The latest political stunt to happen during Pride Month happened on Tuesday. The Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergecy for LGBTQ+ people and it released a guidebook that details discriminatory laws in each state. It also includes “know your rights” information and resources for health and safety.

It’s all about keeping people afraid and divided. That’s a sad commentary on today’s environment but here we are. Organizations like the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) use these actions to fundraise and encourage minorities to continue to play victims. This is the first time in its four-decade history that it has declared a national state of emergency for members of the LGBTQ community. HRC is the largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer civil rights organization.

HRC blames the current political environment. It thinks that just warning against travel to “dangerous” places isn’t enough to help people already living in “hostile” states. Naturally, Republicans are being blamed because it is all political for HRC, too.

The campaign said it’s taking action in response to unprecedented and dangerous spike in discriminatory legislation sweeping state houses this year, with more than 70 anti-LGBTQ+ bills signed into law so far in 2023 — more than double last year’s number. In a report called “LGBTQ+ Americans Under Attack,” it says the new laws are a result of coordinated Republican efforts, supported by “well-funded extremist groups.”

That’s the thing – in our divided country, conservatives think that LGBTQ activists pushing their agenda on very young children in schools and libraries is extreme. When red states move to protect young children and minors from life-altering drug treatment or surgery, that is not an extreme position. It is the job of adults to protect minor children. They can legally live as they wish once they become legal age but until then, it is the job of adults to do the right thing and protect them.

“LGBTQ+ Americans are living in a state of emergency. The multiplying threats facing millions in our community are not just perceived – they are real, tangible and dangerous,” the group’s president, Kelley Robinson, said. “In many cases they are resulting in violence against LGBTQ+ people, forcing families to uproot their lives and flee their homes in search of safer states, and triggering a tidal wave of increased homophobia and transphobia that puts the safety of each and every one of us at risk.”

The historic announcement – just a few days into Pride Month – follows “an unprecedented wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in 2023,” according to the Human Rights Campaign, as violence against LGBTQ people continues and the community’s rights have become a flashpoint in the 2024 election.

The entire month is devoted to people who identify through sexual preference. It’s gone a step further recently with transgender activism 24/7. You would think the trans community was a huge one in America. It is not. According to a Pew Research Center report dated June 2022, about 5% of young adults in the U.S. say their gender is different from their sex assigned at birth. Generally speaking, the gay population has been accepted in the United States and people have taken a live and let live kind of attitude. The same cannot be said for the trans community because so much of their agenda seems to be to get in the face of everyone who crosses their path, including young children. They want to normalize some abnormal behavior.

We live in a constitutional republic and when the people speak up, lawmakers are expected to respond. During many red state legislative sessions this year, states are passing laws according to the will of voters. That is how it works. States determine their own laws.

Last month HRC issued a travel advisory for tourists going to Florida. It’s probably just a coincidence that Florida’s governor is running for the Republican nomination for president and his record in the state is wildly successful, right? Democrats and their cohorts in the media were so worried that DeSantis would get into the presidential race and do well that they deliberately misnamed a parental rights bill and made it into a “don’t say gay” bill. The word ‘gay’ isn’t even in the bill. The media dutifully went along to slam DeSantis.

HRC issued a travel advisory for Florida tourists last month. So did the NAACP. That wasn’t enough, though, so their action is escalating.

Across US state legislatures, at least 417 anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced in roughly the first quarter of 2023 – a new record and twice the number of such bills introduced all of last year, according to American Civil Liberties Union data. The number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills signed into law so far this year is also more than double last year’s tally, which had been the highest on record, the Human Rights Campaign said.

They include pronoun refusal laws, forced student outing laws, anti-drag bans and “don’t say LGBTQ+” laws.

Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court is poised to issue an opinion in a case over whether a business can deny services to LGBTQ customers.

Florida has seen a boom in population growth because of the Republican policies at work in the state. Let the professional victims do their thing. Obviously their stunts don’t get too much response if HRC has to ratchet up their campaign in this way. Democrats think you are stupid.