Steven LaChance Blog

Since January 2025, hundreds of anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced across the United States, and dozens have already become law.

This is the reality of where things stand right now.

No one ever asked for special rights. All we ever asked for was to be treated equally.

The overt hostility toward people like me and my family is on the rise. Yet we are constantly being told it is our imagination, that we are overreacting, that the threats are not real. In the meantime, we have watched politicians call for the imprisonment of LGBTQ people and even speak casually about our execution. That is not an exaggeration.

May you never know the pain of watching people you love vote against your right to exist fully, equally, and authentically.

During the last election, I tried to explain why this mattered. I tried to explain what was at stake and asked why anyone would vote this way.

The answer I heard was simple.

“Because gas and grocery prices are way too high.”

Well, gas and grocery prices are still high.

The difference is that my community is less equal today than it was before, and the hostility directed toward us has only grown louder.

For many of us, this is not new. We have spent our lives being told to stay quiet, stay hidden, and accept less than everyone else. We have heard the jokes, endured the insults, buried our dead, and fought for every right we have.

The colors of our rainbow do not run.

We have spent our entire lives learning how to fight.