While major metropolitan areas, such as New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, are commonly thought of as hubs for the LGBTQ+ community, queer individuals are everywhere. In fact, the South is home to the largest percentage of LGBTQ+ individuals living in the United States. Unfortunately, the South is also a common target for anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination. With the introduction of a record number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills over the past two years, the South is represented in a significant proportion of this legislation. Southern states such as Virginia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida are each facing over 10 anti-LGBTQ+ bills. However, this targeting of LGBTQ+ rights in the South is not new, and LGBTQ+ Southerners remain resilient.
Anti-LGBTQ+ policies, and the debates surrounding them, are harmful to LGBTQ+ health. A poll created by the Trevor Project revealed that this political climate is negatively impacting the mental health of LGBTQ+ youth, especially those who identify as trans or nonbinary. Additionally, many of these policies ban gender-affirming care, which directly affects LGBTQ+ health. These bans are not only unjust but unethical, putting trans and nonbinary individuals at risk for worsening mental health and even suicide. As these bills are enacted, LGBTQ+ Southerners are disproportionately impacted. But LGBTQ+ Southerners also know what it’s like to fight.
The fight for LGBTQ+ rights has a long, rich history in the Southern U.S. Although much of this history has been forgotten, historians are working to resurface it through efforts like the Invisible Histories Project. This history includes “the Stonewall of the South,” which formed the Georgia Gay Liberation Front in 1969, and the 50 years of famous Alabama drag queen Bronzie De’Marco. Another key piece of history is the nationally televised pieing of Florida’s Anita Bryant, whose “Save Our Children” anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric can still be heard in modern “Don’t Say Gay” arguments.
Despite the current political climate against trans individuals in the South, trans people have exerted a profound influence on Southern history. Even gender-affirming care, which is so heavily debated today, has been provided for over 50 years. A notable Southern trans woman in history is Rhoda Winters from Roanoke, Virginia, who received gender-affirming hormone treatment in 1976 from a gender-affirming care clinic at the University of Virginia Medical Center. However, Rhoda was not alone in receiving this treatment, and many Southern trans individuals have received gender-affirming care since.