Legal Protection Would Be Better

Spectator

By Stephen Tuttle | June 28, 2025

As Pride Month fades for another year, it might be wise for us to take a look at what’s happening with the LGBTQ+ community. It has not been an especially good year for their members.

According to the Center for American Progress (CAP), discrimination against this community is not abating but actually worsening. (Assume any reference to the “community” refers to LGBTQ+ individuals unless otherwise noted.) A circumstance already fraught for too many of our friends, neighbors, and family members has actually become more dangerous.

Fully 65 percent of the community report some form of discrimination, subtle or overt, every day. Another 61 percent report negative experiences with healthcare providers, the group they most rely on for fair and unbiased treatment. In fact, fully 39 percent of respondents report either changing their primary care provider or, after multiple negative interactions with multiple providers, have stopped seeking regular medical care altogether. Some 60 percent report discrimination in attempts to secure housing, and members of the community are twice as likely to experience homelessness.

Things apparently don’t get much better on the job. The Williams Institute, a think tank associated with UCLA focusing on gender identity law, conducted research indicating 47 percent of the community report workplace discrimination, which can include more difficulty obtaining employment in the first place, lower salaries, fewer promotions, fewer raises, and fewer bonuses even when goals are met.

Unfortunately, this is only the tip of the discriminatory iceberg, which is becoming more like a discriminatory glacier.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)—say what you will about them, they are impeccable record-keepers—is currently tracking a stunning 597 anti-LGBTQ+ pieces of legislation coursing through various states, including 16 here in Michigan mostly targeted at transgender youth. (Texas, not surprisingly, leads the pack with 88 onerous pieces of legislation designed to eliminate the quaint notion that everyone deserves equal protection under the law.)

Some Michigan legislators believe the most significant issue currently facing the state is who uses school bathrooms and other facilities and who participates in youth sports. And just so you know how important this issue is, be advised the Michigan High School Athletic Association received requests from two transgender students last year seeking participation in high school sports. That’s right, we're trying to pass laws that are directed specifically at two kids.

Things are especially troubling for transgender youth since the U.S. Supreme Court decided Tennessee was within their rights to prohibit medical care for transgender minors because those kids are not part of a protected group. So, apparently, discrimination against transgender kids is now acceptable at least when it comes to healthcare. And the notion being perpetrated by some on the far right that gender dysphoria among minors is some kind of fad is dangerous and destructive. Gender dysphoria is a medical condition officially recognized in 2013 in which a person’s gender identity differs from their assigned gender at birth.

According to a Williams Institute estimate, there are about 300,000 transgender youth between the ages of 13 and 17, representing less than 1.5 percent of that population group. Yet some in the country now act as if we are being overrun by transgender kids who are destroying school sports and invading school bathrooms, among other things.

There is so much more.

There are now bills in multiple states involving overt censorship and attacks on free speech by restricting access to or completely removing from school libraries books with an LGBTQ+ theme, LGBTQ+ characters, or even any mention of that community. Some bills, particularly in Florida and Texas, now prohibit or try to prohibit any discussion of issues pertinent to that community, including the prevalence of discrimination against it. Florida’s infamous “don’t say gay” law actually only applies to grades K-3, but teachers can be disciplined, even fired, for such a discussion.

It is easy to understand a certain level of discomfort with the gender identity issues, particularly the transgender component since the publicity surrounding it is fairly new. The reality is trans people have been with us forever but hidden away. It is significantly more difficult to understand why parts of that community are now being demonized for no reason other than they want to be themselves.

Politicians are especially good at finding imaginary villains to help them generate campaign contributions and votes. We’ve recently seen Muslims, Mexicans, and non-white immigrants of all sorts on the target list. AIDS victims were in the crosshairs for awhile, but the LGBTQ+ community, in general, has been a target of discrimination pretty much forever. It was getting better with a handful of supportive Supreme Court rulings, but the current class of politicians has decided to target that community, again, just like in the good ol’ days.

A Pride Month is nice, but Pride Legal Protection would be better.