This “Don’t Say LGBTQ+” legislation is a discriminatory attack against the LGBTQ+ community that bans discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-4, further stigmatizing LGBTQ+ people and isolating LGBTQ+ kids. S 49 could also force teachers to disclose LGBTQ+ students' identity before they are ready, making it more difficult for LGBTQ+ students to seek mental and physical health assistance from trusted adults in school.

In yet another sign of the historic level of anti-LGBTQ+ attacks sweeping state legislatures this year, this is one of several anti-LGBTQ+ bills currently advancing through the North Carolina General Assembly following a hiatus resulting from their deeply discriminatory anti-transgender bathroom legislation in 2016 and 2017.

Human Rights Campaign Legislative Counsel Courtnay Avant released the following statement:

“School policy should focus on education, not discrimination. Caught in the crosshairs of elected officials’ divisive politics are vulnerable kids who are simply trying to navigate their adolescence. Children deserve safe and affirming spaces in school, and teachers should feel empowered to provide them. The Human Rights Campaign strongly condemns the North Carolina House’s actions today and urges Gov. Cooper to veto this discriminatory bill.”

THE FACTS: 2023 Becoming Worst Year On Record for Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation

So far in 2023, HRC is opposing almost 560 anti-LGBTQ+ bills that have been introduced in statehouses across the country. A total of 80 pieces of legislation have been enacted into law this year. A total of 229 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:

• A total 131 gender-affirming care bans — bills that would prevent transgender youth from being able to access age-appropriate, medically-necessary, best-practice health care; this year, 17 have already become law in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, South Dakota, Utah, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Georgia, Kentucky, West Virginia, North Dakota, Montana, Oklahoma, Florida, Nebraska, and Missouri

• More than 30 anti-transgender bathroom bills filed;

• A total of 100 anti-LGBTQ+ curriculum censorship bills, and;

• 44 anti-LGBTQ+ drag performance ban bills.

Americans believe the amount of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is excessive, agreeing it is “political theater.” Likely voters across all political parties look at GOP efforts to flood state legislatures with anti-LGBTQ+ legislation as political theater. Recent polling indicates that 64% of all likely voters, including 72% of Democrats, 65% of Independents, and 55% of Republicans think that there is “too much legislation” aimed at “limiting the rights of transgender and gay people in America” (Data For Progress survey of 1,220 likely voters, 3/24-26, 2023).

By comparison, last year in 2022 politicians in statehouses across the country introduced 315 anti-LGBTQ+ bills, 29 of which were enacted into law. These efforts — the result of a coordinated push led by national anti-LGBTQ+ groups, which deployed vintage discriminatory tropes seeking to slander, malign, and stigmatize LGBTQ+ people — only yielded a less than 10% success rate, as more than 90% of anti-LGBTQ+ bills were defeated. The majority of the discriminatory bills – 149 bills – targeted the transgender and non-binary community, with the majority targeting children. By the end of the 2022 state legislative season, a record 17 bills attacking transgender and non-binary children were enacted into law.

More than 300 major U.S. corporations have stood up and spoken out to oppose anti-LGBTQ+ legislation being proposed in states across the country. Major employers in tech, manufacturing, hospitality, health care, retail, and other sectors are joining with a unified voice to say discrimination is bad for business and to call on lawmakers to abandon these efforts. Four of the largest U.S. food companies also condemned “dangerous, discriminatory legislation that serves as an attack on LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly transgender and nonbinary people,” and the Walton Family Foundation issued a statement expressing “alarm” at the trend of anti-transgender legislation that recently became law in Arkansas.

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.