The flood of anti-LGBTQ+ state legislation continuesThe deluge of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation at the state level has continued in 2025, with 616 bills introduced, by the American Civil Liberties Unions count. Only 71 have passed into law so far, while 248 have been defeated, and 285 are advancing, while the remainder have seen no action. Even when these bills dont pass, they do harm, as they give rise to homophobic and transphobic rhetoric. Here we look at the states that have passed the most this year and how locals are fighting back.IdahoIdaho has seen seven anti-LGBTQ+ bills become law in 2025. House Bill 264 requires state prisons and jails, colleges and universities, and domestic violence shelters to designate multi-occupancy restrooms, changing rooms, and dorm rooms for the exclusive use by either females or males, as assigned at birth. Atlas Jones, a transgender male student at Boise State University, and Sophie Smith, a pseudonym for a trans woman regularly on the University of Idahos campus, have filed a federal suit against the law. A judge has declined to issue a preliminary injunction blocking its enforcement while the suit proceeds, but the case remains pending.HB 239 requires parental consent for students to study human sexuality. HB 352 bans instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in grades K-12. SB 1198 prohibits diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at universities. HB 59 allows health care workers to opt out of procedures that violate their religious or moral beliefs. SB 1027 protects employers who refuse to facilitate gender transition treatments or abortions. HB 41 bars public schools from displaying flags that represent a political viewpoint, including but not limited to flags or banners regarding a political party, race, sexual orientation, gender, or a political ideology.WyomingWyoming tied with Idaho by passing seven anti-LGBTQ+ laws so far this year. House Bill 0032 defines sex as unchanging and exclusively male or female. HB 0164 bans the off-label use of medications for abortions or for a minors gender transition; gender-affirming care for minors was already banned in the state. Senate File 0044 expands the transgender-exclusionary sports law to the college level; Wyoming already barred trans girls and women from female teams in eighth through 12th grade. SF 0077 bars the state and its subdivisions from requiring use of preferred pronouns. SF 0062 requires public schools to designate restrooms, changing rooms, and other single-sex facilities based on sex assigned at birth. HB 0072 places the same regulation on public colleges and universities, prisons, and other government buildings. HB 0207 is a religious freedom law that could allow discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.ArkansasArkansas has passed six anti-LGBTQ+ laws this year. Senate Bill 486 allows the filing of lawsuits by people who encounter someone of the opposite sex, including trans people, in certain restrooms, changing rooms, or sleeping areas. House Bill 1615 bans government discrimination against people acting on a religious belief about marriage or gender. SB 444 exempts medical workers from participating in procedures they oppose, including abortion and gender-affirming care. HB 1916 allows for malpractice suits by minors whove received gender-affirming care. HB 1669 prohibits the state from requiring that faith-based adoption and foster care agencies place children in households that conflict with the agencies religious beliefs, including anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs. HB 1307 bars state institutions from investing in any fund involved in fighting climate change, promoting DEI, facilitating abortion or gender-affirming care, or limiting firearms access.MontanaMontana ties with Arkansas at six. House Bill 121 codifies male and female genders and bars trans people from using government buildings restrooms, changing rooms, and sleeping quarters that align with their gender identity. Five Montanans sued to challenge the law, and a judge has issued a preliminary injunction blocking it while the case is heard. HB 300 classifies trans peoples use of school facilities that align with their gender identity as unlawful discrimination against cisgender people. It also says allowing a male to participate in girls or womens school sports is discriminatory. HB 682 requires that Medicaid and other insurance plans cover detransition treatment, and Senate Bill 218 allows those who regret transitioning to sue their doctors. HB 690 says it is not abuse if parents or guardians refuse to affirm a childs gender identity. HB 819 bans LGBTQ+ flags at government buildings.UtahUtah has passed five anti-LGBTQ+ laws so far this year. HB 77 bans non-approved flags, including Pride flags, at public schools and other government buildings. It was the first state with such a law. Republican Gov. Spencer Cox let the bill become law without his signature; he called it divisive and expressed love for LGBTQ+ Utahns despite his frequent disagreements with them. Some observers thought this law and the states overall conservatism led to the Sundance Film Festival's plan to leave Utah for Colorado, although Sundance officials said that was not the reason. HB 283 allows anti-LGBTQ+ parents to foster or adopt LGBTQ+ children, HB 252 restricts gender-affirming care for incarcerated people, SB 74 creates strict requirements for legally changing one's sex, and HB 269 bans trans college students from dorm rooms that align with their gender identity.TexasTexas has passed five anti-LGBTQ+ laws this year. The latest one, Senate Bill 8, requires the segregation by sex assigned at birth of restrooms in government buildings including schools, universities, shelters, and prisons. Democrats in the Texas legislature delayed the passage of the bathroom bill when they fled the state in August, a move primarily motivated by the attempt to stop the redrawing of Texass congressional districts. But the bill passed in September with Republican support, and Gov. Greg Abbott signed it into law. Four laws passed earlier in the year. SB 12 bars teachers in public schools from assisting students with social transitioning and says public schools and open-enrollment charter schools may not authorize or sponsor clubs based on sexual orientation or gender identity. HB 229 requires government entities to classify people as only male or female sex as assigned at birth. HB 18 bars trans minors using a Texas rural health care program from accessing mental health services that affirm their identity. and SB 1188 requires electronic health records to list a persons sex as either male or female, although they can list gender identity as well.KentuckyKentucky has passed four anti-LGBTQ+ laws this year over the opposition of Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. HB 4 bans DEI initiatives in public colleges and universities, and HB 495 bans Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care. The Republican-dominated legislature overrode Beshears veto of these bills. HB 501 clarifies the Medicaid funding restriction, and SB 2 bans gender-affirming care for incarcerated people; Beshear let both become law without his signature.West VirginiaWest Virginia has passed four anti-LGBTQ+ laws. SB 299 removes an exception in the existing ban on gender-affirming care for minors, passed in 2023, that allowed young people considered at risk for suicide or other self-harm to receive the care. It also redefines sex as the state of being either male or female as observed or clinically verified at birth, spells out types of banned care, and places restrictions on telehealth providers. SB 154 prohibits instruction on LGBTQ+ identities in public schools and forces teachers to out trans students. SB 456 bars trans people from single-sex facilities that don't align with their sex at birth when those spaces are in public schools, state colleges and universities, domestic violence shelters, and prisons. SB 474 bans DEI initiatives in public institutions.IowaIn 2025, Iowa became the first state to remove antidiscrimination protections for trans people from its laws. The Iowa Civil Rights Act had included gender identity since 2007, when the state had a Democratic governor, Chet Culver, and Democratic majorities in both legislative houses. But this year, the Republican-dominated legislature passed Senate File 418 to strip the language, and GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds signed it into law. The measure also prohibits gender changes on birth certificates and bans school instruction on sexual orientation or gender theory through sixth grade. Iowas trans residents and allies fought hard against the bill, with 2,500 protesting at the capitol as the state Senate considered it. State Sen. Tony Bisignano, a Democrat, strongly rebuked his Republican colleagues. Most of you dont even know somebody whos transgender, he said on the Senate floor. You dont even know em, but you hate em. You have to hate em because you cannot do what youre doing today if you didnt.The state also enacted two other anti-LGBTQ+ laws. House File 1049 bans Medicaid coverage of gender-affirming care for adults, and HF 856 bans DEI programs at public institutions.https://www.advocate.com/politics/breaking-transphobic-discrimination-legalized-iowaOklahomaOklahoma has passed three anti-LGBTQ+ laws this year. SB 658 says prospective foster or adoptive parents cannot be disqualified because of their religious or moral beliefs about sexual orientation or gender identity. SB 418 bars incarcerated trans people from facilities aligning with their gender identities, and HB 1688 requires biological sex to be listed on birth certificates and bans nonbinary designations. Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt let the last one become law without his signature, but he signed the others.