back to important news:
almost 1/4 of U.S. trans youth have lost access to gender-affirming care, which is pretty staggering. many of the laws being considered or passed go far beyond gender-affirming care, which once again (for like, the 100th time) gives lie to the claim that this is about protecting children or anyone else from irreversible physical changes. there is for example a North Carolina law making it illegal for teachers or counselors to acknowledge a minor's gender identity without parental consent - i.e., outing them to their parents. Florida now has a law making it illegal to discuss gender identity or sexual orientation in schools, a "don't say gay" 2.0 basically. Oklahoma legislators are trying to pass a law making it illegal to give gender-affirming care to anyone under the age of 26. 26!
not only is this as I and others have said, a wedge issue to dog whistle up the GOP base, it is a blatant attempt by a faction of Republican politicians and those they pander to to impose a theocratic order on Americans, of which heteronormativity is only one part. lawmakers in South Carolina introduced a law that would impose the death penalty for abortion providers. Wyoming just passed a law banning (since blocked in court pending a judicial ruling) not only medical abortion but all forms including the morning after pill etc. three women were just sued in Texas under its draconian post Roe v. Wade overturn laws for using pills ordered thru the mail to induce an abortion - the lawyers representing the plaintiff, one of whom is a Texas state legislator - have also claimed they're going to sue the pill manufacturer if they can determine who it is.
it is a massive, coordinated assault on people's bodily autonomy and self-expression