As anyone who follows the LGBTQ+ news beat knows well, it’s … grim out here. Republicans are wasting no time pushing hateful and discriminatory anti-queer and anti-trans legislations across the nation, and while some are thankfully fading out in committees, others are moving along just fine. And that includes making their way to the desks of Republican governors, some of whom are clearly eying a certain presidential campaign in 2024. (Hi, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.)
Unfortunately, not all of these bills get enough national mainstream media coverage. Even worse, the coverage tends to go into the “both sides” territory that ultimately amplifies harmful right-wing talking points and debunked conspiracy theories. The media is not without fault or guilt here—when we treat everyone’s “opinion” like it’s based on anything but hate, we’re quietly giving the okay for others to repeat the same.
I cringe watching Gwendolyn Herzig, an openly trans doctor of pharmacy and pharmacy owner, be rudely questioned about her genitals while testifying against SB 199 in the state Senate Judiciary Committee in Arkansas. Arkansas State Sen. Matt McKee, a Republican, decided to try to humiliate her and derail her testimony by focusing on her genitals, and while she handled the situation with grace, it’s still incredibly dehumanizing and disturbing.
It’s painful, humiliating, and should have never happened. We should have never let it get this far. And this isn’t even the only anti-trans health care bill hanging in the balance; in fact, it’s far from it.
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What other legislation to watch out for? An anti-trans bathroom bill in Arkansas (SB 270) seeks to make it a crime for trans adults to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity if a minor is also in the bathroom. Put into practice, this means that if someone finds out you’re trans and finds out a teenager or child was in, say, a restaurant bathroom at the same time you were, you can be charged with “sexual indecency with a child,” as reported by LGBTQ+ outlet them. If that sounds absurd and terrifying, you’re exactly right.
If you ask me, this sort of bill is basically an invitation to monitor, harass, and report any trans folks in a community, especially anyone who doesn’t abide by strict gender presentation norms.
Kentucky is still hearing an anti-trans sports bill that’s more in line with much of what we’ve covered here at Daily Kos. SB 145 seeks to bar trans youth from participating in school sports teams that align with their gender identity beginning in the sixth grade and going through their senior year of high school.
In Idaho, SB 1659 seeks to ban trans and nonbinary youth from bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity, forcing them to use spaces that align with their sex as assigned at birth instead.
Iowa has HB 325, a bizarre bill that seeks to mandate that only adults can have a gender identity outside of their sex assigned at birth. This is basically an effort to legally erase trans and nonbinary youth and strip them of any protections.
And there’s more! Tennessee and Montana both have anti-drag show bans in the works. Anti-trans health care bills are once again in the works in Georgia, Idaho, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming. There's so much at once that it can be tempting to plow through and not remember that each individual who has to deal with this hate is a real person with real feelings who never deserved this for a second.
“You said that you’re a trans woman?” McKee asks Herzig in the now-viral clip. “Do you have a penis?” (Thankfully, some of the audience reacts in disgust, but still.)
“That’s horrible,” Herzig says.
“You’re the one that brought that into the discussion,” McKee replied. When Herzig mentioned she hadn’t discussed genitals at all during her testimony, he insisted it still had “everything” to do with genitals.
“I’m a health care professional,” Herzig says. “A doctor. Please treat me as such.”
Here’s that clip.
And a longer clip.
You can read Herzig’s own words on the traumatic situation here.
