‘MULTIPLYING THREATS’

Human Rights Campaign Declares State of Emergency for LGBTQ Americans

The nation’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy group cited “an unprecedented and dangerous spike in anti-LGBTQ+ legislative assaults sweeping state houses.”

The nation’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy group has declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ Americans for the first time in its four-decade history as a result of “an unprecedented and dangerous spike in anti-LGBTQ+ legislative assaults sweeping state houses this year.” The “multiplying threats” are “real, tangible and dangerous,” the Human Rights Campaign’s President Kelley Robinson said in a statement. “In many cases they are resulting in violence against LGBTQ+ people … and triggering a tidal wave of increased homophobia and transphobia.” A newly-released report by the HRC found that more than 75 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been signed into law, surpassing last year as the worst year on record with more than double the number. The CEO of Equality Florida said in the statement that Florida, for which the HRC issued a travel advisory last month, is at the forefront of “oppressive laws now proliferating throughout the nation.” HRC also released a guidebook and resources to “navigate the increasingly hostile climate.”