Member-only story
Anti-LGBTQ+ Political Actions Are Creating Public Health Problems in States Not Equipped to Deal With Them Or Solve Them
No way a science-denying surgeon general in Florida and a weak public health infrastructure in Texas can deal with what is to come.
First things first: If you or someone you know has thoughts of self-harm or suicide, please contact the National Suicide Hotline (800–273–8255) or visit https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org. They can help you. We need you around.
Recent anti-LGBTQ+ legislative and executive actions in several states have been the result of an interesting-yet-disturbing phenomenon we have seen in public health ever since public health was a thing. The phenomenon can be observed when social or political controversies create policies that create public health problems, not alleviate them. For example, in Texas, the state attorney general issued a legal opinion (a non-binding one at that) stating that parents who provide their transgender children medically appropriate care commit the legal equivalent of child abuse. Recent legislation in Florida aims to silence teachers from talking about genders and gender roles other than those acceptable to social conservatives. In both cases, politicians' actions create public health problems, not at all solving them.
