Study: 300,000 Transgender People May Be Negatively Impacted By Proposed Bills
- By
- Carlos Santoscoy
- | March 08, 2016
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.