Trans Formations Project Newsletter ∙ 12/23/22
Hello and welcome to the weekly newsletter! Today is Friday, December 23th and we are back with our weekly round up of trans-related legislative news across the U.S.
One time-sensitive thing of note that you should remember during these holidays: the Florida Board of Medicine may have closed its comment period for its attempts to restrict access to transgender health care, but the Florida Board of Osteopathy made an error–and as such, the comment period for its implementation of this rule has been extended to DECEMBER 28th. For an overview, see here! Equality Florida also has a form which can help you submit a comment telling the board exactly what you think about these proposed rules.
The Thing(s) We Won This Week
In a rare reversal, we have a trans-protective bill that’s been pre-filed in Illinois this week (HB3195). This bill explicitly makes provisions for and sets guidelines for multi-occupancy all-gender bathrooms and protects such facilities in State law.
But Illinois wasn’t done there–oh no! They also introduced HB0009, which not only introduces a self-identification policy allowing trans people to change their identification documents by attestation alone, but removes the fee for doing so!
It might be a good time, if you’re from Illinois, to write your state representatives in support of these bills.
Speaking of self-identification, on the international stage, transphobes emitted an unholy cry of outrage as, despite years and years of fearmongering, misinformation, and harassment, both Scotland and Spain progressed laws this week that would allow for people 16 and older to change their legal gender markers without any medical transition necessary. This might not seem like much, but let the rage of TERFs expose their importance: U.S.-based laws here rely upon international precedent for legitimacy.
In Scotland’s case, that the Scottish Parliament passed this bill in the first place reflects a refusal to be cowed into compliance by the U.K.’s transphobic governing coalition, or by J.K. Rowling.
To be clear: both policies may not necessarily become law. Spain’s still needs to pass the upper house of the Spanish legislature, and there have been rumblings that the U.K. will not allow Scotland to implement this policy. But that it came this far at all is major.
And last but not least, noted hate group (and consistent launderer of anti-trans policies and lawsuits) Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) experienced a setback this week in Connecticut. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected their attempt to challenge Connecticut’s trans-inclusive school athletics policies
What the Heck Happened This Week?!
Utah introduced a bill (SB0016) which attempts to ban surgical procedures for minors, including genital surgeries, top surgery, and breast reductions--with the (at this point) requisite exceptions for non-consensual surgeries on intersex children. Worse, the bill (through its wording) delegitimizes any claims that gender transition can be considered medically necessary. There is a specific exception for, “a reason that is medically necessary, other than to effectuate or facilitate an individual's attempted sex change.” So, if a cisgender girl needed a breast reduction for medical reasons, she could get one—but a trans boy who just happened to need one as well would be denied one.
Arizona prefiled SB1001, yet another bill that would force teachers to misgender and deadname students unless a parent outs their child by giving express permission for using the child’s chosen name and pronouns. As with all such bills, it would put kids in fear of being outed and strips away any rights for the child.
Missouri decided to get really extreme this week with SB14. This bill would just straight-up illegalize changing birth certificates among adults as well as youth, unless the adult has had bottom (genital) surgery. And even that might not be enough, because the bill’s text also says that “No certificate of birth shall be amended because the sex of the individual was changed for reasons other than a medically-verifiable disorder of sex development,” so if you’re trans and don’t have one of those, even bottom surgery might not qualify you to change your birth certificate in Missouri, depending on how that line is interpreted. If so, this would be among the most restrictive anti-trans policies in the United States, rivaled only by an existing law in Tennessee preventing birth certificate alterations.
And last week, after our newsletter went out, Oklahoma pre-filed an emergency bill (SB30) that would force misgendering, deadnaming, and outing trans students in the state. This bill would have devastating consequences for trans youth in Oklahoma.
We know that staying up-to-date with anti-trans legislation may be distressing to our readers. If you or someone you know needs support, here are a few affirming resources that you can reach out to:
If you need support or are in crisis you can contact the Trans Lifeline hotline at (877) 565-8860. The Trans Lifeline is run by trans people, for trans people, and does not engage in non-consensual active rescue, meaning they will not call law enforcement without your consent.
You can connect with a Trevor Project crisis counselor via phone (1-866-488-7386), chat, or text (Text ‘START’ to 678-678) support. Note: This resource could utilize non-consensual active rescue, including law enforcement, 911, and first responders.
You can call the LGBT National Hotline at (888) 843-4564, or connect with a peer via chat. The LGBT National Help Center will NOT call other suicide hotlines, law enforcement, 911, or rescue services.
BlackLine is a BIPOC LGBTQ+ support line, run by BIPOC folks, for BIPOC folks. This resource does not involve law enforcement or state agencies. You can call 1 (800) 604-5841 to chat with a peer.
Take care of yourselves and we will be back next Friday with another weekly newsletter.