Everyone is entitled to examine and decide their gender and sexual orientation in accordance with their beliefs. As we live in a secular nation, laws surrounding LGBTQIA+ lives and identities should be based on science, rather than religious faith or belief. The science is clear and confirms that there is no basis for anti-LGBTQIA+ laws — except for religion.
- Same-sex attraction and identities that fall under the transgender umbrella are not medical disorders, mental illnesses or otherwise diagnosable conditions. Homosexuality was removed from the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic Statistical Manual nearly 50 years ago. “Gender Identity Disorder,” the diagnosis previously given to transgender, nonbinary and gender nonconforming people seeking out gender-affirming care, was similarly removed from the DSM in 2013, in recognition that there is nothing inherently disordered about trans identities.
- The American Medical Association opposes conversion therapy, and supports gender- affirming care and the rights of trans people to access public spaces.
- The American Psychological Association has issued more than a dozen policy statements since the 1970s supporting the rights of all members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
- Sexual assault and domestic violence advocates have debunked the “bathroom predator myth” for years, noting that transgender people are more likely to be the victims of violent assaults in public bathrooms, rather than the perpetrators.
- Claims that transgender people are a danger to girls’ and women’s sports are unfounded. As discussed in further detail below, state school athletic associations have had policies allowing transgender children to play on teams that align with their gender identity for years before they started making headlines, and the Olympics have had transinclusive policies since 2004. In competitions where transgender girls and cisgender girls compete together, there is no consistent history of transgender athletes dominating, because there is no consistent correlation between testosterone levels and athletic performance.
- In April 2022, Yale published a report debunking claims that gender-affirming care for trans youths constitutes child abuse, saying that in reality medical ethics requires that physicians treat gender dysphoria in an affirming manner.
- There is no evidence to suggest that exposure to age-appropriate depictions of same-sex couples or trans people harms school-age children, and the American Psychological Association says that laws like Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill lead to poor mental health outcomes for children.
Anti-LGBTQIA+ policies are the work of a religious minority that seeks to force a dangerous and extremist world view onto a secular nation. The Supreme Court’s extremist supermajority has signaled that they are now willing to revisit decades worth of precedent protecting LGBTQIA+ rights.
