The United States is experiencing a rapid rise in anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in state legislatures, with over 400 of these policies introduced in 2023 alone [1]. These bills have numerous different functions, ranging from limiting education about gender and sexuality in the classroom to preventing transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming healthcare. However, they all share one similarity: they target the LGBTQ+ community, which is having damaging effects on the mental and physical well-being of LGBTQ+ individuals across the country. This legislation also has significant, harmful implications for the state of democracy within the United States. The wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation introduced across the country is concerningly similar to methods used by authoritarian governments to gain and maintain power, as this legislation targets marginalized groups and does not represent public opinion. Therefore, legislation targeting the LGBTQ+ community demonstrates a larger problem of democratic backsliding in the United States. 

I. Growing Gap between Public Opinion and Implemented Policy 

There is a rising gap between what the general public wants and what policy is introduced in regards to LGBTQ+ rights, which suggests that lawmakers are not honoring the will of the public when passing legislation. More than half of citizens within the United States oppose the recent wave of anti-LGBTQ+ policies, yet the amount of this legislation introduced has continued to increase at a constant rate [2]. Furthermore, as of 2021, nearly 80% of citizens support anti-discrimination protections for the LGBTQ+ community. But instead of codifying anti-discrimination policies into state law, many states are passing legislation that discriminates against the LGBTQ+ community [3]. This trend demonstrates that some lawmakers across the U.S. are not representing the will of the people, but are instead utilizing their power to pass legislation that codifies their ideology into law. Thus, the widening gap between policy and public preference demonstrates democratic backsliding in the U.S.

Research from the Williams Institute has shown that a rising gap in public opinion and implemented policy regarding LGBTQ+ rights has been associated with authoritarian tactics [4]. Despite growing public support of LGBTQ+ rights among people within authoritarian countries, the policies implemented within these countries tend to limit the rights of LGBTQ+ people. This observation suggests that a gap between preference and policy on the topic of LGBTQ+ rights is associated with more authoritarian practices [5]. For example, in Russia, support for LGBTQ+ rights has risen 8% since 2013, with nearly half of Russian citizens stating that the LGBTQ+ community should have the same rights as other citizens [6]. However, instead of responding to public opinion regarding LGBTQ+ rights in Russia, Putin has expanded anti-LGBTQ+ laws such as the LGBTQ+ propaganda law, which prohibits sharing information about gender identity and sexual orientation [7]. Similarly, in Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has implemented laws aimed at silencing the voices of the LGBTQ+ community despite a lack of support for these laws, as the increasing majority of people within Hungary support LGBTQ+ rights [8]. The concerningly similar rise in anti-LGBTQ+ policies despite public support of the community in the United States may hint at a broader trend away from a healthy democracy in the United States. 

II. Repression of Marginalized Groups: A Common Authoritarian Tactic

Furthermore, expanding repression of marginalized groups, even in opposition to general public opinion, is a common tactic in authoritarian states. In particular, research has linked a rise in policies targeting marginalized groups in a country with a general rise in authoritarianism in the country. A 2019 paper published in the British Journal of Political Science examined why authoritarian states repress marginalized groups and found that governments often target marginalized groups for two main reasons: to demonstrate the power of the state to identify and silence dissidents and to enact the exclusionary ideology of the leader or leading party. The article uses a case study of Cuba, a country currently classified as an authoritarian regime, to demonstrate this concept. Through an analysis of the anti-LGBTQ+ acts in Cuba from the 1950s to early 2000s, the authors find that legislative and physical action against the LGBTQ+ community was intended to send a message that communicated the strength of the Cuban government. During this time period, the Cuban government publically connected homosexuality with subversion and counter-revolution beliefs, and thus portrayed the LGBTQ+ community as dangerous to the success of the regime. They used this narrative to frame actions that targeted the LGBTQ+ community [9]. 

Similarly, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has enacted laws limiting the LGBTQ+ community, such as a law preventing LGBTQ+ representation in the media. He has portrayed these laws as necessary to protect the Hungarian population from a group of people he has stated are dangerous to the cultural and social well-being of Hungary [10]. Thus, there is evidence from across the world that authoritarian leaders portray marginalized groups such as LGBTQ+ individuals as dangerous to the well-being of the state, which they use to justify their discriminatory policies targeting marginalized groups. 

The narrative within the United States surrounding anti-LGBTQ policies bears striking similarity to the rhetoric used by authoritarian governments to garner public support for their discriminatory policies. Given its aggressive pursuit of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, Florida serves as a good case study to examine the purpose of this legislation. Florida has passed numerous anti-LGBTQ+ bills, but the state made national headlines in 2022 when it passed a policy called the Parental Rights in Education Act. This legislation limits discussion about gender and sexuality in the classroom and allows educators to inform parents about a child’s gender and sexual orientation [11]. Members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community have criticized this bill by pointing out how it attempts to silence the narratives of the queer community and deny their existence in the classroom by preventing education about LGBTQ+ identities [12]. Florida has extended its LGBTQ+ policies beyond the classroom as well. For example, the state passed DB 254, which restricts gender-affirming healthcare for transgender children and allows the state to take custody of a child if they receive this healthcare, thus denying transgender youth what can often be life-saving care [13]. 

The reasoning used by Florida Governor Ron Desantis to justify this legislation is similar to that used by authoritarian leaders like Orbán, as both argue that anti-LGBTQ+ legislation protects children and the overall well-being of the state. DeSantis has argued that his position protects children from the influences of the LGBTQ+ community, whom he and other supporters of anti-LGBTQ+ policies claim are indoctrinating and grooming young children [14]. Similarly, Orbán has stated that Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ policy was implemented to protect children from being exposed to what he portrayed as sexual propaganda. By aligning themselves with so-called family values and a mission of ‘protecting vulnerable children,’ leaders like Orbán and DeSantis paint themselves as heroic individuals combatting the influences of marginalized groups that they falsely portray as threats to society. Given this similarity, the methods used by certain U.S. legislators to promote anti-LGBTQ+ legislation suggest democratic backsliding in the United States. 

III. Impacts of Authoritarian Tactics on Targeted Groups 

Not only does this anti-LGBTQ+ legislation follow strategies used by authoritarian governments, but the impact that this legislation has on the LGBTQ+ community is similar to the effects of legislation implemented by repressive governments on the communities they target. Given the recency of the anti-LGBTQ+ bills within the United States, there has not been an extensive amount of research on these bills’ impacts. However, this legislation is having a detrimental effect on the mental health and physical safety of the LGBTQ+ community. For example, The Trevor Project found that two-thirds of LGBTQ+ youth stated that hearing about anti-LGBTQ+ legislation within the United States made their mental health worse [15]. Numerous studies have also found that this legislation is contributing to rising rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation among LGBTQ+ youth [16]. Of equal concern is research showing that this legislation has contributed to the rise of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment online and hate crimes towards the LGBTQ+ community [17]. This situation has led many LGBTQ+ individuals within affected states–and across the United States in general–to feel unsafe, resulting in some people leaving their home states due to the passage of these policies.

The mental health crisis, the rise of hate speech and crimes, and the relocation of targeted communities caused by this legislation are not unique to the United States legislation, but are a common result of authoritarian policies. For example, the anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda laws in Russia have resulted in numerous LGBTQ+ citizens fleeing the country because it is dangerous for them to be openly LGBTQ+ [18]. While the policies within U.S. state legislatures are different than those passed in Russia, these U.S. policies are beginning to have a similar effect: people are leaving because it is not safe for them to be openly LGBTQ+ in their home states. This effect is intentional among authoritarian leaders, who aim to create a population that represents and conforms to a leader’s ideology. The fact that LGBTQ+ people are feeling increasingly unsafe within the United States reflects a concerning similarity with authoritarian countries.

Ultimately, due to the similarities between anti-LGBTQ+ legislation within the United States and tactics used by past and present authoritarian regimes, the rise of legislation targeting the LGBTQ+ community within the United States serves as evidence that the country is rejecting the values of democracy and equality that the nation was founded upon. This observation has implications beyond the realm of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. For example, the U.S. is already seeing a rise in similar legislation targeting other marginalized groups, such as legislation passed in Florida, Alabama, and other states that bans critical race theory from being taught in schools. Many have argued that this ban functions to minimize the experiences and voices of Black people within the United States [19]. Thus, there is a rise in authoritarian-style legislation that extends beyond the realm of LGBTQ+ legislation and has harmful consequences for marginalized communities across the country. In a country based on principles of representation, it is critical to stop this trend away from democratic values to ensure that all citizens are safe, equal, and represented within government policies.