Anti-trans legislation is the newest fad sweeping legislative sessions across the United States, this concentrated legislative aggression is not foreign to the LGBTQ+ community but the newfound ferocity with which these bills have been published is shocking. According to the Trans Legislation Tracker, since 2021 over 1,440 bills have been filed in their respective state and federal legislatures regarding every trans issue from participation in sports and the military to access to gender affirming care. These bills have destabilized families and communities across the country and their impact is not theoretical. This blog started out as a historical examination of the development of the trans community inside of the United States, but it has evolved into much more as the concerted effort to erase trans people from the US became clear throughout the research process of this blog.

It is important to begin by stating that the people and gender identities that we now know as transgender people have existed across cultures for nearly as long as history itself has existed. Hippocrates, who is widely referred to as one of the founding voices of modern medicine reported of the enarei, or people with the male sex who dressed as women and performed the cultural role of women in 400 BCE, and there are numerous other examples of gender variance throughout history. These include groups such as intersex individuals, who are born with some combination of male and female sex characteristics, and two-spirited individuals who are members of various indigenous tribes across North America who occupied some gender varied space within the tribe. With that being said, the first large body of medical research regarding the experience of gender dysphoria and the transgender community was conducted by Magnus Hirschfeld, a German-Jewish sexologist who opened the first Gender Affirming Care clinic in 1919, that was performing the first gender affirming surgeries and hormone replacement therapies by 1930 (some of the patients are featured in the image that accompanies this blog). He conducted research that documented people who he would refer to as “transvestites” as well as people who existed outside of the gender binary such as gender-fluid and nonbinary people. This work was vital and allowed many people to live a life that more suited their desired gender presentation for the first time ever. His work and study resulted in the largest library and collection of medical research that related to the care of trans people in the world with over 20,000 books. Those who are familiar with German history around the 1930’s may not be surprised by the fate that befell the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft. In Adolf Hitler’s first act as Chancellor of Germany he passed a law that resulted in the burning of the Institut, and in that fire, large amounts of vital information regarding the care of transgender people was lost for decades. It is vital to point out that the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft was used heavily by Adolf Hitler as a political tool to reinforce the idea that German men were becoming weak, and to instill a national fervor that the Natzi political party was the solution to this “weakness”.

That history is the context that is needed for the second half of this essay, for fascism and transphobia are not only related, but they nearly always occur together. Modern far right political movements are using the tool of transphobia as an excuse to pass extreme legislation that strengthens the administrative power of the state. This is all done under the guise of “protecting America ” and is portrayed as a way to get revenge for the ailing communities of rural America that have become impoverished by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and increasing economic inequalities. As former Secretary of Labor Rober Reich points out, “Fascist politics distorts and expands this male anxiety into fear that one’s family is under existential threat from LGBTQ+ people who reject the family’s traditional structure and traditions.” This form of political targeting is specifically used as a way to crack down on the existence of the recent gains that have come from LGBTQ+ advocacy in the last 25 years. Through which, the LGBTQ community has found itself in a space where the hopeful optimism of some that there may be space in America for tolerant or progressive attitudes towards queer identities has left the once strong Queer rights movement weakened in public sentiment specifically related to trans issues. The examples of lawmakers proposing transphobic bills specifically targeted at those who are most vulnerable to transphobic arguments, such as the cases of trans women in sports or trans children attempting to transition before the age of 18, are plentiful and it is visible that that is not where the political forces behind these bill intend to stop.

In leaked messages from a large email thread, constituting over 3,000 total messages, the true depths to which far right voices have organized specifically in opposition to trans voices is highly visible. As Elisa Rae Shupe, a former detransitioned activist who has since disavowed her old ways puts it “Religious-right rhetoric about wanting to help children with gender dysphoria is just a front for what they do behind the scenes,It’s like they want to do as much damage to the trans community as they can.” These messages were leaked through a collaboration with trans activist Maia Crimew and news organization Mother Jones, who published the emails in full in an attempt to raise awareness of the ongoing plan to further criminalize trans life and existence within the US. The items they point to as the most pressing to draft legislation against include things like childhood healthcare and involvement with athletics, both things that have been shown to significantly reduce trans people’s chances of suicide or depression. As depressing as these topics are, they are not a done deal yet, through effective political organization and effective counter demonstration tactics, the impact upon trans people can be reversed in time.

Works Cited

Jones, Jeffrey M. “More Say Birth Gender Should Dictate Sports Participation.” Gallup.Com, Gallup, 7 Feb. 2024, news.gallup.com/poll/507023/say-birth-gender-dictate-sports-participation.aspx.

Pauly, Madison. Inside the Secret Working Group That Helped Push Anti-Trans Laws across the Country, Mother Jones, 8 Mar. 2023, www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/03/anti-trans-transgender-health-care-ban-legislation-bill-minors-children-lgbtq/.

Schillace, Brandy. “The Forgotten History of the World’s First Trans Clinic.” Scientific American, 20 Feb. 2024, www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-forgotten-history-of-the-worlds-first-trans-clinic/.

“Two-Spirit: Health Resources.” Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Health, Indian Health Services, www.ihs.gov/lgbt/health/twospirit/#:~:text=Traditionally%2C%20Native%20American%20two%2Dspirit,status%20as%20two%2Dspirit%20people. Accessed 13 Mar. 2024.

What’s Really behind Republican’s Mounting Transphobia?, Robert Reich, 27 Apr. 2023, robertreich.substack.com/p/whats-really-behind-republicans-mounting.

“Tracking the Rise of Anti-Trans Bills in the U.S.” Trans Legislation, translegislation.com/learn. Accessed 13 Mar. 2024.