Two Truths in Tension: When Law Meets the Transgender Experience

Prior to 2021, the State of Oklahoma allowed transgender individuals to change the sex on their birth certificates to reflect their gender identity after transition. In 2021, as a wave of anti-trans sentiment spread across many conservative states, Governor Kevin Stitt signed an Executive Order barring the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) from amending the sex of any individual on their birth certificates. Rowan Fowler, a transgender woman who had been affected by the Order, joined with several other similarly situated individuals to sue the Governor, on the grounds that his order violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of Equal Protection. After losing in the District Court, and winning on appeal at the Tenth Circuit, Fowler and her fellow litigants now face one final legal hurdle at the Supreme Court. What merit is there to her Equal Protection claim?

Columns, OpinionAndy GongMay 15, 2025Opinion, Columns, Supreme Court, Transgender Legislation, Gender RightsComment

Transgender Women’s Rights Left in Limbo Following U.K. Supreme Court Decision

On Monday, April 16th, the United Kingdom Supreme Court ruled that the official definition of a “woman” solely refers to an individual’s biological sex. This decision overlooks the rights to security, freedom, and individuality of people who are already some of the most heavily marginalized in society. While the impacts of the law are still unfolding, it could eventually make it so that discrimination against transgender women in the U.K. becomes much more commonplace. Even more so, it risks undermining the social legitimacy of transgender identities as “real.” Finally, it could easily influence policies relating to transgender and gender non-conforming individuals in other nations, especially in fragile political climates where political leaders are already leaning towards limiting LGBTQ+ rights.

Opinion, ColumnsJaya NadellaMay 7, 2025Opinion, Columns, Transgender Legislation, UK PoliticsComment

Failed Bill Reflects Growing Tensions Over Transgender Rights in Sports And Beyond

On March 3, a bill that proposed to ban transgender women from participating in women’s sports by redefining Title IX failed to pass through a split Senate. This bill aimed to rescind federal funding from schools who would not comply with the new Title IX criteria, which sought to protect individuals based exclusively on their “reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”

NationalKate TurnerMarch 25, 2025National, Transgender LegislationComment

Republican Politicians Didn’t Kill Nex Benedict, but They Certainly Don’t Seem to Mind When Trans Kids Die.

When the highest levels of a school system not only fail to protect trans students but portray them as the opposing side of a civil war, is it any surprise that Nex “didn’t really see the point” of taking his bullying to school officials?