Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws Hurt Children, And Lawmakers Need to Think About That

Pride flags outside the Supreme Court after the death of RBG. Photo by Rosa Pineda, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

The story is straight forward enough – a gay male couple decides to leave gay friendly New Orleans because the rest of the state of Louisiana decides gay man and lesbian women (and trans persons and pretty much anyone who is queer) no longer deserve legal protection, nor do their children or anyone else’s children get to learn and grow in a safe environment where NOT being cis-gendered and heterosexual is NOT ok:

Kleinmahon and his family started building their lives in New Orleans – they made friends, peeled crawfish with their kids, attended Mardi Gras parades and Saints games, and got involved in community groups.

But this past spring the Republican-led state legislature passed a series of controversial bills that targeted the LGBTQ community.

That’s when Kleinmahon said he started having difficult conversations with his family about leaving the home they love. When he explained to his six-year-old daughter that their family had no choice but to leave New Orleans, she said, “We do have a choice, just one of them isn’t a good one.”

The Kleinmahons join other LGBTQ families who are also facing the same choice. They say they no longer feel safe or welcomed in states that have passed laws targeting their community. Many have made the difficult decision to leave.

Even with advocacy and community activism, good decent people like this find they can no longer stay where they are:

In Louisiana, Kleinmahon said he lobbied against the laws, calling state lawmakers and writing letters to the state’s senate education committee. But he reached a breaking point when Republican state lawmakers walked out of a senate education committee meeting as opponents of what critics call a “Don’t Say Gay” bill were discussing why it was harmful.

“It really showed that they just don’t care,” Kleinmahon told CNN. “They are not going to support our children; they are not going to support our family. And although we love New Orleans and we love Louisiana with all of our hearts, we can’t raise our children in this environment.”

Kleinmahon said he was also receiving hate mail at his job from people condemning him for being gay and saying he needed to “find Jesus.”

Well many of you will no doubt harrumph, what did he expect? Yes, New Orleans is and has always been a beacon city for queer, transgenders and other sexually non-conforming people. Most of the rest of my home state hasn’t. And yes, one gay family leaving New Orleans for Long Island, NY shouldn’t be newsworthy. If you don’t like it, leave being a current conservative mantra.

The thing is, Dr. Kleainmahon was, until his departure, one of only 3 pediatric cardiologist in Louisiana specializing in the amazing science of pediatric heart transplants. He was also one of only 65 pediatric cardiologists in the state. Now that’s more then Maryland, which has 46; Mississippi which has 24; but less then Wisconsin (70), New Jersey (71) and way less then New York (298) (https://npidb.org/doctors/allopathic_osteopathic_physicians/pediatric-cardiology_2080p0202x/la/)

Still, when you consider the very technical and grueling nature of performing those transplants, loosing a third of your state’s capacity to do this thing is a big hit, even if the number per year is in the single digits.

But again many conservatives will chortle – what’s the problem? He can certainly instruct his children as he sees fit in New Orleans, and he can save the lives of children too. If he was more invested in being a doctor then in being gay, he wouldn’t believe he needs to leave.

Right. As if.

To begin with, the only investment in being gay the the good doctor has is living as his authentic self. Yes he’s in New Orleans, but contrary to popular myth, even the “Gay” section of Bourbon Street is relatively tame most days of the week. I’ve walked it with my family, as I suspect the Doctor has with his. You are more likely to encounter inappropriate behavior by gay people on Netflix then in the French Quarter at family friendly times. And let’s be real – becoming a pediatric cardiologist is a significant investment in yourself, your community and your family. It’s a caring profession focused on helping kids grow up. It’s also a profession where trying to hide who you are – as a closeted gay man might have to do – doesn’t help your patients.

Denying the existence of gay youth – as these laws seek to do – comes at a huge price: Suicide is the second leading cause of death in LGBTQ+ persons between the ages of 10 and 24. This is often rooted in the 1/3rd of LGBTQ+ youth who experience parental rejection (which may also come with physical and mental abuse).

In contrast, having at least one accepting adult in their life can reduce the risk of a suicide attempt among LGBTQ young people by 40 percent. Suicide rates were also lower in communities that support LGBTQ+ youth; in schools that offered adult support, safe spaces, and opportunities for extra curriculars, and affirmed students perceptions of themselves (https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resources/article/facts-about-lgbtq-youth-suicide/)

So if you really want to protect children, you have to build communities that help them feel safe and supported, especially as they navigate their adolescent years. Building that community – that village Hillary Clinton was once famous for – means creating and maintaining professional opportunities for people just like those kids. And New Orleans has done as good (or as poor) a job as any place else in that regard. Except New Orleans is now down one pediatric cardiologist because the need of the Right to test its fascism – to normalize its othering and its oppression – forced that doctor to choose between his family and his profession. And Louisiana’s kids are the ones who will ultimately suffer.

Read the full story here