In Texas, cat litter has become yet another symbol of the cultural war waged upon transgender people in the United States, a war amplified and emboldened by the 2024 Federal Elections, in which Conservative former President Donald J. Trump was reelected to a second, non-consecutive term. Riding the coattails of this election, the Texas Republican Party and many State Republican Parties across the United States have begun to wage a war upon all manner of groups that have caught their ire. Most commonly and easily attacked among these groups are transgender people. In the months after the election, transgender people have been increasingly subject to attacks on their ability to self-express, ability to undergo gender-affirming treatments, and their ability to exist in society. These attacks have only increased while transgender individuals have gradually gained acceptance by large swathes of the population; moreover, they have been orchestrated on every level of government: local, state, and federal levels. 

On a local level, transgender people have long been discriminated against based on their gender identity. When first widely acknowledged by society, transgender people quickly had their rights stripped away, being forced into bathrooms of their assigned gender at birth. And, despite evidence that doing so would lead to further harm, including an increase in rape & sexual assault of transgender individuals, at a rate far higher than present in the past when they were indeed allowed to use the restroom of their preferred gender, this discriminatory policy has continued. It has continued under the pretense that it helps to protect “our” people. Explicitly, transgender people are othered, sent into a separate caste of their own, not to be interacted with, for a crime of simply existing. And even when institutions on a local level are explicitly supportive and make it abundantly clear that they are transgender-friendly, they have been compelled to deny liberty to them. The only point of these laws is cruelty. They have been proven time and time again to be ineffective and uncoordinated laws.

On the state and federal level, we find the discrimination even more appalling, as transgender individuals are systematically denied equal opportunity; and equal rights, including the right to be affirmed of one’s identity; and have targeted gender-affirming programs for not only the youth, but adults as well. The assault waged on a state level against transgender people does not only constitute a targeting of their rights but of the rights of minority groups in general. Part of the reason for the targeting of abortion clinics & family planning centres such as Planned Parenthood is because they coincide with HRT clinics. Every target is vilified and politicized, as they seek a course of retribution for their perceived transgressions.

Across the nation, transgender people have become the target of mass discrimination in every field of employment. Transgender women, in particular, have among the highest unemployment rates and lowest average wages in America. The average transgender woman in America makes 60 cents in wages to the average American’s dollar. 18% of transgender people are actively unemployed, well above the 4.1% average nationwide in 2024. 34% of transgender Americans are currently impoverished, and 30% have indicated that they’ve been homeless at least once. This is a crisis of major proportions when it’s considered that ~2 million Americans identify as transgender. The scope of this issue extends beyond simple cultural discrimination. The law, which is supposed to protect the inherent rights of humanity, has been enforced against transgender people. It has allowed employers to fire transgender workers based on their gender identity, and Trump’s new executive orders (EOs), have even encouraged that. 

In addition to these blatant denials of equal opportunity, their care has been highly politicized and attacked recently. In states like Texas, Alabama, and Florida Transgender people have been the target of continued suppression of care. In all three, gender-affirming care for transgender minors has been restricted. While this may be justified with claims that the care constitutes a permanent “mutilation” of transgender children (particularly transgender men, who were assigned as women at birth) and that 14 is too early to make such a life-changing decision, their suppression of care extends far beyond that. First, the treatments they prohibit, puberty blockers, and hormones are not irreversible, in fact, both can be reversed in the future if one so desires. For example: puberty blockers do not impede puberty beyond the conclusion of their usage; and so, a child on puberty blockers, who comes to terms with their assigned gender identity and stops their usage, will undergo a relatively normal development. Secondly, hormones, as the more permanent (although still reversible) choice, are not given out “like candy” as many Republican U.S. Senators have claimed. There is an intensive psychological evaluation to ensure that the transgender recipient is fully aware of the effects of their usage. Lastly, Republicans have not drawn a line at simply minors, in all three of those states, there has been legislation either enacted or proposed that would practically prohibit gender-affirming care by banning insurance companies from paying for these therapies. They do not care about the age of the transgender individual, this is a test of the control they can exercise. A test that they pass with flying colours. Again, the cruelty is the point.

On the highest level of government, war is waged against the concept of transgender people, from the White House directly. Numerous EOs in the past 59 days, have combatted their very existence. In a flurry, the Government refused to recognize transgender individuals, by declaring that there are only two genders, “male” and “female,” assigned at birth, and used it as a reason to dismiss legal cases involving transgender discrimination. Later that same day, the Trump administration determined that any transgender individual must register their passport with the gender in place on their birth certificate, eliminating the “X” label and promoting further discrimination. Nine days after both of these proclamations, he signed another EO to “end radical indoctrination,” which aims to prevent the recognition of transgender individuals in education. It threatens to prosecute any teacher who assists in the social transition of a student. This is an unenforceable policy, but again, the cruelty is the point. 

These policy decisions have all come within the last 365 days, from EOs to bathroom bills, the transphobic movement in the U.S. seems ascendant, holding the power, and seemingly the popular opinion. But there is reason for hope. As Trump’s government has become increasingly unpopular, due to the impending risk of economic collapse, there has been a process of thermostatic public opinion leading to an increase of support for transgender Americans. While even this seems bleak, the support of transgender cultural figures such as Hunter Schafer, Ethel Cain, and Eliot Page, as well as the rise of transgender political figures such as Sarah McBride, the first transgender U.S. Representative, has provoked a slight shift towards acceptance. There are things yet to come and we must support transgender people in the coming years in hopes that one day, one way, acceptance will reign, just as it did for lesbians and gays in prior years.