Coincidentally and unpleasantly, I read this article in the New York Times just after I published an article yesterday about what a horrible year 2023 is shaping up to be legislatively on the state level for queer people.

Beside my main point that political rhetoric around anti-trans laws is stoking real physical violence, including in schools, I mentioned that state lawmakers have introduced bills that would require schools to out LGBTQ kids to unsupportive parents.

The main target of the bills, which share similar wording, appears to be trans kids, but their reach is broad and would affect other queer kids too.

It would certainly be nice if the Times had focused on the dangerous impact of the involuntary outings the Republican Party is pushing. Kids don't lose their civil and human rights when they walk through the doors of a high school.

Transgender high school students have the same rights as any students to be safe, supported, and educated. I'm astonished the Times article does not acknowledge the damage that comes from involuntary outings to unsupportive parents.

I could share stories with the reporters of teens I've interviewed whose parents abused them horribly after they were outed.

I could also share stories of conservative parents who began voting Democratic when they realized just how harmful Republican anti-LGBTQ laws really are.