The LGBT Center at the University of Louisville in Kentucky makes its goals clear. “The center is committed to dismantling cis-heteropatriarchy and other systems of oppression,” read the front page of its website. “Empower the LGBTQ+ campus community to reach their full potential; not only survive but THRIVE,” it continued. But this year, that’s been more challenging than ever.
The Kentucky state legislature has considered 11 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in this legislative session alone, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). And although most have been defeated, some have passed, including Senate Bill 150, which bans puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and surgeries for children under 18.
Kentucky is hardly alone. A wave of anti-LGBTQ+ bills has flooded statehouses this year, part of a backlash to transgender progress and the renewal of the culture war. As of April 3, 417 anti-LGBTQ+ laws had been proposed this year, according to the ACLU, with 283 of them relating to education. Twenty-four have passed, in 11 states.
Although most of the education bills affect the K-12 level (regulating what students can be taught about gender and sexuality, what pronouns students can be called, and what bathrooms they can use), some measures affect higher education, including Senate Bill 150 in Kentucky. The University of Louisville enrolls students each year who are under 18, some of them trans. The LGBT Center had been able to refer trans students seeking help to gender-affirming care. Now, it will not be.
“There’s nothing really that can be done because practitioners that we would refer to can’t see them,” said Byron Terry, assistant director for the LGBT Center on Louisville’s Belknap Campus. “The most we can do is provide them with the resources that we have [at] the center, which are student support resources, events, and community building.”
Finding resources
Dr. Jeff Maliskey, director of the Pride Center at the University of North Dakota, is in a similar situation. The North Dakota state legislature has proposed 17 anti-LGBTQ+ laws this year, according to the ACLU, and this April, Gov. Doug Burgum signed a bill banning gender-affirming care for people under the age of 18.
