The Heritage Foundation describes itself as a \u201cconservative think tank\u201d with a mission \u201cto formulate and promote public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heritage\u2019s stated support for freedom and limited government does not extend to LGBTQ Americans, as evidenced by decades of waging losing battles against:<\/p>\n
out LGBTQ military service<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n LGBTQ Boy Scouts<\/a> and leaders<\/p>\n<\/li>\n marriage equality<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n protections<\/a> against discrimination for LGBTQ workers<\/p>\n<\/li>\n LGBTQ parents<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n bans on \u201cconversion therapy\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n evidence-based healthcare<\/a> for transgender youth<\/p>\n<\/li>\n supporting<\/a> bans on LGBTQ-inclusive books, curriculum and books about racism<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n \u2014Wrote<\/a> and coordinated copycat state legislation targeting gender-affirming care for transgender youth. Every major medical association supports<\/a> gender-affirming care as evidence-based, safe, and lifesaving.<\/p>\n \u2014Supports<\/a> groups such as Moms For Liberty which seek to ban books, target<\/a> guidelines that protect students\u2019 freedom to dress as they wish and access to the bathroom according to the gender they identify with, and have called school board members \u201cpedophiles\u201d while posting private information to encourage online and real life harassment.<\/p>\n \u2014Criticized<\/a> corporations honoring Pride month in 2021 and falsely claimed children were being targeted with inappropriate content, such as a cereal box and Lego set.<\/p>\n \u2014Supported<\/a> state bills targeting transgender youth participation in sports, falsely claiming: “I think the ultimate outcome will be to protect women and girls\u2019 equal opportunities.\u201d An AP investigation<\/a> found that bill sponsors could not cite an instance of transgender participation ever being an issue in their states.<\/p>\n \u2014Falsely claimed<\/a> in March 2021 that \u201cThe Equality Act would demolish existing civil rights and constitutional freedoms.\u201d The Equality Act<\/a> offers comprehensive protections against discrimination for every LGBTQ American and expands existing civil rights for people of faith and all women.<\/p>\n \u2014Criticized<\/a> the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court Bostock<\/em> ruling expanding civil rights employment protections to LGBTQ workers, inaccurately claiming: \u201cThe word \u201csex\u201d\u2014 still today as when Congress passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964\u2014refers to our biological reality as male or female. It doesn\u2019t refer to our sexual orientations or malleable gender identities as some see it.\u201d <\/p>\n \u2014Reiterated opposition<\/a> in 2018 to \u201cthe expansion of antidiscrimination laws to elevate \u2018sexual orientation\u2019 and \u2018gender identity\u2019 as protected classes.\u201d 79%<\/a> of Americans support laws protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination as of March 2022.<\/p>\n \u2014Defended<\/a> the Boy Scouts of America\u2019s right to discriminate: \u201cIn the opinion of the Boy Scouts, homosexuality is wrong. Those who disagree are free to whine and complain all they want\u2014and even form their own alternative organization\u2014but it doesn’t give them the right to try and use the government to force a private organization to alter its code of ethics.\u201d In May 2013, The Boy Scouts of America voted to allow gay youth as members.<\/a> In July 2015, the Scouts unanimously voted to end its blanket ban on lesbian, gay, and bisexual adult leaders<\/a>. In January 2017, The Scouts moved to allow transgender boys to participate.<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014Claimed<\/a> in 2008: \u201cIt’s time to hold accountable those lawmakers who have opened the door for this court ruling by trying to appease homosexual rights activists with laws that allow civil unions. You cannot have peace at any price with those who seek to conquer and vanquish our values.\u201d In 2013, falsely claimed: \u201cSame-sex marriage never will be widely accepted in America for a simple reason: It\u2019s based on a lie.\u201d More than 300,000<\/a> couples have wed since marriage equality was legalized in 2015. A May 2022 poll<\/a> shows only 26% think same-sex marriage should be \u201cillegal in America.\u201d <\/p>\n \u2014Baselessly claimed<\/a> in 2003: \u201cAmericans are, once again, drawing the line in the sand. Between the recent legalization of same-sex marriages in Vermont and Canada, the Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas<\/em> that struck down the state’s sodomy law, the opening of a high school for \u2018gay\u2019 students in New York City and the decisions by the Episcopal Church to approve a \u2018gay\u2019 bishop and allow \u2018gay\u2019 marriages, Americans are saying they have had enough.\u201d As of June 2021, support<\/a> for marriage equality is at a record high 70%.<\/p>\n \u2014Falsely claimed<\/a> marriage equality will harm children, relying on anti-LGBTQ fringe group American College of Pediatricians, an anti-LGBTQ hate group<\/a> as categorized by the Southern Poverty Law Center for opposing adoption by LGBTQ couples, falsely linking homosexuality to pedophilia, endorsing so-called conversion therapy and baseless opinions about transgender health care as \u201cchild abuse.\u201d Every major medical association supports<\/a> gender-affirming care as safe and lifesaving. A large and growing body of research<\/a> about children raised by LGBTQ parents shows no adverse effects on children. <\/p>\n \u2014Opposed<\/a> bans on discredited and dangerous so-called \u201cconversion therapy\u201d practices: \u201cNew Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill banning therapy for state residents under 18 who struggle with unwanted same-sex attraction. With a flick of his pen, Christie usurped authority from parents in deciding the care their children should receive.\u201d In 1973, The American Psychiatric Association<\/a> determined that sexual orientation is not mental disorder to be \u201ccured\u201d or \u201ctreated\u201d and in 2013 the APA removed \u201cgender identity disorder\u201d from its diagnostic manual and found that efforts to change orientation and identity can lead to depression, low self-esteem, and suicide. <\/p>\n \u2014Claimed<\/a> that transgender identity and issues became something that \u201cmost Americans had never heard of to a cause claiming the mantle of civil rights.\u201d Transgender people have existed<\/a> throughout cultures for centuries, and as of May 2022 more than 100 bills have been introduced targeting trans youth access to healthcare, school sports, and the bathroom.<\/p>\n \u2014Falsely claimed a \u201cresurgence\u201d of gender affirming procedures \u201cnot in light of new scientific evidence, mind you, but as a result of a growing ideological movement.\u201d Data from more than a dozen studies<\/a> show that access to gender-affirming care is associated with better mental health and that restricting access is associated with higher rates of suicide, depression and self-harm. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)<\/a>, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry<\/a>, the Endocrine Society<\/a>, the American Medical Association<\/a>, the American Psychological Association<\/a> and the American Psychiatric Association<\/a>, have all published policy statements and guidelines on how to provide age-appropriate gender-affirming care, finding such care to be evidence-based and medically necessary.<\/p>\n \u2014Baselessly supported<\/a> rejecting transgender people from serving in the military: \u201cIt would be both reckless and immoral to allow transgender individuals to enlist in the armed forces before we have fact-based assurance that they have the mental resilience needed to survive the crucible of combat and deployments.\u201d 71% of troops support<\/a> out transgender military service as of 2019.<\/p>\n \u2014Opposed<\/a> \u201cDon\u2019t Ask, Don\u2019t Tell\u201d in 1993 to support a full ban on LGBTQ service and baselessly claimed: \u201cCongress should resolve this issue by passing a law affirming that homosexuality is incompatible with military service\u201d and that \u201cprofessional military judgment and experience indicate that mixing known homosexuals with heterosexuals degrades cohesion and combat effectiveness.\u201d Decades of military research<\/a> going back to the 1950s shows allowing gay, lesbian, and bisexual troops to serve never threatened military effectiveness. \u201cDon\u2019t Ask, Don\u2019t Tell\u201d was repealed in 2011. In 2019 71% of troops supported transgender military service members.<\/p>\n See: Ryan T. Anderson<\/a>, Kay Cole James<\/a>, Mike Pence<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":507,"featured_media":506428,"template":"","categories":[138754],"tags":[],"region":[138565],"hashtag":[138636,138638,138639,138632,138637],"class_list":{"0":"post-506427","1":"gap","2":"type-gap","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"category-gaps","7":"region-national","8":"hashtag-anti-transgender","9":"hashtag-law","10":"hashtag-organizations","11":"hashtag-politics","12":"hashtag-religion"},"aioseo_notices":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t