As states pass anti-LGBTQ laws, Sharice Davids says she still feels optimistic about progress

Rep. Sharice Davids, a Kansas Democrat, compared the journey for LGBTQ rights to walking up a spiral staircase.

It’s not a linear path. Instead, progress circles as it rises.

“For sure from when I was younger, we are in a much better place in terms of LGBTQ+ rights,” said Davids, who made history in 2018 as the first openly LGBTQ person elected to Congress from Kansas.

“I also think that the more we grow, the more, as a society, we realize what other things we still need to do. And so that might be where the backslide feels like it’s coming in.”

One could be forgiven for thinking there’s a backslide. Over the past year, conservative lawmakers across the country sponsored scores of legislation aimed to scale back LGBTQ rights — particularly the rights of the transgender community. The Human Rights Campaign even declared a first-ever state of emergency for LGBTQ Americans.

While polling by Gallup shows the number of people who think same-sex marriages should be valid has remained consistent at around 70%, fewer people are saying same-sex relations are morally acceptable — 64% in 2023 compared to 71% in 2022. Other polls show Americans support bills preventing transgender girls from playing in certain sports leagues.

The Kansas Legislature this year passed two bills — one that could prevent transgender women from obtaining gender specific spaces, like domestic violence shelters and bathrooms, and one that prevents transgender girls and women from playing on women’s sports teams.

“I think there’s definitely been a coordinated attack, especially on trans individuals, not only in Kansas but in the rest of the nation,” said Taryn Jones, a lobbyist for Equality Kansas. “And I think we’ve seen in Kansas and other places an onslaught of anti-trans legislation.

Jones, a lobbyist for Equality Kansas, said the group hosted a Zoom call for transgender Kansans in May and the fear was palpable.

“We’re still seeing that,” Jones said. “We’re seeing families move out of state because they just don’t feel safe here any longer.”

Much of the legislative focus has been on transgender kids. Along with the bill to prevent transgender girls from playing in certain school sports, the legislature passed a bill preventing gender affirming care for minors, even though it is widely supported by the medical community. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the bills, but conservatives had enough political power in the Legislature to override the vetoes.

The political battles have an effect on LGBTQ youth, who are already more likely to report that they are depressed and have higher rates of attempted suicide.

“It’s very difficult for a lot of young people when it comes to their mental and emotional well being,” Davids said. “And LGBTQ+ kids are just that much more at risk.”

To address it, Davids has sponsored a bill that would increase mental health resources for LGBTQ youth and would commission a report on the mental health of LGBTQ youth in federal programs.

It’s the second time Davids has sponsored the bill after it failed to pass the House last Congress.

Passage is even more difficult this Congress, with Republicans in control of the House. Some Republican members of Congress have taken to implying LGBTQ people are pedophiles, recalling LGBTQ rights battles of the 1960s and 70s, when groups like Anita Bryant’s “Save our Children” falsely claimed LGBTQ people were trying to “recruit” children.

Already, the House has passed a bill this year that would prevent transgender women from playing certain school sports, though it is unlikely to pass the Democratic controlled Senate.

Davids said the fact that Congress is divided didn’t discourage her from hoping her bill will pass.

“Sometimes it does feel like you hit a brick wall, but I wouldn’t say that it actually is a brick wall,” Davids said. “It has the emotional impact of one. But every time we have a group of legislators, introducing, co-sponsoring and trying to bring bills to the floor, that has an impact.”

She pointed to the progress that’s been made by the LGBTQ rights movement, including the fact that a record number of lawmakers are openly LGBTQ and that Congress was able to pass a bill that protects existing same-sex marriages last Congress.

But, given the rise in anti-LGBTQ legislation, given the angry people shooting cans of Bud Light, or berating Target employees, given the children forbidden from playing certain sports, or the women kept out of domestic violence shelters — is Davids worried?

“I think that any worries or anxieties I have, are like a normal part of of existing.” Davids said. “But I feel very optimistic about our ability to actually continue to make progress on this stuff.”