In 2015, its leaders endorsed a Utah bill that prohibited housing and employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Yet the church has become increasingly supportive of LGBTQ rights. More than a decade ago, the church was a major force in promoting Proposition 8, a California ballot measure to block same-sex marriage. The church’s official policies consider sex to be acceptable only within a marriage between a man and woman, and binary gender is an important component of its theology. Church teachings often shape legislation, such as strict liquor laws. In Utah, where just over half of adults belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the church is a powerful political force. ![]() Understanding how religion and politics intersect can provide insight into the broader national push against transgender rights. Both of us study Christianity, sexuality and LGBTQ communities. One of us is a sociologist the other is a Utah-based psychologist. Why, then, is there a surge in laws targeting medical treatments for transgender youth? We think Utah offers some answers. In a survey of 2,500 adults conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute in September 2022, only 1 in 4 strongly favored laws that prevent parents from allowing their child to receive medical care for gender transition. 28.Īcross the country, though, just over half of Americans are opposed to such laws. The first to make it into law in 2023 was Utah’s SB 16, “ Transgender Medical Treatments and Procedures,” which Gov. Many of these bills would legislate access to hormone replacement therapy for transgender individuals, making it illegal – and in some cases, criminal – for adolescents to receive such treatments. By February 2023, the GOP had already surpassed that record by proposing over 200 similar bills. In 2022, Republican politicians proposed over 150 bills limiting trans rights in state legislatures across the country.
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