U.S. legislation continues to set their sights on all the wrong issues. Presenting 617 nationwide anti-trans bills this year alone, 2024 is a record-breaking year for anti-trans legislation. Disturbingly, this year marks the fifth consecutive year bills targeting trans rights have increased.
Of the 617 bills, 258 of those were carried over from 2023 state legislatures or Congress. The remaining number of bills have been introduced since January. Forty-four of the total bills have already passed.
Some good news is that 225 bills monitored by Trans Legislation Tracker have failed so far this year, but hundreds more are wiggling their way through the system. Even when the bills themselves don’t pass, the sheer amount of anti-trans legislation on display becomes harmful in itself.
LGBTQ+ mental health has shown a steady decline in recent years amid the increasing anti-trans bills. Trans youth specifically remain at a higher risk. “The end goal of anti-trans legislation is denying transgender people the words to describe our experience, the means to express it safely, and the community and support we all deserve,” says Gillian Branstetter, communications strategist at the ACLU. The unprecedented amount of anti-trans legislation targets military, healthcare, incarceration, education, sports, civil rights, and other various categories.
This surge of anti-trans bills isn’t slowing down,” says Andrew Bales, founder of Trans Legislation Tracker. Sixty-three bills are currently being considered on the federal level. Twenty-six deal specifically with healthcare and generally aim to ban gender-affirming medical care for trans youth below the age of 18. Rightist slogans like “Protect Children’s Innocence” and “Protecting Our Kids from Child Abuse” promote the false narrative that trans people are a danger to children.
Oklahoma lawmakers have introduced the highest number of anti-trans bills. Notably, the state introduced HB 1449, which became law in March. This bill strictly redefined the term “sex” to refer only to a person’s assigned sex at birth. Following Oklahoma, Missouri has introduced the second most anti-trans bills. One such bill (HB 2885) would make “contributing to social transition” a felony and require teachers who do so to register as sex offenders.
Not only are these bills discouraging to the LGBTQ+ community, but legally impact the lives of trans folks and even the allies who choose to support them. It is important to discuss these disparaging legislative setbacks so that change can be made, and healing can begin.
