I grew up in South Dakota. I’m a queer, nonbinary person, so you can imagine how well that went over in the 1990s in the rural Midwest. [Content warning: This article discusses suicide. You can find resources for help at the end of the article.] I survived—barely—and left the state. But now I have to watch South Dakotan elected leaders, and others around the country, enact laws that could prove deadly for queer, trans, and nonbinary people like me.
In recent months, bills restricting access to lifesaving medical care for trans and nonbinary people have been passed in Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia. Currently, the American Civil Liberties Union is tracking more than 470 anti-LGBTQ+ bills that have already passed or are in process. In Florida, state lawmakers are trying to take trans kids away from their gender-affirming parents. In Nebraska, a state lawmaker faces an ethics investigation for standing up for her trans kid. And in Montana, the state house is denying a duly elected member the right to even set foot in the house chamber just because she’s trans and dared to oppose anti-trans legislation. It’s all so exhausting—and that’s the point.
One goal of these bills is to make conservative states so cruel and inhospitable to queer, trans, and nonbinary people that they flee if they can, confine themselves to the closet if they cannot—like the disproportionate number of queer, trans, and nonbinary people who live in poverty—or worse, end their own lives. And make no mistake, that worst-case scenario will happen with bills like this.
Throughout my time in South Dakota, I suffered extreme depression and attempted to take my own life. I endured those hardships because the people around me treated me like a carnival attraction or worse. If these bills had been in place at that time, I don’t think I would have made it out alive.
Let’s be clear: We are well into the “first they came for” stage of fascism. If we don’t stand up to these attacks now—publicly and proudly—children will die.
Today, thankfully, I’m living in a state with protections enshrined in the state’s constitution, but a part of me will always be that scared kid who felt like the whole world was against them. That’s what these bills do. They tell children, who are already dealing with immense pain and trauma, that they are unwanted and undeserving. They reinforce the worst thoughts marginalized children already have about themselves. That leads to tragedy. And the writers of these bills know it, because even while feigning ignorance, they have access to the same information we do.
The statistics are grim: Forty-five percent of LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered suicide last year, according to the Trevor Project’s 2022 National Survey on LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health. Nearly one in five trans and nonbinary youth made an attempt. Conversely, people who have loving, accepting communities fare better. Go figure. Yet, despite abundant evidence of their dangers, these bills are still being signed into law, and children pay the price.
Of course, the GOP will dispute this. They’ll say they’re just trying to protect children from the big, bad rainbow mafia who are manipulating America’s youth. They’ll casually throw around the term “groomer” like it’s meaningless, while ignoring things like gun control that could actually protect kids. They have no facts on their side, and they don’t care, because attacks on queer, trans, and nonbinary people have never been about facts—they’re about fear.
It’s no coincidence that all of these bills are popping up at the same time. This is a coordinated plan to stoke fear, attack a vulnerable, marginalized group they see as easy targets, push the Overton Window to its limits, and determine just how far down the rabbit hole of indecency far-right voters are willing to go. Given that recent calls to “eradicate transgenderism” from public life were met with cheers, it seems far-right voters are willing to go pretty far. That should frighten us all.
Let’s be clear: We are well into the “first they came for” stage of fascism. If we don’t stand up to these attacks now—publicly and proudly—children will die. That’s not hyperbole; that’s fact. And, as trans Montana state Representative Zooey Zephyr so courageously told her fellow lawmakers in April, the GOP will have blood on their hands.
If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 at any time to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit 988lifeline.org. Trans Lifeline also offers peer support at translifeline.org or by calling (877) 565-8860.