solarbird | Stop KOSA

KOSA, the so-called “Kids Online Safety Act,” is – amongst other things – an anti-LGBTQ ‘trojan horse’ a bill, one that will let red-state attorneys general go after LGBTQ people online in other states. There have been revisions; the revisions have not fixed it.

Some conservatives have already telegraphed their plans to use KOSA to advance anti-LGBTQ+ agendas. A recent video has surfaced of Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) stating that KOSA ought to be a priority for ensuring the safety of children online, while in the same breath, saying that “protecting minor children from the transgender in this culture” should be among the top priorities of conservatives. This is the connection LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, like LGBT Tech, have feared since KOSA was introduced. Unlike other Republicans, Sen. Blackburn just said the quiet part out loud.
Washington Blade

The Heritage Foundation have also said, outright, that they will use this law – if passed – to censor LGBTQ content, and go after LGBTQ people online. They have said so themselves, explicitly.

Here’s one writeup on the legislation. Here’s another: Parents of Trans Youth Fear KOSA’s Trojan Horse. Here’s a third.

So please contact your senators specifically, and do so this week, both to oppose this bill in general, and to oppose “hotlining” this bill in particular. Hotlining is a Senate procedure that would result in the bill being passed by unanimous consent, which would mean that there would be no roll-call vote – and no accountability for its passage.

Please contact them directly. Use a telephone, use their contact forms, use whatever you need to, but know those either of those first two are far, far better than petitions or mass online signature gathering. (Tho’ those last two are better than nothing.)

A lot of people ask me, “Yeah, but what can we do?”

And I give answers.

Today, that answer is try to stop this bill.

Please.

Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.