What happened with 2022 anti-trans legislation?

In 2022, anti-trans legislation totals set a national record for the third year in a row. The 174 bills escalated the attack on trans individuals' access to basic healthcare, education, legal recognition, and the right to publicly exist.

In 2022, 26 anti-trans bills were signed into law in 13 states. Click the link below to see see the full list and read the bills.

Gender-affirming care bans

Gender-affirming care was also targeted, with Alabama passing the first bill to impose criminal penalties on providers of medically necessary and widely accepted gender-affirming care. Arizona also passed its own anti-trans healthcare bill. Louisiana commissioned their own study of the risks of "gender-altering" care.

Sports and "biological sex"

A central feature of the majority of bills in 2022 was to enshrine into state law the definition of "man" and "woman" as being synonymous with a "biological sex" assigned at birth.

For example, The Save Women's Sports Act that passed in Oklahoma and South Carolina requires public and private educational institutions to expressly designate sports into segregated categories "based on the biological sex assigned at birth." Further, Fairness in Women's Sports bills passed in South Dakota and Louisiana along with similar bills in Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Utah, and Tennessee. These laws block trans students from participating in sports, but they also enshrine a state's stance of biological essentialism into law and fundamentally reject the autonomy of trans people.

"Don't say gay": creating fear in schools

Anti-trans bills doubled down on schools in 2022. States like Alabama, Arizona, and Florida passed parental rights laws promoted by The Heritage Foundation. These bills came into the spotlight when critics reframed Florida's legislation as the "Don't say gay" bill. The vague language used in these bills, including phrases like “age-appropriate”, have had a stifling effect on teachers, students, and parents who worry that even the mention of their families and relationships puts them at risk of punishment.

Birth certificates and religious discrimination

While sports and healthcare garnered the most press attention in 2022, several other laws passed that impacted government recognition and non-discrimination protections. Arizona carved out religious exemptions for discrimination. Meanwhile, Oklahoma declared an emergency in order to prohibit non-binary birth certificates.