ACLU update on "backup plans" to curtail LGBT equality in state legislature

As ACLU's LGBT Project Director James Esseks aptly notes:

"We must remember that the battles we will face this year are not just about religion or transgender people; they're the other side's plans B and C for stopping LGBT equality because their original plan A (preventing any civil rights for LGBT people) has failed.

“The opposition cannot simply say they don't want LGBT people to have the same rights as everyone else, because most people would no longer agree with that. So they talk about religion and exploit transphobia. 

“But the voices against us are increasingly marginalized and those with us grow stronger in number and power. We must keep that in mind as we weather defeats that will come our way, arming ourselves with the knowledge that while we might lose some battles, we're winning the war."

Despite this morning's defeat of the Indiana "Super RFRA [Religious Freedom Restoration Act]," legislators in the Hoosier State are moving quickly toward their backup plan that would still allow LGBT discrimination to prevail.

At 4 p.m. ET today, two non-discrimination bills that fall far short of full civil rights protections are scheduled for a committee hearing.

This doesn’t even include the 25 to 27 anti-LGBT legislation introduced in Oklahoma this week, as reported by The Gayly. “The [Oklahoma] bills range from barring educators from helping LGBTQ students in distress, to barring transgender people from using public restrooms, to a bill promoting child abuse in the discredited practice of so-called ‘conversion therapy.’ And that is but a handful.”

This morning we learned that a harmful "Super RFRA" SB 66, which would have reinstated last year's RFRA without the fix that prevents it from being used to discriminate against LGBT Hoosiers, was killed in an Indiana Senate committee hearing.

While that bill is dead, two others have carved outs that would also authorize discrimination in the name of religion.

Senate Bill 100 claims to update Indiana's civil rights law to add LGBT protections, but would actually override existing municipal civil rights protections and write broad religious exemptions into law, among other serious problems.

Senate Bill 344 also would change Indiana's civil rights law to add limited protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation, but, along with other flaws, it unacceptably excludes protections for transgender Hoosiers.

The only real solution is comprehensive civil rights protections for all LGBT Hoosiers. The legislature must fix SB 100 or 344 today in order to achieve full equality for all. 

Similarly, a package of discriminatory South Dakota bills makes it clear that state legislators aren't planning to slow down their attacks against the LGBT community.

With a full House vote today on HB 1008, South Dakota is on the verge of becoming the first state to target transgender kids with a discriminatory law forcing only trans students to use separate restrooms and locker rooms from everyone else.

Finally, the West Virginia House Judiciary Committee is hearing a RFRA bill (HB 4012) tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. ET. The prospects of this bill are unclear as it is exposing the divide within the West Virginia Republican Party. For instance, a bipartisan group of West Virginia legislators are making a public appeal in support of LGBT equality in their state.

Unfortunately, there's more of this to come as lawmakers seek to advance their discriminatory agenda in the weeks ahead. We will be providing timely updates to keep you abreast of movement and analysis.  You may also check the ACLU page tracking anti-LGBT legislation across the country, updated every Wednesday.

The Gayly – 1/27/2016 @ 2:31 p.m. CST