For over 50 years, NWLC has been leading the fight to defend Title IX and eradicate all forms of sex discrimination in school and fight for gender equity. Now, far-right extremists are promoting anti-trans misinformation that violates and undermines the promise of Title IX.
We will never stop fighting to make sure everyone can live authentically, without fear and discrimination, especially for women, girls, and the LGBTQIA+ community.
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Why Anti-Trans “Bathroom Bills” Are An Issue of Reproductive Justice
A couple weeks ago I was on edge, waiting to hear news from South Dakota. The Governor was hours away from deciding whether he would sign a bill that would discriminate against transgender students in the state, requiring them to use bathrooms and locker rooms based on the sex listed on their birth certificate, instead of facilities consistent with their gender identity.
Governor Daugaard, listening to pleas from organizations like the National Education Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, as well as transgender youth themselves, ultimately made the right decision and vetoed this terrible legislation. I was relieved that this bigoted bill was defeated and students there would be able to attend school without fear of being bullied or assaulted by their peers. As South Dakota joined Virginia and Washington in defeating these bills, I thought things would be okay.
That relief hasn’t lasted long.
These politicians claim that by bullying students and endangering the lives of LGBT people, they are “protecting women and children.” If that line sounds familiar – it’s because it is. It’s also a line politicians use to justify restricting access to abortion – that they are simply looking out for our best interests. It should come as no surprise to find out that the same people who want to take away bodily autonomy from transgender people – would also like to strip those seeking an abortion of their bodily autonomy as well.
Take Virginia. Not only did politicians introduce a bill this year that would have required teachers to police trans students’ bathroom usage, many of the same lawmakers are bent on restrictingreproductivehealth including a bill that, if passed, would define life as beginning at conception, effectively banning abortion. Many of the same lawmakers who helped pass the North Carolina anti-LGBT law also passed requirement that doctors submit ultrasounds to state officials if they perform an abortion after the 16th week of pregnancy. Tennessee politicians, who are sponsoring the anti-trans bill advancing through the state Senate, also co-sponsored a bill that requires a 48 hour waiting period before a person can have an abortion procedure.
The list goes on.
This isn’t a coincidence. All of these laws, whether they are restricting access to a bathroom or a clinic, are about controlling our bodies, and the decisions we make about them.
This is why the fight for reproductive justice and bodily autonomy must include and protect trans people.
Fighting these bills is an issue of reproductive justice
While the legislation being proposed in states varies, many rely on restricting access to bathrooms based on a person’s birth certificate. In most states, proof of surgery is required to change a person’s gender marker on a birth certificate. It’s an outdated and cruel standard that does not reflect the broad spectrum of identities and desires amongst trans people. Many people do not want to undergo surgery, and it shouldn’t be a requirement for a person to live authentically. No one should be forced to undergo a surgery in order to simply use the bathroom. Being in control of decisions over your body is an issue of reproductive justice.
Many of these bills specifically target transgender students in public schools and threaten their safety and well-being by forcing them to use facilities inconsistent with their identities and pitting other students against them. These bills threaten families’ abilities to keep their children safe and healthy, and encourage a culture of fear, misunderstanding, and violence towards transgender students. Seventy-eight percent of trans students k-12 have experienced harassment by students, teachers, or staff.Forty-five percent of transgender people aged 18-24 have attempted suicide. These numbers are astronomical. While these bills are being considered and passed, trans children and their families are not safe. Being able to raise your family to be healthy, without fear that they will be purposefully harmed, killed, or harassed to the point of suicide is an issue of reproductive justice.
These politicians will stop at nothing to restrict our bodies, whether that body is trans, queer, disabled, of color – or anything else. Reproductive justice is making sure that all those bodies are safe.
I refuse to let the rhetoric of a few hateful politicians dictate my safety, the safety of my loved ones, and of strangers across this country, whether that means making sure we all have access to the abortion clinic or access to the bathroom.