Human Rights Campaign State Legislative Director and Senior Counsel Cathryn Oakley issued the following statement today:

“We have long known that these types of bans on sexual education are counterproductive. Teaching sex ed in schools helps to bring down teen pregnancy rates, lower incidents of sexual harassment and domestic violence, and reduce the amount of anti-LGBTQ+ bullying in schools. By imposing a chilling effect on classroom speech, this bill will further alienate LGBTQ+ youth – especially transgender kids, by particularly singling out that any discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity should be banned. This bill should not become law.”

Less than two months into 2023, HRC is already tracking more than 340 anti-LGBTQ+ bills that have been introduced in statehouses across the country. 150 of those would specifically restrict the rights of transgender people, the highest number of bills targeting transgender people in a single year to date.

So far this year, HRC is tracking:

• 90 bills that would prevent trans youth from being able to access age-appropriate, medically-necessary, best-practice health care; two have already become law, in Utah and South Dakota.

• More bathroom ban bills filed than in any previous year,

• And 28 anti-LGBTQ+ bills which have passed at least one chamber, 10 of which specifically target the transgender community.
  

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ+ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.