Charleston Gazette-Mail – Every June, the United States and the world uplift and celebrate the LGBTQ community — their history, their achievements, their identities and more — through Pride Month. Read the full op-ed.
But at its core, Pride Month is about advocacy. It is about queer folks fighting for sociopolitical autonomy, acceptance and freedom. While much of such advocacy has centered around decades of lived experiences, supporting the LGBTQ community also should include prioritizing the collection of data that supports the particular challenges this community faces — especially against the onslaught of anti-transgender bills that legislative bodies across the country have recently considered.
The lack of vital information gathered around the LGBTQ community, in West Virginia and nationally, was on display in the 2021 state legislative session. Despite not knowing how many students would be affected by the anti-transgender sports bill — or even being able to recall past instances to support its passage — the governor signed the bill into law.
