NORFOLK, Va. — Pride month kicks off with a strong statement from one of the country's leading LGBTQ+ organizations.
Leadership for the Human Rights Campaign declared a “State of Emergency” for LGBTQ+ Americans, citing the increase of proposed bills viewed as discriminatory against the community.
"When we think 'state of emergency,' we think something terrible is happening," Julie Snell said, Director of Housing for the LGBT Life Center. "For this community, something terrible is happening.
The announcement cites that it's the first time the equal rights organization has ever done this, behind more than 500 bills introduced across state lawmaking bodies ranging from transgender bathroom policy reform to transgender sports bans and more.
“Pride [month] is supposed to be a celebration but we’re very aware of rights being on the chopping block, and people feeling unsafe," Snell said.
Data tracked by the HRC found more than 70 of the proposed bills have been signed into law, and the most commonly passed anti-LGBTQ+ bill besides "other discriminatory" are bills over banning Medical Care Bans. "Curriculum Censorship" also ranked high among Anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced this year.
Virginia is not named in the report by the HRC, but lawmakers in Virginia did introduce several similar efforts this year including bills that looked to ban transgender student-athletes from participating in team sports that are not aligned with their birth gender, and other efforts to have public educators involved in the reporting of a student's gender identity.
“We’ll make progress and take two steps forward but have to take one step back," Snell said.
The human rights campaign said 21 states now have some kind of transgender athlete sports ban.