The Personal Side of Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws
#NoMoreIowaProud
In “States With Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws Suffer Economic Losses,” I wrote about one aspect of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. People are fleeing for their safety. Population loss hurts the economy.
Another aspect hits at a far more personal level. When people move away, families fracture. Friendships fade. Communities fragment. Four people from my small friend group left Iowa. One I’ve known for more than 20 years. Two more have one foot out the door. This is not theoretical. I see it happening.
I hear the fear in their voices. See it in their eyes. People are justifiably scared. Their futures are uncertain. They fear a loss of civil and legal rights. They fear for their safety or that of their children. Their government is hellbent on legislating them out of existence.
What’s it all for?
Some Republican lawmakers will tell you that these laws are urgently needed for public safety. Some claim that full civil LGBTQ+ rights somehow infringe on their own freedoms.
The first blatantly anti-transgender law in Iowa passed in 2022. After that, the floodgates opened. Most of those bills don’t become law. But enough pass each year to make Iowa increasingly dangerous for the LGBTQ+ community.
Hmmm . . . so, the existence of LGBTQ+ Iowans was not an urgent safety concern before 2022? Did LGBTQ+ people suddenly sprout into existence in recent years? Or has there been a massive uptick in crimes committed by LGBTQ+ people? No, none of these is true!
Quite the opposite. LGBTQ+ people have always existed. They always will. No matter how much some want to deny them. And LGBTQ+ people are far more likely to be crime victims than perpetrators. The constant verbal and legislative attacks all but guarantee an increase in hate crimes.
Anti-LGBTQ+ laws are not about public safety. They’re about driving LGBTQ+ people away or shoving them back in the closet. Not protection but control. Isn’t that the real purpose?