LGBTQ Nation

A new poll found that a majority of Democratic, independent, and even Republican likely voters believe that there is “too much legislation” aimed at reducing LGBTQ+ rights at the state level.

The progressive polling firm and think tank Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1220 participants and asked about the 429 bills presented at state legislatures attacking LGBTQ+ rights. Most of the bills are aimed at transgender youth, and 17 have already become law this year.

Republican lawmakers have worked round the clock to pass oppressive bills targeting gender-affirming care, bathroom usage, drag shows, and trans students. 

72% of Democratic voters agreed with the statement that there is “too much legislation. Politicians are playing political theater and using these bills as a wedge issue,” and only 20% agreed that it’s “the right amount of legislation. Politicians are dealing with a real danger that needs to be addressed.” 65% of independent voters agreed that there is too much anti-LGBTQ+ legislation this year.

The more surprising result – considering how the vast majority of lawmakers voting for these bills are Republicans – was that 55% of Republican voters agreed that there is too much anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. Only 33% said that there is the “right amount” of such bills.

The survey also asked if people believed that being transgender is a “natural phenomenon that has occurred throughout history” that’s “normal” or if they believed that being trans is a “new phenomenon created by our modern woke culture” that will “harm our children.” Most Democrats (78%) and most independents (58%) agreed that being trans is natural. Only 34% of Republicans agreed that being trans is natural, while a majority (55%) said that it’s a new phenomenon.

While Republicans lag on that issue, Data for Progress noted that a majority of all likely voters (57%) said that being trans is natural, which could indicate that attacks on trans youth might not be the potent electoral winner that many Republican strategists believe it is.

While state Republican lawmakers have been introducing anti-transgender legislation for over a decade, there was an explosion of such legislation in 2021, just several weeks after Donald Trump’s loss in the general election. Democrats accused Republicans – many of whom had never shown any concern for the state of girls’ and women’s sports – of using transgender kids to distract from the GOP’s less popular positions on the COVID-19 pandemic and the economy. 

Part of the reason that such a strategy could work is that transgender people make up a small percentage of the population and many people don’t think they know anyone who is transgender. Only 36% of Democrats, 39% of independents, and 25% of Republicans said that they know someone who is trans or nonbinary, and a majority of each group said that they didn’t.

And knowing a trans or nonbinary person decreases the chance that someone will see them as a threat. Among likely voters who know someone trans or nonbinary, 78% said that trans people are not a threat to straight families and 66% said that they’re not a threat to children. Among people who don’t know anyone who is trans, though, those numbers dropped to 52% and 41%, respectively.

Most Democratic voters (54%) and independent voters (63%) believe that Democratic elected officials should be doing more to fight anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. The survey didn’t ask what they believe Democrats should be doing.

When it comes to drag bans, a majority of Democrats (68%) and independents (55%) said that they had seen a drag performance either live or on TV. 53% of Republicans, though, said that they have never seen a drag performance at all.

A Nebraska state senator is causing waves in the state legislature after a scathing speech where she told her Republican colleagues that she is done being polite with them since they’re attacking her family. Namely, her 12-year-old son, who is transgender.

“My son is trans,” said state Sen. Megan Hunt (D), vowing to filibuster every bill the legislature takes up until a trans medical ban proposed by a Republican is withdrawn. “And this bill, colleagues, is such an affront to me personally and would violate my rights to parent my child in Nebraska.”

Despite Democrats’ filibuster that has shut down the legislature, the GOP won’t give in and move on.

She was referring to L.B. 574, which would ban doctors from providing gender-affirming care to transgender people under the age of 19. The measure includes puberty blockers, meaning that trans youth would have to go through puberty associated with the wrong gender and live with its permanent effects if this bill passes. 

The bill is called the “Let Them Grow Act,” a reference to how Republicans believe that gender-affirming care is dangerous – but only when transgender youth accesses it. The bill bans certain procedures for transgender youth but explicitly allows them if they’re performed on intersex youth in order to appear more like the sex a doctor assigns to them at birth. 

The American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics have all rejected claims that gender-affirming care harms transgender children or adults.

Nebraska state Sen. Michaela Cavanaugh (D) has been filibustering all bills in Nebraska’s unicameral legislature for weeks now, and Hunt has joined her. The legislature meets for 90 days a year, meaning that if they filibuster until June 9 then they have killed all legislation for the year.

“If this bill passes, all your bills are on the chopping block, and the bridge is burned,” Hunt said in her speech.

“People have said, ‘What if we go after your bills? What if we put a bunch of bills introduced by progressives up on the agenda? Are you going to filibuster those, too?’ Yes, because we’re not like you,” she said. “We have a principle and a value that actually matters that much to us that we’re willing to stand up for.”

“You really don’t get it. You’ve crossed a line and you’ve gone too far.”

Then she said she was done even pretending to be polite with people who want to take health care away from her son.

“Don’t say hi to me in the hall, don’t ask me how my weekend was, don’t walk by my desk and ask me anything. Don’t send me Christmas cards ― take me off the list,” Hunt said. “No one in the world holds a grudge like me, and no one in the world cares less about being petty than me. I don’t care. I don’t like you.”

“This hateful bill is not about policy,” she added on Twitter. “It is a basic human rights issue. The vote today will show us exactly which senators value the dignity, autonomy, and personhood of Nebraskans. Do not cross this line. Do not violate our rights.”