LGBTQ
The text messages and videos spread lies about transgender kids, falsely accused the “woke left” of having an “unending thirst to trans our children,” and urged voters to support Dan Kelly’s campaign for the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Since 2018, Wisconsin has become a more inclusive place for members of the LGBTQ+ community, according to the latest report from the Human Rights Campaign.
The bill’s signing comes as Democrats and LGBTQ advocates have expressed growing fear over the possibility that the landmark 2015 Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges—which legalized gay marriage nationwide—could be overturned following the Court’s decision to strike down Roe v. Wade earlier this year.
The Respect for Marriage Act does not require states to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but it does require states that ban same-sex marriages to recognize these marriages as long as the marriage was valid in the state where it was performed.
As Republican lawmakers and right-wing media figures have singled out the LGBTQ community with hateful rhetoric, children’s hospitals have faced bomb threats, armed extremist groups have targeted drag-related events, and LGBTQ individuals have been assaulted and now murdered in a mass shooting that left five dead.
All 50 Senate Democrats were joined by 12 Republicans in voting ‘yes’ on a procedural vote and advance a bill to protect same-sex marriages. Ron Johnson was not one of them.
Wisconsin’s Republican senator has approved lifetime positions for several nominees who were vigorously opposed by coalitions of civil rights groups.