Anti-LGBTQ sentiment is reflected in legislatures, and violence, across the country

<p>Across the country, anti-LGBTQ violence is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/22/us/politics/anti-lgbtq-report-adl-glaad.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">on the rise</a>. Just recently, a California business owner was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/21/us/california-pride-flag-shooting/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">killed</a> for displaying a Pride flag.</p> <p>"This is a tragic example of where someone was trying to be supportive and send a message of love and safety and then became targeted by the very hate that is used against so many," Grace Sterling Stowell, executive director of <a href="https://www.bagly.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BAGLY</a>, told <em>Under the Radar.</em> "I think it's a reminder of how dangerous the situation has become with the increased rhetoric. ... And it's emboldening people, and all of us are being threatened in different ways."</p> <p>The current climate is also reflected in at least <a href="https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-HEALTHCARE/TRANS-BILLS/zgvorreyapd/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">142 bills</a> introduced across the U.S. this year that aim to restrict gender-affirming healthcare. But some advocates are <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/6/30/23780060/anti-trans-bills-court-gender-affirming-care-bans" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">pushing back</a>. Janson Wu, executive director of <a href="https://www.glad.org/staff/janson-wu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders</a>, said these legal battles are about more than the law: </p> <p>"It's about people's lives. It's about families who now have to consider whether or not they have to uproot their lives and move to another state to provide their child with the health care that they need. And it's about medical providers who are facing the loss of their licenses and criminal penalties for doing their oath, which is to provide and care for their patients."</p> <p>Advocates say an increasing number of LGBTQ+ people are <a href="https: