WASHINGTON— This month, UCLA’s Williams Institute released its 2024 report on the impact of anti-transgender legislation on youth. The results are jaw-dropping, with an overwhelming majority of transgender young people currently grappling with hostile political environments and hundreds of thousands of youth contending with restricted access to health care and restrooms, bans on participating in sports, and state-sanctioned misgendering.

Notably, New Hampshire and South Carolina are currently the only states without a ban on health care for transgender people that have a Republican “trifecta” (control of the governorship and both chambers of the legislature) in power. Both states have proposed and are considering restrictions to care for transgender youth this year, with South Carolina’s bill expected to receive a vote in the House next week.

“This data underscores the extent to which MAGA politicians seek to control the lives of transgender youth who just want to be valued and accepted for who they are,” said Human Rights Campaign Director, Public Education and Research Shoshana Goldberg. “Behind these numbers are people – youth – who are having their livelihoods upended by craven political operatives who see them only as fodder for their far right base. Every one of us deserves to be seen, valued, and given every opportunity to succeed. LGBTQ+ young people should be able to see a doctor, kick a soccer ball, and be respected in the classroom without a politician standing between them and the chance to thrive.”

TOPLINES

Access to Gender-Affirming Health Care

• 113,900 transgender youth ages 13-17 live in the 24 states that have enacted a ban on youth access to gender affirming care as of April 2024, which is 38% of all transgender youth nationwide.

Freedom to Participate in Sports

• 120,200 transgender youth—40% of transgender youth in the U.S.—live in states that restrict access to school sports for transgender students.

Conversion Therapy

• The good news is that 198,000 transgender youth live in the 27 states that have enacted conversion therapy bans, which is 69% of all transgender youth nationwide.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ+ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.

###