The recent surge of anti-trans legislation, championed especially by extremist right-wing politics, is a direct attack on reproductive and racial rights. Photo courtesy of Ted Eytan via Flickr.
By Silas Gemma ’26
Staff Writer
Content warning: This article discusses transphobia.
There has been an unparalleled number of proposed anti-transgender legislation within the United States, particularly within state legislatures, over the past few years. As an NPR article states, in conservative states, hundreds of bills have been proposed on familiar premises: banning trans people from using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity, prohibiting gender-affirming care for youth, restricting trans participation in school sports as well as making changes in school curricula to exclude discussions surrounding gender identity and sexuality. The propagation of anti-trans rhetoric and its translation into legislative actions represent not only the influence of extremist right-wing political thought on policymaking, but also the inextricable link between transgender rights and other social justice issues such as reproductive and racial justice. Ultimately, the fight for transgender rights is one of bodily autonomy, especially pertinent after the landmark overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court last year.
The sheer magnitude of proposed anti-trans legislation complicates successful cataloging and processing of it. A New York Times article lays out anti-trans ideas that come up repeatedly in rhetoric and legislation, such as the supposed connection of drag shows and trans-inclusive curricula with grooming.
Legislation proposed in Oklahoma within the last few months highlights a particular anti-trans idea: bans on gender-affirming care as a form of saviorism. Jim Olsen, an Oklahoma state representative, sponsored a bill proposing a gender-affirming care ban for transgender individuals up to age 21. In another New York Times article, Olsen expressed his concern: “the desire [of the proposed bill] is simply to protect young people from choices that later on in their life … some of them will grow to regret.” This idea that young people should not be able to make gender-related healthcare decisions because they are still developing is unfounded. The same article states that principal medical associations, such as the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, reject these claims of protection in favor of empirically based evidence that gender-affirming care is beneficial. Arguments in opposition to trans or abortion care often shun science in favor of personal religion or ingrained views.
An Aug. 1, 2022, article by the American Prospect affirms the mental health benefits of gender-affirming care by tracing the connections between transgender rights, abortion rights and bodily autonomy. The authors confirm that anti-trans and anti-abortion movements often coincide geopolitically, as “twenty-five of the 26 states certain or likely to ban abortion have also introduced anti-transgender legislation in the past two years.” The article points out that far-right religious bodies of thought often buttress both anti-trans and anti-abortion discourse. Additionally, the article highlights the importance of reproductive clinics for transgender people, as they often do not have any other place to turn to for care. Thus, the attack on abortion is inherently an attack on trans bodily autonomy.
Far-right religious ideologies have long been the scaffolding for conservative opposition to critical social justice issues. A PBS article by Kate Sosin outlines how garnering the support of far-right evangelicals has been essential for conservative politicians to boost their success rates at the polls. She states that figures such as Donald Trump, Ronald Reagan and conservative political thinker Paul Weyrich all found success in honing in on the concerns of extremist evangelicals to incite and propagate vitriol and promote voter turnout. Yet Sosin underscores a key consideration: far-right evangelicals are a significant minority in the electorate, including the conservative electorate. She cites author Chris Bull as she mentions that “Republican lawmakers have abandoned 80 percent of their voters to cater to a sliver of their voters.” Nonetheless, the disproportionately high turnout of evangelicals legitimizes their power as a voting bloc, despite their smaller size relative to the rest of the electorate. The litany of anti-trans and anti-abortion legislation exemplifies the tangible implications of such an influential voting group.
As the wave of anti-trans legislation continues to gain strength, new bills with more radical foundations have begun to emerge. A Vanity Fair article by Bess Levin points out that bills aiming to ban medical interventions, such as hormone replacement therapy or surgeries, have traditionally been targeted at youth. However, a proposed piece of legislation in Oklahoma has been gaining attention and stoking outrage among LGBTQ+, trans and social justice circles. Levin reports that within days of the start of 2023, Oklahoma state senator David Bullard proposed a bill that would unequivocally prohibit gender-affirming care for anyone under the age of 26. This additionally includes a medical license rescission for any healthcare professional who, as the bill quaintly puts it, engages in “unprofessional conduct.” An ABC article adds that this includes not only providing gender-affirming care but also recommending or referring patients to gender-affirming providers or resources. The article additionally mentions the coincidence of this legislation with the aforementioned Oklahoma bill sponsored by Jim Olsen, multiplying the backlash from trans rights advocates.
Although the unceasing bills compound trauma for the trans community, it is important to remember the indefatigable resistance posed by trans leaders, advocates and allies. Although a state may be branded along political lines based on its governor or the majority party of its legislature, the recent protest in the Oklahoma State Capitol by trans rights activists poses a strong rebuke to this reductive thought. An LGBTQ Nation article reports that “around 150 protesters” gathered in the building on February 6 of this year in defense of trans rights and in fervent opposition to the two recent bills in the state aimed at restricting trans care. This strong front of resistance not only represents the power of collective action, but also the existence of trans communities within “red” states and their unfettered fight for their rights under a government that denies their humanity.
The battery of anti-trans legislation brought forth every week in the U.S. is yet another manifestation of the imposing influence of extremist right-wing political figures, think tanks, organizations and theories. The proposal and enactment of anti-trans legislation exhibits a blatant attack on the human rights of trans people, including their ability to make their own choices about their bodies and the medical care they receive. In this manner, conservative political figures seek to codify their extremist religious thoughts in a nation founded on the premise of the division between Church and State. However, their attempts to deny trans existence will only be met with unceasing resistance and a commitment to trans liberation and joy.