Amidst Massive Anti-LGBTQ+ GOP Push, A Sigh of Relief in Virginia

On Tuesday, voters in Virginia spoke, and Democrats gained a majority in the Virginia House of Delegates and retained control of the Virginia Senate, in part driven by promises from Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) that, if Republicans gained control of both legislatures, he would promptly enact a 15-week abortion ban.  

Youngkin continues to claim that 15 weeks is when a fetus can feel pain, even though “the science conclusively establishes that a human fetus does not have the capacity to experience pain until after at least 24-25 weeks,” according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

For LGBTQ+ Virginians, this is a massive relief.  Republicans in both chambers introduced a total of 12 bills targeting LGBTQ+ citizens — in particular trans youth — just this year.  

All 12 bills were defeated by a narrow Democratic majority in the Senate.  

If Republicans had taken the Senate and retained the House, most believe the 2024 legislative session would have seen Republicans double-down on their efforts to marginalize and demonize queer people, with more success.

Study Shows Children with LGBTQ+ Parents Discriminated Against at School

A September study released by GLSEN, COLAGE, and Family Equality showed that children of queer caregivers experience extensive discrimination in schools.  455 students with an LGBTQ+ parent/caregiver participated in the study.

In the past year, 96.6 percent reported feeling excluded in school for having a queer parent/caregiver.  86.8 percent heard negative comments about LGBTQ+ parents in general, 80.25 percent heard negative comments about their family in particular, and 68.6 percent were discouraged from talking about their family by school faculty.  

70.4 percent had been verbally harassed, and 64.5 percent had been physically harassed.

Anti-LGBTQ+ legislation was cited as a major contributor.  In the 2021-2022 legislative session, over 350 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced, which was record-setting.  For the 2022-2023 session, over 550 bills were introduced.  This includes 45 “Don’t Say Gay” and trans bills introduced across 12 states, and over 200 bills specifically aimed at making schools less safe for LGBTQ+ students — or, as the study shows, students whose families include an LGBTQ+ person.

“This anti-LGBTQ+ landscape restricts young people’s autonomy in schools, narrows the definition of family, uses parental rights to erode LGBTQ+ youth rights, and creates a culture of discrimination, bias, and violence,” the report says.

Sec. Pete Buttigieg Targeted by Homophobic Lawmakers

On Tuesday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) introduced an amendment to the 2024 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development spending bill, which must be passed by November 17 to avert a government shutdown.  The amendment, approved unanimously by House Republicans, would reduce the salary of Sec. Pete Buttigieg to one dollar.  The Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate will certainly block the bill if it passes the House.

One of the main pushers of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric in Congress, Greene blatantly lied about both the effect of her amendment and its justifications.  

On X, formerly Twitter, Greene posted:

“BREAKING: I’m proud to announce my amendment to FIRE Pete Buttigieg just PASSED the House.  Pothole Pete staged fake bike rides to the White House and used private planes funded by taxpayers to receive awards for the way certain people have sex.  American taxpayers should not be on the hook for paying for his lavish trips or his salary.”

Her amendment would not remove Sec. Buttigieg from office, Snopes has found the claim of staged/faked bike rides to be false (Buttigieg was seen on camera putting his bicycle on a storage rack of an SUV during a cabinet meeting, which he indeed biked to and from), and he flies coach.

Republicans have gleefully mocked Buttigieg for, frankly, anything — jumping on any opportunity, regardless of fact, to blame him for any transportation-related event during his time in office, whether a delayed flight, a derailed train, or apparently potholes.  

They have repeatedly denigrated Buttigieg and his family with an onslaught of homophobic or otherwise hateful falsehoods, from accusing him of wearing breastfeeding devices to feed his twin babies (he feeds them with a bottle), to spreading photoshopped newspaper stories attaching photos of a young Buttugieg to a story about a child killing puppies, to a false claim that President Biden accidentally called him “secretary booty juice.”