After a historic wave of anti-LGBTQ laws, focus now shifts to legal fights

By ANDREW DeMILLO
Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A judge’s ruling that struck down Arkansas’ first-in-the-nation ban on gender-affirming care for minors is offering hope to opponents of such laws. The ruling follows other decisions blocking similar bans. LGBTQ advocates call it a sign of what to expect from court challenges to  restrictions on transgender people’s rights. More than 500 bills restricting the rights of LGBTQ people were introduced in legislature this year. The focus for opponents of those measure is now shifting to the court fights that lay ahead over them. At least 20 states have enacted bans on gender-affirming care for minors this year, and most of the measures are being challenged in court.