The Evolution of Anti-Trans Bills

Felix Brem

Three months into 2023, over 400 anti-LGBTQ bills are being considered across the U.S., over 150 of which specifically harm trans people. Transphobic legislation started in 2021 and 2022 as bills excluding trans women from women’s sports and has escalated into bolder forms of discrimination against trans people, specifically trans youth. Emerging bills harshly restrict freedoms such as gender affirming health care (GAHC), access to bathrooms, and the art form of drag. With the politicization of trans lives, states have to decide whether to value human rights or bow to fear mongering. 

Utah was the first to ban GAHC for transgender minors this year in January, making crucial healthcare such as hormone replacement therapy, gender-affirming surgeries, and mental health services unavailable to trans youth, many of whom will be forced to detransition. Similar health care bans have been passed in Mississippi, South Dakota, Tennessee, Arkansas, Arizona, Iowa, and Florida, and several other states are set to consider them. Trans youth whose families are not in a position to relocate must either give up GAHC entirely or obtain it through riskier means. “I have friends in Arizona, Texas, and Florida, where some of the worst anti-trans legislature has been introduced, and they’re not in a position where they can easily move somewhere safer,” Connor Elmore (CW ‘23) commented. 

The arguments used to pass these bills often conflate church and state, compare parent acceptance of trans identities to ‘child abuse,’ and weaponize widely disproven fears that trans minors will regret medically transitioning. In stark contrast, the benefits of GAHC are clear--one study associates receiving GAHC with 60% less likelihood of depression and 73% less likelihood of suicidality. Without the option to medically transition, the mental health of trans minors will decline. "[Gender-affirming care] is something that truly saved my life. I fear for the lives of trans people losing access to it," Jules Schuld (CV ‘24) commented.

Politicians are also attacking the right to use public bathrooms. One ban in Arkansas intends to completely prevent trans people from using public restrooms, locker rooms, or other facilities that correspond with their gender. Advocates have pointed out that this encourages baseless fears that trans people are a threat, while also making it difficult for trans people to exist in public comfortably. The bill is on its way to the state House of Representatives, where it will likely pass. 

On April 1st, an anti-drag bill will go into effect in Tennessee, criminalizing “adult cabaret entertainment” on public property or where it can be viewed by minors. “Male or female impersonators” are included in this category, vague wording that can be interpreted to criminalize drag performers and associate gender non-conforming people with danger to children. Drag is a well-established art form, with roots dating back to Shakespearean plays where female roles were performed by men--it’s not dangerous. The law is meant to encourage paranoia of anyone whose gender expression sits outside of the norm. Similar anti-drag bills have been proposed in at least eight other states. 

Fortunately, legal protections for trans youth are beginning to emerge as well. Respectively, California and Minnesota have signed into law and proposed bills that would prevent refugees of anti-trans legislation from being prosecuted for trying to access GAHC in those states. New Mexico’s Health Care Freedom Act prevents the restriction of reproductive and gender-affirming care. At least 16 other states are considering similar protections for trans constituents. More hope comes in the form of dozens of bills blocked by powerful testimony as trans youth and their families continue to stand up. 

Still, as college acceptance decisions round the corner for seniors, many trans students find options for their future limited. Elmore shared that the wave of anti-trans sentiment has “basically limited my options to California and a very small number of other blue states, which sucks, because some of my dream schools were in states that are now unsafe for me to live in.” 

Despite the chaos of transphobic politics, “There is no getting rid of trans people,” Schuld declared. “Trans people have existed since the dawn of time and will continue to exist even after we are long gone.”