Transgender laws may be vital to 2024 US presidential race
THE governor of the US state of Oklahoma has signed into law a bill making it a felony to provide genderaffirming health care to a minor.
Indiana state has enacted a law requiring teachers to tell parents when pupils ask to be called by a new name or different pronoun, while North Dakota has approved a law that lets public school teachers and state employees ignore using a transgender person’s preferred pronoun.
And the latest such action came in Florida this week when Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill that bans gender-affirming medical care such as puberty blockers or hormone therapy for transgender youths.
This month’s rush of bills, certain to attract court challenges, has become central to the Republican agenda in statehouses across the US and inflamed the so-called culture war in the US that also encompasses abortion, gun rights and school curricula.
A group of Florida parents has already sued in federal court to try to stop new law there.
To many political observers, these measures offer a preview of the 2024 elections, with Republicans portraying Democrats as out of touch on issues of sex and religion, and Democrats calling Republicans extremist and anti-democratic.
Republicans have introduced more than 500 bills affecting LGBTQ people in 2023, with at least 48 passing, according to the Human Rights Campaign rights group. Those numbers are up from 315 bills introduced and 29 passed in 2022.
The majority of the bills specifically affect transgender people, touching on nearly every aspect of a transgender person’s public life. Some seek to ban transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports. Others require transgender people to use the bathroom corresponding to their gender assigned at birth or to prevent transgender people from changing their sex on identity documents.
Neal Allen, chairperson of the political science department at Wichita State University, said that it remained unclear whether the transgender issue would help Republicans defeat Democrats in 2024, but that many Republicans were more concerned about an internal party challenge from the right.
Among the governors at the forefront is DeSantis, who is expected next week to announce a bid for the 2024 Republican US presidential nomination.
The bill he signed this week also adds obstacles for transgender adults, and grants courts jurisdiction in child-custody battles in some cases involving gender-affirming care.
LGBTQ rights activists are pushing back. Florida protesters flung underwear at state House Republicans from the gallery with messages such as “not your business” and “leave my genitals alone.” Demonstrators swarmed the Texas House, leading lawmakers to send a bill banning gender-affirming care back to committee. The bill finally passed the legislature on Wednesday.