Government officials have been long obsessed with telling people what they can and cannot do with their own bodies, and one of their largest targets is transgender minors. In just the first week of 2022, at least seven states proposed bills that would affect transgender individuals, following a year with an unprecedented amount of anti-LGBT+ legislation. 

The recent rise in anti-trans legislation could in part be due to politicians trying to appease their heavily conservative bases. Whether proposed anti-trans legislation is passed into law, it has detrimental effects on the health of transgender children and teens. If officials continue to ignore the harmful impact their legislation has on trans youth in favor of pandering to their voters, they will cause a sharp decline in the well-being and safety of thousands of trans minors and other LGBTQ+ individuals. 

A Texan bill went into effect Jan. 18, forcing transgender athletes in K-12 schools to play on teams that correspond with the gender they were assigned at birth. This is only one of many instances of Texas’s government attempting to restrict the rights of trans minors. Last year, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Commissioner Jaime Masters wrote gender confirmation surgery is considered child abuse, even though the procedures are rarely done on minors. For this reason, some LGBTQ+ advocates said the child abuse classification was made to appease the Texas governor’s conservative base. 

In addition, Mississippi Sen. Chad McMahan filed a bill early this year that, if passed, would require trans minors to jump through hoops to petition for a gender change. Most of the bill concerns the name changes of criminal offenders, but section four of the bill states any transgender minor must receive letters of support from a physician, psychiatrist and chancery clerk before petitioning for a gender change. An elected court clerk has no business playing a part in deciding whether a minor can petition for a gender change or not, and this entire section does not fit in well with the rest of the bill. If anything, section four also feels as though it is pandering to heavily conservative voters. The bill could certainly gain traction, but I doubt it will actually pass. 

I contacted a Mississippi senator who said sometimes laws are formed due to the demands of the constituents. Another Mississippi representative, however, disagreed with this sentiment. They stated they were elected on the basis of their beliefs on different issues. They thought, ultimately, their job was to make decisions based on what they believed would help their constituents the most. Essentially, they believed pandering to their base was a poor practice. Both legislators wished to remain anonymous.

Legislators are wasting time filing anti-trans and other anti-LGBTQ+ bills. When these laws are proposed, the mental health of trans minors is negatively impacted. Rather than strictly trying to please their far-right bases, legislators should begin to serve all their constituents, especially those already at a disadvantage like transgender youth.