Wave of anti-LGBTQ laws passed across country

>>> MORE THAN 500 BILLS RESTRICTING THE RIGHTS OF L.G.B.T.Q. PLUS PEOPLE HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED THIS YEAR. 77 OF THE BILLS HAVE BEEN PASSED IMPACTING EDUCATION AND HEALTHCARE. EMERY BREAKS IT DOWN FOR US. >>> THIS IS A SNAPSHOT OF ALL OF THE STATES IN A PAST ANTI- L.G.B.T.Q. PLUS LAWS. WE ARE HIGHLIGHTING SOME OF THEM THAT MADE NATIONAL HEADLINES. WILL START THINGS OFF IN TENNESSEE. TENNESSEE HAS

PAST FIVE ANTI- L.G.B.T.Q. LAWS THIS YEAR, INCLUDING THE FIRST IN THE NATION ATTEMPT TO BAN DRY PERFORMANCES. THE LAW RECEIVED CRITICISM FOR ITS VAGUENESS. IT WAS ULTIMATELY RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL BY A FEDERAL JUDGE. NOW WE WILL TAKE YOU UP NORTH TO NORTH DAKOTA. NORTH DAKOTA HAS PAST 10 ANTI- L.G.B.T.Q. LAWS, ONE OF THE HIGHEST IN THE NATION. THEY PASS RESTRICTIONS ON HEALTHCARE AND IDENTIFICATION. ONE ASPECT THAT

IS DRAWN ATTENTION INVOLVES PUBLIC LIBRARIES. NORTH DAKOTA'S LEGISLATURE HAS PROHIBITED PUBLIC LIBRARIES FROM MAINTAINING SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIALS. THIS TAKES THE BOOK BEEN INITIATIVES TARGETING RACIAL CONTENT AND CODIFIES IT. NOW DOWN TO FLORIDA. OF COURSE, RON DESANTIS MADE A LOT OF HEADLINES DUE TO HIS ANTI- L.G.B.T.Q. RHETORIC. THEY DID PASS A LAW BANNING JENNIFER McCANN FOR MINORS. HERE IS WHAT IT INCLUDES. IT DISCOURAGES ACTS OF SOCIAL

TRANSITIONING, LIKE USING DIFFERENT PRONOUNS. I ALSO MAKES SEEKING GENDER AFFIRMING CARE A CONDITION FOR CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES TO TAKE A MINOR AWAY FROM THEIR PARENTS. IS MAKING ITS WAY THROUGH LEGAL CHALLENGES. >>> FROM ONE THIS, WE ARE RINGING IN A LAW PROFESSOR AT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY'S COLLEGE OF LAW. HOW MANY OF THESE LAWS HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTED VERSUS STRUCK DOWN OR HELD UP BY LEGAL CHALLENGES? >> GOOD

MORNING. MANY OF THE LAWS ARE STILL BEING CONSIDERED BY LEGISLATURES , AND BY THE COURTS. WHILE A NUMBER OF THEM HAVE PASSED IN THE STATE LEGISLATURES, THEY ARE BEING CHALLENGED AND ARE MAKING THEIR WAY THROUGH STATE AND FEDERAL COURT SYSTEMS. WE ARE NOT SAYING AT THIS MOMENT, FOR INSTANCE, WHAT THE FINAL ANALYSIS WILL BE ON THESE PROVISIONS. THEY ARE ALL BEING CONTESTED. >> MANY PEOPLE ARE

PROBABLY WONDERING, WHY ARE THERE SO MANY LAWS NOW? WHY ARE THINGS SO ACTIVE WITH THE ANTI- L.G.B.T.Q. PLUS LEGISLATION? WHAT IS CAUSING THE SHIFT? >> SOME OF THAT, OF COURSE, IS THE WAY IN WHICH THE COUNTRY IS VERY POLARIZED ON SOCIAL MATTERS. WE ARE SEEING THE PROLIFERATION OF THESE LAWS THAT IS REFLECTING THAT. WHAT IS CHARACTERIZING IT, IN PARTICULAR, IT IS A WAY IN WHICH A

PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE POPULATION IS NOW BEING A SCAPEGOAT FOR SOME OF THE OTHER ILLS THAT ARE AFFLICTING THE COUNTRY. THE VULNERABLE POPULATION, BUT ALSO A VERY RESILIENT ONE. WE ARE SIMPLY SEEING THAT THIS IS TAKING HOLD AS PART OF THE STRATIFICATION OF THE COUNTRY ON THESE SOCIAL ISSUES. >> TRANSGENDER INDIVIDUALS HAVE BEEN THE TARGET FOR A LARGE PORTION OF THESE LAWS. WHAT ARE THE NEW RESTRICTIONS? HOW

THE ACTIVIST GROUPS RESPONDED? >> AS YOU MENTIONED, IN YOUR INTRODUCTORY PART OF THIS DISCUSSION, SOME OF THE LAWS ARE RESTRICTING THINGS LIKE, DRAG SHOWS. ADD A NUMBER OF RESTRICTIONS ARE HAVING TO DO WITH VERY SERIOUS MATTERS, WITH RESPECT TO PEOPLE'S HEALTH AND RESPECT TO THEIR ACTUAL HEALTH. TRANSGENDER YOUTH, AND THE ACCESSIBILITY TO GENDER AFFIRMING CARE. THIS ISTO SAY, IRRESPECTIVE OF PARENTS AND PHYSICIANS DETERMINATIONS THAT THESE

THINGS ARE NECESSARY FOR THE WELL-BEING OF THE CHILD. THESE TYPES OF MATTERS ARE BEING TAKEN OUT OF THE HANDS OF PARENTS AND MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS, AND INTO THE HANDS OF LEGISLATORS AND POLITICIANS THAT HAVE DEIGNED THEMSELVES TO BE IN A BETTER POSITION TO MAKE THESE DECISIONS ABOUT LIFE AFFIRMING CARE AND CARE THAT WILL SAVE THE LIVES OF MANY YOUTH NEEDING THIS MEDICAL CARE. WE ARE SEEING MATTERS

THAT ARE RESTRICTING FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS, HAVING TO DO WITH SITUATIONS IN THE PUBLIC LIBRARIES, AND WHAT KINDS OF MATERIALS WILL BE ACCESSIBLE IN THE LIBRARIES. THERE IS QUITE AN EXTENSIVE DEGREE AND TYPE OF LAWS THAT WOULD SEEK TO RESTRICT THOSE TYPES OF ISSUES THAT PERTAIN PARTICULARLY TO THE L.G.B.T.Q. PLUS COMMUNITIES AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND CARE. >> WHEN I ASK ABOUT WHY WE ARE SEEING THINGS

ISSUES THAT OUR COUNTRY NEEDS TO ADDRESS. THESE ARE NOT, FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, THE MOST SERIOUS MATTERS THAT WE NEED TO CONTEND WITH IN OUR COUNTRY. AS YOU MENTIONED, FOR INSTANCE, THESE SEEM TO BE PROBLEMS IN SEARCH OF A SOLUTION. OR SOLUTIONS IN SEARCH OF A PROBLEM. THE DRAG SHOWS, FOR INSTANCE, THESE WERE NEVER EVENTS THAT WERE DESIGNED FOR YOUNG CHILDREN . EVEN TO THE EXTENT THAT

THEY ARE EXPRESSIVE OR ARTISTIC IN NATURE, THEY DON'T ONLY PERTAIN TO THE L.G.B.T.Q. COMMUNITY EITHER. THINK OF, FOR INSTANCE, COMEDIANS THAT HAVE PERFORMED AND WHAT WE MIGHT SAY BROADLY SPEAKING WAS DRAG, BECAUSE THEY WERE MALE COMEDIANS THAT MIGHT DRESS AS FEMALE CHARACTERS. THINK OF IT SHAKESPEAREAN PLAYS AND GREEK PLAYS. THESE THINGS HAVE LONG HISTORIES, IN TERMS OF BEING REPRESENTED AS A CROSS GENDER TYPE OF EXPRESSION.

THERE IS NO WAY IN WHICH WE CAN SAY THAT THESE HAVE BEEN PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS WITHIN OUR SOCIETY. IN FACT, IF WE LOOK AT IT IN THE BROAD SENSE, WE HAVE SEEN THAT, CROSS PERFORMANCES, CROSS ALL TYPES OF ARTISTIC EXPRESSIONS, THEY HAVE HAD WIDE ACCEPTANCE THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY AND SO