But this past spring the Republican-led state legislature passed a series of controversial bills that targeted the LGBTQ community.

That’s when Kleinmahon said he started having difficult conversations with his family about leaving the home they love. When he explained to his six-year-old daughter that their family had no choice but to leave New Orleans, she said, “We do have a choice, just one of them isn’t a good one.”

The Kleinmahons join other LGBTQ families who are also facing the same choice. They say they no longer feel safe or welcomed in states that have passed laws targeting their community. Many have made the difficult decision to leave.

In 2023, more than 525 anti-LGBTQ bills were passed in 41 states, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an organization that advocates for the LGBTQ community. Of those bills, more than 220 explicitly targeted transgender people. As of June, 77 anti-LGBTQ bills had been signed into law.

  • creamed_eels@toast.ooo
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    1 year ago

    Until they pass a law preventing the movement of people to other areas for healthcare because it’s too woke or something. We simply can’t have people getting liberal heart transplants, it’s against the freedom…of…the right to…bear freeze peach…I dunno

    • JJROKCZ@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Interstate commerce is pretty much the reason the federal government exists, if states start seriously restricting interstate travel then the feds will have to step in. A few abortions isn’t enough to warrant a federal response yet but stopping a good portion of interstate medical care might gets the feds involved

    • ElectricCattleman@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Religious conservatives used to be against all sorts of medical and scientific practices, saying they were an abomination or an afront to God’s plan.