If the 59th Oklahoma Legislature is remembered for anything, it will be its preoccupation with 2SLGBTQ+ folks, especially transgender Oklahomans. This session more than 50 bills were introduced that the American Civil Liberties Union identified as anti-2SLGBTQ+.
Fortunately, few got so much as a hearing. What did gain traction was open hate speech – remember Sen. Tom Woods publicly referring to 2SLGBTQ+ Oklahomans as “filth.” And Sen. Jessica Garvin’s and Rep. Toni Hassenbeck’s so-called Women’s Bill of Rights in which lawmakers once again played doctor without a license, defining in statute what biological characteristics determine male from female.
For the latest Observercast – Reflections For Pride Month 2024 – Freedom Oklahoma’s Executive Director Nicole McAfee joins to discuss the Legislature’s all-out assault on 2SLGBTQ+ Oklahomans, how it impacts their everyday lives, and what lawmakers’ unbridled bigotry does to our state’s national reputation and its hopes for a better future.
Reflections For Pride Month 2024