In more than 30 states, more than 100 bills that target transgender youth are in the legislative pipeline. This is part of a coordinated nationwide effort over the past few years to deny that transgender youth exist. In 2021, Arkansas passed a law banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth (by preventing doctors, for example, from prescribing hormone blockers during puberty). Although the courts are currently blocking the law, dozens of states have followed course. In Alabama, they are proposing that criminal penalties should be levied against physicians for providing gender-affirming care to youth.
Beyond medical care, many states are also trying to prevent transgender youth from participating in school sports teams that align with their gender identity. A growing number of states now require that transgender students show medical proof of having sex reassignment surgery before they are allowed to register for sports in accordance with their gender identity. The argument that is repeated in these laws is that it is “unfair to girls,” a clear denial that trans girls are girls. One of the trans student athletes, Terry Miller, who was forced into the center of a lawsuit stated, “It is both unfair and painful that my victories have to be attacked and my hard work ignored . . . The more we are told that we don’t belong and should be ashamed of who we are, the fewer opportunities we have to participate in sports at all.”
In Texas, where they like to brag that “everything is bigger in Texas,” the discriminatory efforts are also bigger. Texas recently passed a law in which gender-affirming support by parents is now considered “child abuse” and supportive parents can lose custody of their child to the foster care system. Although the courts have recently issued an injunction to pause the execution of that law, similar laws are still being proposed across the U.S.
These government efforts to discriminate against trans youth will have devasting consequences on trans youth and their families. Already, according to studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide attempts among transgender youth is three times higher than among their cisgender peers (more than 40% of trans youth attempt suicide). This is due in large part to relentless face-to-face harassment, as studies show 83 percent of transgender youth have been physically harassed and 25 percent have been physically assaulted. Beyond that face-to-face harassment, however, are the politicians and the political movements that have very real consequences on youth’s lives. According to The Trevor Project, the number of trans youth who reached out in a mental health crisis more than doubled in in the week after the Texas legislature introduced the “anti-trans bathroom bill,” the bill preventing trans youth from using the bathroom at school that matched their gender identity.
These discriminatory efforts in Texas, and throughout the country, stand in direct opposition to what research shows is beneficial for the health and well-being of youth. For example, one way that parents can be supportive of their trans youth is by using their chosen name and pronouns. Research has shown that when trans youth can use their preferred name, especially at home, school, work, and with friends, they are less depressed and have fewer suicidal thoughts and attempts.[i] For every extra context they get to use their chosen name, there is a 56 percent decrease in suicidal behavior.
Supportive and accepting families play a critical role in improving the well-being of trans youth. For example, when researchers asked LGBTQ youth about how supportive their families were of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, youth whose families were unsupportive were more than three times as likely to report both suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts compared with those who reported high levels of family acceptance. More than half of LGBTQ youth who came from unsupportive families had attempted suicide. Supportive families lower the odds that their teen will attempt suicide, reduce depression and anxiety, and alleviate some of the stress faced at school.[ii]
In other words, the culture that many politicians are trying to promote, one that refuses to acknowledge that trans youth exist by denying them medical care, therapy, sports participation, and name changes, is the very culture associated with shockingly high suicide attempts. Parents play an even more important role now than ever before, as the bullies are not simply on the school yard but on the campaign trail.
[i] Stephen T. Russell et al., “Chosen name use is linked to reduced depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and suicidal behavior among transgender youth,” Journal of Adolescent Health 63, no. 4 (2018): 503-505.
[ii] Caitlin Ryan et al., “Family acceptance in adolescence and the health of LGBT young adults,” Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing 23, no. 4 (2010): 205-213.
In more than 30 states, more than 100 bills that target transgender youth are in the legislative pipeline. This is part of a coordinated nationwide effort over the past few years to deny that transgender youth exist. In 2021, Arkansas passed a law banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth (by preventing doctors, for example, from prescribing hormone blockers during puberty). Although the courts are currently blocking the law, dozens of states have followed course. In Alabama, they are proposing that criminal penalties should be levied against physicians for providing gender-affirming care to youth.
Beyond medical care, many states are also trying to prevent transgender youth from participating in school sports teams that align with their gender identity. A growing number of states now require that transgender students show medical proof of having sex reassignment surgery before they are allowed to register for sports in accordance with their gender identity. The argument that is repeated in these laws is that it is “unfair to girls,” a clear denial that trans girls are girls. One of the trans student athletes, Terry Miller, who was forced into the center of a lawsuit stated, “It is both unfair and painful that my victories have to be attacked and my hard work ignored . . . The more we are told that we don’t belong and should be ashamed of who we are, the fewer opportunities we have to participate in sports at all.”
In Texas, where they like to brag that “everything is bigger in Texas,” the discriminatory efforts are also bigger. Texas recently passed a law in which gender-affirming support by parents is now considered “child abuse” and supportive parents can lose custody of their child to the foster care system. Although the courts have recently issued an injunction to pause the execution of that law, similar laws are still being proposed across the U.S.
These government efforts to discriminate against trans youth will have devasting consequences on trans youth and their families. Already, according to studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide attempts among transgender youth is three times higher than among their cisgender peers (more than 40% of trans youth attempt suicide). This is due in large part to relentless face-to-face harassment, as studies show 83 percent of transgender youth have been physically harassed and 25 percent have been physically assaulted. Beyond that face-to-face harassment, however, are the politicians and the political movements that have very real consequences on youth’s lives. According to The Trevor Project, the number of trans youth who reached out in a mental health crisis more than doubled in in the week after the Texas legislature introduced the “anti-trans bathroom bill,” the bill preventing trans youth from using the bathroom at school that matched their gender identity.
These discriminatory efforts in Texas, and throughout the country, stand in direct opposition to what research shows is beneficial for the health and well-being of youth. For example, one way that parents can be supportive of their trans youth is by using their chosen name and pronouns. Research has shown that when trans youth can use their preferred name, especially at home, school, work, and with friends, they are less depressed and have fewer suicidal thoughts and attempts.[i] For every extra context they get to use their chosen name, there is a 56 percent decrease in suicidal behavior.
Supportive and accepting families play a critical role in improving the well-being of trans youth. For example, when researchers asked LGBTQ youth about how supportive their families were of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, youth whose families were unsupportive were more than three times as likely to report both suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts compared with those who reported high levels of family acceptance. More than half of LGBTQ youth who came from unsupportive families had attempted suicide. Supportive families lower the odds that their teen will attempt suicide, reduce depression and anxiety, and alleviate some of the stress faced at school.[ii]
In other words, the culture that many politicians are trying to promote, one that refuses to acknowledge that trans youth exist by denying them medical care, therapy, sports participation, and name changes, is the very culture associated with shockingly high suicide attempts. Parents play an even more important role now than ever before, as the bullies are not simply on the school yard but on the campaign trail.
[1] Stephen T. Russell et al., “Chosen name use is linked to reduced depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and suicidal behavior among transgender youth,” Journal of Adolescent Health 63, no. 4 (2018): 503-505.
[1] Caitlin Ryan et al., “Family acceptance in adolescence and the health of LGBT young adults,” Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing 23, no. 4 (2010): 205-213.
Christia Spears Brown, Ph.D., is a Developmental Psychologist and Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of Kentucky. Her research focuses on how gender and ethnic stereotypes and discrimination shape children and teen’s development. You can follow them on Twitter @ChristiaBrown
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