Media Tip Sheets

Anti-drag and anti-trans legislation at the state level. Will federal courts do anything?

Friday, March 3, 2023, By Ellen Mbuqe

There are about 14 states with anti-drag and anti-trans legislation that is pending in the legislatures. For reporters looking for expert insight , please consider Syracuse University Professor Thomas Keck, the Michael O. Sawyer Chair of Constitutional Law and Politics at the Maxwell School.

Prof. Keck has been closely following the developments around anti-drag and anti-trans bills that have been proliferating across state legislatures.

  • “Across a wide range of fronts, we’re seeing an escalating series of state legislative threats to free expression, and it’s an open question whether the federal courts will serve as an adequate guardrail in defense of the First Amendment,” said Keck.

Keck’s research focuses on constitutional courts and the use of legal strategies by movements for social change, on both the left and the right. He teaches courses about LGBT rights and the major constitutional conflicts that have shaped American political development from the framing of the Constitution in 1787 up through the most recent decisions of the Roberts Court.