New anti-trans laws proposed

A wave of anti-trans laws have been proposed recently in 14 different states across the country. The full list of states includes Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Utah.

The proposed law in South Dakota would make it illegal to change the sex desigination on birth certificates (The Associated Press, 2021). This deliberately targets trans individuals. In Alabama, the law proposed would target trans youth by banning physicians from prescribing medications used in gender-affirming care and the proposed law in Oklahoma would remove the ban on conversion therapy (Andrew, 2021). Conversion therapy is a practice that aims to alter or suppress a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity. This is concerning because “youth who have undergone conversion therapy are more than twice as likely to attempt suicide as those who did not” (The Trevor Project, 2019). 

Most concerning are the laws in Montana, as they have already passed in the House and are now moving to the Senate (Baska, 2021). These laws would restrict access to healthcare and school sports for trans youth (Andrew, 2021). 

Although it is expected that most of those laws won’t pass, it is still extremely stigmatizing and damaging for trans and non-binary people and especially youth. The Trevor Project conducted a national survey to assess the mental health of LGBTQ youth in 2019. Some of their findings include: 

  • More than half of transgender and non-binary youth have seriously considered suicide (The Trevor Project, 2019).

  • Over 58% of transgender and non-binary youth have been discouraged from using the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity (The Trevor Project, 2019). 

  • About 76% of the respondents indicated that recent politics impacted their mental health and/or sense of self (The Trevor Project, 2019).

These new laws would only further harm transgender and non-binary youths’ mental health.

STAY UP TO DATE: follow the Freedom for All Americans Legislative Tracker for changes in legislation that are LGBTQ-related: https://freedomforallamericans.org/legislative-tracker/ 

GET INVOLVED: Contact your representatives and tell them to vote NO on any bill that would further stigmatize, harm, or discriminate against trans people and especially trans youth. 

Sources: 

Andrew, S. (2021). Lawmakers in 14 states have proposed anti-LGBTQ bills, many of which target trans youth. CNN News. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/27/us/anti-lgbtq-bills-2021-trnd/index.html 

The Associated Press. (2021). South Dakota lawmakers revive bill decried by LGBTQ groups. NBC News. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/south-dakota-lawmakers-revive-bill-decried-lgbtq-groups-n1255831 

Baska, M. (2021). Montana legislators strike down bill targeting trans youth. Pink News. Retrieved from https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/01/28/montana-trans-bill-hb-113-hb113-transgender-voted-down-house-of-representatives/ 

O’Hara, M.E. (2021). Trans kids face new attacks in state legislatures: Anti-LGBTQ groups take the fight from bathrooms to the doctor’s office and athletic teams. GLAAD. Retrieved from https://www.glaad.org/blog/trans-kids-face-new-attacks-state-legislatures-anti-lgbtq-groups-take-fight-bathrooms-doctor’s 

Rude, M. (2021). South Dakota republicans revive anti-trans birth certificate bill. The Advocate. Retrieved from https://www.advocate.com/2021/1/27/south-dakota-republicans-revive-anti-trans-birth-certificate-bill 

The Trevor Project. (2019). National survey of LGBTQ youth mental health. Retrieved from https://www.thetrevorproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/The-Trevor-Project-National-Survey-Results-2019.pdf 

Lucy Dollinger