By: Abigail Breitenbucher
In United States’ politics, there is an increasing push for trans rights, but there is still a large portion of the federal government who refuse to grant the community the rights they deserve. We’ve seen this in recent legislation from bathroom bills to the Department of Health and Human Services trying to strictly define gender in terms of sex. Modern policy concerning the trans community often negatively impacts it, however there are some instances where the law has worked to make our society a safer place for trans people. In this brief look at recent legislation regarding the trans community, we will focus on anti-discrimination laws, bathroom bills, and the recently announced attempt to legally limit gender identity.
Many states have anti-discrimination laws in place that protect against racial discrimination, sexual orientation based discrimination, and gender discrimination. Since 2009 the federal hate crimes law has protected gender identity, which created (in theory) a governmental support system for transgender individuals who faced hate crimes. Further than that, some states have laws in place that specifically protect transgender individuals, which reinforces this support system (“Transgender People”). These types of laws mainly have a positive impact on the trans community because they protect their rights to live, work, and generally exist while also providing a legal defense against transphobic employers/landlords/school districts. On the opposite side are bathroom bills; bills introduced to specifically limit the rights of transgender people. So far, only one of these bills has passed (this was House Bill 2 in Virginia) and was repealed (Kralik). However, several states have considered these bills with the main argument concerning the “protection of women” in regards to privacy in public spaces like restrooms and locker rooms. Obviously, these bills and their concerns are just a disguise for transphobia and thus they negatively impact the community by devaluing the individuals who belong to it as people and denying them access to appropriate facilities (Steinmetz). Another recently proposed policy is the limitation of gender based on genitalia at birth under Title IX. This policy would essentially erase federal recognition of the transgender community and force those individuals to live a lie (Benner, Green, Pear). If this definition becomes a part of Title IX, it will drastically hurt the transgender community and will set back the progress we have made as a society.
Looking back at the history of the trans community, we can see the never-ending struggle for federal recognition and societal acceptance. While there has been progress for the community with specific protections in anti-discrimination laws, there is still a large federal push against the trans community. Modern policy tries to restrict the rights of transgender individuals by controlling the definition of gender and denying access to appropriate spaces. While the situation for the trans community may seem bleak in the current political moment, we can remember how trans individuals and allies fought to establish the rights available to people now. We can then honor and continue their legacy by fighting these transphobic and unjust policies.
Works Cited
Green, Erica L., et al. “‘Transgender’ Could Be Defined Out of Existence Under Trump Administration.” The New York Times, 23 Oct. 2018. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/21/us/politics/transgender-trump-administration-sex-definition.html.
Kralik, Joellen. “‘Bathroom Bill’ Legislative Tracking.” National Conference of State Legislature, 28 July 2017, http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/-bathroom-bill-legislative-tracking635951130.aspx.
Steinmetz, Katy. “Everything You Need to Know About the ‘Bathroom Bill’ Debate.” Time, 28 July 2015, http://time.com/3974186/transgender-bathroom-debate/.
“Transgender People and the Law.” American Civil Liberties Union, https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/transgender-people-and-law. Accessed 13 Nov. 2018.
Transrights.Jpg (JPEG Image, 625 × 416 Pixels). https://www.autostraddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/transrights.jpg. Accessed 10 Dec. 2018.