Stop Attacking Trans Kids and Start Helping Them
Today the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law in Tennessee blocking trans youth from receiving medical treatment, including hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgeries. In his opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the law did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment because studies have shown there are “open questions regarding basic factual issues before medical authorities and other regulatory bodies. Such uncertainty ‘afford[s] little basis for judicial responses in absolute terms.’” (As a way of proving this uncertainty, Roberts cited the Cass Review, a UK-based report on transgender issues that has trans rights advocates have criticized for bias, claims which were affirmed by this Yale Law School study.)
In addition, the Trump Administration announced today that starting on July 17, the National Suicide Hotline (988) could no longer provide LGBTQ+ access to specialized hotlines, most notably The Trevor Project. Named after the Academy Award-winning short film Trevor, about a young gay boy who attempts suicide (it’s not as dark as I’m making it sound), The Trevor Project was founded in 1998 for suicidal LGBTQ+ kids to call for support, and has saved thousands of lives. 988 gave it a significant boost when it added a link for LGBTQ+ callers redirecting them to The Trevor Project —according to The New York Times, in 2024, almost half of The Trevor Project’s 500,000 calls came from the 988 link.
These acts of abject cruelty targeted towards trans kids — some of the most vulnerable people in American life — is a cornerstone of the prejudice that has enveloped us all since Trump came down the escalator 10 years ago. Around that time, trans people had become more visible in American life due to actresses and advocates like Laverne Cox and Mya Taylor, and later, MJ Rodriguez and Eliot Page (and yes, Caitlyn Jenner.) It seemed like society would become more accommodating towards a community that had previously been mocked and marginalized.
Now, 10 years later, the Trump Administration and its anti-trans allies are dead set on eliminating trans people from everyday life — and why not start when they’re young? The laws targeting trans youths’ freedom to play on a sports team, go on a field trip or use a bathroom are attempts to stop anyone with a non-cisgender identity from affirming their true self, forcing them into the closet for their entire lives if necessary.
And this is not merely the work of the far right. Voices I once associated with liberal causes have shown their anti-trans colors — some with bigotry that should not have been surprising given their history promoting race-based intelligence theories; others by revealing massive blind spots that render the rest of their activism suspect. And that’s to say nothing of ex-friends and acquaintances, some of whom I spent holidays with, who have gone full mask off these past few years, retweeting the most vile bigotry onto my timeline.
If I had one question I could ask all these people, it’s this: why? What about trans kids just trying to live their lives fills you with such rage that you would legislate, or support legislation that prevents them from being who they are? I’m not trans and neither are you; I don’t interact with trans people whom I know personally on a day-to-day basis and (chances are) neither do you; but why should that stop us from caring about their right to exist as the gender they identify with? It doesn’t affect your day-to-day life whether a trans kid can play sports any more than it does mine.
Hell, it’s not even a huge percentage of the population — according to a 2022 UCLA study, only 300,000 youth between 13–17 identify as trans. That’s 1.4% of the entire 13–17 population of the United States. (The trans adult population in the U.S. is estimated at 1.3 million, or 0.5%.) These are already small numbers — why do you care so much about marginalizing them to a point where that number is potentially made even smaller? Of course I know asking these questions, even in good faith, will only provoke frustration and circular arguments as opponents double down on their prejudice. It’s why I’ve blocked the most virulent transphobes I once knew.
But rather than waste time arguing with bigots, whether in person or on social media, there’s a better way to channel your feelings into something productive, and that’s to get involved. Donate to a charity that helps trans kids, or this GoFundMe that will help this family move with their trans kid to a safe state. Follow trans activists on social media like Charlotte Clymer and subscribe to their newsletters. Go to Advocates for Trans Equality and find trans candidates for state and local office to support. No matter how awful everything is, it’s never as awful when there are good people willing to support others.
Besides, helping trans people not only makes a difference in their lives, it also pisses off transphobes. And wouldn’t you like to do both things at once?
