But this past spring the Republican-led state legislature passed a series of controversial bills that targeted the LGBTQ community.

That’s when Kleinmahon said he started having difficult conversations with his family about leaving the home they love. When he explained to his six-year-old daughter that their family had no choice but to leave New Orleans, she said, “We do have a choice, just one of them isn’t a good one.”

The Kleinmahons join other LGBTQ families who are also facing the same choice. They say they no longer feel safe or welcomed in states that have passed laws targeting their community. Many have made the difficult decision to leave.

In 2023, more than 525 anti-LGBTQ bills were passed in 41 states, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an organization that advocates for the LGBTQ community. Of those bills, more than 220 explicitly targeted transgender people. As of June, 77 anti-LGBTQ bills had been signed into law.

  • JJROKCZ@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    A pediatric cardiologist was recently needed to save the life of my friend’s 8 month old daughter, hopefully Louisiana can figure their shit out and reverse these laws so that this man and others like him feel safe in that state again. Unfortunately these backwards ass laws will likely cause the deaths of many

    • evatronic@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      The damage is done. Even if the laws are repealed, there’s no way this guy would go back. The culture that let these laws exist in the first place is still there.