States across the country are taking new steps to stop transgender adults and minors from being legally recognized in public life. Proposed legislation would prevent trans people from being able to update driver’s licenses, hold public office, use public restrooms, or take shelter from domestic violence unless they do so according to their sex assigned at birth.
If passed, these laws would require trans people to be misgendered in order to participate in day-to-day life — which increases the risk that they face violence and harassment, or are simply excluded from basic services, advocates say. Such laws are likely to be challenged in court; a route that has repeatedly halted anti-trans laws from going into effect.
At least 10 states want to implement laws that redefine sex to exclude transgender and nonbinary people from accessing public services and to deny them equal legal protection. Arizona, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming are all considering these bills, alongside Indiana and Florida, which have brought forth uniquely far-reaching legislation.