LGBTQ+ Policy and Legislation
The Q Center is introducing a series that provides accessible and easily digestible information about policies, bills, and laws, and describe how policies impact our LGBTQ+ community. Policy touches many facets of our lives like healthcare, employment, education, social services or the use of public spaces.
Policy can be described as a document that outlines guidelines and procedures and are developed by public and private organizations like government agencies, businesses, public institutions, and organizations. Bills and laws are developed in legislative bodies at the local, state and federal level like city and town councils, state legislatures and the United States Congress. It is important to note that all legislation is policy but not all policy is legislation because legislation – a collection of laws – are developed and processed in legislative bodies and become the laws we live under whereas policies can be developed in different public and private organizations.
Furthermore, policies reinforce an organization’s mission and values that act as a scaffold for internal purposes and can interact outwardly with the public. As a result, the public is considered a stakeholder – that means us! We are stakeholders and, as members of many communities, possess the power to advocate for policies and legislation that improve our lives.
Read our Policy & Legislation posts:
- Understanding the WA State Legislature
Introduction Your elected officials are headed to Olympia to fight for their constituents very soon! The legislative session starts back up on January 13th, 2025, when your representatives get back to…
- Queer People & Policy: the importance of voter registration
The 2024 Election is Coming Up – and queer voices are needed now more than ever The queer community has the power to impact change when we come together in solidarity….
- Diversion Tactics
We’ve seen an alarming rise in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation over the past few years, and it’s important to name that it isn’t just happening out of the blue. The rise in anti-LGBTQ+…
- Don’t Say Gay Settlement
The Don’t Say Gay Bill (HB 1557), signed by Governor Ron DeSantis in 2022, criminalized discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through eighth-grade classrooms, banned safe spaces and…
- The Dangers of Copycat Bills: A Closer Look at Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation
The term “copycat bill”, otherwise known as model legislation, might sound innocuous at first. What harm could come from mimicking or modeling off of laws from other cities and states? However,…
- SCOTUS Hearing on Mifepristone
What happened: Remember our post about Washington State passing a law (SB 5768) last session to protect access to mife for Washingtonians? The SCOTUS ruling to follow Tuesday’s hearing is what…
- Anti-Trans Legislation in the U.S.: Outlook and Our Power
The Current Landscape For nearly a decade now, the U.S. has seen an enormous uptick in anti-trans legislation. This year, 2024 broke all previous records; nearly 500 anti-trans bills have been…
- SB 5768
SB 5768 (WA): Protecting access to abortion medications by authorizing the department of corrections to acquire, sell, deliver, distribute, and dispense abortion medications. What is the landscape that SB 5768 is…
- Nex Benedict and Oklahoma Bill No. 615
CW: assault, death/murder, transphobia, bathroom “debate” The bathroom debate has been raging for decades but took center stage as a red herring tactic by politicians under the guise of protecting youth….
- About the Equality Act – Policy Post February 2024
Laws that Outlined Civil Protections In 1964, the landmark passage of the Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. As a result,…
- Texas State Bill 14
As of September 2023, youth under the age of 18 are prohibited from accessing gender affirming care in the state of Texas. This law, State Bill 14, erodes avenues of support…
- TDOR – LGBTQ+ Policy and Legislation Post November 2023
This month honors Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) and communities willhost vigils meant to carve out spaces for grieving, healing, and support throughout the nation.Historically, the use of violence and countless…
