As we close the book on 2024, my mind keeps going back to one number: 589.
This is, according to the Trans Legislation Tracker at translegislation.com, the number of anti-transgender bills that were introduced in 49 states in 2023. Of those introduced, 85 passed into law. Thirty-eight additional bills were introduced at the national level.
That’s more than one bill a day, all designed to strip transgender individuals of our freedom, our dignity, and our society.
These are bills that make our healthcare a crime, forbid a company from treating us, including just allowing us to be acknowledged as a member of our sex, or by a name we have chosen to use. Many of these are attempts to force people to refer to us by our birth name or pronouns, or “wean us off” any treatment we have received. Some treat our care as child abuse.
A lot of the bills introduced in 2023 have focused on schools, with a large number of them either prohibiting schools from allowing access to anything that includes mention of transgender or nonbinary names or expression, such as Florida’s infamous 2022 “Don’t Say Gay” bill that was expanded this year, or so-called parental rights bills designed to prevent a transgender or nonbinary child from accessing affirming care or even acknowledging their own gender identity in a school or similar setting.
This year, also, we have seen bills attempting to categorize drag performances— including merely reading age-appropriate picture books to an audience of kids and their parents — as an essentially adult action. We’ve also seen the ongoing assaults against LGBTQ publications, including a growing number of trans-specific titles.
Also, there are other bills such as U.S. HR 115, the “Children’s Bill of Rights”, which seeks to strictly define “man” and “woman” in federal law.
Of course, we continue to see bills targeting trans people in sports, regardless of age, or ability, or any other realistic concern. This has come hot on the heels of anti-transgender voices such as Riley Gaines, a swimmer who came in second position behind trans swimmer Lia Thomas and three non-trans women in the 2022 NCAA Division I Championships. Apparently, she’s going to ignore the fact that even without a transgender woman in the race, she would not have been on the podium at the end of the meet.
Speaking of sports, an ever-widening range of competitive activities are supposedly under threat by the inclusion of transgender people. Not just swimming or track and field, but games and Irish folk dance are supposedly in this category. It’s almost as if the problem is not some supposed advantage a trans person may have, but plain bigotry.
I feel it worthwhile to note that few of the discussions about sports also acknowledge that there are trans men in the world, and that some of them, too, are in sports.
I can’t speak of 2023 without also discussing how deep anti-trans animus went in corporate America. After encountering assault against its staff, Target was forced to remove items from some of its stores. Trans people’s products were the target of much of the outrage. Similarly, Anheuser-Busch, who produced a single vodka ad featuring the story of trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney, the company was subjected to bomb threats and boycotts.
Given how much of this is socially motivated, one of the bigger stories is how poorly anti-trans sentiments fared at the polls. Instead, trans-friendly candidates consistently won in off-year elections across the country, and attempts to persuade voters to oppose abortion rights by asserting that it would be beneficial to trans people failed.
When the claims against transgender people become so loud, persistent, and yet so baseless, I want to warn you that they might tip the scales in favor of another target, but I have no reason to fear.
As I type this, former President Donald Trump is running for re-election and is currently leading the Republican field. He also has a strong chance of winning. It’s high time we start to take his threats at face value now that he has made it clear that trans people are one of the targets of his plans. Most GOP candidates are also making an effort to be more anti-trans than the others.
As we approach the November election, we may simply assume that things will only get worse.
In the meantime, a large portion of the left wants to act as though this isn’t an issue and not the threat that it is. They have genuinely conceded the right, which irritates me because it has painted trans people as being akin to the devil.
Keep in mind that 589 bills were introduced this year in 49 states. Delaware, I appreciate you not following the crowd. Compared to 2022, there are 415 more bills.
How many will there be in 2024, and how many of them may get passed into law? Given how the conservative-majority Supreme Court ruled on abortion rights in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization this year,
I can only hold my breath as we prepare to challenge some of these laws at the US Supreme Court.
Now is the time for us as a community to gather with all of our available allies and make our demands. We must approach the story from the front and speak up for everyone. We cannot do it in the dark. It’s time to raise our voices in a way that has never been done before.
If 2023 belonged to the transphobes, let’s make 2024 ours.
Hope is being held out by Gwen Smith. She can be found at website gwensmith.com
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