MassResistance is helping get important pro-family bills passed in state legislatures across the country

Becoming a growing influence among pro-family lawmakers

April 10, 2023

 An Idaho State Rep. sent us this photo of the House vote on his pro-family bill – and thanked us for all our help.

People mostly hear about our out-front activism, but MassResistance has been doing a lot of work behind the scenes this year in state legislatures.

The onslaught of horrors by the LGBT movement harming children in their schools, libraries, hospitals, and beyond has become worse than ever. To fight back, state lawmakers across the country have been working to pass laws to protect them.

But there are daunting obstacles to getting these bills passed. These include: skilled LGBT lobbyists, aggressive and well-organized LGBT activists, threats by leftist corporations, leftist non-profits and “professional organizations” – and more. All are out to thwart any pro-family legislation. Sadly, some of the biggest obstacles are turncoat RINO legislative leaders – or governors – in “red” states who are either paid off or intimidated by the Left’s rhetoric.

Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of groups that conservative lawmakers can turn to for countering these forces. But MassResistance has battled in the trenches of state legislatures on these issues for decades. We have helped get numerous good bills passed and bad anti-family bills stopped.

We carefully prepared for this latest wave of LGBT legislative battles. We’ve have gathered a large team of expert witnesses from around the country. It includes physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, ex-gays, ex-transgenders, parents, researchers, and others. We’ve have gathered and catalogued research and provided sharp talking points – and rebuttals to the opposition’s false and deceptive talking points. We’ve also written testimonials. In some cases, we’ve provided sample legislation on key topics so legislators don’t have to re-invent the wheel. And we are in touch with local activists and state pro-family groups in the various states who can push back hard.

As a result, we often get calls from state legislators who have heard about us, requesting our help. We often work very closely with key legislators and their aides. Many states are still getting their sessions underway. Here are some recent MassResistance activities:

Montana – Bill passed to stop sex mutilation of children

In the previous legislative session, in 2021, we worked with legislators to pass two bills, but the big money interests and the aggressive LGBT lobby got them derailed. But this year an even stronger bill, SB99, was introduced to ban chemical and surgical mutilation of minors.

MassResistance provided the bill’s sponsor with a long list of excellent expert witnesses to testify in favor of this legislation. We also provided him and other lawmakers extensive research and evidence proving that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones caused irreversible damage to children – and that “gender dysphoria” is a condition that can and should be treated with proper therapy, not hormones or surgeries. Our activists made numerous phone calls to state legislators over the first three months of the year.

 This woman had gender dysphoria as a child. Luckily, there were no options for surgeries or procedures, and she got mental health help. We contacted her about bill SB99, and she came personally to testify to ban this horrific practice for the sake of other misguided teenagers.

We are pleased to report that the bill has passed the state legislature and the governor has indicated he will sign it. The bill’s sponsor personally thanked MassResistance for our help.

Montana – Other pro-family bills

We have also been working with Montana state legislators to help pass bills that repeal the obscenity exemption for public schools and to keep kids away from drag shows. We will keep you posted on those bills.

Idaho – Bill passed to stop sex mutilation of children

Similar to Montana, in the previous session our activists in Idaho provided the sponsor with expert witnesses, written testimonials, as well as talking points for a bill to ban sex mutilation of minors. But despite our best efforts, while the legislation passed in the House, it was never assigned to a committee in the State Senate, and so the bill died.

This year a similar bill. H 71, was introduced. MassResistance brought in people to testify. Also, our growing numbers of activists throughout the state wrote numerous emails and made many calls to state legislators and the governor to support the bill. As a result, this bill passed the Idaho Legislature and was signed by the governor on April 4.

 MassResistance helps pro-family legislators successfully counter the rants of rent-a-mob LGBT activists, like this one opposing HB 71. [Photo: KTVB TV]

Idaho – Bill to repeal the obscenity exemption for schools and libraries

Removing pornography targeting children in schools and libraries, has been a key focus for our MassResistance activists. As in many states, the anti-obscenity laws have exempted schools and libraries. The legislative effort in Idaho to repeal this exemption has faced all kinds of hardships and setbacks this year. Two bills were introduced which would impose substantial fines on schools and libraries for allowing pornography and other obscene materials around children. Neither bill advanced out of the left-leaning Idaho House Education Committee.

The next bill relating to school and library exemption, H 314, was introduced later in the legislative session through the more favorable House State Affairs Committee, where it passed to the floor. The House floor debates were contentious, but pro-family activists pushed very hard. This time the bill passed in both the House and the State Senate.

Protecting children in this way would seem like a GOP no-brainer, but the RINO Idaho governor caved to the LGBT and library association lobbies and vetoed the bill! Our activists continued to lobby hard, but the legislature unfortunately fell short by one vote of overriding the governor’s veto.

Utah – Repealed ban on reparative therapy!

In 2019, the RINO Utah governor had tried to pass a ban on therapy that would help people work out unwanted LGBT issues – dishonestly labeled “conversion therapy” by the Left – through the Utah State Legislature. The bill never materialized in any final votes. So instead, the governor issued an order through the Department of Professional Licensing to revoke the license for any therapist who gave such reparative therapy to children!

In 2022, our MassResistance Field Director, Arthur Schaper, began working with a State Rep who was devising legislation to overturn the governor’s decision and restore therapeutic choice to potential clients.

Arthur introduced the Rep to a large group of expert witnesses to reach out to, including current reparative therapists across the country. Some of them provided language and suggestions on how to write the bill. They also provided him more up-to-date research on reparative therapy.

The Rep’s legislation, HB 228, cleverly focused on mitigating the phony LGBT criticisms of reparative therapy. It bans physical or psychological techniques which harm individuals or cause them mental pain. His legislation ensured that counselors, therapists, and ministers of faith would have free rein to provide actual counseling for children as well as adults who struggled with unwanted same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria.

In addition to the expert witnesses, he brought in former homosexuals and transgenders to testify in favor of the bill. As a result, the bill passed the legislature and was signed by the governor.

This legislation is remarkable because it is the first time, at the legislative level, that a broad reparative therapy ban has been reversed!

Virginia – Stopping a bill to repeal the state’s natural marriage constitutional amendment

In 2006, Virginia passed a constitutional amendment that banned same-sex marriage. But since then, the state has become more “blue,” and the legislature has been reflecting that shift.

This year, a RINO member of the House of Delegates quietly introduced a bill, HJ 460, to begin the repeal process of that constitutional amendment. But the bill was killed before it went further. The State Senate did pass their own version, SB 1096, which repealed the state’s legal code regarding marriage. But that bill also died in the House of Delegates. MassResistance activists worked hard contacting legislators by phone and email — and they were successful at stopping both in the House of Delegates.

Other states

MassResistance activists have also been working with legislators in Kansas, Texas, North Dakota, Iowa, Oklahoma, Florida, Virginia, Mississippi, and other states to pass key pro-family legislation.

These include: parents’ rights bills, bans on sex mutilation of minors, ban on use of preferred pronouns in the classroom, bans on drag shows for kids and to keep kids out of drag shows, etc. Our activists are also working with legislators to introduce bills to disregard the Obergefell Supreme Court “gay marriage” ruling, or to repeal same-sex marriage laws in their courts or legal codes.

In each of these legislatures, our organization has connected legislators with expert witnesses, provided them with expert research and evidence supporting their legislative efforts, and also provided in-person testimony to help pass their bills.

We expect to have more legislative activism – and successes – to report!