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Everywhere I turn, trans rights are being restricted. I see further pushes against lifesaving care for me and thousands of others. I see constant demonization and ridicule. I see authors whom I admired and grew up on claiming that I am a predator, comparing me to Death Eaters to be locked up. To J.K. Rowling, I am part of a “powerful, insidious, misogynistic movement” because I identify as something other than what I was assigned at birth.
Because of people like her and politicians who hold immense power in U.S. legislatures, I am scared for my right to exist. When I add colleges to my list to apply to, I have to check whether the state that they are in allows for my existence. I would love to go to Rice or U.T., but I am scared that if I stay in Texas I will be denied the health care that I need because of people like Governor Greg Abbott.
According to the Equality Federation, in just the last year, more than 350 anti-trans bills have been introduced in state legislatures, 50 in Texas alone. The primary takeaway is that being trans is getting harder. When I was growing up, I hoped that transitioning would become easier. But instead, proposed bills would take us back to the early 2000s.
Historic activists who defied the traditional boundaries of gender, like Stormé DeLarverie and Marsha P. Johnson, did not fight, live and die so afraid yet so defiant for me, for us, to still live in fear, for our existences to be re-criminalized. They would want us to fight for our right to exist. We cannot sit here and let anti-trans bills become law across the country. A New York Times write-up discusses Nebraska Senator Megan Hunt, who “has been filibustering for weeks, trying to block a bill that would ban transition-related medical treatment for young people.” Like Hunt, we must take action to stop legislative proceedings that decimate trans rights and health care.
We cannot let ourselves and future generations of trans and gender nonconforming individuals continue to live in fear. We must resist and we must disrupt because being trans is not a choice; submitting to transphobia is.
Works Cited
“All Anti-Transgender Legislation.” Equality Federation, 10 April 2023.
Londoño, Ernesto. “Nebraska’s Fight over Transgender Care Turns Personal and Snarls Lawmaking.” The New York Times, 30 March 2023.
Mandler, C. “Texas Bill Would Ban Nearly All Gender-Affirming Care, Including for Trans Adults.” CBS News, 22 Feb. 2023.
Shaffi, Sarah. “JK Rowling Says She Knew Her Views on Transgender Issues Would Make ‘Many Folks Deeply Unhappy.’” The Guardian, 15 March 2023.
“Tennessee Bans Gender-Affirming Care for Transgender Youth.” American Civil Liberties Union, 2 March 2023.
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