NOTABLE MIST LB
Ten laws impacting LGBTQ+ rights set to take effect today
Alabama House Bill 322
In April, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signed into law a bill preventing transgender students from using facilities like restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity. An amendment to the law also bars kindergarten through fifth grade educators from engaging in classroom instruction related to sexual orientation and gender identity in a manner that is not “age appropriate or developmentally appropriate.”
Florida House Bill 1557
One of the most highly publicized measures of the year, Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law – dubbed by its critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law – will prevent public primary school teachers from engaging in classroom instruction related to sexual orientation or gender identity.
Public school educators through high school will be prohibited from addressing either topic with their students in a manner that is not “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate.” Parents will also be given greater authority to take legal action against school districts they believe to be in violation of the law.
Florida House Bill 7
Florida’s Individual Freedom Act prevents workplaces and schools in the state from requiring training or instruction that may make some people feel they bear “personal responsibility” for historic wrongdoings because of their “race, color, sex or national origin.”
The measure has also been called the “Stop WOKE Act” by the state’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis, where woke is used as an acronym for “Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees.”
Indiana House Bill 1041
The now-law prevents transgender women and girls through high school from competing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, in March vetoed the measure, writing in a letter that he believes the bill does not solve a problem that exists in Indiana. The state legislature later voted to override the governor’s veto.
South Dakota Senate Bill 46
In February, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) signed into law the year’s first transgender athlete ban.
Under the law, transgender women and girls through high school are barred from playing on sports teams that match with their gender identity. Students and schools that “suffer any direct or indirect harm” from the law being violated are permitted to take legal action.
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