2020s anti-LGBT movement in the United States

political backlash against LGBT people

The 2020s anti-LGBT movement in the United States is a conservative political backlash against LGBT people which has included bathroom use restrictions, bans on gender transition, “don't say gay” laws, laws against drag performances, book bans, boycotts, and conspiracy theories around grooming.

Voting rights are being gutted. Women’s rights are being dismantled, books are being banned, history is being rewritten. The Supreme Court is being corrupted… the LGBT+ community is under attack. ~ Oprah Winfrey
So, what have Republican legislators done? Let me count the ways. They introduced nearly 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills. They’re also banning books, which we know. And teachers in states like Florida are barred from even talking about being gay or transgender in the classroom. ~ Joy Behar
Reverse policies that allow transgender individuals to serve in the military. Gender dysphoria is incompatible with the demands of military service, and the use of public monies for transgender surgeries or to facilitate abortion for servicemembers should be ended. ~ Christopher Miller
[Gender transition] is a major problem. I will be actively lobbying to criminalize making severe, irreversible changes to children below the age of consent. Shame on those who advocate this! It is utterly contemptible. ~ Elon Musk
I hope the next time there's an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands. ~ Zooey Zephyr
See also:
LGBT rights in the United States
Transphobia in the United States


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  • I'm looking at society today and it's like I'm watching an X-Men movie… it's like we have mutants living among us on planet Earth. Some people don’t like that, but that’s a fact. This is the planet Earth, where God created men, male and women, female. I’m a proud Christian, conservative Republican. I’m not on the fence… I'm not afraid to address the dysphoria or the dysfunction. The Lord rebuke you, Satan, and all of your demons and all of your imps will come and parade before us. That's right – I called you demons and imps who come and parade before us and pretend that you are part of this world.
  • For years, we've been hearing from anti trans pundits and politicians that this is about protecting the children. But I think what this Oklahoma law reveals is that it's never been about the children. It's always been about scapegoating trans people, stigmatizing us and criminalizing our existence, making us not exist.
  • Hey Dad. Thanks for setting aside time to meet with me, it means a lot to me. There are a lot of important issues passing through the legislature right now. For my own sake I’ve chosen to focus primarily on transgender rights, as that would significantly directly affect a number of my friends… I would like to make the argument that these bills are immoral, unjust, and frankly a violation of human rights.
  • It’s not our fault that the truth hurts them, it’s their fault that the truth hurts them, because they have turned their back on the truth and they’ve turned their back on God... [Democrats] passed a bill to make it a federal law to protect gay marriage. Marriage is between a man and a woman, and that’s between God and a man and a woman.
  • We have officially declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the United States for the first time following an unprecedented and dangerous spike in anti-LGBTQ+ legislative assaults sweeping state houses this year. More than 75 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been signed into law this year alone, more than doubling last year’s number, which was previously the worst year on record. Our community is in danger, but we won't stop fighting back — not now, not ever.
  • Let's not forget what we're seeing across the country from statehouses: more than 600 pieces of legislation, anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. A few hundred of those are against transgender youth. And so we have not seen that type of 'anti' sentiment, anti — against this community in decades. We also need to make sure that we let the community know that the President has their back and we're going to continue to fight for them.
  • The reason we are singling out drag performances is there are drag performances out there that are targeting children, and that needs to stop. The problem is that children are being targeted in many areas, and it is evil against good... and we’ve got to push back on evil. I will do everything I can as a senator in this chamber to protect Arizona children from perversion (and) grooming.
  • There's something really exciting happening with Target everybody. So Target has a target on their back. Target is freaking out. Target is holding emergency meetings. They're worried that they're losing their customer base. Everybody keep the pressure on. We need to go after Target in a very serious way. It is time for decent, ordinary Americans who do not believe in radical ideas in either direction to just say I will not allow my kid to be corrupted by this trans agenda and look Target - it looks like they're caving. They say they're putting the clothes in the back. I don't want - I want Target to go bankrupt. I want them to close. I want Chapter 11, okay? I want them to go Chapter 11. People say what does success look like? Chapter 11, okay? I want skull and bones all the way down to the absolute nails of the stores. That's the only thing they understand is force. Pain is a teacher and the pain of crossing the line to perverting our children and grooming them, it's going to be a lesson I hope corporate America watches because ordinary America is pushing back. We must push for the bankruptcy of Target. Make it happen everybody.
  • I never want to put anyone in a position to be at risk or in danger in any way. But also where is the line of being silenced? How do we navigate these absurd threats and laws against our community?... We deserve to have a safe space to be ourselves while we navigate the evil that is threatening our own existence. We will not be silenced. We will find ways to continue to be our authentic selves, no matter what. We will not give up. No matter how hard they make it.
  • There’s something so unique about — the LGBTQ community has become this cult and it’s so captivating and it pulls people in so strongly unlike anything we’ve ever seen and they brainwash people to join. They convince them of all of these things. And it’s really hard to get out of it... I think they’re evil. And sometimes we try to break it down a lot and we discuss why this is happening, what’s happening, whatever, and I think sometimes the simplest answer is they’re just evil. They’re bad people. They’re evil people. And they want to groom kids. They’re recruiting.
  • In light of recent and tragic events and current events, I was told by people on the internet, ‘Cancel your shows in Tennessee,’ ‘Don’t go to Tennessee.' Their reason was valid, but why would I not come to the people who need to hear this message the most? Why would I not create a safe space in Tennessee where we can celebrate drag entertainers and celebrate our differences?
  • I am deeply alarmed by a widespread, profoundly negative riptide created by deliberate actions to roll back the human rights of LGBT people at state level. The evidence shows that, without exception, these actions rely on prejudiced and stigmatising views of LGBT persons, in particular transgender children and youth, and seek to leverage their lives as props for political profit.
  • So this art form I’ve devoted my life to is being used as a scapegoat for people to get votes. This is what they always do. They just take some random cause that they know people will vote for - based on nothing. But there’s no way to combat it with data, because this isn’t even a group of people that care about data… I was looking for information on stats on drag queens being pedophiles. Zero. There’s no drag queens being arrested for sexual assaults of children. That doesn’t happen. You know where that happens? The church. Okay? That’s where. This whole country mollycoddles Christians, and I’m fucking tired of it.
  • Reverse policies that allow transgender individuals to serve in the military. Gender dysphoria is incompatible with the demands of military service, and the use of public monies for transgender surgeries or to facilitate abortion for servicemembers should be ended.
  • For months now, I have been scared to leave my house. I have been ridiculed in public. I have been followed, and I have felt a loneliness that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. I’m not telling you this because I want your pity. I’m telling you this because if this is my experience from a very privileged perspective, know that it is much, much worse for other trans people.
  • CEO of Target Brian Cornell selling out the LGBTQ+ community to extremists is a real profile in courage. This isn’t just a couple stores in the South. There is a systematic attack on the gay community happening across the country. Wake up America. This doesn’t stop here. You’re black? You’re Asian? You’re Jewish? You’re a woman? You’re next.
  • Of course, I have been covering the wonderful month of Pride, for which I feel no pride for at all. I think it should be called shame month. It’s absolute debauchery. I spoke about this last week and when you believe when you start to see that your government is sponsoring that, when they’re putting real dollars behind things like drag queen story hour in New York City, you should realize that something nefarious is going on because the government does not care about your children. No, the government does not love your children. The government does not want your children to be accepted. The government wants your children to be enslaved to government for the rest of their life. And right now, as we’re seeing, there is a marriage between government and big pharma. It is my belief that that is the push behind this effort to tell children that they can pick their gender and to confuse them. And you’re seeing right now that adults are getting behind this narrative so they can have a woke T-shirt on and say I love my children. I allowed my child to pick their gender and pick their species. And they feel proud of themselves because they can go and they can say this on Facebook that they are wonderful, accepting, and loving adults. When, in reality, they are underqualified to have children. They should have their children taken away from them because it’s child abuse.
  • I named SB 12 to be one of my top priorities this session because someone must push back against the radical left’s disgusting drag performances which harm Texas children. It is shocking to me that any parent would allow their young child to be sexualized by drag shows. Children, who cannot make decisions on their own, must be protected from this scourge facing our state.
  • We need to just pause, we need to understand what these emerging therapies actually may potentially do to our kids. My heart goes out to them. I’m a parent, I’m a grandmother, I know how difficult this is. This is an extremely uncomfortable position for me to be in. I don’t like it. But I have to do what I believe right now is in the best interest of the kids.
  • Because of Ron DeSantis and his frenzied appeal to extremists, LGBTQ+ people in Florida are finding themselves in a state of emergency every single day. Since the day he took office, Governor DeSantis has weaponized his position to weave bigotry, hate, and discrimination into public law for his own political gain... Those who visit must join us in their vocal opposition to these dangerous policies.
  • Hey, look over there! A classic distraction technique, distracting us away from the real issues that they were voted into office to focus on: jobs, healthcare, keeping our children safe from harm at their own school. But we know that bullies are incompetent at solving real issues. They look for easy targets so they can give the impression of being effective. They think our love, our light, our laughter and our joy are signs of weakness. But they’re wrong because that is our strength. Drag queens are the Marines of the queer movement. Don’t get it twisted and don’t be distracted. Register to vote so we can get these stunt queens out of office and put some smart people with real solutions into government.
  • One of the big issues that we have heard today and we've talked about lately is that without surgery the risk of suicide goes way up. Well, I am one of those parents who lived with a daughter who was suicidal for three years. Someone once asked me, "Wouldn't I just do anything to help save her?" And I really had to think and the answer was, "No." I was not going to give in to her emotional manipulation because she was incapable of making those decisions and I had to make those decisions for her. I was not going to let her tear apart my family and I was not going to let her tear apart me.
  • Goal #3: Promoting Stable and Flourishing Married Families. Families comprised of a married mother, father, and their children are the foundation of a well-ordered nation and healthy society. Unfortunately, family policies and programs under President Biden’s HHS are fraught with agenda items focusing on “LGBTQ+ equity,” subsidizing single-motherhood, disincentivizing work, and penalizing marriage. These policies should be repealed and replaced by policies that support the formation of stable, married, nuclear families.
  • Today is a sad day in American constitutional law and in the lives of LGBT people... The immediate, symbolic effect of the decision is to mark gays and lesbians for second-class status.
  • We love you queens! We're in your corner and we've got you, and I will fuck anybody up who's trying to fuck with anything with you guys. There are so many things that are hurting and, really, killing our kids — and we all know what I'm talking about right now — and it ain't no drag queen. Because if you've ever seen a drag queen lip-sync for her life, it only makes you happier, it only makes you love more, it makes you a better person.
  • I will sign a new executive order instructing every federal agency to cease all programmes that promote the concept of sex and gender transition at any age. I will then ask congress to permanently stop federal tax-payer dollars from being used to promote or pay for these procedures and pass a law prohibiting child-sexual mutilation in all 50 states – it’ll go very quickly. I will declare that any hospital or healthcare provider that participates in the chemical or physical mutilation of minor youth will no longer meet federal health and safety standards for Medicaid and Medicare and will be terminated from the programme immediately. Furthermore I will support the creation of a private right of action for victims to sue doctors who have unforgivably performed these procedures on minor children.
  • When you start saying, ‘I’m a man, I become a woman, I’m now winning national championships, setting weightlifting world records, displacing women who’ve worked their entire lives to get to a point in their careers, I think that’s wrong.
  • The Left has taken away all of the neutral cultural ground. This is why brands like Bud Light and Nike are giving endorsement deals to a dude in a dress... They can be baptized into wokeism and openly worship at the LGBT altar, or they can by default align themselves with conservatives... Here's what we should do: Pick a victim, gang up on it, and make an example of it. We can't boycott every woke company or even most of them. But we can pick one, it hardly matters which, and target it with a ruthless boycott campaign. Claim one scalp then move onto the next.

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