Polis on anti-LGBTQ laws: ‘Words matter. Laws matter’

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D), the first openly gay man to be elected a governor, spoke out against GOP-led anti-LGBTQ bills being brought up in state legislatures around the U.S., saying in an interview on Sunday that they were “un-American.”

CNN’s “State of the Union” host Dana Bash asked Polis for his thoughts on recent anti-LGBTQ legislation that has been introduced in Republican states, such as the “don’t say gay” bill in Florida that would place restrictions on discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.

“Look, words matter. Laws matter,” Polis said. “When a group of people, LGBT youth, feel targeted by the words and laws that some politicians espouse, of course, it can increase anxiety, depression. Many of them are already dealing with challenging issues in their own family.”

Polis said these recent bills were an example of “Republican overreach” on issues that Americans have “long moved past.”

“And these hard policies about saying certain youth can’t play sports, and certain people aren’t allowed in certain places, or micromanaging what restroom people use and mandating what they do are really, frankly, un-American and are an example of Republican overreach, which will ultimately hurt their party, if they can’t espouse the full diversity of the American people,” added Polis.

The White House has similarly condemned recent anti-LGBTQ legislation that has been introduced, with White House press secretary Jen Psaki saying earlier this month that conservative Florida politicians were attacking and targeting “kids who need that support the most, kids from LGBTQI+ community.”