OKLAHOMA CITY– Today, The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) — the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization — condemned Governor Kevin Stitt’s signature of legislation, S.B. 615, a bill copying other efforts - most recently in Alabama - to discriminate against LGBTQ+ youth in schools. Specifically, the bill puts Oklahoma in a small and infamous group of states that have chosen to defy federal civil rights law by forbiding transgender youth to access restrooms consistent with their gender identity. North Carolina and Tennessee both faced swift challenges in the courts for these violations, and Alabama’s recent law is only months old. The legislation also adds penalty provisions for schools that fail to comply (5% decrease in funding from the state) and gives parents a cause of action if they believe the law has been violated.

This bill is a continuation of Oklahoma’s “leadership” in legislative attacks on LGBTQ+ people over the last several years, and comes as data from the Trevor Project shows that 42% of LGBTQ+ youth nationwide seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth. The nation’s leading child health and welfare groups representing more than 7 million youth-serving professionals and more than 1,000 child welfare organizations released an open letter calling for lawmakers in states across the country to oppose dozens of bills that target LGBTQ+ people, and transgender youth in particular.

Human Rights Campaign State Legislative Director and Senior Counsel Cathryn Oakley issued the following statement in reaction to today’s vote: