Statehouses around the country have been consumed by fights over laws governing transgender people. Many of the bills denied medical care to transgender people, while others targeted bathroom use and preferred pronouns. Here's what you need to know.
Statehouses around the country this year have been consumed by fights over laws governing transgender people.
Laws banning gender-transition care for minors have been enacted in 20 states; Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee and Arizona enacted bans before 2023, though Arkansas’ was recently struck down. Arizona’s law focuses on surgical procedures, but the rest extend the ban to other treatments, including puberty blockers and hormones.
Leading medical organizations oppose bans on transition care, citing extensive evidence that such treatment leads to better mental health outcomes, and associating a lack of treatment with higher rates depression.While most of these laws focus on treatments for minors, some states included provisions that will also create obstacles for transgender adults seeking transition treatments.
“In some states, such as Mississippi, the ‘aid or abet’ language is very broad,” said Elana Redfield, federal policy director at the University of California, Los Angeles, law school, “and could conceivably subject parents or allies to liability.” Tennessee’s law defining sex goes into effect on July 1, and would prevent anyone from changing the sex on their birth certificates and driver’s licenses. This can create challenges for transgender people when they need to, say, vote or apply for a library card.
At least 21 states, including North Dakota, specifically exclude transgender women and girls from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity. Five of those states extend the bans to transgender boys. All of the bans apply to high schools, and most states include colleges in their bans.
Lawmakers who back such bills say that every child must feel safe in the bathroom and that the laws can help prevent abuse. Multiple studies, however, have shown that transgender people are much more likely to be victims of violence than cisgender people.
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