Opinion: Pride is more than flag-raisings

Each June brings multiple occasions for elected leaders to voice public support for the LGBTQ+ community. They can march in parades, issue proclamations, and attend flag-raisings. This year in Connecticut, there’s been an additional opportunity. In recent weeks, both Republican and Democratic state officeholders have distanced themselves from a Republican candidate who has repeatedly made extreme homophobic and transphobic statements. Among other things, he favors the death penalty for people who engage in “gay sex.” While it’s certainly better to oppose violence against LGBTQ+ people than to support it, it is a very low bar to clear. We are entitled to expect much more from our elected leaders. For more than a decade, Connecticut voters have clearly demonstrated that scapegoating vulnerable people and turning our community’s health and rights into a spectacle is not what our state is about. Republican leaders have not listened. Despite their shrinking in the legislature, they have used our community to engage in endless debate to stall meaningful progress on issues important to CT voters. As a result, Democrats make inroads even on longtime local Republican strongholds. Thousands support CT’s largest PrideFEST. This year ‘more important than ever’ Once upon a time, long ago, Connecticut Republicans were more reasonable. Former Congressman Chris Shays supported same-sex marriage and the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, as did Rep. Rob Simmons. Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed a bill codifying same-sex marriage into state law, which had strong bipartisan support in the House and Senate. Further back, Gov. Lowell Weicker, a Republican turned Independent signed Connecticut’s “gay rights bill” after years of opposition from Democratic Gov. William O’Neill. That party is gone. One can hope, but there is no material evidence that the current Republican leadership will align themselves with the expressed will of Connecticut voters or their party’s more moderate history. While the federal aggression continues, it’s fair for LGBTQ+ people to expect better from Democrats in our state. This past legislative session, bills were introduced to provide significant support and protection for LGBTQ+ people in the state, especially transgender people, who have been subjected to relentless attack from all three branches of the federal government over the past year and half. None made to the desk of a governor who has repeatedly expressed support for protecting LGBTQ+ state residents from federal attacks. Just to recap, the federal government has moved to ban transgender people from military service, targeted gender-affirming care for young people, reversed LGBTQ+ health data collection policies, attacked inclusive school policies, rolled back DEI and equity initiatives, removed the historical marker from The Stonewall Inn, banished LGBTQ+ history from federal websites, and gutted federal support for HIV research. The Supreme Court ended any hope of federal protections for gender-affirming care. We have seen bills introduced in Congress that would make providing medically necessary, evidenced based care to our community a felony. Threats of regulatory change have sent a chilling effect through the health sector, threatening institutions and the livelihoods of providers who will see us. In Connecticut alone, we have seen well over 1,000 young people lose their access to gender-affirming care. Many adults, including trans veterans, and federal employees have lost their access to gender-affirming care. This is what we’re facing daily. Opinion: Connecticut should be a model for protecting transgender youth Like many in blue states, Connecticut’s LGBTQ+ community looked to state level leaders to step in between us and the federal abusers. The three bills in question were constructed to strengthen gender-affirming and reproductive care in the state. None of those bills advanced, and the LGBTQ+ community received no additional resources to protect and defend itself. The danger to our community right now is very real and we need our state leaders to rise to the occasion. We need expanded access to gender-affirming care and hormone replacement therapy. We need to enhance our Shield laws to protect providers facing real threats, like what was proposed this past session. We need the resources to ensure the LGBTQ+ health system doesn’t collapse, which is happening in real time. All over the country, politicians are acting out of fear of the current administration, backing away from previously held positions, hoping not to be noticed, putting their heads in the sand. But in a state like Connecticut, where Democrats flipped seats in the most recent local elections, this timidity makes no sense. To be real advocates and allies to the LGBTQ+ community, elected officials must do more than attend Pride events and denounce hate speech espoused by marginal figures. They must proactively use their own power to advance a policy agenda that materially helps the LGBTQ+ people of this state. We expect more. We deserve more. Matthew Blinstrubas is executive director of Equality Connecticut.