![]() While not every proposal has succeeded - about 15% of the bills have become law - the surge of legislative activity reflects what many advocates see as an increasingly hostile environment for LGBTQ rights in statehouses across the country and even some corners of Congress. A majority of this legislation, 86%, focuses on trans youth. National Americans are deeply divided on transgender rights, a poll showsĪn NPR analysis of this fast-changing landscape found that over the past two years, state lawmakers introduced at least 306 bills targeting trans people, more than in any previous period. "We wouldn't have any other choice, because this isn't something I can live without," says Brandt. Brandt is now part of an ACLU lawsuit seeking to overturn the ban, and says that if the law is upheld, he and his family would have to leave the state. Today, that joy is overshadowed by fear that his access to treatment may soon disappear because of a 2021 law passed in Arkansas, Brandt's home state, that bans gender-affirming care for transgender youth like himself. "I felt better because I was looking better. ![]() "When I started these hormones, not only did it change my physical appearance, but it changed my mind," Brandt, now 17, says. ![]() It was right around his 15th birthday that Brandt began hormone therapy. When Dylan Brandt looks back on the time before he started receiving gender-affirming care, he remembers feeling trapped "in a pretty bad place." He wasn't comfortable leaving the house, and he struggled with anxiety and depression.
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