Oklahoma City, Oklahoma — The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) — the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization — condemned the Oklahoma House passage of HB 1449, a bill which adopts an exclusionary and discriminatory definition of sex which would allow discrimination against transgender people in public services including rape crisis centers and domestic violence shelters, in detention facilities, as well as in bathrooms, locker rooms, school athletics and beyond.

This is the third anti-LGBTQ+ bill passed by the Oklahoma House this week, following a Don’t Say LGBTQ+ bill and a curriculum censorship bill.

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

“This is our third statement just this week about discriminatory, targeted anti-LGBTQ+ attacks by the Oklahoma House. HB 1449 is a very clear and dangerous attempt to erase the existence of transgender people from public life. We’re ringing the alarm not just on this bill, but on the fact that the Oklahoma legislature is rolling out discriminatory bill after bill without regard for the real life consequences for their constituents. They aren’t here to help Oklahomans - they’re intentionally making the lives of LGBTQ+ people in Oklahoma more difficult.”

So far in 2023, HRC is tracking more than 450 anti-LGBTQ+ bills that have been introduced in statehouses across the country. Approximately 190 of those bills would specifically restrict the rights of transgender people, the highest number of bills targeting transgender people in a single year to date.

This year, HRC is tracking:

• More than 110 bills that would prevent trans youth from being able to access age-appropriate, medically-necessary, best-practice health care; seven have already become law, in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, South Dakota, Utah, Iowa and Georgia,

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

• More than 85 curriculum censorship bills and 35 anti-drag performance bills.

In a coordinated push led by national anti-LGBTQ+ groups, which deployed vintage discriminatory tropes, politicians in statehouses across the country introduced 315 discriminatory anti-LGBTQ+ bills in 2022 and 29 passed into law. Despite this, fewer than 10% of these efforts succeeded. The majority of the discriminatory bills – 149 bills – targeted the transgender and non-binary community, with the majority targeting children receiving the brunt of discriminatory legislation. By the end of the 2022 legislative session, a record 17 bills attacking transgender and non-binary children passed into law.

Anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in 2022 took several forms, including:

• 80 bills aimed to prevent transgender youth from playing school sports consistent with their gender identity. 19 states now exclude transgender athletes in school sports.

• 42 bills to prevent transgender and non-binary youth from receiving life-saving, medically-necessary gender-affirming healthcare. 5 states now restrict access to gender-affirming care.

• 70 curriculum censorship bills tried to turn back the clock and restrict teachers from discussing LGBTQ+ issues and other marginalized communities in their classrooms. 7 passed into law.

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.