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鈥淚 spend my free time [playing] with my cats and chickens, FaceTiming my friends and dreaming of when I will finally meet Dolly Parton,鈥� Kai Shappley, a transgender 10-year-old, said in her testimony before the Texas Senate Committee of State Affairs. 鈥淚 do not like spending my free time asking adults to make good choices.鈥�

On Monday, April 12, Shappley testified against two Texas bills, SB 1311 and SB 1646. SB 1311 would criminalize both medical workers and parents applying for medically approved treatments for either physically transitioning into their identified gender or delaying puberty. SB 1646 redefines child abuse to include aiding a minor with their physical transition. Regardless, both bills have failed to advance out of the House, a potential sign of progress towards transgender healthcare rights in Texas state legislature.

Since the start of 2021, 28 states have introduced anti-trans legislation. The most recent bill is Montana鈥檚 鈥淪ave Women鈥檚 Sports Act,鈥� passed on April 23, which bans transgender students from participating in girls鈥� or women鈥檚 sports. Additionally, Florida recently legalized the inspection of student genitals in competitive sports if the student was suspected to be transgender. In the context of present-day America, this concerning trend towards anti-trans legislation threatens not only the physical safety but also the mental health of transgender youth across the country.

Past Administrations

Obama-era policies protected people from discrimination based on sex. However, Trump-era legislation began to challenge such policies, especially concerning trans youth. In February 2017, Trump removed guidelines that placed trans individuals under the protection of Title IX, which prevents sex-based discrimination. This provoked a heated discussion about trans people鈥檚 bathroom rights. 鈥淚n 2015, my high school banned me from using the boys鈥� bathroom because I鈥檓 trans,鈥� activist and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) board member Gavin Grimm said. 鈥淢y case was the first trans bathroom case that the Supreme Court accepted. But when the Trump administration rolled in, one of the first things they did was get rid of the Obama-era Executive Order.鈥�

From 2016 to 2020, the Trump administration allowed such anti-trans bills to pose more restrictions on gender expression, compounding America鈥檚 history of discriminatory legislation against the LGBTQ+ community. The political rhetoric that Trump brought into popularity directly impacted minorities and widened the divide between Democrats and Republicans. 鈥淭hey have this agenda,鈥� Grimm said. 鈥淸And] the reality is that there鈥檚 a culture of distrust, as well as a specific framework of language, that the Trump administration and Trump himself built around Joe Biden and the Democrats.鈥�

Palo Alto City Council member Greer Stone, an ally of the trans community who has worked on policies directed towards inclusive language in legal settings, sees the deterioration of politicians鈥� integrity towards transgender rights as a direct result of the previous administration. 鈥淯nfortunately, I think it鈥檚 just kind of the Trump effect鈥攃ausing certain conservative politicians to recognize that they can gain more politically with their base by passing these ignorant legislations rather than supporting greater civil rights for all people,鈥� Stone said.

In January, following his inauguration, President Biden signed an executive order to combat discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in housing, education and healthcare. While this worked to return rights to the targeted community, Biden鈥檚 action seemingly catalyzed a cascade of anti-trans bills passed or introduced in state legislatures. 鈥淭he executive order was really scary to conservative Republicans,鈥� Grimm said. 鈥淭his kind of behavior from Biden fits perfectly in line with what Trump warned them about. It鈥檚 pretty inflammatory鈥斺�極h no, Biden鈥檚 getting in here, and he鈥檚 been one-hundredth as progressive as your average leftist would like him to be; this is really scary鈥欌�攕o they鈥檙e going to be scared, regardless of what he did. It has provoked some direct responses without a doubt.鈥�

Support in California

Sophomore Stella Keating, a high school student from Washington and the first transgender teenager to testify before the U.S. Senate, lives in a community similar to California. 鈥淩ight now, I live in a state where I have equal protection under the law,鈥� Keating said during her testimony to Congress on March 16. 鈥淎s a sophomore, I鈥檓 starting to look at colleges. All I can think about is this: less than half of the states in our country provide equal protection for me under the law.鈥�

Historically, California has not passed anti-trans policies鈥攊f anything, California is a leader in legal inclusivity and LGBTQ+ rights, with the exception of a few social anti-trans protests. Southern California has dealt with a variety of anti-trans movements, though all ultimately failed at setting anything into law.

Nonetheless, California鈥檚 local history of eugenics continues to harm the trans community. 鈥淭here have been a lot of examples of systemic discrimination and racism and hate against all underrepresented groups in California,鈥� Stone said. 鈥淲e just don鈥檛 focus on it. We don鈥檛 teach it, and we don鈥檛 study it. We really need to understand our past鈥攖he good and the bad鈥攖o be able to better understand the problems聽 that we鈥檙e facing today and how we can prevent them in the future.鈥�

Stone explains that raising more awareness among students is the first step. He also suggests commissioning a study on the issues facing the LGBTQ+ community in California, and he hopes the state will recognize its own history and teach it in schools.

Currently, there are programs within the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) included in the Gunn curriculum that are intended to support LGBTQ+ students. 鈥淓ach of the five secondary schools has a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA),鈥� GSA advisor Daisy Renazco said. 鈥淥urs is referred to as a Gender and Sexuality Alliance. They鈥檙e all there to support students. There is also a districtwide LGBTQ+ committee for adults that meets regularly, and that鈥檚 where a lot of the conversations are had about more districtwide policies and districtwide implementation.鈥�

Despite all of the talk of inclusivity in the Bay Area, it ultimately comes down to how much can actually be translated into equal treatment of minorities. 鈥淚 was Vice Chair at the Santa Clara County Human Rights Commission,鈥� Stone said. 鈥淥ne of the things that we were pursuing there was to change all language within county policies and ordinances and laws and documents to be gender-neutral, because most laws are written with the male or female pronouns.鈥�

In the meantime, California鈥檚 progressive ideals are widely recognized. 鈥淲e are grateful, and we understand that the state of California is oftentimes a leader in terms of more accepting laws,鈥� Renazco said. 鈥淭he students within our GSA and within our district feel like there are a lot of policies and a lot of adults that advocate for their own safety and their well-being, so they feel cared for.鈥�

Mental Health Effects

While transgender identities are not legally at risk under California law, the mental health impact of threats elsewhere can still have strong repercussions on individuals. In 2015, a Veale statistic from the American Association of Suicidology reported that 1 in 3 transgender youths have attempted suicide in California.

According to Grimm, bills threatening trans safety and rights only add to the struggles of a trans individual, which already include dysphoria and social stigma. 鈥淲atching a bill [being] debated publicly and watching a bill move through the courts to potentially impact your life in a negative way is absolutely terrifying,鈥� Grimm said. 鈥淚t turns an aspect of who you are into negative public discourse.鈥�

A common issue in classroom or legal settings is minority lives being discussed as talking points or educational topics rather than human experiences. Transgender people are discriminated against both by law and by their environment, based on their gender identity and not their humanity. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really just a crime across the entire world for young people to recognize that there are elected leaders who believe that they are less than others simply because they鈥檙e transgender,鈥� Stone said.

Future of Trans Rights

Moving forward, the main goals are to ensure that anti-transgender legislation is not made into law and that there are laws passed to reverse such bills in the future. However, placing all of the responsibility in the hands of politicians may not be the best option. 鈥淚 think trans activists and other civil rights leaders are going to lead us to our salvation,鈥� Grimm said. 鈥淚 do not think it鈥檚 going to be moderate Democrats or prior prosecutors.鈥�

Grimm鈥檚 Title IX case, currently moving to the Supreme Court, will be one to look out for, in addition to individual laws aimed to prevent discrimination on the state level. There鈥檚 still hope that the anti-trans bills passed in recent months may be nullified, perhaps even in higher courts. 鈥淭he Supreme Court doesn鈥檛 take many cases, [but] these might end up being cases that the Supreme Court would want to take because they would impact dozens of states,鈥� Stone said. 鈥淚 would imagine litigation happening immediately, and we鈥檒l have a decision by the court that could reverse the anti-trans bills.鈥�