Commentary: Anti-trans laws are dangerous

On Sept. 26, the journal Nature Human Behaviour published a disturbing study by the Trevor Project, a group that works to prevent suicides among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning youth.

The study found that “enacting state-level anti-transgender laws increased incidents of past-year suicide attempts among (transgender and nonbinary) young people” by between 7% and 72%, with higher numbers present the longer the laws are in place. That finding is both incredibly shocking and entirely predictable.

“There’s nothing inherent in transgender, nonbinary young people that makes them at greater risk for suicide,” said Ronita Nath, vice president of research at the Trevor Project. “They’re placed at greater suicide risk because of the stigma and mistreatment experienced in society, including these discriminatory laws and policies.”

These state laws include banning people from using the bathroom that matches their gender identity, refusing to allow changes to gender markers on official documents and denying necessary medical care to trans and nonbinary young people. They target the ability of trans and nonbinary people like me to exist and express ourselves in society.

By singling out trans and nonbinary people, especially young people, in the law, our society delivers a devastating one-two punch. Trans and nonbinary people are made to feel lesser than everyone else as our very identities are debated, legislated and invalidated. Then we are forced to look over our shoulders for the people around us who may be emboldened by these laws to openly express bigotry, hatred and even violence.

As a direct effect of these laws, trans and nonbinary people are forced to question the basic assumption that we belong in society. And when the law says you belong nowhere, it’s impossible to feel safe anywhere.

With numbers this significant, we have to wonder what the drafters of these laws thought was going to happen. Did they genuinely believe trans and nonbinary kids would magically stop being trans and nonbinary as a result? Because, as this study confirms, that will never be the case.

Do they just not care about trans and nonbinary people? Are they only interested in scoring political points by attacking a marginalized group? That would be a sad, though hardly unprecedented, means of shoring up political support.

Or, the most frightening possibility: Did they want this to happen? We can’t know what’s in someone’s heart, but we can listen when trans and nonbinary people say we feel like the people attacking us are out for blood.

Whatever the reasons, this new study puts into perspective what most people already knew and what these legislators will hopefully understand and accept — anti-trans laws get trans and nonbinary young people killed. The causation is clear. Change is necessary.

So, what can we do to stop these laws and save trans and nonbinary lives? Most importantly, vote. Repealing anti-trans and nonbinary laws and replacing them with protections will take legislatures at all levels willing to stand up to the hateful lies being spread about the trans and nonbinary communities.

Ultimately, we need state lawmakers who are less interested in riling up their bases and more interested in doing what it takes to save trans and nonbinary people’s lives. And for that, we need to vote for candidates who stand up for trans and nonbinary people’s rights, and hold them accountable when they fail.

But there’s more we can do. While ballots are cast and cases are battled in courts, we must also remind the trans and nonbinary people in our lives that there are safe places and safe people around them and that regardless of what the law says, they matter. A simple act of kindness in a society that seems hellbent on being unkind can do wonders.

Until the law fixes what the law has broken, that kindness is all some trans and nonbinary young people have to hold onto, so let’s use it to save as many lives as we can.

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Miranda Jayne Boyd is a writer and activist focusing on LGBTQ+ rights and their intersection with politics and progressive movements. This column was produced for Progressive Perspectives, a project of The Progressive magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service.

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