Words matter.

Surf any mainstream news site or pick up any newspaper these last few weeks and you’re sure to see stories heralding the rise of so-called “anti-LGBTQ” proposals.

“Anti-LGBTQ Proposals Are Flooding U.S. State Legislatures at a Record Pace” shouts a recent Bloomberg story.

“‘It’s a very lonely world’: For LGBT conservatives, anti-gay legislation prompts frustration, doubts,” warns USA Today. Only there is no such thing as “anti-LGBTQ” legislation. Instead, there have been legislative proposals designed to protect the innocence of children and preserve the integrity of women’s sports.

For example, Florida’s “Parental Rights in Education” bill ensures that children in kindergarten through third grade won’t be subjected to curriculum that delves into controversial and mature content about sex and “gender.” Other states have followed suit. In Georgia, a bill has been proposed designed to “deter developmentally inappropriate classroom discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation for primary school students.”

Two bills passed by the Alabama legislature on Friday, April 8, were signed into law the same day by Governor Kay Ivey. The first, as The Daily Citizen reported at the time, bans “sex reassignment” surgeries and puberty blockers for minors as treatments for sexual identity confusion. The second bans the teaching of young children in grades K-5 about sexual orientation and gender identity and requires students to use restrooms and locker rooms that match their biological sex.

Senate Bill 184 (SB 184) protects minors from making life-altering decisions about medications and treatments that purport to resolve sexual identity confusion. Also known as the Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, SB 184 penalizes school employees who encourage or coerce minors to withhold information from their parents about their sexual identity struggles, or who themselves withhold such information from parents.

Studies show, as the Alabama legislature recognized, the vast majority of minors who deal with sexual identity confusion outgrow their confusion once they go through puberty. Several European countries have already recognized that the surge of such medical interventions among minors in recent years has more to do with social pressures than from a medical or psychological issue, and they are calling for caution.

Inflation has hit another four-decade high of 8.5 percent in March, according to newly released numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS).

“The all items index continued to accelerate, rising 8.5 percent for the 12 months ending March, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending December 1981,” BLS reported on Tuesday. Inflation increased by a stunning 1.2 percent in the month of March alone.

If the 1.2 percent March inflation increase was annualized, the year-over-year inflation number would be a whopping 14.4 percent.

Consumers are paying much more for everyday items than they were just one year ago, including 8.8 percent more for food, 32 percent more for energy, a shocking 48 percent more for gasoline, 12.5 percent more for new vehicles, 25.3 percent more for used cars and trucks, 6.8 percent more for apparel, and 5 percent more for shelter.

In the month of March alone, grocery prices rose 1.5 percent; the price of meats, poultry, fish and eggs increased 1 percent; cereals and bakery products rose 1.5 percent; the price of gasoline shot up 18.3 percent; airline fares rose 10.7 percent; and medical care increased 0.5 percent.

Additionally, there is some concern that the BLS underreports the real amount of inflation experienced by consumers.