A record number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills were filed and passed across the country this year. They collectively have the effect of marginalizing LGBTQ+ people and driving even their mention from the public square. As a new report from the Movement Advancement Project (MAP) makes clear, this year’s raft of bills — in North Carolina and beyond — also target those supporting LGBTQ+ people, including doctors, teachers, and corporations that appeal to or embrace the community. According to the statement by Naomi Goldberg, Deputy Director and LGBTQ Program Director at MAP, the opponents are aware of the support for LGBTQ+ equality from Americans. As a result, they are creating a false perception of lower support by scaring people into silence. Last week, families and doctors filed a federal lawsuit over one such bill in North Carolina — House Bill 808. The bill prohibits gender-affirming medical care for those under 18, including treatment advised by their doctors and to which their parents consent. The law also prohibits state funds and Medicaid dollars from being used for such care. Doctors providing such care could lose their medical licenses under the law. Sixty-three percent of bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community and allies this year included the loss of medical license or other professional discipline for defying anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. This is up over last year when 47% of such bills included that provision.
