The Human Rights Campaign - America's biggest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer civil rights group - declared a national state of emergency for those within the LGBTQ+ community on Tuesday, June 6.
According to CNN, this is the first time such a declaration has been made in the organization's four-decade existence.
In a State of Emergency
"LGBTQ+ Americans are living in a state of emergency. The multiplying threats facing millions in our community are not just perceived - they are real, tangible and dangerous," Kelley Robinson, the organization's president, said.
"In many cases they are resulting in violence against LGBTQ+ people, forcing families to uproot their lives and flee their homes in search of safer states, and triggering a tidal wave of increased homophobia and transphobia that puts the safety of each and every one of us at risk."
Along with the emergency announcement, the organization said it would publish a digital guidebook with health and safety information, a breakdown of state-by-state regulations, "know your rights" details, and other materials meant to help LGBTQ+ travelers and individuals residing in hostile environments.
Record Number of Anti-LGBTQ Bills
The historic declaration came just days into Pride Month in response to what the Human Rights Campaign calls "an unprecedented wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in 2023." This has been prompted by the continued violence against LGBTQ people and the fact that the rights of this group have become a flashpoint in the 2024 election.
Years after 49 people were slain at the Pulse gay nightclub in Florida, a shooting at a cherished LGBTQ "safe space" occurred in November 2022 at Club Q in Colorado.
Just last month, the Human Rights Campaign issued an updated travel advisory for Florida. This detailed the possible implications of six measures recently enacted there, several of which had already been signed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.
The American Civil Liberties Union reports that a record 417 anti-LGBTQ measures were proposed in state legislatures throughout the US in the first quarter of 2023. This is more than double the number of such laws introduced in any other year.
Human Rights Campaign claims that the number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills passed into law this year is already more than twice the amount enacted into law in 2022, which was already the highest number on record. Among them are "don't say LGBTQ+" legislation, pronoun refusal statutes, student outing mandates, anti-drag ordinances, and pronoun refusal laws.
Meanwhile, CNN said that the US Supreme Court will soon rule on a case that might have far-reaching implications for businesses that discriminate against LGBTQ consumers.
And although Human Rights Campaign has been vocal about its concerns, it has also made it clear that it would not back down from its fight against those who would want to silence the community.
