The U.S. has seen a staggering amount of anti-trans bills this year that severely impact the rights of trans youth. Out of 147 anti-LGBTQ bills under consideration in state legislatures across the country, 73 are aimed directly at transgender people.
The Biden administration has been focused on gender rights and equality for quite some time, and signed an executive order on preventing and combating discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation on his first day in office.
Many of the bills presented so far focus on two major issues that would directly impact trans youth: gender-affirming medical care and athletics.
Alabama is voting on bills SB10 and HB1 that would make it a felony to provide gender-affirming healthcare to trans youth. If this bill is to pass, all puberty blockers and hormones would become a crime, and doctors could face up to life in prison for providing this care.
Attorney and ACLU’s director of transgender justice Chase Strangio stated in a recent Instagram live, “Where we are now, it’s almost a perfect storm of anti-trans resources and backlash coming into the U.S. and the U.K., and creating this wave of legislation that we’re now fighting in over 20 states across the country,” Strangio explains. “What happens in the next two months will dictate a lot of what is ultimately going to be the legal landscape for trans protections for the next several decades.”
According to the Human Rights Campaign, nearly half of the anti-trans bills would ban transgender athletes from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity. The bills seemed to be directed mostly toward “ensuring young girls are not forced to compete against biological males,” states Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, who signed an anti-transgender sports bill yesterday marking the first piece of anti-trans legislation this year to become law.
“Governor Reeves’ eagerness to become the face of the latest anti-transgender push is appalling, as he chooses fear and division over facts and science. This law is a solution in search of a problem, and legislators in Mississippi have not provided any examples of Mississippi transgender athletes gaming the system for competitive advantage because none exist,” states Alphonso David, Human Rights Campaign President. “… Transgender kids deserve better, and so does Mississippi.”
Many major, U.S. corporations, college athletes, and leading child health and welfare groups have spoken out against the anti-trans legislation.
