In a long-running regional conflict over the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans, a legal settlement in Florida, legislative actions in Arkansas, and a lawsuit in Georgia this month caused a stir.
Many Republican officials have tried to restrict those rights over the past three decades, including enforcing rules governing the rooms and sports trans kids’ access to restrooms.
More young people now identify as LGBTQ+, which coincides with the traditional opposition.
About 1 in 13 U.S. people identify as LGBTQ+, including less than 1 in 100 of the transgender people, according to a Gallup survey conducted this week based on phone conversations with more than 12,000 Americans. However, a larger percentage of the youngest parents identified as LGBTQ+, or more than one-fifth of those born between 1997 and 2005.
The conversations’ legal and legislative ramifications are still rife with uncertainty.
Some things to know about this year’s burst of innovations.
Florida Agrees Kids, Instructors Can Say ‘Gay’
Florida settled this week with a legal dispute over its 2022 law, which had been dubbed “Don’t Say Gay,” and prohibits instruction in public schools on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The law is still in place under the terms of the agreement, but some of the restrictions may be lifted.
The contract clarifies, for instance, that students and teachers are allowed to explore LGBTQ+ problems. In contrast, schools don’t have to replace library books that feature LGBTQ+ characters, end anti-abuse programs that address harassment of LGBTQ+ people, judge laureate speeches in which the speaker talks about their gender identity or sexual orientation, or force teachers to remove rainbow flags from classroom windows.
One of the highest-profile among dozens of steps taken in Republican-controlled claims over the past few years to try to limit what can be taught about LGBTQ+ problems and the rights of LGBTQ+ people was Florida’s laws prohibiting the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity, which the state’s Republican government and former national primary member Ron DeSantis promoted.
A few other states have also tightened their educational resources in identical ways.
State Push Allow One Sex At Birth On Drivers Licenses
Arkansas this week stopped allowing residents to use “X” rather than “F” or “M” to designate their sex on driver’s licenses and official identifications.
A predominantly Democratic committee on Thursday approved the decision, despite the opposition of some Political lawmakers, by approving the emergency rules for the new plan. The entire panel upheld that voting on Friday, allowing them to take effect instantly.
A judge in Kansas earlier this year removed the government’s plan of forbidding transgender people from changing the sex list on their driver’s permissions to something other than their sex at birth.
A 2023 rule that recognizes a person’s legal gender identities based solely on their biology at birth led to the development of the plan. By overriding the filibuster of Democratic Governor Laura Kelly, whose administration had recently made it possible to alter the sex title on drivers and delivery certificates.
On behalf of transgender users, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas announced on Thursday that it would appeal the most recent decision.
Lawmakers Are Arrangements On Gender-Affirming Care For Minors.
Legislators in Kansas are attempting to do what the majority of the Republican-controlled states have already done: outlaw gender-affirming treatment for minors.
This year, the Kansas House approved a moratorium on hormones, gender-affirming surgery, and puberty blockers for those under 18; these are all seldom used. Senate Republicans pushed back a ballot that had been scheduled for Thursday to give room for tweaking the legislation in order to get the chamber’s two-thirds to vote in favor of it.
If they can accomplish it, it may enable the government to override the governor’s expected veto. Kelly.
Under the act, physicians who violate the restrictions may lose their licenses.
In recent years, at least 23 states have passed laws prohibiting gender-affirming treatment for minors. In Arkansas, one of those laws was overturned by a judge. While their validity is being considered, courts have put the variations from Idaho and Montana on hold.
A measure that would help lawsuits against anyone who transports a minor to another state for gender-affirming treatment without a parent’s consent is being heard on Wednesday.
The bill, which was intended to be a measure protecting children’s rights, resembles an Idaho abortion legislation that was passed last year and after put on hold by a court while its constitutionality is being considered.
One of the Tennessee proposals that LGBTQ+ rights advocates are concerned about is the decision to prevent helping minors traveling for medical reasons. A bill may prohibit companies from creating their own guidelines for toilet access, which transgender people claim is a possible target. One rule may prohibit the state from requiring stepchildren or foster parents to consent to a boy’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Another may need educators to show the school’s management and child’s parents of any demand to recognize the student’s gender identity.
None of these recommendations have been submitted to the
Republican governor. Bill Lee’s office for his name.
Idaho Sees Ban on Medicaid Money for Gender-Accepting Treatment
A bill that would prevent the use of public funds for gender-affirming attention was introduced on Thursday by an Idaho state Senate committee.
Medicaid and the state’s employee health insurance program may be exempt from the ban. It has already been approved by the House, and it may receive a final approval by the Senate the following year.
In Idaho, there has been a significant debate over whether to pay for gender-affirming treatment. A transgender prison inmate claimed she was unfairly denied gender-affirming procedure in a complaint filed by the state in 2022. In a split lawsuit, claimants accuse the state’s Medicaid system of moving too slowly to review such clinics.
According to the lobbying and data group Movement Advancement Project, nine states forbid Medicaid funding for gender-affirming health care for people of all ages.
College Athletes Sue Over Permitting Transgender Woman To Engage
In U.S. District Court in Atlanta on Thursday, more than a dozen current and former children’s college sports filed a lawsuit against the NCAA, alleging that it unlawfully permitted transgender people to engage in women’s activities.
Riley Gaines, a former University of Kentucky sprinter who tied for second place in the Division I 200-meter swimming championship with University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, is the most well-known claimant in the case. Thomas, who is transgender, even won the 500 slalom and finished seventh in the 100 that time.
Gaines has remained a significant opponent of allowing transgender people to engage in children’s events.
She and others claim in their legal case that the NCAA broke the provincial Title IX training equity law. By imposing complete restrictions on transgender women in sports, a proposed federal law would go the other manner.
Although some of those methods have been put on hold by authorities, at least 25 states have put restrictions on trans women and girls competing.
Associated Press writers Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Kimberlee Kruesi in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed to this statement.
