The past few years have brought a significant surge in anti-trans movements across the U.S. as the transgender community continues to face more and more discrimination under the law. In 2023, 590 bills aimed at limiting the rights of transgender people were introduced on both a national and state level. Of these, 85 have passed, according to Trans Legislation Tracker, a website that documents and tracks “anti-trans” legislation. For perspective, Trans Legislation Tracker recorded only 19 pieces of anti-trans legislation up for consideration in 2015.

While the community as a whole is targeted, transgender teens and minors have especially been subjugated to a loss of autonomy by new legislation. These teens are forced to watch as laws that criminalize gender-affirming health care for minors (such as hormone therapy or top surgery) are passed, and they lose their right over their bodies. In addition, other laws that seek to restrict trans existence in schools, sports and bathrooms continue to pass across the U.S.

At a time when 35.1% of transgender youth ages 13-17 live in states that have passed bans on or restrict gender-affirming care, according to advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign, it’s important to stay informed and call out these laws.

Presented are only a few of the 85 transphobic laws passed in 2023 that show the degree and scope of which trans rights, specifically for trans youth, are being constricted.

Iowa Senate File 482

This Iowa bill became law in March and prohibits a person from entering a bathroom that does not align with their biological sex, which as defined by the bill “means a person’s biological sex as female or male as listed on a person’s official birth certificate issued at or near the time of the person’s birth.” For Iowans who are gender nonconforming, the significance of this new law is huge. For starters, the law simply denies the existence of trans people and denies them the right to live as any man or woman would. However, more significantly, it forces not only teens but all transgender people into scenarios where they could easily be bullied, harassed or even assaulted because of how they present.

Kentucky Senate Bill 150

Kentucky Senate Bill 150 was vetoed by Gov. Andy Beshear; however, the veto was overridden in a 76-23 vote earlier this year. Much like Iowa’s bathroom law, the new Kentucky law provides that students can only use restrooms or locker rooms designated for their sex assigned at birth. However, it also denies students of any grade level education on gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation. In addition, the law stipulates that the Kentucky Department of Education “shall not require or recommend policies or procedures for the use of pronouns that do not conform to a student’s biological sex.”

Florida Senate Bill 254

This bill, signed into law by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in May, attacks trans youth on many fronts. For starters, it criminalizes gender-affirming procedures for those under 18, and requires a health care practitioner’s license be suspended if they administer sex-reassignment care. Under Statute 254, courts are granted “temporary emergency jurisdiction over a child present in this state [Florida] if the child has been subjected to or is threatened with being subjected to sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedures.” This law also stipulates that, in terms of a custody battle, serious physical harm to a child includes “being subjected to sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedures.” This bill takes children away from their parents and ultimately criminalizes transgender minors.

Georgia, Nebraska, Montana, Mississippi and Missouri are five more states that passed laws preventing minors from accessing gender-affirming procedures. Noticeably, the names of many of these acts are framed as though meant to protect or “save” children, as if children need to be protected from being transgender, including “Missouri Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act” and Nebraska’s “Let Them Grow Act.” Some of these laws, like Montana’s, are now being challenged or even temporarily blocked by judges.

Many of the anti-trans laws passed in 2023 target transgender youth, but the anti-trans movement impacts the entirety of the transgender community.

“This movement is a direct assault on our lives,” wrote Emily St. James, a trans woman, in a 2022 article for Vox. “But how do I convince people of the severity of this problem, of the idea that what is happening is an assault on the civil rights not just of Americans but of literal children? How do I make everyone care as much about this issue as the anti-trans forces who wish to so casually destroy us? What language can I use?”

These laws not only oppress the rights of trans people but propagate the dehumanization of them. Being trans is not a mental illness. It is not wrong or gross or a choice or a mistake. Transgender people deserve to live as freely as anyone else.