Newly proposed anti-transgender legislation impacts LGBTQ+ rights in US
Several bills that would impose restrictions on the rights and bodily autonomy of LGBTQIA+ youth are gaining traction among state lawmakers in the U.S. Unsplash
Throughout the early months of 2022, state lawmakers across the United States have proposed laws and policies created to limit the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.
Over 280 bills affecting the LGBTQ+ and transgender community have been proposed to multiple state legislatures in recent months, with these different laws restricting access to gender-reaffirming medical care and limiting participation of transgender youth in school sports.
The newly introduced bills are mostly targeting transgender children and their affirming parents — parents who are accepting of their child’s beliefs in regard to their gender identity. The first anti-transgender bill of the 2022 legislative session was passed in South Dakota Jan. 19 and limits both transgender women and girls from competing in any form of school sports at accredited South Dakota schools and colleges.
Angelique Acuna, a senior film studies and art history double-major at Chapman, told The Panther these newly proposed anti-transgender bills make her feel “very uncomfortable and angry.”
“I come from the very liberal city of Long Beach, where (people are) very accepting of the LGBTQ+ community,” Acuna said. “I just find it hard to believe that there are still states in America now that struggle to wrap their heads around that concept of acceptance.”
Lawmakers in Arizona, Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, New Hampshire and South Dakota have been at the forefront in creating and introducing these bills to the public, with some states going as far as to adopt them into their legislation.
One of the most notable bills comes from Florida and has been dubbed by opponents as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. After passing with a 69-47 vote in the Florida House, the bill was approved March 8 by the state Senate with a 22-17 vote.
The implementation of the bill would prohibit elementary schools and classrooms in the state from engaging in any sort of discussion regarding sexual orientation and gender identity.
“It’s entirely inappropriate for teachers to be having conversations about gender identity with students when they should be learning to read and write,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told the public at a Feb. 8 Miami press conference.
Proponents of the bill like DeSantis rationalize that children should be protected from learning about topics like gender and sexual orientation until they are mature enough to understand them. Though the American Academy of Pediatrics states children first become cognizant of physical, gender-based differences by age two and start developing a sense of their own gender identity by age four.
“The idea of this bill being to ‘protect kids’ just seems to be enforcing heteronormativity and the established gender binary,” said Alexandra Zuch, a sophomore computer science major. “Honestly, it just feels like the government is abusing their power by passing this bill, because they aren’t protecting kids. They’re just shielding them away from having the chance to discover who they are, and that can end up being very harmful.”
With the passing of Florida’s bill, more policies in other states have been proposed that would further affect the transgender community under the guise of “protecting” them.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton recently released an opinion Feb. 18 to a member of the Texas House of Representatives, which outlines his belief that performing “sex-change” procedures on children is considered to be “child abuse” under State law. Paxton has been targeting affirming parents of transgender kids in ongoing child abuse investigations.
Much of the focus of these bills has been directed toward minors to prevent them from making medical decisions, such as gender reassignment surgery, that could cause them mental and physical injury, according to Paxton. In a few cases, the new legislation has also targeted the 18-20 year old demographic as well.
Over two-thirds of LGBTQ+ youth have said that recent efforts by state governments pushing for anti-transgender legislation has negatively impacted their mental health, according to a poll issued in January 2022 by the Trevor Project — a nonprofit organization focused on suicide prevention among the LGBTQ+ community. The poll also found that these youth have been left with increased levels of anger, sadness and anxiety, especially toward the transgender sports ban passed in South Dakota in early February.
“It's just a whole lot of punching down from local governments on these kids who are often uprooted from their homes just for trying to be themselves,” said Erik Federwisch, a senior public relations and advertising major. “Rather than trying to find avenues of support for these kids, we’re instead seeing these school districts forcing their employees and coaches to basically ‘out’ these kids, which is never a good idea.”
With the influx of bills already proposed this early in the new year, there have been speculations indicating that 2022 will set a new record for anti-LGTBQ+ legislation passed in the country. Previously, this record was set in 2021 when 27 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were passed out of 268 proposed.
Opponents of these bills have been taking action in order to protect the rights of the LGBTQ+ community in the U.S by donating, conducting letter-writing campaigns and signing petitions. These opponents are also contacting politicians and staying up to date with any new bills being discussed in state legislatures.
An event hosted by two student-run organizations at Chapman, the Queer Student Alliance and the Queer and Transgender People of Color Collective, took place last Wednesday to offer a safe space for students in the LGBTQ+ community to discuss these issues.
At the event, students had the opportunity to learn more about recent anti-transgender legislation in the country and were made aware of various resources and ways to take action to offer support to the LGBTQ+ community.
