Over 400 Anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in states

Question

I follow a TikTok influencer named Josh Helfgott who spread gay news of what's going on politically around the US in regards to the LGBTQ+ community. I recently just watched one of his TikTok videos where he stated that over 400 anti-LGBTQ+ bills are being introduced throughout the United States. He seems very credible with all of his sources but over 400 bills is a lot. It's sad that the US has come to this but it doesn't surprise me.

Answer 1

These claims are true. 

In accordance to Mara Jones, Journalist and creator of Translash media, "According to the ACLU, more than 426 bills that have been identified or described as anti-LGBTQ laws have been introduced in state legislatures across the U.S." These bills seem to focus on education and youth exposure as the Human Rights Campaign states that "90 bills that would prevent trans youth from being able to access age-appropriate, medically-necessary, best-practice health care." 

https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/human-rights-campaign-working-to-defeat-340-anti-lgbtq-bills-at-state-level-already-150-of-which-target-transgender-people-highest-number-on-record

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/over-400-anti-lgbtq-bills-proposed-2023-b14bsw/

Comments

Nice job writing up a thorough fact-check explanation and providing more than one source for your information.

Answer 2

This TikToker is not very specific about what types of laws are being enacted. But it is true. There 469 bills being reviewed in various states related to the LGBT community according to the ACLU. These laws affect drag shows, discussing sexual and gender identity in schools, access to gender affirming care for children, etc. Here's a link the ACLU article that shows a map of all the states and which bills are being considered in each state:

https://www.aclu.org/legislative-attacks-on-lgbtq-rights?impact=

Answer 3

This is true. According to an article from CNN, 

"At least 417 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the United States since the start of the year — a new record, according to American Civil Liberties Union data as of April 3. That’s already more than twice the number of such bills introduced all of last year."

This was found from ACLU data. They also said that the data shows that these types of attacks have been increasing since 2020. 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/06/politics/anti-lgbtq-plus-state-bill-rights-dg/index.html