This week, Dr. Austin Johnson, Director of our Southern Equality Research and Policy Center and professor at Kenyon College, told CNN that Donald Trump’s anti-transgender rhetoric and policies are having a very real, negative impact on transgender people. He pointed to the growing body of research showing how anti-trans news coverage and policies impact trans folks’ mental health.
When asked about concerns from some cisgender women athletes about transgender women playing on women’s sports teams, Johnson pushed back– saying these concerns are based in unfounded fear of transgender women, and that all people deserve to compete in sports.
Further, Johnson says policies excluding transgender people from day-to-day activities, like playing on sports teams. are not only based in fear–they aren’t what most Americans want their leaders to focus on. We want our leaders to focus on the issues that matter to all of us–like affordable healthcare, employment opportunities, and climate change.
