Anti-transgender legislation resonates on Day of Remembrance

RALEIGH, N.C. — Persistent efforts by North Carolina’s legislature to restrict transgender lives cast a shadow over Callum Bradford as he grew up in Chapel Hill, following him through his journey of self-discovery, coming out and obtaining the gender-affirming health care the 16-year-old credits as lifesaving. “Can’t I just go back to when I was innocent and untouched by hate?” Statehouse victories for Republicans around the country in this month’s midterm elections are resonating for trans people as they mark Sunday’s Transgender Day of Remembrance, an international observance honoring victims of anti-transgender violence and raising awareness of the threats trans people face. “Bodily autonomy being threatened for folks in terms of reproductive health care — where does it end?” Corrigan said, noting that abortion policy affects trans and cisgender people alike. Cooper spokesperson Mary Scott Winstead said the governor will continue advocating for transgender North Carolinians, who too often “face inexcusable and unacceptable violence.” In neighboring Tennessee, the GOP-controlled legislature announced after Election Day that its first priority will be to ban medical providers from altering a child’s hormones or performing surgeries that enable them to present as a gender different from their biological sex. “Several states that have introduced these harmful bills have According to a new Human Rights Campaign report, at least 32 trans and gender-nonconforming people have been killed in the U.S. this year, including Sasha Mason, a 45-year-old trans woman killed in Zebulon, North Carolina.