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As Pride Month subsides into the gleaming sparklers of Independence Day, we must remember that the fight for freedom and liberty does not ebb with the fading rainbow colors. The July 4th call for American independence should be a rallying cry to stand up for all people's freedom and liberty, especially LGBTQ+ people who find their rights under escalating siege.
In today's America, First Amendment rights are constrained, and personal identities are policed and outlawed by an overbearing government. This isn't dystopian fiction but a chilling reality for trans youth and our allies in BIPOC communities.
We've seen a torrent of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation being introduced across the country. This year alone, over 520 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been proposed, with over 220 of them specifically targeting transgender and nonbinary people. Seventy of these discriminatory bills have already been enacted. These measures range from bans on gender-affirming care for transgender youth to the censoring of school curricula, a pervasive attempt to erase LGBTQ+ identities, and measures to curtail personal freedom. And other initiatives have been introduced to limit the actual right to protest. Democracy and our culture of freedom are at stake.
This assault is fueled by extremist groups notorious for their efforts to suppress LGBTQ+ rights, such as the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Family Research Council. They have orchestrated a nationwide attack, weaponizing government to tyrannize a marginal community. This is certainly not what the framers of the Constitution intended in their construction of our democracy.
Within this bleak landscape, affirming care can remain a beacon of hope for many Americans. It's the process through which transgender and gender-diverse individuals adopt the name, pronouns, and gender expression that align with their identified gender. It's a journey of growth and self-realization, a cornerstone of human development.
Gender-affirming care is supported by every major medical, nursing, and health care society in the U.S. It's based in the medical science that shows what's possible; in the history that shows us the more than 1,000-year history of trans populations; and on the precedent of entrusting all complex medical decisions, such as treating cancer or heart disease, to doctors and patients.
We need to fight to maintain the right to this liberty. The resilience of the American spirit isn't defined by the obstacles we face but by how we choose to respond. We're at a critical juncture in our nation's history, faced with a wave of discriminatory laws threatening to turn back the clock on decades of progress for LGBTQ+ rights. The narrative is not unfamiliar; it resonates throughout our country's history, and we must rise up to free ourselves from the yoke of this oncoming tyranny.
Many in our country are on the same page as we are. We are seeing a rapid increase in the acceptance of LGBTQ+ rights and transgender individuals. We have a strong basis to know this is a movement by the people and of the people. Surveys show that 5 percent of people under 30 now identify as trans or nonbinary. And 44 percent of all adults now say they know a trans person, a rise of 7 points from just five years ago. Some may try to cast this rise as forced, but we know it is an emerging expression of liberty.
The attempts to curtail transition are fundamentally un-American. They oppose the essence of individual liberty, exploit government authority, and must be fought.
On Independence Day, we must truly show that the spirit of American independence upholds individual liberty, freedom of speech, and freedom of expression.
Pride is more than just a monthlong celebration. It's a yearlong, lifelong fight for justice, liberty, and equality. The pride in our struggle for freedom doesn't stop with June, and it doesn't end with the parades and festivities. It continues every day, in every act of resistance against discrimination and every fight for freedom. We must write the next chapter of our American story, one in which freedom and equality are more than old words on a page; they are the reality for every individual.
Dallas Ducar is founding CEO and president of Transhealth. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @DallasDucar.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
