Anti-Transgender Legislation: Its Impact on the Mental Health of Transgender People and Sources of Hope

• In Event: Roundtable: Queer Criminology

Abstract

The rise of anti-transgender legislation in the United States has reached its fifth consecutive record-breaking year with the introduction of over 800 bills introduced in state legislatures as of May 2025. The most common measures restrict access to bathrooms, educational spaces, and healthcare, as well as limit participation in sports. The level and extent of this control and subjugation—and the structural stigma that it creates—have individual, interpersonal, institutional, and international impacts. Predictably, this explosion of anti-transgender legislation has had a negative impact on the mental health of transgender people throughout the country, including a rise in anxiety and depression, as well as an increase in suicidal ideation and attempts. This paper draws on a larger, ongoing study that asks: how are transgender people coping with this widespread discrimination? Where are they finding sources of hope? What steps are they and their allies taking to combat and resist this unprecedented bias and violence? Examples include different kinds of community support such as mental health counseling, and protective policies and legislation .

Author

• Kalel Yates, Eastern Kentucky University