Transgender Care Isn’t Harming Children, Anti-Trans Laws Are

2021 has seen a huge wave of laws against the LGBTQ+ community, most targeting transgender minors. This year has already broken the record for the most anti-transgender bills in history. Hundreds have been filed by state legislatures, trying to ban trans people from sports, limit or ban care for trans minors, and more. The Human Rights Campaign stated that eight of these bills have been enacted, and ten more sit on governor’s desks across the country. It isn’t clear why so many anti-trans laws are being proposed this year, but what is clear are the negative effects they are already having.

Trans sports bans seem to be the most common

and have already passed in states such as Alabama, which has banned trans girls from participating on girl’s school sports teams. These bans only affect trans girls and women, with the reasoning that trans girls are supposedly stronger and faster than cisgender girls, giving them an unfair advantage. However, trans women taking estrogen actually lose strength and muscle mass. Not every trans person takes hormones, but either way conservative groups and state lawmakers could only provide a few examples of transgender girls truly causing problems by participating in sports. 

The worst of the anti-transgender bills limit or ban care for trans minors. Some aim to make gender-affirming care a felony for parents and medical providers, calling it “child abuse.” Parents disobeying these laws could face jail time and have their children taken away from them. However, psychologists, educators, and medical experts oppose these bills. Many

studies have shown supported social transitioning and gender-affirming care correlates with the improved psychological functioning of transgender children, as well as lower rates of depression, suicidal ideation, and behavior. Two studies of 35 trans youth also found gender-affirming care benefits to all participants. The facts show that this medical care isn’t harmful, but taking parents away from their children certainly could be.

Whether or not these bills pass, the transgender community has been greatly disheartened by the attempts. Many families with transgender children are considering or even planning to flee their states as they no longer feel safe living in them. Many can’t afford to move, can barely afford it, or are trying to raise money so they can. The talk of the bills has also led to four suicides within a trans youth support group at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, with other patients considering finding treatment on the black market. The laws appear to have encouraged anti-trans violence as well, with at least 15 trans or gender non-conforming people killed so far in 2021. With all of this tragedy, it’s clear that if U.S. lawmakers truly cared about the wellbeing of all people, then these bills wouldn’t be happening.

Mikey, a 16-year-old who is genderfluid, and Sawyer, a 15-year-old who is transgender, gave their thoughts on the bills. Mikey explained that he thought more people were becoming accepting, but “now that these legal attacks are happening, I’m losing hope again.” Mikey also explained that the government shouldn’t have the right to interfere with trans people trying to live their lives, a sentiment shared by some governors and senators who oppose the laws. Sawyer agreed as well, stating that “[the] government is actively refusing to allow people to be comfortable.” When talking about trans care, Sawyer noted that “there are so many people who need this.”

A recent poll found that two-thirds of Americans oppose anti-trans bills, yet they are still being introduced and passed throughout the United States with no sign of stopping. Public opinion, scientific evidence, and tragedy in the transgender community don’t seem to do anything to stop the laws, and there is no solution in sight. Like many others in the community, Mikey is “scared, very very scared.”