By Wilson Ring | Associated Press
MONTPELIER, Vt. — Hundreds of young people gathered on the lawn of the Vermont Statehouse on Friday as part of a nationwide series of events to help build support for transgender rights amid what they denounced as an increasingly hostile climate.
Chanting, “We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it!” many draped themselves in pride flags or carried posters with messages like “yay gay” or “protect trans kids.”
Similar events were planned at capitols in states including South Carolina, Alabama, Minnesota, Nebraska and Montana, and at other venues Friday and this weekend.
Young people, some as young as middle-school, stood in front of the Vermont crowd and told of their struggles with their sexuality at a time when many people across the country refuse to acknowledge them.
Charlie Draugh, a 17-year-old high school senior from Chisago, Minnesota, who attends a boarding school in Vermont, said he was angry that groups are trying to control his life and turn him into a political pawn that he is not.
“My life is not your debate,” Draugh said. “It is not a political issue. I am not hurting anyone and I am certainly not hurting myself.”
The rallies — dubbed “Transgender Day of Visibility” — come as Republican lawmakers across the U.S. have pursued hundreds of proposals this year to push back on LGBTQ+ rights, particularly rights for transgender residents, including banning transgender girls from girls’ sports, keeping transgender people from using restrooms in line with their gender identities and requiring schools to deadname transgender students — requiring they be identified by names they were given at birth.
At least 11 states have now enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for minors: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Utah, South Dakota and West Virginia. Federal judges have blocked enforcement of laws in Alabama and Arkansas, and…
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