ABOVE: Gov. Jared Polis (R) on CNN. Screenshot via CNN.
Colorado Democratic Governor Jared Polis, appearing on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ program Feb. 20, took aim at Republican lawmakers in multiple states who have focused a good deal of their legislative priorities on passage of a litany of anti-LGBTQ bills.
Polis watched a clip of South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem’s answer a reporter’s query as to why recent polling had shown that nearly 90% of the LGBTQ community in her state reported dealing with anxiety or depression. She advised, “I don’t know. That makes me sad, and we should figure it out.”
The openly gay chief executive told CNN’s Dana Bash that, “Look, words matter. Laws matter. When a group of people, LGBTQ youth, feel targeted by the words and laws that some politicians espouse, of course, it can increase anxiety, depression.”
Currently, more than 150 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced since the 2022 legislative sessions commenced six weeks ago across the country. In the case of South Dakota, Governor Noem had helped draft, pass, and then sign into law SB 46, which bans trans youth from participating in school sports consistent with their gender identity. With her signature, she became the first governor to sign discriminatory anti-transgender legislation into law in 2022.
The Republican-controlled Florida House of Representatives is set to pass two controversial measures that have received the backing of Governor Ron DeSantis. The bills would severely restrict educators in the state’s public schools on teaching about subject matter dealing with issues about race, gender identity and sexual orientation.
Governor Polis told CNN that these type of bills are an example of “Republican overreach” on LGBTQ+ issues that the American people had moved past and that most Americans were accepting of their LGBTQ+ neighbors.
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