Trans and nonbinary community stands strong despite the onslaught of anti-trans legislation

Across the country, anti-transgender and nonbinary laws have been proposed in state legislatures. This legislation ranges from pulling back anti-discrimination laws, preventing trans children and people from competing in sports aligning with their gender, blocking gender-affirming healthcare, banning discussion of LGBTQ+ topics in public schools, and more. According to ACLU, there are currently 434 laws proposed across 44 states in the current 2023 legislative session. Currently, 21 bills across 11 states have passed. 

The onslaught of legislation has negatively impacted trans and nonbinary people’s mental health everywhere in the country, from the states like Utah with six laws passed and three more proposed, to California with one law proposed. 

“You know, seeing people hear about a trans student who committed suicide and knowing how much you know. Most of us have had that level of struggling with ourselves, with our families with whatever it is. And it’s really a gut punch,” said Johnna Joy, an Iowan resident and CVHS alumnus. “And it makes you scared you’re gonna miss something about your friends and your community. But I’m trying to not let that kind of worry and anxiety eat me and instead use it to keep reaching out and holding space for the folks in my life that I can.”

In January 2023 the Trevor Project, an organization dedicated to suicide prevention in queer youth, published a survey they took, which showed that 86 percent of trans and nonbinary youth have reported that the introduction and passage of new anti-trans legislation has negatively impacted their mental health. 

“I try not to think about it, but it makes me really sad,” a freshman at CVHS said. The anxiety and fear created by this legislation also impacts how many trans and nonbinary teens feel about their future. A junior at CVHS reported feeling worried about their future ability to transition and travel around the country. 

Much of the proposed legislation does not have statistical evidence to back them. For example, one law proposed in multiple state congresses is to ban trans people from using bathrooms that align with their gender rather than their sex assigned at birth. This proposal comes out of a fear that trans women will prey on cis women in the bathroom, but there is no evidence to support this claim, and the long history of trans people using bathrooms that align with their gender identity with no problems further disproves it. 

“The thing that’s really horrifying is that it’s not like this isn’t an Iowa problem,” said Joy. “There aren’t [any] Iowans complaining. Nothing’s actually happening. [Legislators are] not actually solving a problem. They are following suit with organizations with money, who can pay to push this kind of legislation and agenda.”

“It makes me really mad to see all this happening,” said freshman Sky Johnson, “we’ve seen this time after time, people saying [legislators’ reasoning] is false, but it just goes in one ear and out the other.”

“I hate it,” shared sophomore Jack Sawyer. “It’s a cruel way to force an outdated way of thinking onto people who are just trying to live their lives.”

The trans and nonbinary community (and its allies) are dedicated to continuing to fight the legislation, but the intensity of this session’s legislation and the breadth that it covers have left many queer activists exhausted. 

“We can’t focus on one thing because they’re making us focus on many things at once, which I absolutely believe is part of the tactic because the more tired we are, the less we can organize, the less we can be effective in our organizing, the more we have to split between [ourselves],” said Joy. “You can only do so many of those things because we’re all human with only a certain amount of bandwidth.”

Supporting trans and nonbinary people through this time—especially when there is a large distance—can be difficult. But Joy recommended that people with financial means to use them to donate towards funds for trans people or nonbinary people. They also cited how important it has been for communities to show their support for queer children and people in this time. 

“I [am] trying to get flags up in classrooms and businesses and stuff as much as possible to get more visible support because I know how far that alone can go. When you talk to teens here, things as simple as their teachers using their pronouns makes a huge difference to their mental health,” they said.