride Month human rights campaign will be
working tirelessly to educate and arm the LGBT Q plus
community with information and resources to ensure their safety.
Now, the organization also released a digital guidebook that
includes health and safety resources and a summary of state
by state laws for individuals living in or traveling to
states that are hostile to gay individuals. It's for
individuals and families to arm themselves with knowledge. Perhaps
if you're considering a move, it lists resources to
finance a move and find employment in a safer state
. Now, if you're unable or unwilling to move
to a more LGBT Q friendly state, it offers
tips for ways you can fight back how for example
, to find or build a community to navigate a
school board which can drive equity and inclusion policies or
to file complaints with federal civil rights offices. The
equal opportunity Employment Commission is specifically for work related violations
. The Department of Human Health Health and Human Services
is for health care related violations. And of course
, the Department of Education is for schooling. Now
. Anti LGBT Q sentiment has surged over the past
several years. According to the human rights campaign,
the 2023 state legislative session has been the worst on
record with more than 525. Anti LGBT Q bills
filed 220 of which targeted trans people and 77 that
actually passed and that's just as of June eight.
Now. Unfortunately, this is not a new trend
. There has been a steady increase in these types
of bills dating back to 2015 and starting in 2020
trans and non binary youth became a big focus of
many of them. And the types of bills passed
in 2023 run the gamut from don't say gay type
bills like the one in Florida that prevent discussion of
sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom to pronoun
refusal. And the most common bills we see are
bans on gender affirming care which make up about 23
0.4% of the bills, bathroom bans which make up
11.7 and transgender sports participation bans which are about 10.4%
of those bills. Now, according to the human
rights campaign, it's no coincidence that we're seeing a
surge in anti LGBT Q legislation and specific types of
bills. In particular, many bills use language that
is taken directly from model legislation proposed by a handful
of coalition groups like the Heritage Foundation, which is
funded by the Koch Brothers Family Policy, alliance and
alliance defending freedom among others. Now, much of
this sounds very doom and gloom but there are some
bright spots, many states are passing anti LGBT Q
legislation but others are pushing back. Michigan, for
example, became the 22nd state to sign non discrimination
protections into law. Pennsylvania is about to and Minnesota
banned conversion therapy. Duarte back to you.