transgender

For the past four years, Republicans have mounted a pretty effective crusade against trans people. What started in 2020 with an Idaho law against trans participation in sports has grown into attacks on our healthcare, freedom of expression, bathrooms, and more. But beyond legislative action, these actions have contributed a great deal to the rise in transphobia among the general population. Except there’s a catch: the rhetoric doesn't always work. And if it goes too far, it can even be detrimental to the transphobia it intends to promote.

When an unpopular political party is in power, the positions opposite their own tend to get a surge in support. During Trump’s first term, we saw this on full display: increases in support for abortion, same-sex marriage, trans rights, gun control, and almost everything else. When Biden was in office, there was backsliding on all these issues except for abortion, which remained steady because of the Supreme Court. Republicans knew this, and that’s why they went all in on curtailing trans rights.

However, anti-trans campaigns are very difficult to get right. In 2016, when North Carolina passed ‘bathroom bill’ HB2, the backlash was so severe it’s largely responsible for costing the Republican governor his job. So they pivoted. They picked a new line of attack, one based on ‘protecting kids from harm’ (and for sports, ‘fairness’), and passed laws accordingly. Over time, the culture war issue they manufactured became the centerpiece of their campaign strategy.

“The number of state laws preempting local policies governing transgender rights in the United States has been steadily increasing since 2019, according to newly updated research by the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University School of Law.”

“In the latest update, the data show increases in state-level preemption limiting local protections for transgender individuals in three areas over the past five years:

“There were no states in 2019 that used preemption to restrict participation in sports for transgender athletes; there were 26 states five years later at the end of 2024.

“As of December 31, 2024, 12 states had policies that regulated disclosures to parents by education staff related to social transition compared to one state in 2019.”

“As of December 31, 2024, 10 states preempt gender-affirming care. No states preempted gender-affirming care until Arkansas enacted the first ban on gender-affirming care in 2021.”

“‘Preemption is increasingly used as a tool by states to limit the authority of cities, counties, and municipalities across a broad array of issues, interfering with local governments' ability to meet the needs of their communities,’ said Amy Cook, JD, senior legal program manager at CPHLR and a lead researcher on this project.”

"’More and more, states are wielding preemption to legislate social issues that often target the most vulnerable populations, while also eroding local democracy.’”

“The transgender rights domain saw greater shifts in the landscapes than the other domains tracked in 2024. It has been among the more volatile legal areas captured since the project started tracking that domain in 2019.”