The Modern Anti-Trans Hate Movement
Since 2015, the modern anti-trans hate movement has been using our community as a scape-goat to rile up the conservative U.S. minority.
It Wasn't Always This Way
In 1952, Christine Jorgensen became one of the first to publicly receive gender-affirming medical care. By all accounts, she was welcomed into society and even idealized. This sort of gender-affirming care didn't enter into political discourse until the late 1960s.
Glendale United Methodost Church Sign. Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Rise of the Anti-Trans Hate Movement
Starting in 2015, conservative politicians began to push anti-trans rhetoric focusing on bathroom access; and began to support "bathroom bills"; measures designed to force people to use bathroom facilities associated with their sex identified at birth. Why this sudden focus? Because they want evangelicals to vote and they failed in their attempts to deny rights to all LGBTQIA+ people.
The Exaggeration Campaign
As shown on translegislation.com, the GOP has been "testing the waters" to see what works. Conservatives failed to rally evangelicals against all LGBTQIA+ people, so they targeted a smaller, more vulnerable minority.
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In 2019 they started to diversify, grasping for topics to stir up anxiety and hate; spreading out into healthcare and sports. In 2020, they started to claim that we were "groomers", falsely accusing the queer community and especially transgender people of child grooming; dialing up both their hateful transphobia and homophobia. This was aided by the creation of hate-groups like Libs of TikTok.
Student protest Palm Harbor FL by Ted Shackelford. Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Sourced from translegislation.com.
Modern Day
They're attacking anything and everything to see what sticks. With their attacks on the larger LGBTQIA+ community they learned that if we become too accepted, too supported, they lose their voter base. Now, they're hitting every issue to see what works.
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The GOP began to target anywhere they saw trans and queer representation - especially enacting anti-LGBTQIA+ curriculum laws and targeting trans students.
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The GOP targets trans women playing in women's sports because they think it's a topic few people care about. But the goal is to get the votes to deny our other rights, and to deny further LGBTQIA+ rights.
Why Sports Matter
The U.S. Constitution guarantees everyone the unalienable Rights to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If transgender athletes aren't allowed to participate in sports, they are denied their happiness (pursuits that bring them joy) and their lives (as they lose their source of livelihood). If transgender children are denied the right to participate in sports at school, they are similarly denied their rights to life and happiness. Furthermore, such outright disdain and unfair treatment will only exacerbate the ongoing crisis of transgender suicide.
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This campaign against transgender athletes isn't even based on legitimate concerns; it serves only as fuel to rile up their voter base.
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According to the National Women's Law Center, the anti-trans sports campaigns are based on several lies that we'll counter here:
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Trans women do not have an unfair advantage in sports. Years of data on transgender girls and women athletes shows no dominance in sports performance over cisgender women.
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Trans athletes do not take opportunities away from cisgender athletes. There are very few transgender athletes! In fact, states that enact transphobic sports policies show a decrease in girls playing school sports.
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Trans athletes in locker rooms do not endanger cisgender women. In fact, the rampant transphobia has caused several accounts of cisgender women being attacked because people assumed they were transgender.
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Why do sports matter?
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Denying people equal opportunity is against the U.S. Constitution.
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School and professional sports provide a multitude of opportunities including:
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Scholarships
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Self-esteem and accomplishment
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Respect
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If they are successful in infringing our rights in this way, it will only open the door for them to argue for further infringements.
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John Oliver on Trans Athletes (Video)
Despite what topics they target, know that this is always their objective:
"Texas Bill Would Make Identifying as Transgender a Felony Punishable by Jail", NBC News.​