Utah. Gov. Spencer Cox (R) came under fire Thursday after his 2023 Pride Month declaration eliminated all mention of LGBTQ+ people, Axios reports.

Meanwhile, conservatives lambasted Cox as “woke” for making the declaration in the first place.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed (D) named the city’s first-ever “Drag Laureate,” who will become an ambassador for San Francisco’s drag and LGBTQ+ community for an 18-month term, CNN reports.

“The largest LGBTQ+ rights organization in the U.S. joined other civil rights organizations Tuesday in issuing a travel advisory for Florida, warning that newly passed laws and policies may pose risks to minorities, immigrants and gay travelers,” the AP reports.

“Target is removing certain items from its stores and making other changes to its LGBTQ merchandise nationwide ahead of Pride month, after an intense backlash from some customers including violent confrontations with its workers,” the AP reports.

“By the way, you want to meet some gay people… go to the Republican caucus meeting in the United States Senate… I am just saying, they are throughout the Republican Party in South Carolina.”

— Joe Scarborough, on Morning Joe.

A new Washington Post/KFF poll finds a majority of Americans don’t even believe that transgender people exist: 57% say a person’s gender can’t differ from the sex assigned at birth, with 43% saying it can differ.

In addition, a majority of Americans oppose allowing puberty blockers or hormone treatments for minors, allowing trans girls and women to participate in female sports and allowing school teachers to discuss trans identity.

More Americans support than oppose laws aimed at restricting transgender care for minors, and a majority favor banning transgender women in sports, according to a Scripps News/YouGov poll.

“From statehouses to the presidential campaign trail, Republicans are escalating their political attacks on transgender people – a reflection of what they see as a cultural fight their base is eager to wage,” CNN reports.

“Despite a poorer-than-expected showing in last fall’s midterm elections when various GOP candidates campaigned on anti-transgender rhetoric, many conservatives have only amplified their attacks this year.”

“Republican legislators in Kansas have enacted what may be the most sweeping transgender bathroom law in the U.S. on Thursday, overriding the Democratic governor’s veto of the measure without having a clear idea of how their new law will be enforced,” the AP reports.

“At least eight other states have enacted laws preventing transgender people from using the restrooms associated with their gender identities, but most of them apply to schools. The Kansas law applies also to locker rooms, prisons, domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers.”

Anheuser-Busch said it had placed on leave two executives who oversaw a Bud Light collaboration with a transgender activist, the Wall Street Journal reports.

New York Times: “When the Supreme Court declared a constitutional right to same-sex marriage nearly eight years ago, social conservatives were set adrift. … And it left them searching for a cause that — like opposing gay marriage — would rally the base and raise the movement’s profile on the national stage.”

“At least 417 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the United States since the start of the year — a new record,“ CNN reports.

“That’s already more than twice the number of such bills introduced all of last year.”

President Biden has criticized anti-trans legislation as “just cruel,” singling out recent developments in Florida in particular as “close to sinful” and suggesting that the federal government needs to legislate to protect transgender rights nationally, the Washington Post reports.

Said Biden: “What’s going on in Florida is, as my mother would say, close to sinful. I mean, it’s just terrible what they’re doing.”

“Tennessee Republican lawmakers on Wednesday advanced legislation that would prevent transgender people from changing their driver’s licenses and birth certificates, a move that officials warn could cost the state millions in federal funding,” the AP reports.

“If enacted, the proposal would define male and female in state law and base people’s legal gender identities on their anatomy at birth. A handful of Republican-led states have introduced similar bills — including Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma — as GOP lawmakers have put transgender issues at the forefront of their legislative agenda.”