Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law recently reported some startling statistics about our trans youth. Roughly 93% of transgender minors (ages 13-17) reside in states that either have enacted or are thinking of enacting laws restricting trans access to sports, school facilities, and healthcare. Of the estimated 300,100 transgender minors across the country, 280,300 of them live in these hostile environments.
The bulk of trans youth lives in states pushing these inequitable laws. The U.S. South and Midwest are the areas of greatest impact. Many of these states have banned gender-affirming care, or the pass is pending. Forty-one of our 50 states have suggested or passed laws which restrict trans youth’s ability to participate in school sports. Thirty of those states are even proposing restricting transgender student’s access to gender-affirming bathrooms.
“For the second straight year, hundreds of bills impacting transgender youth were introduced in state legislatures,” lead author Elana Redfield, Federal Policy Director at the Williams Institute, comments. “The diverging legal landscape has created a deep divide in the rights and protections for transgender youth and their families across the country.” Already, we have seen how trans youth are disproportionately impacted by an array of issues compared to their cisgender peers.
Mental health disparages are among those issues. The continuation of these restrictive laws will only intensify stress and discomfort. If you are raised in an environment where your very existence is questioned and the adults and systems meant to provide you care are failing, transitioning to adulthood becomes much more problematic.
It is important that efforts are made to eliminate the years of trauma that can come with discriminatory legalization. The report done by UCLA is a good first step highlighting the troubling numbers in an attempt to open up eyes towards equality. Today more than ever, it is dire that more resources, care, and acknowledgment are offered to prevent the cataclysm of young LGBTQ+ folks being placed in harm’s way.
