2020s anti-LGBT movement in the United States

The 2020s anti-LGBT movement in the United States is an ongoing conservative political backlash against LGBT people which has included bathroom use restrictions, bans on gender transition, "don't say gay" laws, laws against drag performances, book bans, boycotts, and conspiracy theories around grooming.

The backlash has been widely considered a moral panic and part of a larger culture war in the United States, which began during the presidency of Donald Trump, and is generally associated with the Christian right. Experts have cited rising anti-LGBT attitudes and policies as an example of democratic backsliding. Major figures in the movement include Florida governor Ron DeSantis, former Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson, podcast host and activist Matt Walsh, and Libs of TikTok founder Chaya Raichik.

Grooming conspiracy theory

Main article: LGBT grooming conspiracy theory

Since the early 2020s, members of the far-right and a growing number of mainstream conservatives, mostly in the United States, have used the term "groomer" to falsely accuse LGBT people, as well as their allies and progressives in general, of systematically using LGBT sex education and campaigns for LGBT rights as a method of child grooming and enabling pedophilia.

In the United States, the popularization of the term has been linked to Christopher Rufo, who tweeted about "winning the language war", and James A. Lindsay in August 2021. Following the Wi Spa controversy in July 2021, Julia Serano noted a rise in false accusations of grooming directed towards transgender people, saying that it appeared as if there was a movement to "lay the foundation for just smearing all trans people as child sexual predators". Libs of TikTok (LoTT) also slurs LGBT people, supporters of LGBT youth, and those who teach about sexuality as "groomers." In 2021, LoTT made false claims that the Trevor Project was a "grooming organization" and that Chasten Buttigieg was "grooming kids". LoTT creator Chaya Raichik said on the Tucker Carlson Today show that LGBT people "Want to groom kids. They're recruiting."

Far-right anti-LGBT disinformation Twitter account Libs of TikTok slurs LGBT people as "groomers"

The conspiracy theory then moved into the American conservative mainstream, with a number of high-profile cases of its use in Spring 2022, including its use by members of the Republican Party. On February 24, the right-wing The Heritage Foundation issued a tweet stating that the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act "protects young children from sexual grooming". During the debate over the act, Christina Pushaw, press secretary to the state's governor Ron DeSantis, tweeted that anyone who opposes the act was "probably a groomer". In April 2022, Marjorie Taylor Greene referred to the Democratic Party as "the party of killing babies, grooming and transitioning children, and pro-pedophile politics". Also that month, a group of far-right extremists and conspiracy theorists held a demonstration at Disney World in which they accused Disney of grooming. Disney has been the focus of several other uses of the conspiracy – Jim Banks and 19 other members of the Republican Study Committee published a letter to Disney accusing the corporation of "purposefully influencing small children with its political and sexual agenda".

Since then, numerous right wing pundits have described the behavior of parents and teachers who support minors in their transgender identities as grooming, and the term "groomer" has widely been used by conservative media and politicians who want to denounce the LGBT community and its allies by implying that they are pedophiles or pedophile-enablers. Slate Magazine later described the word "grooming" as "the buzzword of the season". In March 2022, Fox News host Laura Ingraham claimed that schools were becoming "grooming centers for gender identity radicals", dedicating an entire segment of her show to the topic a couple of weeks later. In April 2022, the left-leaning media watchdog Media Matters published a study stating that within a three-week period spanning from March 17 to April 6, Fox News ran 170 segments on trans people, throughout which the network "repeatedly invoked the long-debunked myth that trans people pose a threat to minors and seek to groom them".

LGBT curriculum

A student protest at Palm Harbor University High School against Florida's Don't Say Gay law.

Further information: Anti-LGBT curriculum laws in the United States

In July 2022, a wave of anti-LGBT curriculum resurgence saw ten such laws beginning to take effect in six different states. Some states enacting these new laws appear to have mirrored similar laws from other states.

In Florida, the Parental Rights in Education law and Florida Board of Education policy bans education on "sexual orientation" or "gender identity" unless it is mandated under state academic standards or as part of an optional reproductive health course or lesson, and Alabama bans the topics for kindergarten to grade 5, except for instruction deemed "age or developmentally appropriate". Five other states (Montana, Arizona, Arkansas, Tennessee and Florida) require parental notification of instruction on LGBTQ issues and allows parents to opt-out of such instruction.

In California — where state law requires students learn about the "role and contributions" of LGBT people in history — multiple protests against the inclusion of LGBT-friendly curriculum resulted in violence. At a June 2023 protest in Glendale, individuals seen protesting LGBTQ curriculum were identified as members of hate groups, such as the Proud Boys.

Anti-trans laws

Gender transition

Students in Des Moines protesting an anti-trans law signed by Republican Governor Kim Reynolds in 2022.

As many as 13 U.S. states banned gender affirming health care for transgender youth in the early-2020s.

Treatment for adults

These states make it easy for trans adults to sue their doctors:

• Utah: In January 2023, Utah stripped liability protections from any doctor who treats a trans person under the age of 25, and allowing any trans person under 25 to retroactively "disaffirm" consent and sue the doctor for providing care they had at the time consented to.
• South Dakota: In February 2023, South Dakota passed a similar law as Utah's, but without any age limit.
• Arkansas: On March 13, 2023, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a bill giving adults 15 years to file malpractice lawsuits for gender-affirming care they received as minors, whereas for other types of care (under preexisting law) a malpractice lawsuit must generally be filed within two years.

These states restrict treatment for trans adults (as well as younger people):

• Florida: In August 2022, the state of Florida voted to require any trans adult seeking gender affirming healthcare to receive approval from the Florida Board of Medicine at least 24 hours in advance. On May 17, 2023, DeSantis signed a law banning insurance providers from covering gender-affirming care for adults, as well as banning nurse practitioners and physicians' assistants (estimated to make up 80% of gender affirming care providers) from administering it, and banning it from being offered via telehealth. The Florida state legislature had passed the bill the previous month.
• Missouri: In April 2023, the state attorney general issued an emergency order instituting a three-year waiting period of continuous documented dysphoria before qualifying for gender-affirming care, disqualifying people if they have depression, anxiety, or autism, and mandating regular screenings for "social contagion". This has been characterized by many as a de facto ban on trans healthcare for adults, since depression and anxiety are common symptoms of gender dysphoria. A judge temporarily blocked enforcement of the order and scheduled a hearing for May 11.

Treatment for minors

Multiple states have banned gender-affirming care for children and adolescents as of 2023. Some states, like Mississippi and Idaho, have banned all forms of medical transition, while other states, like Arizona and Georgia, have banned only aspects of transition care (such as hormone therapy and mastectomies). Efforts to prohibit these types of intervention had begun several years earlier, but did not receive much attention from state legislatures until more recently. According to Newsweek, in 2023 alone, more than 385 anti-trans bills were submitted in the US, with some legislators advocating for restricting or outright outlawing access to gender-affirming childcare and public facilities.

Bans of gender-affirming healthcare for people under 18

State	Authority	Signed	Effective
Arkansas	State legislature	April 6, 2021		On April 6, 2021, the legislature—overriding Governor Asa Hutchinson's veto—banned puberty blockers, hormones, and surgery for minors and from referring them to other providers. The ban is not currently enforceable while the law is challenged in court.
Texas	State Attorney General	May 17, 2023		In February 2022, the state Attorney General implemented a legal opinion banning gender affirming care for trans youth, with criminal penalties for failing to report suspected violations. However, the order is currently blocked by injunction.
Alabama	Governor Kay Ivey	April 8, 2022	May 8, 2022	It is a felony for a medical provider to give gender-affirming healthcare to transgender people under 19 (the age of majority in Alabama). The ban on surgery is already enforceable. The ban on puberty blockers and hormones is not currently enforceable while the law is challenged in court.
Utah	Governor Spencer Cox	January 27, 2023
South Dakota	Governor Kristi Noem	February 13, 2023
Mississippi	Governor Tate Reeves	February 28, 2023
Tennessee	Governor Bill Lee	March 2, 2023
Florida	Florida Board of Medicine Governor Ron DeSantis		March 16, 2023 May 17, 2023	The state board of medicine rule took effect in March 2023. On May 17, 2023, Governor DeSantis signed a ban into law, and it took effect immediately.
Georgia	Governor Brian Kemp	March 23, 2023	July 1, 2023	Bans hormones and surgery while continuing to allow puberty blockers.
Iowa	Governor Kim Reynolds	March 22, 2023
Montana	Governor Greg Gianforte	April 28, 2023	October 1, 2023
West Virginia	Governor Jim Justice	March 29, 2023		Bans gender affirming care for trans youth, except in cases of "severe dysphoria" as diagnosed by at least two physicians.
Kentucky	State legislature	March 29, 2023		The legislature overrode Governor Andy Beshear's veto, banning gender-affirming healthcare for trans minors.
Idaho	Governor Brad Little	April 4, 2023
Indiana	Governor Eric Holcomb	April 5, 2023
Arizona	Governor Doug Ducey	March 30, 2022	March 31, 2023	Ban on gender-affirming surgery for minors.

Sports bans

Further information: Transgender people in sports

State laws which ban transgender athletes from participating in the sport of their gender identity, as of September 2022:

  Law enacted which bans trans athletes from participating in sports based on their gender identity; enforces gender classifications in sports based on registered biological sex

  Law preventing trans athletes from participating in sport in their gender identity enacted, but currently blocked from enforcement via court order

Some U.S. states passed legislation restricting the participation of transgender youth in high school sports or of trans women and girls in women's sports.

19 U.S. States have banned transgender people from sports under their gender identity in various capacities. These states include Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Alabama, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, West Virginia, South Carolina, Utah, South Dakota, Montana, Iowa, Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, and Georgia. The US Department of Education has said transgender students are protected under Title IX.

• In Indiana, schools rely on anatomical sex, requiring gender reassignment surgery for trans athletes to participate in the sport of their identified gender.
• Nebraska has formed a Gender Identity Eligibility Committee that decides on a case-by-case basis of how each transgender athlete can participate as their self-identified gender.
• Texas, Alabama, North Carolina, Kentucky, Idaho, and Florida require trans athletes to compete based on their biological sex.
• In Alaska, Connecticut, Georgia, Kansas, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, each school district makes their own decision on how to include transgender athletes.
• Maine gives approval for students to choose which team they wish to play on, approving based on safety and fairness.
• New Jersey and New Mexico require that trans athletes provide evidence that they have transitioned or are transitioning.
• Missouri and Ohio require athletes to undergo hormone treatment. Ohio requires that the athlete must have been on the hormones for at least a year prior to competing.
• Oregon allows those who identify as male to participate on male teams, and they are then on excluded from girls' competitions. Those transitioning from male to female must be on hormone treatment for at least a year.
• Iowa bans transgender girls and women from playing female sports. No such stipulation applies to transgender boys and men with regard to male sports.
• Oklahoma requires that any student participating in sports must submit a notarized affidavit of gender assigned at birth, under penalty of perjury.

Bathroom bills

See also: Bathroom bill

States and counties in the United States which have enacted legislation on restrooms, locker rooms, and other sex-segregated public accommodations, in regard to their access from those who are transgender, or have gender dysphoria:

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  State, city, or county mandates single-user unisex restrooms in all public buildings

  State explicitly prohibits discrimination in restrooms on the basis of gender identity

  State legislation or school guidelines currently allow students to use restrooms that correspond with gender identity

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  State legislation or school guidelines currently prohibit students from using restrooms that differ from biological sex

  Currently considering state legislation or school guidelines that would prohibit students from using restrooms that differ from biological sex

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  State indecent exposure law may be construed to criminalize trans people from undressing in locker rooms or using restrooms that do not match their biological sex

  Currently considering bills that may criminalize trans people from undressing in locker rooms or using restrooms that do not match their biological sex

In an early example of a anti-trans bathroom bill, the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act in North Carolina, was approved as a law in 2016. The bill, however, sparked widespread condemnation and threats of boycotts, and portions of the measure were repealed in 2017 as part of a compromise between the Democratic governor and Republican-controlled Legislature. Also in 2016, guidance was issued by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education stating that schools which receive federal money must treat a student's gender identity as their sex (for example, in regard to bathrooms). This policy was revoked in 2017.

In the 2020s, bathroom bills have been proposed and debated in a number of state legislatures. According to the American Civil Liberties Union there are currently 469 anti-LGBTQ bills in the US, most targeting transgender people. Current examples include Kansas SB 180. Several state bills are based on and closely resemble model legislation provided by the conservative lobbying organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which has been classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-LGBT hate group. The ADF's model legislation proposes giving any public school or university student the right to sue for $2,500 for each time they encountered a transgender classmate in a locker room or bathroom.

Since 2021, Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Idaho have enacted bathroom bills. State legislatures in Arizona, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas have proposed bathroom bills. The National Center for Transgender Equality, an LGBTQ advocacy group, calls these bills discriminatory.

In December 2022, sitting en banc, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled in Adams ex rel. Kasper v. School Board of St. Johns County, Florida that separating the use of male and female bathrooms in public schools based on a student's biological sex doesn't violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment or Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972. Previously, in August 2020, a three judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a 2018 lower court ruling in Adams v. The School Board of St. Johns County that discrimination on the basis of gender identity is discrimination "on the basis of sex" and is prohibited under Title IX (federal civil rights law) and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.

Anti-drag laws

Main article: Drag Panic

People protesting against Drag Queen Story Hour in 2022.

Protests against drag performances, especially Drag Queen Story Hour, increased after the 2021 attacks at the United States Capitol. The most vocal opponents are mostly affiliated with alt-right groups. Former Fox News host, Tucker Carlson, suggested that drag events could "indoctrinate or sexualize" children. Protestors also have expressed concern about homophobic conspiracy theories that performers are grooming children. The Anti-Defamation League reported that child abuse conspiracy theory has been fuelled by the Libs of TikTok, a far-right Twitter account. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation reported over 120 threats against drag shows in the US, throughout 2022.

In mid-June 2022, the far-right Twitter account, Libs of TikTok, condemned the upcoming Coeur d'Alene, Idaho's "Pride in the Park" festival due to a "family-friendly drag performance." On June 11, 2022, during the pride event, law enforcement arrested 31 members of the white nationalist and hate group Patriot Front, later charging them with conspiracy to riot.

On March 2, 2023, Tennessee governor Bill Lee signed a bill to equate drag queen performances with sexual performers. Subsequently, a 1977 photo emerged of Lee dressed in drag in the company of minors. This bill sparked outrage throughout the United States, including politicians and drag queens. In May 2023, masked neo-Nazi groups in Ohio protested drag events in Wadsworth and Columbus, carrying anti-drag and anti-trans banners, such as one that read, "There Will Be Blood."

Book bans

Main article: 2021–2022 book banning in the United States

Legislation was introduced or passed in at least 29 states taking aim at lessons that teach children about race and LGBT people, with most of the laws framed around putting a stop to "critical race theory" and "gender ideology". These laws, which use broad language prohibiting teaching about privilege related to race or sex, or systemic bias in the United States, have led to many book removals. NBC News described the use of the term "critical race theory" in this context as "a catch-all term to refer to what schools often call equity programs, teaching about racism or LGBTQ-inclusive policies". The Takeaway's Melissa Harris-Perry cited discomfort with issues like gender identity as one of the common reasons for challenges, but that "this discomfort is likely imposed by adults onto young learners" who are otherwise more accepting and more likely to think outside traditional gender roles.

Boycotts

Matt Walsh Twitter @MattWalshBlog

The goal is to make "pride" toxic for brands. If they decide to shove this garbage in our face, they should know that they'll pay a price. It won't be worth whatever they think they'll gain. First Bud Light and now Target. Our campaign is making progress. Let's keep it going.

May 24, 2023

Conservative activists urged for boycotting any company which publicly supported the LGBT community. Some of the most well-known examples included the 2023 Anheuser-Busch boycott against Bud Light for a sponsorship with actress and TikToker Dylan Mulvaney, and the campaign against Disney by Florida governor Ron DeSantis for publicly opposing the state's Don't Say Gay law. Other targeted companies include Nike, Adidas and Ford. Target faced heavy backlash following the release of its Pride Month merchandise, and it removed many items from stores after anti-LGBTQ hate groups threatened violence against its employees.

Responses

United Nations

After a ten day tour in which he met with State officials in Alabama, Florida, and California, Victor Madrigal-Borloz, a United Nations Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination, warned about the erosion of LGBT rights in the United States. Madrigal-Borloz stated, "I am deeply alarmed by a widespread, profoundly negative riptide created by deliberate actions to roll back the human rights of LGBT people at state level. The evidence shows that, without exception, these actions rely on prejudiced and stigmatising views of LGBT persons, in particular transgender children and youth, and seek to leverage their lives as props for political profit."

Notable Figures

• Tucker Carlson, political commentator and former Fox News host
• Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida and 2024 Presidential Candidate
• Marjorie Taylor Greene, U.S. representative from Georgia who has introduced several bills targeting the LGBT community and spread anti-LGBT conspiracy theories
• Michael Knowles, political commentator and contributor to The Daily Wire
• James A. Lindsay, author and cultural critic known for slurring LGBT individuals as 'groomers'
• Dylan Mulvaney, transgender actress and TikTok personality whose collaborations with Bud Light and Nike have sparked boycotts from conservatives
• Elon Musk, business magnate and owner of Twitter
• Chaya Raichik, founder of the far-right Twitter account Libs of TikTok
• Christopher Rufo, right-wing activist and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute who has campaigned against the inclusion of LGBT issues in schools
• Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States
• Matt Walsh, podcast host and activist known for his campaigns against transgender healthcare and for presenting the documentary What Is a Woman?

See also

• Democratic backsliding in the United States
• Homophobia
• LGBT history in the United States
• LGBT rights in the United States
• LGBT rights opposition in the United States
• Transphobia in the United States
• Transgender genocide

External links

• Mapping Attacks on LGBTQ Rights in U.S. State Legislatures, per ACLU
• Map: Attacks on Gender Affirming Care by State, per Human Rights Campaign
• 2023 Anti-Trans Legislation, per Track Trans Legislation
• 2023 LGBTQ Equality by State, per Movement Advancement Project
• Restrictions on Drag Performances, per Movement Advancement Project