As transgender advocates attentively listened on Wednesday to the U.S. Supreme Court arguments regarding a Tennessee ban on gender-affirming care for minors, they couldn't help but draw striking parallels to the anti-abortion movement. Julie Reuss, the president of PFLAG Waukesha, expressed her concerns, stating, "We have an oppressed group of people facing the Supreme Court, and whatever decision is made will impact all transgender individuals, not just those in Tennessee. These decisions will have ramifications across the entire country. Transgender people are watching a group of justices determine their rights to health care. If that isn't terrifying, I don't know what is."

Transgender People's Struggle for Safety and Support

The just completed election season has exacerbated this fear. For months, Republicans flooded the airwaves with ads highlighting the disconnect between liberal Democrats and mainstream America. One ad from Donald Trump's campaign ended with, "Kamala Harris is for they/them. Donald Trump is for you." Now, transgender people across the state and country are scrambling to find safety and support. Reuss said, "It's causing a lot of confusion and fear. I'm hearing people are getting their financial documents and other legal paperwork in order. People are making plans, but do they leave the state? Do they leave the country? Where can they actually go in the world that will accept them?"For example, Florida's ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors has led families to drive hundreds of miles to obtain the care their children need or flee the state altogether. Many have moved to more tolerant but expensive states like Colorado, Washington, and Connecticut.

The Parallels between Anti-Abortion and Trans Rights

"The parallels of anti-abortion and trans rights are definitely there," Reuss said. "A lot of times, these issues go hand in hand. If you take away the rights of one group of people, it becomes easier to take away the rights of another group."Lanae Erickson, senior vice president of the center-left think tank Third Way, emphasized that enforcing bans and restricting access to medical care is akin to denying the existence of transgender people. She said, "There's so much federal money in health care. If they try to say 'Any provider who takes Medicare or Medicaid dollars, or any provider who takes research money from the federal government, may not provide health care to transgender people,' that's pretty much everyone. That's the scariest part. They could try to do an overt ban, but they almost wouldn't need to. The impact of those things would be essentially the same thing."

Exit Polls and Republican's Anti-Trans Sentiments

Despite a number of exit polls indicating that anti-trans efforts did not resonate with voters, the issue still received significant attention. Change Research, a left-leaning pollster, conducted research in eight battleground states, including Wisconsin. The results showed that the anti-trans campaign ads failed to have an impact. More than two-thirds of all voters and more than half of Republicans felt frustrated by these ads and agreed that they used transgender people as "political tools."Ads on crime and the economy resonated the most. A vast majority of voters, 86%, wanted politicians to focus on issues that mattered to them, not transgender issues. Abigail Swetz, executive director of Fair Wisconsin, said, "People did not vote for anti-trans rhetoric and policies."According to the 2024 CNN exit poll, Wisconsinites ranked the economy as their most important issue at 35%, the state of democracy at 33%, abortion at 15%, and immigration at 11%. Yet, Republicans spent $82 million nationally in the final months of the election cycle to target Democratic lawmakers and candidates over support for transgender athletes and gender-affirming care for minors.Days after Trump's victory, Attorney General Josh Kaul told the Journal Sentinel that the ads were "deeply concerning" and not in line with Wisconsin's values. He also contended that in heavily campaigned areas where the anti-trans ads ran, Republicans underperformed. He said, "I hope that sends a message that those types of messages are not ones that resonate with people. The Wisconsin Department of Justice is committed to standing up for the rights of all Wisconsinites. In the event that there are efforts to target people based on their identity that are unlawful and we are able to take action, we're committed to doing that."

Education and Support for Transgender People

Every year, PFLAG Waukesha sets up tables at the Waukesha farmers' market. Reuss uses these opportunities to educate community goers about being the mother of a transgender person, how to support them, and how to correct miscommunications. She said, "If they are in a community that forces the negativity all the time, they will not learn at all. They will not come forward."Swetz wants to see more allies to transgender people showing up to support, listen, learn, step up, and educate themselves and each other. She believes that accepting anti-transgender attitudes is to "obey in advance and give in to bullying behavior."