Pushing Back Against Extremist Legislation

By Emerson Coyle, MSW, LCSW

Social workers are the voices of the ignored, underserved, stepped on, and dismissed. Social workers are the advocates and drivers of change on every level. Social workers validate, support, respect, care, connect, encourage, and promote autonomy. A social worker is who I am at my core. So, what am I supposed to do when, as an openly queer, trans, nonbinary clinical social worker, I am facing constant attacks on my very existence and the existence, rights, protections, health, and safety of the population that I am so passionate about serving?

In the state of Kentucky alone, the LGBTQIA+ community is facing another round of extremist legislation that seeks to remove the rights and protections of a population of people. There have been 11 separate pieces of legislation introduced in recent months, of which two have passed into law. One such piece of Kentucky legislation is Senate Bill 150, which was passed into law after the Governor’s veto was overridden on March 29, 2023. This legislation contains much of the agenda of former Kentucky House Bill 470, which was passed by the Kentucky House on March 13, 2023, and subsequently defeated on March 30.1 According to the Human Rights Campaign, this bill is “a sweeping gender-affirming care ban that will force medical providers to halt all forms of age-appropriate, medically necessary, and gender-affirming treatment that many young trans people currently receive.”2 This is only one example of the hundreds of pieces of legislation in various stages across the United States that seek to harm the LGBTQIA+ community.

While suicide remains one of the leading causes of death for adolescents, these political measures seek to remove rights, protections, and resources from an already vulnerable community. The Trevor Project conducted a national survey in 2022 on the mental health of LGBTQIA+ youth and found that 45% of those surveyed seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year; less than one in three of those who identify as transgender and nonbinary reported living in a gender affirming home; and 14% of those surveyed attempted suicide in the past year—one in every five of the transgender and nonbinary youth survey participants.3 And despite the fact that LGBTQIA+ youth are at increased risk for suicide and mental health difficulties, the American Civil Liberties Union is tracking 491 bills across the United States, each of which are political measures that attack the very existence of the LGBTQIA+ and, more specifically, transgender and nonbinary population.1 Suicide rates among gender-nonconforming individuals continue to rise, and without access to appropriate, gender-affirming health care, mental health resources, and legal rights and protections, this trend will continue.

Along with providing an education, schools should also be places that offer safety and support. Kentucky Senate Bill 150 has made changes to KRS Chapter 158 that remove protections for LGBTQIA+ students, remove discussions of gender identity and human sexuality, remove the use of pronouns that do not align with the sex assigned at birth, and require school personnel to inform the parent/guardian of the student if the student expresses an identity that’s in opposition of their biological sex. The legislation also attacks gender-affirming medical care for those under the age of 18 and states in the creation of a new section of KRS 311, “a health care provider shall not, for the purpose of attempting to alter the appearance of, or to validate a minors perception of, the minor’s sex, if that appearance or perception is inconsistent with the minor’s sex, knowingly” deliver gender affirming medical care, including prescribing puberty blockers or hormone replacement therapy.4 It is a reality that many LGBTQIA+ youth do not live in supportive or accepting homes. Some live-in situations could become unsafe if the barrage of antitrans legislation continues to be passed into law across the country. These extremist measures not only remove protections related to confidentiality and gender identity and expression but also remove valuable, evidence-based medical measures for minor patients, regardless of parental consent.

This extremism is not limited to the state of Kentucky. Across the country, there are bills attacking gender-affirming health coverage, dictating bathroom access, eliminating changes to gender markers, challenging parental rights, seeking to remove marriage equality, equating gender-affirming care for minors with child abuse, and campaigning to outlaw public drag performances. Others are attempting to make it illegal for educators and mental health providers within public school systems to acknowledge the existence of the LGBTQIA+ community or diversity in family structures with students. More misinformation, more hatred, more discrimination, more division.

So, what do I do? How can I remain an ethical social worker if I am forced to obey legislation that is in direct opposition to my professional and personal code of ethics? I am not a sunshine and roses, always an optimist, type of social worker. Life has given me a sharper edge. It is with this edge, this resilience, this grit that I am able to witness oppression and injustice and become empowered rather than defeated. Societal divisions, often spawned by fear, misinformation, ignorance, and the political and corporate agendas of those with money and power, continue to impede the progress of society. Diversity is a strength, and until that is embraced, society will remain stagnant.

So, what do I do? How do I continue to provide effective clinical services and support to those I work with? I am a licensed clinical social worker. I will continue to engage in ethical practices and will do what I encourage others to do. I will keep going. I will push back. I will continue to vote. I will participate in protests and ongoing education. I will challenge those around me to look at their personal beliefs and opinions. I will seek out and forward information from credible sources. I will stand. I will fight. I validate the existence of and promote the rights of others. I am a queer, trans nonbinary, clinical social worker, and I will continue to respect pronouns. I am a social worker, and I will continue to say gay.

— Emerson Coyle, MSW, LCSW, is a therapist in private practice and works as a mental health practitioner for the public school system. Coyle is a DSW student at the University of Kentucky.

References
1. Mapping attacks on LGBTQ rights in US state legislatures. American Civil Liberties Union website.
https://www.aclu.org/legislative-attacks-on-lgbtq-rights?state=KY. Updated June 9, 2023. Accessed March 14, 2023.

2. Breaking: Human Rights Campaign condemns the Kentucky House for advancing ban on gender affirming care for transgender youth. Human Rights Campaign website. https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/breaking-human-rights-campaign-condemns-the-kentucky-house-for-advancing-ban-on-gender-affirming-care-for-transgender-youth. Published March 3, 2023. Accessed March 14, 2023.

3. 2022 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health. The Trevor Project website. https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2022/. Accessed March 14, 2023.

4. Senate Bill 150. Kentucky General Assembly website. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/23rs/SB150.html#SCS1. Accessed June 16, 2023.