A coalition of local organizations, advocates, and community members have sent an open letter to Rhode Island legislators urging them to reject a series of proposed bills that would undermine the well-being of LGBTQ+ people in the state.
The letter was signed by over 60 organizations, including the National Education Association Rhode Island, Rhode Island Medical Society, Rhode Island Academy of Family Physicians, Rhode Island Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Rhode Island Council of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Rhode Island Psychological Association, Rhode Island Section of American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Rhode Island Coalition for Children and Families, Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Rhode Island Black Business Association, and Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights.
“The majority of Rhode Islanders support equality, and we’ve proven that from one legislative session to the next,” the letter reads. It describes a series of proposed bills that target LGBTQ+ people and “run counter to our commitment to protect our families, friends, and neighbors,” including:
- A dangerous bill that would ban standard-of-care medical care for transgender youth – care that is supported as safe and effective by every major U.S. professional medical association, taking away parents’ ability to get their children the healthcare they need, as well as removing established protections in healthcare insurance coverage (H7884, S2703)
- Bills targeting transgender students for exclusion by prohibiting them from playing on school sports teams with their friends and potentially subjecting any female student athlete to invasive medical exams (H7727, S2660)
- Proposals which would threaten schools and teachers with penalties for not complying with vague requirements to allow virtually any individual parent to dictate school lesson plans, remove teachers’ and school staffs’ ability to support LGBTQ+ students in school, and mandate the forced outing of LGBTQ youth without regard to students’ safety (H7781, S2424, H7873, S2041)
- A bill that could be used to classify any material with LGBTQ+ content as obscene and levy criminal charges (S2104)
- A dangerous bill that would threaten the health of every Rhode Islander by allowing any medical provider, healthcare facility, or insurance plan to refuse to provide care based on the vague assertion that it violates their conscience (S2423)
The letter, which was also signed by over 400+ individual Rhode Islanders – including medical providers, behavioral health providers, teachers, parents, and other concerned residents – from towns across the state, goes on to read:
“Rhode Island protected transgender people under the law more than 20 years ago, recognizing that as the necessary first step to end the mistreatment too often experienced by the community. Nearly a decade has passed since our schools implemented policies to support transgender, nonbinary, and gender diverse students. We should be well beyond debates about transgender Rhode Islanders’ basic dignity and humanity and respect for their ability to live, work, go to school and participate in public life on the same terms as everyone else.”
“Rhode Islanders want our elected senators and representatives to work on policies that will actually improve the lives of everyone in the Ocean State, not stir up baseless fear about a small group of people.”
— from a GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) press release
Read the complete press release here.
Read the full letter here.
Read a GLAD fact sheet on the proposed bills here.
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