Trans Formations Project Newsletter ∙ 11/25/22
Hello everyone! At time of writing, it is November 25th and we are back with our weekly wrap up of laws, policies, and other news affecting trans people in the U.S.
First, we wanted to share a statement from our President from last weekend for Transgender Day of Remembrance. You can read the statement, in full, here.
We at the Trans Formations Project are also devastated to hear of the loss of life and injury committed last weekend at Club Q in Colorado. This was an act of hate, enabled both by rising anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and by lax gun laws. Our hearts and minds are with the victims and their families and friends. We also express our gratitude and our sorrow for both Richard Fierro and an anonymous trans woman who stopped the gunman in his tracks. Gratitude, for the lives they’ve saved–and sorrow, that it was necessary for them to do so.
Some action items:
As we mentioned last week, the deadline to participate in the 2022 USTS has been extended until December 5th. You can take it here!
The Florida Boards of Medicine and Osteopathy are in the process of passing rules that restrict gender-affirming care. Medical decisions should be made between providers, young people, and their families — not politicians. But Governor DeSantis’s unrelenting transphobia and the state agencies he’s weaponized for his own political gain are putting the lives of trans youth at risk. We need to speak out against these proposed rules and protect trans care. The public comment period is open until December 5th, 2022 and you can submit your comment here.
The Thing(s) We Won This Week
First, New Jersey amended and passed S777, a positive bill which bans discrimination in real estate appraisals, including discrimination based on gender identity and/or expression.
On 11/15, Texas pre-filed HB690, a positive bill, which would create an office of community violence intervention and prevention within the Department of State Health Services, separate from the police, that would help protect minorities, explicitly including trans people.
The mayor of Washington, DC signed into law the Human Rights Sanctuary Amendment Act of 2022, a transgender and abortion refugee bill that is the most comprehensive in the U.S. This means that Washington, DC joins Connecticut and California who refuse to enforce anti-trans and anti-abortion laws against people fleeing other states.
Finally, Illinois introduced SB4245, a positive bill that would ban extradition of parents providing gender-affirming care for their children, protecting families fleeing states with bans on gender-affirming care for minors.
What the Heck Happened This Week?!
Anti-trans legislation continues to be introduced across the country:
On Friday 11/18, Tennessee HB0001, a proposed ban on gender-affirming care for minors in the state that we reported on last week, had sponsors added and now has 23 Republican sponsors from the state House listed in support of the bill.
On Friday 11/18, Texas pre-filed HB776 which is a healthcare ban that would prohibit doctors from providing gender-affirming healthcare, including surgical procedures, puberty blockers, and hormones, to minors.
In Montana, state Republicans have pre-filed bills aiming to criminalize cross-dressing in public. The bills are similar to anti-drag bills out of Texas and Tennessee that effectively criminalize cross-dressing through poorly worded definitions of drag performance.
Finally, Kentucky introduced a draft bill request BR103 which would ban non-binary designations on birth certificates, including ‘X’ gender markers.
We will keep an eye on this, and other trans-related legislation, as the next legislative sessions ramp up across the country.