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June 2023

7 entries from June 2023.

Jun 18

Texas Gov. Abbott signed SB 12 restricting drag and other "sexually oriented performances" on public property and before minors

On June 18, 2023, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 12 into law, restricting "sexually oriented performances" on the premises of a commercial enterprise, on public property, or in the presence of an individual younger than 18. The law, authored by Sen. Bryan Hughes, creates a criminal offense for performers and authorizes civil penalties of up to $10,000 against businesses; though its text does not name drag, its sponsors and Abbott described it as targeting drag performances. It took effect only in 2026, after years of litigation in which it was initially struck down as unconstitutional.

Texas Gov. Abbott signed SB 15 barring transgender college athletes from competing under their gender identity

On June 18, 2023, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 15, the "Save Women's Sports Act," requiring students at public institutions of higher education to compete in intercollegiate athletics based on their biological sex assigned at birth. The law bars transgender college athletes from competing consistent with their gender identity and extends a 2021 Texas law that had already imposed the same restriction on K-12 student-athletes. It took effect September 1, 2023.

Jun 17

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed SB 17, banning diversity, equity, and inclusion offices at public colleges and universities

On June 17, 2023, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 17, enacted by the 88th Legislature and authored by state Sen. Brandon Creighton, barring public colleges and universities from maintaining diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices, mandating DEI training, or requiring diversity statements in hiring and admissions decisions. The law, which took effect January 1, 2024, tasks the Texas State Auditor with compliance enforcement and puts noncompliant institutions at risk of losing eligibility for state funding increases. Ahead of the deadline, universities closed DEI and related offices, including multicultural and LGBTQ+ resource centers.

Jun 12

Texas Gov. Abbott signed HB 900, requiring vendors to rate and pull sexually explicit books from public school libraries

On June 12, 2023, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 900, the READER Act, into law at a Texas Capitol bill-signing ceremony. The law requires book vendors, as a condition of selling to Texas public schools, to rate the titles they sell for sexual content and to recall any rated "sexually explicit," which must then be removed from school library shelves, while books rated "sexually relevant" require written parental consent to check out. The Texas Education Agency was given authority to overrule a vendor's ratings, and vendors that refuse to comply are barred from selling to Texas schools.

Jun 7

Missouri enacted SB39 barring transgender students from K-12 and college sports by birth-certificate sex

On June 7, 2023, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed Senate Bill 39 (Senate Substitute No. 2), enacting Section 163.048 RSMo to bar any student from competing in an athletics competition designated for the biological sex opposite to the sex on their official birth certificate, at both K-12 and postsecondary institutions. Private schools, public school districts, public charter schools, and public or private colleges that violate the law lose all state aid. The provisions took effect August 28, 2023, and are set to expire August 28, 2027.

Missouri Gov. Parson signed SB 49 SAFE Act banning gender-affirming care for minors and Medicaid coverage

On June 7, 2023, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed Senate Bill 49, the "Missouri Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act," barring health care providers from performing gender-transition surgeries on minors and, until Aug. 28, 2027, from prescribing cross-sex hormones or puberty blockers to minors for gender transition. The law also bars the state's MO HealthNet (Medicaid) program from covering gender-transition care for transgender people of any age and prohibits such surgeries in state prisons and jails. Passed by the Republican-controlled Missouri General Assembly, it took effect Aug. 28, 2023, with narrow carve-outs and grandfathering for minors already in treatment.

Jun 2

Texas Gov. Abbott signed SB 14 banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors

On June 2, 2023, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 14, prohibiting physicians from providing puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or transition surgery to transgender minors and barring the use of public money to pay for such care. The law, which took effect September 1, 2023, required minors already in treatment to be weaned off it and directed the state to revoke the licenses of providers who continued the care. Texas became the most populous state to enact such a ban.