Republican-dominated states have passed a slew of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation over the past three years, and many have targeted trans youth specifically, whether it relates to participating in sports, seeking gender-affirming care, or using a public restroom.

Although discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals is tragically nothing new, legislative attacks on trans youth and LGBTQ+ individuals have spiked significantly in 2023.

This spring, the Republican-led U.S House voted to pass a GOP sponsored bill that would ban transgender athletes from women’s and girls’ sports at federally funded schools and educational institutions. It’s unlikely that the bill will pass the Democratic-led Senate. In addition, 19 bills have been inroduced at the state level that currently exclude transgender youth from playing on sports teams that match their gender identity.

Texas governor Greg Abbott signed into law a ban on hormone and puberty blockers as well as surgeries for trans youth under the age of 18, with Louisiana and Missouri passing similar laws. Florida also passed a more extreme ban, but fortunately, a federal judge ruled that three transgender children whose families sued the state over the law can be prescribed puberty blockers forbidden by the recent legislation.

Kansas recently passed a law stating that biological sex at birth determines whether or not you can use the men’s or women’s bathroom, and Arkansas banned K-12 transgender students from using public school bathrooms that match their gender identity, and in 2023 more than two dozen bathroom bills have been filed by Republicans in at least 15 states.

So why is attacking trans youth so in vogue for far-right GOP lawmakers even though the science supports the benefits of gender-affirming care?

The answer is, you guessed it, votes.

Let’s not kid ourselves, even the most noble politician needs to lure voters, and the GOP has relied on the Christian evangelical base for decades. 

The evangelical voting bloc has become the single most important interest group for every GOP candidate since the 1980s. In the 2020 election, 81% of White evangelical Protestant voters went for Trump (who at the beginning of his 2016 campaign supported LGBTQ+ rights), compared with 18% who voted for Biden. However, white evangelicals only account for about 30-35% of the total US population.

If you haven’t noticed, the issues of abortion, same-sex marriage, and trans youth are all tied to gender and sexuality: Issues that appear to be trigger points for evangelicals.

According to Randall Balmer, a Dartmouth professor who was raised as an evangelical Christian: “They (the GOP) have an interest in keeping the base riled up about one thing or another, and when one issue fades, as with same-sex relationships and same-sex marriage, they’ve got to find something else,” he said. “It’s almost frantic.”

In the wake of these attacks on trans youth and members of the LGBTQ+ community, there may be hope. 

Political scientists warn that the GOP is “barking up the wrong tree,” and its strategy to attack trans rights could backfire and cost votes among an increasingly diverse and younger electorate. More and more Americans support transgender rights than ever before, and evangelicals are statistically decreasing as a major voting block.

As we celebrate Pride month, it’s important to realize that trans rights are human rights, and if you have a friend, co-worker, or loved one who is LGBTQ+, vote accordingly.