Milk - Keira

Even though anti-LGBTQ groups area a minority in the US, they have disproportionate political power. People believing that the LGBTQ community doesn't deserve equal rights or services are introducing and passing laws harming LGBTQ equality. The ACLU website has an article that says “As the 2023 legislative session begins, politicians across the country already introduced 124 total bills restricting LGBTQ people, targeting their freedom of expression, the safety of transgender students, and access to health care for gender dysphoria.” These bills could restrict health care access for transgender people, censor education and discussion about LGBTQ people/issues, and restrict nondiscrimination laws in the workplace and society. Even if these bills haven’t been passed, the fact that they were introduced shows that the anti-LGBTQ political force is active, powerful, and not going away. In order to combat the threatening beliefs that the LGBTQ is a corrupting force (like how in the film the gay teachers were believed to corrupt the children), one of the best remedies is to educate kids about LGBTQ people and their issues. However, even that education is being censored—Republican politicians in Florida are working to ban books, ban gender studies majors, and ban preferred pronouns in schools (according to the Politico article). LGBTQ- identifying kids are coming under attack and so is the entire education system with anti-LGBTQ policy, and this is threatening the growth of LGBTQ+ allies and supportive groups.

To anti-LGBTQ+ supporters, it might seem like they are protecting their kids from “corruptive” forces and ideas. However, the truth of what they’re actually doing is denying a certain demographic of the “American dream” of equality, protected civil rights, and democracy. We’ve discussed how many different minority groups in the US—women, Black people, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ people—lack equal access to the opportunities in the US. That oppression of minorities is fueled by stereotypes (like with the Lavendar Scare believing that gay people have a “moral weakness” that poses a security risk) and the disproportionate power given to the politicians fighting to stop the spread of equality to all demographics that don’t belong to the white, straight, “correct” people of America. As long as that minority voice is given power and anti-LGBTQ laws keep getting passed, the LGBTQ community will continue to be oppressed.