By Hermes Falcon and Anthony Vidal
From Our May/June Magazine
117: A record breaking number of anti-trans bills have been brought to the attention of Congress in 2021, 51 more than last year and a whopping 98 more than in 2019, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
After the Equality Act was passed throughout the United States, preventing locations from discriminating against gender or sexuality, many of these bills have sprouted, making up the 117 we face today. While a handful of them have been shot down or have simply died, most of them are being considered and some have even been signed into law.
Over half of the states in the United States, Florida included, have faced a breakout of conservative politicians that have presented anti-trans bills to local and state courts, most of them involving inclusivity in sports and locker-rooms/bathrooms.
Almost thirty bills have been presented that would further restrict healthcare to trans youth, making it even harder for some who identify as trans to seek help.
“Right now, it’s very hard for a lot of people to even find a primary care provider who’s willing to work with them,” said Kellan Baker, a doctoral candidate at Johns Hopkins University who is focusing on how health policies affect the LGBTQ+ community, in NPR’s article “Health Care System Fails Many Transgender Americans” written by Neda Ulaby.
“Which, as you can imagine, is a huge barrier for transgender people in terms of mental health,” he continued. “So you’re looking at yourself in the mirror, you’re not able to get health insurance coverage [and] you can’t get health care that you need to make sure that how you look aligns with who you are.”
Arkansas is the first state in 2021 to fully pass a law of such nature. After tries of vetoing it, an overrule sent the law into effect. A similar law is in the works in Alabama, where it would make it a felony for medical providers to help trans youth transition.
Here in Florida, lawmakers are voting on a bill that would make gender-affirming care, primary HRT, and hormone blockers illegal. It would also “provide criminal penalties for health care practitioners who engage in or cause specified practices to be performed on minors under certain conditions,” according to The Florida Senate House Bill 935, which will be taking effect July 1st.
Other laws that tried to pass in the state, but inevitably failed, would have permitted “genital inspections” on women who wanted to participate in sports if they were “suspected of” or identified as transgender.
“Right now, there are laws being passed limiting my rights. For example, I can’t use the bathroom of my preferred gender and instead have to use the one of my AGAB (assigned gender at birth), or I’m not allowed to participate in male sports; this causes a lot of psychological distress and dysphoria for me,” says a trans student, whose information is being held because of fear in a conservative household.
“When we make anti-trans laws we open the door to more discrimination. It sets a precedent that it’s ok to discriminate against us… I’m no different from any other guy my age, I enjoy video games and love watching basketball, I just happened to have been born a bit different from them,” they added.
Many advocates have already predicted a massive impact of trans youth’s mental health. With each bill presented in the U.S., state governments stray further and further away from the Equality Act.
Youth and advocates alike are calling for federal action, and are putting pressure on President Joseph Biden, who emphasized equal rights and LGBTQ+ acceptance in his 2020 presidential campaign. There is yet to be a response from the federal government, leaving many supporters on edge in hopes that things will change soon.
