This year is about to see more legislation targeting transgender youth than any previous year, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
One area of controversy stems from the growing prevalence of gender identity teaching in schools and the recent rise of so-called “parental rights” measures that would stop any discussion of gender in classrooms or ban books on identity. of gender in school libraries.
Other measures call into question LGBTQ + participation in high school and college competition sports: 140 of the bills presented would deny them medical care for gender transitions and impose limits on the bathroom they can use. In all, more than 300 anti-LGBTQ + bills have been proposed in 2022, according to the defense group.
“This is something that has been built over the last three years,” said Kate Oakley, the state’s legislative director and chief executive officer. “We are well on our way to over 150 last year [pieces of legislation] register “.
Sam Ames, the director of law and government affairs at The Trevor Project, said educational gag orders in state legislatures have already affected trans students, regardless of whether they passed. The Trevor Project is the world’s largest suicide prevention and mental health organization for LGBTQ + youth.
“Some of our research has shown that up to 85% of young trans people say they are watching these debates unfold about their identity,” Ames said. “The direct results of these bills when they are passed are things that we know are correlated with increased mental health and decreased risk of suicide: participation in sports teams, being represented in a classroom, be accepted by your parents and healthcare professionals. They are all associated with significantly lower chances of attempted suicide. “
The Trevor Project’s 2021 national survey found that 42% of LGBTQ + youth have seriously considered attempting suicide over the past year. And for transgender and non-binary youth, that number rose to 52%.
The policies show a tendency in the Republican legislatures to push what they see as an encouraging theme for their base, in the face of outrage from LGBTQ + groups and the vetoes of some Republican governors.
Legislation preventing trans youth from participating in sports has been introduced this year in at least 30 states, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. The bans have been implemented in at least four states: Arizona, Iowa, South Dakota and Utah. The Tennessee governor has a similar bill pending signing on his desk.
But some Republican governors have also rejected the bans, citing the effect of excluding trans youth. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, vetoed a bill that would ban trans participation in school sports. Utah Republican Gov. Spencer Cox vetoed a bill that would limit the participation of trans student athletes, citing an increase in suicides among trans youth and the small number of trans athletes as part of his reasoning.
“I don’t understand why they’re going through it or why they feel like they’re doing it,” Cox said in a statement. “But I want them to live. And all the research shows that even a little bit of acceptance and connection can significantly reduce suicide.”
He could not prevent the bill from becoming law: the Utah legislature overturned Cox’s veto and Indiana is expected to do the same.
Alabama has passed the most “anti-transgender” legislative package in history, Oakley said.
Its main bill, “The Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act,” prohibits the use of puberty blockers or any medical procedure for children under the age of 19 that is related to gender reassignment. The bill also requires teachers and school staff to inform parents if “a student’s perception of their gender or gender is consistent with the sex of the child.”
The bill makes it a crime — with a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison — for a doctor to perform surgery or prescribe any medication for a gender transition.
“It’s not permissible for a legislature or a governor to pass a law that discriminates against a very small group, a very vulnerable group of people, simply because they don’t like it,” Oakley said, referring to HRC’s legal challenge to the bill. of Alabama. “This is a violation of equal protection of the law.”
According to the ACLU, bills have been introduced restricting health care to trans youth, similar to those in Alabama, in at least 19 states. The Arkansas legislature passed a similar law in 2021, but it did overturned by a federal court.
“Our job is to teach students and make them feel welcome,” Andy Jackson, Alabama 2021 Teacher of the Year, told CBS News.
“As people make the transition and choose a name that suits them, whether I agree or disagree with their transition, my job as a teacher is to support and validate who they are,” Jackson said. a National Board-certified instructor who teaches fourth. degree in Pell City, Alabama.
John Wahl, president of the Alabama Republican Party, defended Alabama-approved bills as necessary “protection” for children and a “positive reinforcement of family values.” He criticized an education system that teaches “increasingly younger” sex education and framed the debate as one on “parents’ rights ”in their children’s education.
“I think parents across the country want our children to continue to be children,” he said. “There are genders, whether we like it or not. There are men and there are women, and we can stick our heads in the sand whatever we want, but there are a lot of people who just know it’s common sense. They know there are men. and women, they know that there are gender roles and they don’t sit here and they will redefine it based on this natural law. “
Asked if he would have harmed Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey politically in his primary career if he hadn’t signed the bill, Wahl said, “I definitely would.” Ivey is being challenged on the right by Lindy Blanchard, a former ambassador to Slovenia who has the support of former President Trump.
“I think the vast majority of Republicans are with the Republican Party on this issue,” Wahl said. “Besides, I think there are a lot of independents, and even a lot of Democrats who understand that. That’s a common sense issue.”
A March PBS NewsHour / NPR / Marist poll found that 38% of Republican adults support criminalizing gender-related medical care for minors. That figure rises to 42% among those who voted for Trump in 2020.
Another Alabama-approved bill includes language similar to Florida’s controversial “Parental Rights in Education” bill, which bans classroom teaching on sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten. children up to the third grade, or in older courses in a way that is “not age-appropriate or developmentally-appropriate.”
Wahl argued, “There’s an idea to push this into younger and younger kids, when they’re not really mentally prepared. And I think that’s a tragedy. I think most kids see it. [issue] more in the media than in the state legislatures. “
Public debates are taking its toll on students like Code Rasor, a 17-year-old from Montgomery County High School in Kentucky, who identifies himself as a gendered fluid, a designation that falls under the trans umbrella.
“It’s scary,” Rasor said. “With the passage of these bills, there is a possibility that we may not have a safe space in a classroom or in a school system.”
Last week, the Republican majority in Kentucky overturned Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto on women’s sports equity law. While not surprising to Rasor, president of his school’s Gender Sexuality Alliance group, Rasor believes Kentucky’s anti-trans sports bill is not a start.
“Transgender women are women,” Rasor said. “Essentially, that’s what it’s all about: it’s that a transgender woman or a transgender man is her gender.”
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