RECENT LEGISLATION AND EVENTS REVEAL ANTI-TRANS SENTIMENTS ACROSS AMERICA

BY HALEY REEDY, KATIE BASINGER, & CARLEY SORRENT

The increase of transgender and LGBTQ+ groups has become a flashpoint in American politics. Bills and laws have been passed that are attempting to limit the rights that transgender people have and feed into that hatred. These laws are ranging from limitations on the changing of legal documents, the access to gender-affirming health care, the ability of transgender people to play sports, and restroom use. These are just some of the states that have demonstrated actions against transgender and LGBTQ+ groups.

Ohio Tennessee Mississippi

The governor of Mississippi, Tate Reeves, signed a bill in February that would eliminate access to hormones or reaffirming surgeries to youth, or anyone who is under eighteen years of age. This was just an additional restriction that the state is trying to implement in addition to the continuous effort to ban transgender athletes from competing in their sports of choice.

The bill, banning the athletes from participating in athletics was signed into law in 2021.

“This is truly scary stuff that’s being pushed upon our kids and, yes, their loving parents. They’re being taken advantage of, all so some can push their wrapped view on gender or appear to be woke for their friends,” Reeves said. In addition to the ban on gender affirming care, the state also banned all funding that goes to the institutions that provide this branch of care. This law allows for suing of the provider up to thirty years post receiving the gender affirming care.

Utah

The state of Utah became the first state in the country to ban gender affirming care in 2023.

Utah’s governor, Spencer Cox, signed a bill which would eliminate the allowance of youth citizens to receive gender affirming health care. This bill includes transitional surgery and hormone treatments.

“While we understand our words will be of little comfort to those who disagree with us, we sincerely hope that we can treat our transgender families with more love and respect as we work to better understand the science and consequences behind the procedures,” he said.

Cox, however, was the second republican governor to veto a bill that would ban transgender youth from participating in sports. He believes that not allowing them the same rights as other students, puts them at a higher risk of suicide.

“I don’t understand what they are going through or why they feel the way they do. But I want them to live and all the research shows that even a little acceptance and connection can reduce suicide significantly.”

While the City of Wadsworth became a national spectacle– even featured on national news stations– for the powerful image produced by the Neo-Nazis spewing hatred towards the event’s attendees, it is not the first time something like this has happened in Ohio.

In April of 2022, Ohio Politician, Jane Timken, who was running for U.S. Senate, used the Hoover High School gymnasium as a backdrop for her condemnatory rhetoric directed towards transgender athletes in her campaign video.

Timken’s’ speech deeply affected the LGBTQ+ community in and around the school district. Students began to feel unsafe as if they were not welcome in their school.

Sabrina Estevez, a student at Hoover High School, mentions how quickly the advertisement spread.

“Students were scared, sad, and even angry that our school was being used as a vessel for such a terrible, controversial topic,” Estevez said. “Members of our school’s GSA discussed their concerns with our administration. The ad was discussed at the next school board meeting but very few individuals had anything to say about it. The administration remained, for the most part, quiet to the general public on the entire situation.”

South Dakota

South Dakota is the fourth state in the country to ban gender-affirming care following Utah’s recent ban. A bill was passed that criminalizes certain kinds of gender-affirming care to minors who are transgender. A different bill was introduced that would ban minors from “exposed” to drag performances. The bill defined drag as any type of performance, such as singing and dancing, that involved an individual exhibiting a gender identity that was different from the performer’s biological sex by using clothing or makeup or “other physical markers”. Another bill was introduced that seeks to ban drag from any state owned facility. Last year, a bill was passed that banned transgender students from participating in school sports that matched their gender identity. Around the same time, a bill was passed that would prohibit transgender youths from using a restroom that matches with their gender identity.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of South Dakota made a statement, “This ban won’t stop South Dakotans from being trans, but it will deny them critical support that helps struggling transgender youth to grow up to become thriving transgender adults.”

On July 1, 2023 anyone in the state of Tennessee that is planning to receive gender affirming healthcare will no longer be able to do so. As for individuals who are currently receiving this range of healthcare the bill will go into effect for them after March 31, 2024. This care includes not just visiting gender affirming facilities, but also anyone taking any medication will need to adjust to an off treatment lifestyle as this will also be banned after March 31,2024, as well as surgeries Not only does this bill ban gender affirming care but it also bans any drag queen related events from occurring.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee stated, “We are dedicated to overturning this unconstitutional law and are confident the state will find itself completely incapable of defending it in court. We want transgender youth to know they are not alone and this fight is not over.”

Florida

The “Don’t Say Gay” bill was introduced in Florida and supports the ideology that school is no place for personal gender or sexual orientation expression.

The bill, which has since been signed into law by governor Ron DeSantis, states, “Classroom instruction by school or personal or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”

Something that may have led to this was a bill passed in Florida in March of 2022 that made any conversation about sexual orientation or gender identity illegal in classrooms. By definition sexual orientation is “a person’s identity in a relation to the gender or genders to which they are sexually attracted.” Under this definition, any topic that covers sexual orientation should be prohibited from schools, including heterosexual orientation as well as homosexual orientation. The events that transpired in Wadsworth would not be able to be spoken about in a Florida classroom. This bill makes it difficult for LGBTQ+ students more ostracized in a school system that has deemed it bad to ‘say gay’.

The bill will go into effect on Jul 1, 2023.