Op-ed: We Must Stop the Legislative War on Transgender People

State lawmakers across the country continue to push bills designed to undermine the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans, with more than 100 bills in 29 states. Many of these bills put transgender people at the center of the bullseye.

Of these 100+ bills introduced in statehouses across the country, 20 bills specifically target transgender people. Most recently, an initiative in California aims to put an unconstitutional bathroom bill on the state’s 2016 ballot. The spike in antitransgender legislation mirrors the spike in murders and suicides among transgender people in 2015, at least eight suicides and seven murders of transgender people that we know of.

This juxtaposition may be uncomfortable, but make no mistake, these bills help foster the hostile and stigmatizing environment in which these deaths are occurring. Imagine being a transgender young person, seeing headlines that make clear you are unwelcome and excluded by your very own public officials.

Beyond the messages they’re sending, all of these bills could create nightmarish situations for transgender people in everyday life — from going to school to finding a home to simply using the bathroom.

Read the full piece here.