Glaring uptick in anti-trans laws nationwide felt by Washington’s trans community

From books, medical procedures, bathrooms and classroom curricula, 2023 has seen a deluge of state-level legislation targeting LGBTQ+ and, more specifically, transgender people.

This year, the American Civil Liberties Union has tracked 469 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced at state legislatures across the nation.

Kate Tamera, a trans woman who ran for Spokane County Commission in 2018 when she used the name Robbi Katherine Anthony, said the new laws affect where she feels safe as a trans woman.

“It’s made it near impossible to travel to some states,” she said. “It’s gutting.”

Two anti-trans bills were introduced in Washington, but they never received a public hearing. Still, more than a dozen states have passed restrictions on gender-affirming care, health care trans people receive to help align their physical bodies with their gender identity.

Supporters of these restrictions say they’re necessary to protect children who aren’t old enough to make life-altering decisions of this magnitude. Opponents defend gender-affirming care, calling it lifesaving, and also say there is extensive misinformation surrounding the practice.

While Washington’s legislation surrounding gender-affirming care is generally supportive, the state’s trans community still feels effects that ricochet off neighboring states of Idaho and Montana.

Earlier this month, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed into law a bill to criminalize physicians who provide gender-affirming medical care, like hormone treatment, puberty blockers or surgery, to minors.

“I recognize our society plays a role in protecting minors from surgeries or treatments that can irreversibly damage their healthy bodies,” Little wrote in a statement upon signing the bill. “However, as policymakers, we should take great caution whenever we consider allowing the government to interfere with loving parents and their decisions about what is best for their children.”

On Friday, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed into law a bill that bans gender-affirming care for trans youth. But minors who identify as the same gender they were assigned at birth can continue receiving the same care, including puberty blockers or breast reduction surgeries, for example.

The law also includes punishments on physicians who provide gender-affirming care, which opponents of the bill sa y is lifesaving for young trans people who experience suicidal ideation at glaringly high rates. A 2022 survey of nearly 34,000 queer people aged 13-24 found that 59% of trans men, 48% of trans women and 53% of nonbinary people considered killing themselves that year.

Rep. Zooey Zephyr, D-Missoula, a trans woman, told Republican lawmakers they would have “blood on their hands” by voting to pass the bill.

In response, House Speaker Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, repeatedly refused to recognize Zephyr’s attempts to stand and address the bill, saying she broke the House’s rules of decorum. Zephyr later stood and held up her microphone while a crowd of 200-300 demonstrators in the gallery chanted, “Let her speak!”

On Wednesday, the House moved to ban Zephyr from the House floor, accusing her of disobeying the rules of decorum.

Regier said he was maintaining decorum in these actions, as demonstrators were disruptive and could have posed safety concerns for the legislators and staff on the floor.

Following her removal and with time still left in Montana’s Legislative session, Zephyr has been conducting business on a bench just outside the chamber. She’s still allowed to cast votes from afar, but can’t participate in debate.

Anti-LGBTQ+ bills have more than doubled in frequency this year compared to last.

Matthew Barcus, who is not trans himself but works with trans students at Gonzaga University’s LGBTQ+ resource center, said the surge of state-level laws makes many trans students avoid these states for their own safety and well-being, especially as they evaluate post-university prospects.

Students must consider access to and discrimination in health care, housing and at the workplace, he said.

Additionally, the uptick in bills has empowered other anti-trans sentiment that trans people experience in their daily lives.

“It’s going to create an environment where (trans people) don’t feel comfortable being themselves, then people are going to potentially feel empowered to express these hostile feelings or negative encounters,” Barcus said.

Tamera said she experiences hate crimes regularly, but more so recently, ranging from targeted slurs, threats and, in extreme cases, violence.

“It just kind of became a standard facet of being,” she said.

She’s also concerned for the well-being of other trans people, who she calls her siblings, in states that have passed anti-trans measures.

“I’m worried for them, I’m worried that they’ll get killed by some fascist who has it out for them. I’m worried that they may take their own lives because they’re unable to access their health care,” Tamera said. “I mean, I’ve got so many friends that are dead. So many. These are good human beings. They didn’t need to die, you know?”

Despite her fears, Tamera is encouraged by the increasing visibility of trans people in politics and beyond. Mobilization of the trans community, as well as recent court rulings preventing gender-affirming care bans in Alabama and Arkansas, give her hope for the future of her community.

“We’re starting to figure out ways to build a broader and more mobilized coalition to help push back and with a more concerted effort,” Tamera said. “So it is going to be a walk through hell, but you know, we will survive the fire.”