How Trans Kids Became Political Targets

ACLU attorney Jay Kaplan dismantles the myths behind trans sports bans

Jay Kaplan

Published: March 9, 2026 | Last Updated: March 12, 2026

Opponents of LGBTQ+ rights began shifting their focus away from marriage equality after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges opened the way to same-sex marriages throughout the country. As The New York Times subsequently reported, that victory for equality prompted the religious right to start shining a malevolent light directly at trans people. Making that turn of events even more disconcerting is the fact that trans youth were often the ones absorbing the brunt of these attacks.

It was a simple calculation.

Reasoning that most Americans are unfamiliar with the concepts of gender dysphoria and gender identity, they believed they could create their own fictitious narrative regarding transgender people, particularly transgender youth, and how this community supposedly threatened the general population.

Unfortunately, many people believed the lies and distortions, allowing far too many politicians to use bigotry and ignorance to rile up their base and generate campaign contributions.

The results have been devastating. Since 2020, we have seen an exponential increase in the number of anti-trans bills being considered by state legislatures, with 850 to 950 pieces of legislation introduced in 2025 alone. Sadly, 27 states now have laws or policies that ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth. The same number of states have bans on transgender girls being able to play interscholastic sports on female teams. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in two cases challenging the constitutionality of such bans in Idaho and West Virginia. Most court watchers believe the conservative majority will uphold these sports bans.

I hope those predictions are wrong, because the effects of these bans can be devastating for the people they target: kids who are already dealing with the immense difficulties that come with being a trans youth.

In Michigan, members of the Republican-controlled state House introduced and passed two bills that would ban transgender female athletes from playing school sports in accordance with their gender identity. Fortunately, those bills are not being taken up by the Michigan Senate, which is controlled by Democrats.

A Michigan parent of a cisgender female student has filed a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Department of Education against her school district, for allegedly having her play in a volleyball match against a school district that had a transgender female on their team. And a well-known Michigan gubernatorial candidate recently announced his support for a ban against transgender female athletes, referring to them as “boys.”

This false narrative, which essentially says these young people are “boys” pretending to be girls in order to gain an athletic advantage, has been spread far and wide in both social media and much of the mainstream media. You can also see some people who would otherwise consider themselves to be allies buying in too. It is tempting to say this is really a non-issue, which it should be in terms of the overall population. What’s wrong with that framing is that it can be a matter of life and death for trans kids just looking to fit in and be accepted for who they are, and could be prone to self-harm if denied that.

There is, however, a potent antidote to these cynical efforts to target and further marginalize trans youth: the truth!

A transgender girl is not a boy pretending to be female. Most transgender individuals have suffered from gender dysphoria, which is characterized by the significant distress or discomfort experienced when a person’s gender identity is incongruent with the gender assigned to them at birth.

The population of transgender people is very small. It is estimated that transgender adults make up less than 1% of the population. The percentage of transgender youth who play in interscholastic sports is even more minute.

The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) reports that in 2025, out of 175,000 students in 890 school districts playing interscholastic sports there were only two transgender female students who were granted waivers by MHSAA. So far during the 2025-2026 school year, no such waivers have even been requested.

Moreover, the MHSAA has a strict process for addressing the issue of possible competitive advantage regarding transgender female athletes. The organization does an individualized assessment of each student that includes a thorough review of all medical treatments for gender dysphoria, which can encompass puberty blockers and hormone therapy. Puberty blockers, which can be prescribed at the onset of puberty, suppress testosterone levels in transgender females and the masculine physical changes that accompany puberty. Every high school transgender female athlete has to undergo this individualized assessment by MHSAA to receive a waiver to play in interscholastic sports.

Studies have indicated that transgender females who have received puberty blockers do not have a competitive advantage against their cisgender colleagues. Like cisgender female athletes, the ability of transgender female athletes depends on the individual athlete and the sport being played. There are no statistics indicating that they are disproportionately winning sports competitions. Like cisgender people, trans people have varying degrees of athletic ability. Nor are there any statistics to demonstrate that trans female athletes are displacing cisgender female athletes. In fact, studies in California and Connecticut show that where trans female athletes can participate in sports in accordance with their gender identity, this has actually increased the participation of cisgender girls.

A blanket ban is not about fairness, but about excluding trans people from public life and denying them equal opportunities. Furthermore, these bans are part of a broader, political agenda to limit the rights of LGBTQ+ people, often tied to other policies that deny transgender youth access to gender-affirming healthcare, deny transgender adults access to accurate identity documents and call for the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the marriage equality decision. These bans have also been found by courts to violate federal civil rights laws (Title IX) and would clearly violate our state civil rights laws that prohibit gender identity and expression discrimination in education.

These bans, which are offered to “protect” cisgender girls, can actually harm them by fostering an environment of scrutiny, harassment and invasive medical questioning. These bans create a climate where any female athlete who does not conform to traditional, stereotypical ideas of femininity is at risk of having their gender questioned. In states that have these bans, cisgender girls have been targeted, particularly minority athletes subjected to body policing and scrutiny regarding their appearance.

If politicians and elected officials were actually concerned about fairness in girls and women’s sports, they would support an increase in funding to ensure that female athletes have the same opportunities as male athletes to participate in sports competitions. And yet many of these same politicians and elected officials oppose funding increases for a level playing field.

In sum, it’s important to know the facts of transgender female athletes playing sports and to be exposed to a new narrative that is not motivated by fear, mistruths and disinformation (and craven political ambition). Transgender female student athletes want to meaningfully participate in sports in accordance with their gender identity, just like other students. In Michigan we have a mechanism to address concerns about competitive advantage and any blanket ban is ill-advised, unfair, discriminatory and harmful to all students.

So, what’s the problem?

Clearly, it is not trans kids gaining an unfair advantage in sports. The real issue is the cynical adults who think they can generate campaign funds and political support by scapegoating and bullying children who only want to fit in.

We can’t let them get away with it.