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LGBT Life in the South
Recent news from Southern Stories
Mother’s Day dinner this year was extra special for one North Texas family, the Briggles, when they hosted Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke.
On Late Night with Seth Meyers, the Texas gubernatorial candidate talked about cooking the meal (a home recipe for burgers, broccoli, and potatoes), playing some music, and hanging out with the family who’ve become emblematic of the state-sponsored attacks on some Texas families.
Amber Briggle wants to introduce you to a family with a transgender kid—her family. The Texas mom speaks about her family, including her transgender teenaged son, Max, in GLAAD's new PSA videos, which got a sneak preview showing at the 33rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles Saturday.
Govenors in three states are considering whether to sign discriminatory legislation that bans transgender youth from school sports: Arizona, Kentucky, and Oklahoma. Lawmakers in Indiana will meet to vote on overriding their governor’s veto. A bill to restrict access to gender-affirming care passed Arizona’s legislature and goes to Gov. Doug Ducey. Every major medical association supports such care as safe and lifesaving, and transgender youth access to school sports in their authentic gender.
GLAAD along with Equality Virginia Advocates, the leading LGBTQ advocacy organization in Virginia, today announce urgent new efforts to get LGBTQ voters to the polls in the final days before Election Day, as Virginia chooses its next governor.
On Sunday, after months of debating and public testimony across four arduous legislative sessions, Texas lawmakers passed a law that shuts transgender youth out of school sports. HB 25, which now goes to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk for his signature, limits schoolchildren from kindergarten through 12th Grade to participating in sports according to the sex on their birth certificates, effectively banning trans youth from athletics.
Under Tatiana Williams’ leadership, the Transinclusive Group was awarded for exceptional service and earned a coveted grant from Gilead Sciences’ COMPASS Initiative, a program focused on ending the HIV epidemic in the U.S. South.
El tiroteo masivo ocurrido en la discoteca Pulse el 12 de junio de 2016, en Orlando, Florida, le arrebató la vida a 49 personas y dejó 53 heridos. No sólo fue unos de los ataques con mayor número de muertos en la historia de los Estados Unidos, sino también es el incidente más violento y fatal en contra de la comunidad LGBTQ en la nación.
The year 2020, with its challenges, has demonstrated that the LGBTQ community is vibrant, diverse and engaged. And we vote. The LGBTQ community tipped the 2020 election, and the LGBTQ community of Georgia has the power to do it again in 2021.
We recently asked members of our amazing Latinx LGBTQ community to share who would be in their hearts and on their minds as they voted. This is what they told us. A big gracias & thank you to everyone who participated!
LGBT people in the South continue to face obstacles at higher rates than the rest of the country. Yet LGBT Southerners are resilient and continue to thrive.
For first-hand accounts of being LGBT Southerners, check out the original short documentary series, GLAAD Presents: State of Change below. Check back for additional videos in the six-part series. More are on the way:
Consider this:
- Across the board, people in the South showed more discomfort with LGBT people than those in the U.S. overall. Many of the responses demonstrated discomfort levels at 5 to 6 points higher in the South than in the country as a whole.
- 40% of respondents in the South listed discomfort with attending a same-sex couple's wedding. It jumped to 50% discomfort when bringing a child to the same wedding.
- Levels of discomfort concerning issues related to transgender people were highest, both in the South and with the general U.S. population.
Nondiscrimination:
There are no statewide protections for employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. However, several local governments across the south have enacted nondiscrimination ordinances. Check out a few of those ordinances in Houston, Texas; Oxford, Mississippi; and Broward County, Florida.
Mississippi is the only state to pass a "license to discriminate" bill that allows businesses to refuse to do business with LGBT people. But several Mississippi businesses have made statement by displaying signs in their windows reading, “We Don’t Discriminate. If you’re buying, we’re selling.”
Schools:
North Carolina and Arkansas have safe school laws that protect students on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Georgia has a school policy that prohibits bullying based on sexual orientation.
Six southern states have anti-LGBT laws in the schools. These laws may prohibit school bullying or nondiscrimination policies from listing protected characteristics. They may also prohibit students or teachers from talking about LGBT people.
Dozens of schools, colleges, and universities across the south went purple for Spirit Day.
Family:
Parenting by same-sex couples is more common in the south. But same-sex couples face legal restrictions in adoption and foster care.
Support for marriage equality has been growing slowly across the country, but southern support for marriage equality is the lowest in the nation, hovering just below 50%.
No southern state allows employees leave to care for a same-sex partner. However, individual corporations may allow employees leave, based on company policy.
Public Life:
Five southern states have openly LGBT public officials. Florida has the third most openly LGBT public officials in the country at 25 (tied with Illinois). Georgia elected the nation's first state legislator who was openly lesbian and African-American.
When Crystal Moore, a police chief in Latta, South Carolina, was fired for being a lesbian, the city rallied around her until she was reinstated.
Dozens of local and regional LGBT organizations build community and provided resources for LGBT southerners.
HIV & AIDS:
All southern states, except for Texas, have a law criminalizing exposure or transmission of HIV. If convicted, people can face possible prison time or registration as a sex offender.
Reporting on LGBT people in the South:
GLAAD is publishing guides for journalists reporting on LGBT people in six Southern states. Check back to find the most recent publications.