Skip to content

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/

Menu

  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships
    • From the Collection

      Changing Child Care

      Illustration of a woman feeding a baby a bottle
      • As climate change worsens hurricane season in Louisiana, doulas are ensuring parents can safely feed their babies

        Jessica Kutz · May 5
      • Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito argued abortion isn’t an economic issue. But is that true?

        Chabeli Carrazana · May 4
      • Pregnant people are at 'greater risk' in states hit hard by wildfire smoke, air pollution, new report shows

        Jessica Kutz · April 20
    • From the Collection

      Next-Gen GOP

      Illustration of a woman riding an elephant
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • A banner year for Republican women

        Amanda Becker · November 11
      • Republican women could double representation in the U.S. House

        Amanda Becker · November 4
    • From the Collection

      On The Rise

      Illustration of three women marching
      • Biden’s new environmental justice office aims to tackle the health impacts disproportionately faced by people of color

        Jessica Kutz · June 2
      • Jessica Cisneros takes on the last anti-abortion U.S. House Democrat

        Amanda Becker · February 25
      • Meet J. Michelle Childs, South Carolina judge and possible Supreme Court contender

        Candice Norwood · February 18
    • From the Collection

      Pandemic Within a Pandemic

      Illustration of four people marching for Black Lives Matter with coronavirus as the backdrop
      • Some LGBTQ+ people worry that the COVID-19 vaccine will affect HIV medication. It won’t.

        Orion Rummler · November 23
      • Why are more men dying from COVID? It’s a complicated story of nature vs. nurture, researchers say

        Mariel Padilla · September 22
      • Few incarcerated women were released during COVID. The ones who remain have struggled.

        Candice Norwood · August 17
    • From the Collection

      Portraits of a Pandemic

      Illustration of a woman wearing a mask and holding up the coronavirus
      • For family caregivers, COVID is a mental health crisis in the making

        Shefali Luthra · October 8
      • A new database tracks COVID-19’s effects on sex and gender

        Shefali Luthra · September 15
      • Pregnant in a pandemic: The 'perfect storm for a crisis'

        Shefali Luthra · August 25
    • From the Collection

      The 19th Explains

      People walking from many articles to one article where they can get the context they need on an issue.
      • The 19th Explains: How pregnant people can prepare for a summer of heat waves

        Jessica Kutz · June 17
      • The 19th Explains: How new Title IX guidelines on sexual misconduct may give more help to survivors

        Nadra Nittle · June 14
      • The 19th Explains: How would overturning Roe v. Wade affect IVF?

        Jennifer Gerson · May 27
    • From the Collection

      The Electability Myth

      Illustration of three women speaking at podiums
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • Stepping in after tragedy: How political wives became widow lawmakers

        Mariel Padilla · May 24
      • Do term limits help women candidates? New York could be a new testing ground

        Barbara Rodriguez · January 11
    • From the Collection

      The Impact of Aging

      A number of older people walking down a path of information.
      • 'I'm planning on working until the day I die': Older women voters are worried about the future

        Mariel Padilla · June 3
      • Climate change is forcing care workers to act as first responders

        Jessica Kutz · May 31
      • Woman alleges that an assisted living facility denied her admission because she is transgender

        Sara Luterman · November 8
    • From the Collection

      Voting Rights

      A series of hands reaching for ballots.
      • Florida’s redistricting fight continues. The head of the state League of Women Voters talks about what’s at stake.

        Barbara Rodriguez · April 19
      • Women have been sounding the alarm ahead of Texas’ first-in-the-nation primary

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 28
      • LGBTQ+ people of color are at risk from rising voter restrictions as federal protections falter in the Senate, advocates say

        Orion Rummler · January 19

    View all collections

  • Explore by Topic

    • Abortion
    • Business & Economy
    • Caregiving
    • Coronavirus
    • Education
    • Election 2020
    • Elections 2022
    • Environment & Climate
    • Health
    • Immigration
    • Inside The 19th
    • Justice
    • LGBTQ+
    • Politics
    • Race
    • Sports
    • Technology

    View All Topics

Home
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Donate to get our member newsletter

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Activists hold candles during a vigil in remembrance of transgender friends lost to murder and suicide.
Demonstrators participate in a candlelight vigil in remembrance of transgender friends lost to murder and suicide, in Chicago. Across the United States, 35 trans people have been killed so far in 2021, per the Human Rights Campaign. At least four of those deaths took place in Texas, which has one of the highest known populations of trans people in the country and has reported the most trans killings of any state. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

LGBTQ+

Texas is pushing the most anti-trans bills in the country. Advocates fear deadly consequences.

Though more research is needed, as greater numbers of anti-trans bills have been introduced across more states within the last two years, more trans homicides have taken place in those states.

Orion Rummler

Breaking News Reporter

Orion Rummler headshot

Published

2021-09-13 05:00
5:00
September 13, 2021
am

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Texas has introduced the most bills targeting transgender youth in the country, triple the number of any other state. Though none of Texas’ over 40 proposed anti-trans bills have been passed, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has made restricting trans youth’s sports participation a priority for the state’s third special legislative session. 

Local and national LGBTQ+ advocates worry that regardless of whether the bills pass, the language in and around them that characterizes trans girls as boys will spur violent, potentially deadly attacks and worsen mental health among an already vulnerable population.

“We just have a fraction of the data and can see that we’re in crisis,” said Victoria Kirby York, deputy executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition. “It’s past epidemic, and these state legislatures are making things worse.” 

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Across the United States, 35 trans people have been killed so far in 2021, per the Human Rights Campaign. At least four of those deaths took place in Texas, which has one of the highest known populations of trans people in the country and has reported the most trans killings of any state. This year is expected to be the deadliest on record for trans Americans amid overall rising homicides that coincided with the coronavirus pandemic.  

“The longer we have conversations that dehumanize and rob the dignity of trans Texans, these numbers will continue to rise,” Emmett Schelling, executive director for the Transgender Education Network of Texas, said at a protest late last month. 

As greater numbers of anti-trans bills have been introduced across more states within the last two years, more trans homicides have taken place in those states. Last year, 56 percent of trans homicides took place in states that attempted to pass anti-trans legislation, per a review of ACLU and Human Rights Campaign data by The 19th. Still, research proving any direct link between the deaths and the legislation is lacking.

A newsletter you can relate to

Storytelling that represents you, delivered to your inbox.

You have been subscribed!

Submitting…

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Christina DeJong, an associate professor at Michigan State University who studies violence against trans people, said that advocates worried about rising trans homicides due to anti-trans bills have valid concerns, but “we just don’t have enough data to know for sure.”

What does worry her about bills brought in Texas and other states is that they create “a culture that’s anti-trans, that can be used to validate violent attacks against trans people.” The “othering” of trans people encouraged by anti-trans legislation can lead to violence and further victimization, DeJong said, since “it’s easier to cause harm to someone who’s an ‘other’ than someone who’s in your group.”

Eric Stanley, an associate professor in gender and women’s studies at the University of California, Berkeley who researches anti-trans and queer violence, echoed that idea. They wrote over email that “anti-trans legislation helps generalize anti-trans violence as not only permissible, but supported by the state.” 

“In other words, those that enact anti-trans violence on the individual level are acting under the authority of a murderous settler state. The two are entwined in a deadly knot,” they said. 

In 2017 there was a spike in bathroom bills across state legislatures, and that year there were more trans homicides in states pushing anti-trans legislation. GLAAD found in 2017 that 58 percent of trans homicides took place in states that had attempted or successfully passed anti-trans legislation. And 29 percent of trans homicides in 2019 happened in states where similar bills were attempted.

But there are complications to these trends: In 2018, there was only one recorded killing in a state that had brought any anti-trans bills. And at this point in 2021, only 12 states’ legislators have not introduced anti-trans legislation, per Freedom for All Americans — so in almost any state where a trans homicide occurs, there is likely to be some sort of anti-trans bill in the legislature.

But while there are lingering questions of causality related to homicides, experts agree that anti-trans legislation can worsen mental health among a population that already struggles with greater risks of suicide and is more likely to struggle with anxiety or depression. 

In May, crisis hotline Trans Lifeline saw a 72 percent increase in calls from Texas area codes compared to the previous year, while anti-trans bills similar to those proposed in the state’s  special session were being considered, Yana Calou, public relations director of Trans Lifeline, said over email.

The Trevor Project found in its latest annual report that LGBTQ+ youth who didn’t feel their gender or sexual orientation were affirmed in school or at home attempted suicide more than those who were affirmed. Anti-trans legislation could heighten that risk, spokesperson Rob Todaro said, citing a 2020 study led by one of the organization’s senior researchers.

Many of the bills going through Texas aimed to classify gender-affirming treatments like hormones and surgeries as child abuse and ban puberty blockers provided by a physician. Others legislate the sports teams that trans girls can and cannot play on. At least 29 of the bills introduced in Texas are currently active — significantly more than any other state.

Kirby York said that proposed legislation to restrict gender-affirming care — which has so far only passed in Arkansas and was blocked in federal court — is most feared for causing self-harm among trans kids, since over half of trans and nonbinary youth surveyed by the Trevor Project considered suicide in the past year. Trans adults who can’t access hormones and other transition care also report higher rates of suicide attempts and ideation, per a 2019 Williams Institute study. 

And Texas is not likely to be the last news-making state in terms of restrictions against trans people. Beyond this legislative session, advocacy groups like the Human Rights Campaign are preparing for anti-trans bills to keep piling on for the rest of the year. 

Schelling warned on a Human Rights Campaign call last month: “There’s just no plausible deniability at this point that our state leadership does not know the harm that it’s causing.”

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

2022 Hybrid Summit: 50 Years of Title IX

In case you missed it, watch our biggest event of the year

Watch Now

Donate to support our mission

Up Next

Andrew Cuomo and Alphonso David at an HRC gala

LGBTQ+

Human Rights Campaign fires leader as Cuomo fallout spreads through advocacy communities

HRC’s Alphonso David was one of several advocates who advised Cuomo's team on sexual harassment allegations. Two leaders at Time’s Up resigned last month. 

Read the Story

The 19th
The 19th is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Our stories are free to republish in accordance with these guidelines.

  • Donate
  • Subscribe to the Newsletter
  • Attend an Event
  • Jobs
  • Fellowships
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Community Guidelines
  • Membership
  • Membership FAQ
  • Major Gifts
  • Sponsorship
  • Privacy
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram