Trans Bans, Court Fights, And Legal Protections - Digest Of Anti-Trans Legislation

It can be difficult to keep up with the slew of anti-trans bills progressing around the United States. This legislative digest will catch you up.

News in transgender legislation moves swiftly, making it challenging to stay informed on the ever-evolving legal landscape. This legislative digest aims to help navigate these complexities. At present, numerous bills targeting the transgender community are making their way across the United States. Though the Movement Advancement Project's comprehensive equality maps provide an overview of many of these bills, this digest delves further, concentrating on four categories of legislation: hormone therapy bans, drag bans, bills that effectively erase transgender individuals from legal recognition, and safe state/refuge/shield laws designed to safeguard transgender people and providers from prosecution related to gender-affirming care.

There has been a noticeable uptick in laws targeting the transgender community across these categories. To date, 16 states have enacted bans on hormone therapy and puberty blockers for transgender minors, with one state extending the restrictions to transgender adults. It is worth mentioning that Missouri's heavily restrictive ban on adult transgender individuals is now enjoined in court. Furthermore, there has been a surge in drag bans, including the first one to pass a state legislature since Tennessee's was halted in court – this ban was passed in Montana, though it must still go through conference commtitee. Lastly, there has been an increase in bills that define trans people out of the law entirely, with catastrophic consequences - three states have passed these bills since the last update.

There has been much good news in recent weeks as well. Missouri’s ban being enjoined in court has given trans people in the state a little room to breathe. States are also continuing to expand legal protections for trans people. Every few weeks another state passes a shield law that protects trans people, their families, and their providers seeking refuge from anti-trans states from prosecution.

Here are the updates on the major categories of bills moving:

Gender Affirming Care Bans

Map of State Laws Banning All Hormone Therapy and Blockers For trans Youth

There are now 16 states that ban all hormone therapy or puberty blockers for transgender youth. Some of these states mandate forced detransition and tell doctors how to do it, like South Dakota and Kentucky. Some states like Mississippi and Indiana criminalize “aiding and abetting” gender affirming care. This could be used to target people such as vocal coaches, hair stylists, and therapists who help transgender youth with their gender presentations. Of these bills, 3 have been blocked or enjoined in court.

The newest bills to pass are Montana’s Senate Bill 99 and Oklahoma’s Senate Bill 613. These bills have especially cruel provisions that show the increasing ways in which these legislators are cruelly targeting trans youth. Montana’s SB99 is the first bill that has provisions against social transition in schools and federal buildings. Meanwhile, Oklahoma’s SB613 is one of the few bills that have been passed that specifies felony penalties for gender affirming care providers who violate the law. Oklahoma’s still needs to be signed by the governor, who is expected to do so.

One piece of good news in this category is the current fate of Missouri’s gender affirming care ban decree from Attorney General Andrew Bailey. On the last digest, Missouri was placed in a new category on this map: bills that ban care for transgender adults. Just last week, the Missouri Attorney General’s ban was enjoined in court. It will be heard this week where it may be enjoined for a longer period of time.

Bills Defining Trans People Out Of The Law

Bills that “define sex” legally to exclude trans people.

A rapidly progressing category of legislation involves bills that define sex for all legal purposes in a manner that excludes transgender individuals. These bills may appear straightforward at first glance and are frequently argued as such in state legislatures. However, the harm they inflict is extensive. By legally excluding transgender people from the definition of sex, a single bill can impact a multitude of rights and legal provisions: transgender individuals may lose their rights to accurate birth certificates, death certificates, driver's licenses, bathroom access, non-discrimination protections, and more. They are also extremely costly to implement: Montana’s bill came with a fiscal note of up to $7.5 billion dollars.

Three states have passed such bills since the last update. Kansas passed bill that not only defines sex in a way that excludes trans people, but it codifies into law an adult bathroom ban - though how that ban will be enforced is anybody’s guess considering that the law has no penalties specified. North Dakota has passed a similar law, sans the bathroom ban provision. Montana's bill is far-reaching as well; in addition to redefining sex in a way that excludes intersex people, it amends 41 sections of code with the new definition of sex. It is worth mentioning that this bill marked the first occasion when Representative Zooey Zephyr of Montana was silenced while attempting to speak on the matter.

Drag Bans

Bills that would ban drag in public

For a while, it seemed as if drag bans would stall around the United States. Tennessee’s drag ban was enjoined in court. Arkansas and North Dakota amended their drag bans to instead be bans on general nudity in public. South Dakota did likewise, and then failed to even pass the law. All of that changed in Montana this week.

Following Representative Zephyr’s silencing, the Montana drag ban was slated to be heard on April 24th. This day is especially notable in Montana, as this is the day that the gallery became packed with protesters demanding that Rep. Zephyr be allowed to speak on bills and represent her constituency. Following the protest that erupted in the capitol over Rep. Zephyr, Republicans passed a version of the drag ban that goes further than any that we have seen so far: it goes as far as to ban performances with “exaggerated makeup” meant to exhibit a gender other than assigned at birth - a provision that could possibly ban things like glam rock, Shakespeare, and clowns. It remains to be seen if it will be signed into law.

Safe State Bills

Bills providing safety for trans refugees from criminalizing states

While there has been a surge in laws targeting transgender individuals, it is also true that an increasing number of protective laws have been enacted. States with Democratic majorities, growing concerned about the anti-transgender legislation spreading across the nation, have been more proactive in passing bills that safeguard abortion and gender-affirming care patients and providers from interference originating out of state. As a result, individuals seeking care in these states, after crossing the border from a state with criminalizing laws, will be protected from actions such as subpoenas and extradition requests. Some of these bills even shield transgender children from being removed from the state in custody disputes when one parent seeks to force them to detransition.

This week, the newest law has passed in Vermont, bringing the total number of states that explicitly protect gender affirming care p to 11. The Vermont law still needs to be signed by the governor - it passed both legislative chambers with overwhelming veto-proof majorities.