As far as transgender rights go, the Mountain West states are all over the map.
The Republican governor of Utah signed a bill Saturday prohibiting the use of puberty-blocking hormones and gender-affirming surgery on minors.
Montana lawmakers are considering a ban on the same grounds, and in Wyoming, a bill has been introduced to prevent transgender people from participating in female-dominated sports.
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According to Olivia Hunt, policy director at the National Center for Transgender Equality, “this idea that children are the vulnerable spot – the way to go after the LGBTQ community – is really taking hold.”
According to Courthouse News Service, on Monday the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals revived a transgender woman’s constitutional challenge to Idaho’s ban on trans athletes, which was the first of its kind.
Meanwhile, lawmakers in New Mexico have introduced a bill that would increase protections for transgender people. Many states prohibit discrimination based on a person’s gender identity or expression, and this includes Colorado and Nevada.
Hunt reported on Friday that the National Center for Transgender Equality is monitoring 16 “anti-trans” and six “pro-LGBTQ+” bills in the Mountain West.
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Going from one state to another as a transgender person “can drastically change what your rights under the law are,” Hunt said.
In Colorado, it’s keeping an eye on two “anti-trans” and one “pro-LGBTQ+” bill, in Utah, four “anti-trans” and one “pro-LGBTQ+” bill, in Idaho, two, and in Nevada, one; in Arizona, four “anti-trans” and two “pro-LGBTQ+” bill; and in Montana, four “anti-trans” and one “pro-LGBTQ+” bill.
Pew Research Center survey results show that roughly 67% of Mountain West residents favour anti-discrimination protections for transgender people in the workplace, at home, and in public places.
