According to a study released this
week, nearly 300,000 transgender people may be negatively impacted by
legislation introduced in 15 states.
The eight-page report released by
UCLA's The Williams Institute looks at anti-transgender bills
introduced this legislative session in Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana,
Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South
Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin
and Wyoming.
“These bills would limit access to
single-sex restrooms and locker rooms at schools and in public
places; limit protections based on gender identity; permit
individuals and businesses to discriminate against transgender people
based on religious and moral beliefs; and limit the ability to change
certain vital records documents, such as birth certificates, or
enforce the use of birth certificates to establish an individual’s
sex for certain purposes,” the
researchers wrote.
“In all, we estimate that nearly
300,000 transgender adults and youth (ages 13 and above) reside in
these 15 states,” they added.
The state with the highest number of
transgender people who would be affected by passage of such bills is
Illinois with 20,529 transgender youth (age 13-19) and 28,643 adults.