
Okay, But Why Are So Many People Talking About Trans Kids?
Transgender people, and trans kids in particular, have been in the news a lot in the past few years. If this is still all pretty new to you, don’t worry, you’re not alone!
Transgender just means someone who doesn’t feel comfortable with the gender that you were assigned at birth (Think back to that moment we’ve all seen on TV when the doctor in the delivery room cries “It’s a boy!”).
Trans People Have Always Existed
Trangender people have existed for all of human history. Some historians think the Roman emperor Elagabalus, who dressed in a feminine manner and preferred to be called “Lady” instead of “Lord,” was what we now consider “transgender.” And across the world, many cultures have a third gender, even in the present day – like m?h? in Hawaii and Two-Spirit in Ojibwe culture.
“Dempsey is my daughter. She is so many things, trans just happens to be one of them. But she’s sassy and smart and kind and she’s a diva, actually. She’s quite a diva. And what I’ve been hearing her lately speak to is how she feels when she leaves the house that people view her as a monster. She doesn’t understand, cause she’s like, ‘I’m just like everyone else, I’m just born a little different.’ A kid shouldn’t have to fight for her right to exist.”
While trans people have always existed, we’re talking about them more these days due to politics, but also due to increased visibility from high-profile trans people inspiring others to embrace their truth. This is what we mean when we talk about how representation matters. When people, especially children and young people, see others with similar experiences, it makes them feel more comfortable being more authentically themselves.
What ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ Is and Isn’t
Often people think that “gender-affirming care” only means surgery, but it actually includes a lot of other things too. Here are some other examples of gender-affirming care:
- Using a different name.
- Changing the pronouns they use (like “him” or “her”).
- Changing their hairstyle.
- Changing what clothes they wear.
- Taking prescription hormones.
One thing that is definitely not happening: doctors are not giving children gender-affirming surgery. A Harvard study in 2019 found zero cases of gender surgery in kids under the age of 12. And for the small number of teenagers who were given surgery (2.1 per 100,000 teens), the vast majority are breast reductions for boys who aren’t trans. 97% of gender-affirming surgeries on minors are for boys who were born as boys and identify as boys and just want a smaller chest so they can continue to feel like boys.
Politicians Are Using Transgender Issues to Distract Us
In 2024, over 700 anti-trans bills were proposed – everything from regulating bathrooms and sports to laws prohibiting gender-affirming care. And just so far this year, in 2025, over 900 anti-trans bills are under consideration across the country. The majority apply to kids, particularly in school, like laws that keep trans kids from playing sports. Some of the laws are disturbing, like one in Florida that requires genital inspections for any kid suspected of being trans.

Given how frequently we hear about laws like this, you might guess that hundreds or even thousands of trans kids are competing on sports teams. But the real number is less than ten. Even Save Women’s Sports, an organization that wants to stop trans kids from competing in sports, could only find five transgender athletes competing on girls’ teams in the entire country. And when it comes to the college level, NCAA president Charlie Baker said that there are fewer than ten transgender athletes who currently compete in college sports. That’s less than 0.002 percent.
This begs the question: why has this become such a big political issue when there are so many real issues we’re dealing with? If protecting kids is the concern, we could focus on addressing infant mortality rates, child poverty, or the youth mental health crisis.
It’s a distraction. If a politician’s constituents are focused on school bathrooms and kids’ sports, maybe they won’t notice that our maternal mortality rates are going up or the rapidly growing disparities between the ultra-wealthy and the working class.
By scaring people with fake information, politicians can trick us into focusing on a manufactured issue while passing laws that actually harm Americans – not just trans kids, but all of us. Cuts to Social Security and Medicare, tax cuts for billionaires, book bans, women dying because of bans on life-saving reproductive care, deploying the National Guard against American citizens… that is what they’re trying to distract us from. That’s why they’re talking about transgender kids…because extremists want to confuse and distract us.
The Harmful Impact of Anti-Trans Legislation
The politicians who are passing these laws say they’re trying to protect kids, but they’re actually doing the exact opposite. According to a study by Delaware Public Health, 35% of trans kids attempt suicide, but when they’re allowed to socially transition and use their preferred name, they’re 65% less likely to attempt suicide. Gender-affirming care actually saves lives. These decisions should be made by families and doctors, not politicians.
“It’s not really about whether you agree that transgender people do or do not exist. They exist. What it really is is showing that we’re just a normal family with regular struggles and regular challenges just like everyone else. My daughter is just a normal kid living her life.”
Transgender people make up only 0.6% of the population. Many people don’t know a trans person personally, which makes it easy for them to be tricked by false information – they don’t have any direct experience to draw from. By learning the facts, and sharing them with people we know, we can prevent dangerous anti-trans bills from being passed, and even save lives in the process. To learn more about how to stand up for and protect trans kids, check out our Freedom to Parent page.