Citing what it calls “the most damaging and destructive legislative session on record”, the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign (HRC) on Tuesday published its annual state-by-state scorecard of policies, laws and services.
The 2023 state equality index documents a broadening push towards “state-sanctioned discrimination” – the elimination or restriction of rights and protections for trans and non-binary communities in Republican-controlled states, which the HRC had already declared a national emergency.
Overall, the HRC recorded the introduction of 550 bills in 2023, with more than half, 290, targeting LGBTQ+ youth. Meanwhile, the number of bills taking aim at healthcare and safety almost quadrupled from 49 in 2022 to 195 last year.
The HRC says more than 35% of transgender youth aged 13 to 17 now live in states that have passed bans on gender-affirming care, and more than half live in a state that was considering such a ban in 2023.
Among the most active states highlighted in the report is Florida, where a Republican supermajority in the legislature expanded laws already restricting healthcare for transgender youth to transitioning adults.
“Last year was the most damaging and destructive legislative session we have ever seen for the LGBTQ+ community, particularly transgender youth,” said Kelley Robinson, the HRC president.
“This year, sadly, we expect more of the same. But these attacks are out of touch with the American people and they are a losing political strategy. We are the majority and we will not stop until we are setting new records in support of LGBTQ+ people in every corner of the country.”
HRC compiled the index in partnership with the Equality Federation by conducting an assessment of each state’s laws and policies in the areas of parenting, religious refusal and relationship recognition, non-discrimination, hate crime and criminal justice, youth and health and safety.
The report, which HRC says reflects “a chilling state of affairs”, found that 23 states, every one with Republican lawmakers in the majority, were in its lowest-rated category, with a “high priority to achieve basic equality”.
They include numerous southern states such as Florida, Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama and Missouri, which critics say is “ground zero for a firehouse of anti-trans legislation” after introducing 49 bills in the first three weeks of January alone.
In Ohio last week, both state chambers combined to override the veto of the Republican governor, Mike DeWine, of laws banning transgender minors from receiving gender-affirming care and blocking their participation in team sports. HRC conducted a survey that showed 42.9% of LGBTQ+ adults in Ohio said they would move or try to move to a different state if the bills became law.
The report, however, also notes that “in the midst of the most damaging and discriminatory legislative session on record, there were important victories for the LGBTQ+ community too”, with the number of pro-equality bills passed more than doubling in 2023 to 50.
In Michigan, the Elliot Larsen Civil Rights Act was expanded to include protections from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity; and in Minnesota, a ban on conversion therapy was adopted by the Democratic-controlled legislature, along with a law making the state a sanctuary for for youth seeking gender-affirming healthcare.
Overall, 20 states, plus Washington DC, fall in HRC’s highest category of “working toward innovative equality”, while 34 have workplace protections against discrimination for sexual orientation.
“As the index shows, this past legislative session marked one of the most daunting periods for transgender rights, requiring effective strategies and relentless advocacy from folks on the ground,” Fran Hutchins, executive director of the Equality Federation Institute, said.
“Despite the increasing number of bills filed nationwide, advocates and activists were able to beat back the majority of this legislation. Queer and trans people are powerful, and we are not going anywhere.”
