Oklahoma HB 1888 is Anti-Queer Violence
I wonder if Oklahoma Representative Danny Williams of District 28 knows about the hour of fear he placed Wednesday evening into the hearts of every queer person in the state of Oklahoma who heard about his plan to force them into the closet and lock the doors and throw away the key.
House Bill 1888 would ban completely gender and sexual diversity trainings for institutions and organizations that receive public funding. This includes my university, the University of Oklahoma, where the Gender and Equality Center provides so many essential services to students like the sexual assault prevention training (Step In, Speak Out), the LGBTQ+ Aspiring Ally training, and so many more. HB 1888 would slash the Women and Gender Studies department entirely. The freshman year diversity training at OU would virtually disappear.
All of these programs help students navigate the sometimes terrifying, sometimes beautiful realm of sexuality and gender. They open up visibility to identities that students may not have known about before and even might identify with themselves, and they provide safe havens for those struggling.
On Wednesday evening, Representative Williams submitted an amendment to the bill, one that shook me to my core: any school administrator, instructor, counselor, or other staff would be required to inform parents if their child was LGBTQ+.
So, when I received a text from a friend Wednesday evening telling me about the amendment, I knew I wanted to write something, but I didn’t know what. For moments, I was speechless. Thoughts were bouncing around in my head in an incoherent scramble: what would my friends have done, if they were outed in high school? What will queer kids do now? How many will be forced onto the streets or into conversion camps or abused by parents who reject the very essence of their child?
Let me be clear: the amendment — that was withdrawn just hours after it was proposed — would have killed. A 2017 study on youth homelessness reported that while LGBTQ+ youth make up to up to seven percent of the general youth population, they make up to forty percent of the homeless youth population, a staggering statistic that “often stems from a lack of acceptance” for LGBTQ+ kids.
If outed, some LGBTQ+ youth face the risk of conversion therapy. Conversion therapy seeks to alter the sexual orientation or gender identity of an LGBTQ+ person. Not only has it been proven ineffective, conversion therapy often utilizes abusive means that leaves those who endure it scarred and traumatized.
Even if they do not go through conversion therapy or are not kicked out, the trauma from being outed before they are ready is horrific. Growing up, I had several LGBTQ+ friends who found a safer haven in school to be who they really were. I was lucky enough to grow up with parents who loved me even after I came out, but if my school were to tell them for me? That would have been devastating for my mental health.
Speaking of which, mental illness rates in the LGBTQ+ community are staggering. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth experience mental health condition twice as often as heterosexual youth. Transgender youth are twice as likely to “experience depressive symptoms, seriously consider suicide, and attempt suicide” than their cisgender peers. Much of this stems from the systemic problems that LGBTQ+ individuals face every day, such as familial rejection. Being outed by school staff would do nothing but increase all of these inequities faced by LGBTQ+ youth.
So, I would ask Representative Williams again: did you feel the fear that coursed through this state Wednesday night? Did you feel my anger?
I visited the office of Representative Williams earlier this week, and I asked what his intentions were with HB 1888. The answer I was given was something along the lines of small government and conservative values and so on and so forth. The proposal of this amendment strips away any remaining façade of the excuse of small government. The proposal of this amendment shows the very rotten core of what this bill is: hatred for me. Hatred for my community. Hatred for our lives and our lived experiences and our loves and minds and souls.
While the amendment was withdrawn, not only does the bill still face the House, but we ourselves must face the fact that a state representative actively attempted to put the lives of queer kids all across Oklahoma in danger. Reckoning with this means organizing. It means knocking on the door or being in the inbox of your representative every single day, and when they choose to cast stones onto young people simply trying to live their lives, we must push back. We must push back swiftly and unapologetically.
Let me be perfectly clear: this bill is violence. It seeks to erase marginalized identities and it wishes to weaponize the rights of queer youth as fuel for a reelection campaign on ‘traditional family values,’ as though my identity is simply a value or a lifestyle that I can choose to pursue, like homekeeping or breadwinning.
We must actively fight to protect LGBTQ+ youth from discrimination and violence. Legislation like this is exhausting, but we cannot stop fighting back. Lives are on the line. Pushing for radical change is the only way we can dismantle these systems of oppression that threaten everyone, not just those the legislature would wish to attack.
Oh, and fail HB 1888.