The Anti-Trans Wave Washing Across Our Nation

 The Anti-Trans Wave Washing Across Our Nation 

In the past few years there has been a significant increase in anti-trans movements within the US Government and surrounding organizations. Two specific bills that have been circulating through more than 28 states have been the “Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act (SAFE Act)” and the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act”.

 The SAFE Act states that trans youth under the age of 18 cannot receive gender-confirming medical treatment. This includes, puberty blockers, hormone treatment, and gender confirming surgery. The problem with this act is that it prohibits life saving care from a community that is known to have an extremely high rate of suicide.  A large portion of these suicides are due to dysphoria. However, studies have been done that show that the use of these gender confirming treatments have provided great aid to people struggling with dysphoria. I can understand delaying the use of hormone therapy and gender confirming surgery until later years as there are actual physical changes being made, but puberty blockers? Not so much. “[A] recent study in the journal Pediatrics found that those who access pubertal suppression during adolescence have lower odds of considering suicide than those who aren't able to access this intervention. In contrast, our research shows that attempts to force transgender people to be cisgender result in greater odds of suicide attempts.",  Dr. Jack Turban,  a fellow in child and adolescent psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine who studies mental health in transgender youth, told CNN. A large part of the argument for the SAFE Act is that the “damages” done to a person's body are irreversible and dangerous to someone who isn’t completely developed mentally and physically. However, this completely contradicts the purpose of puberty blockers. These supressents are used to pause the progression of puberty and so when someone stops using them puberty will resume, no harm done. These supressants allow gender-nonconforming and trans people to sort out their identity and become comfortable with it. What those proposing this act fail to mention, other than the fact that puberty blockers are harmless, is that they are not only used for trans and gender-nonconforming people. Puberty blockers can be used for cisgender people who have an early onset puberty, and yet there has been little to no mention of this. The way in which transgender youth, and the transgender community in gerneral, are portrayed through this bill when it comes to treatments and more is harmful for several reasons. It discredits a minor’s ability to state their own identity and be believed, it misinforms the public on important and lifesaving medical treatments, it disregards how hard it already is for trans youth to transition, and it singles out the trans community in a negative way. I believe this has to do with civil rights as it discriminates against an entire community, keeping them from life saving healthcare. 

The “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” says that in public schools (K-12) and in some colleges, depending on the version, trans individuals cannot compete in the sport group designated for their gender. Instead they must provide proof of their biological sex, which was assigned at birth, and compete on the teams of that gender. The people proposing the bill state that trans women have an unfair advantage because they have biologically male characteristics that give them a physical edge over the other biologically female competitors. I find this bill a bit tricky because in some respects it is understandable, for example at college levels where the sports are somewhat at a professional level. However, in schools where these sports are played simply for exercise and fun it is uncalled for. Throughout the media, in support of this act, there are several instances where trans women’s identities as women are being belittled. The underlying statement being that they are “actually men”. Statements like this should not be condoned as it undermines a person’s right to their identity and confuses the difference between gender and biological sex. It is a person’s right to identify as themselves instead of being told that they are something that those who disagree with them deem them to be. I believe that this has to do with civil rights as it singles out an entire community only to paint a negative image of who they are and how they identify.

Overall, we need to accept that change is happening. So many people are hooked on their idea of the way things used to be, asking everyone to fit in with the binary and how things are “supposed to be done”. I believe this needs to be a time for progress, but right now, as these bills sweep across the nation, all I can see is regression. We are a country who prides ourselves on freedom, so who are we to restrict someone's freedom to be who they are? 











Works Cited

Holt, Lauren. “Transgender Rights in the Spotlight as Arkansas and Tennessee BecomeLatest

States to Pass Anti-Trans Legislation.” CNN, Cable News Network, 31 Mar. 2021,

www.cnn.com/2021/03/28/us/transgender-rights-arkansas-tennessee-anti-trans-laws/ind

x.html.

“Pubertal Blockers for Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation

for Medical Education and Research, 16 Aug. 2019. 

www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gender-dysphoria/in-depth/pubertal-blockers/ar

-20459075.

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