COLUMN | In a Time of Mass Anti-Trans Legislation, Washington's Trans Community Refuses to Disappear

"How am I?" Ebo Barton, a Black and Filipino trans man, laughed nervously at my loaded question. 

I reached out when the number of proposed bills on the anti-trans bill tracker reached 755 across 42 states. Over the past five years, our country has witnessed a systemic attack on the rights of trans people. This year, we watched trans folks in Kansas City lose their driver's licenses. Twenty-one states now have bans on bathroom use that make it illegal for anyone to use a restroom that doesn't correspond to the gender of their birth. Federal programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE are no longer covering gender-affirming care. 

I wanted to hear from Barton and other trans folks in our community about how this is impacting their daily lives.

Barton says the biggest change has been feeling the need to defend his identity and to have a safety plan in the trans community to prepare for what's coming. "I think that we have this idea that Seattle and Washington are safer, and while that might be true, 'cause we have some protections, a lot of people don't know that we live in a state where Seattle specifically is the liberal area and we are surrounded by right-wing, conservative cities and people."

Anti-Trans Initiatives in Washington State 

One such conservative is Brian Heywood, the Republican millionaire who, according to The New York Times, has spent over $11 million since 2022 supporting 20 proposed bills and initiatives in Washington State, including IL26-001 and IL26-638. Both initiatives will be on our November ballots. I reached out to Brian Heywood, but he did not respond to the interview request.

IL26-001, Restoring the Parents' Bill of Rights, would require schools to guarantee parents' rights to review their children's instructional materials, access their school records, and be notified when medical services are provided.

It's standard to have parental involvement in the education process, but this changes the boundaries and could have unintended consequences. What happens if certain parents insist on values-aligned curriculum? Whose values will take precedence? It also raises big concerns with regard to student privacy.

"This would really put thousands of Washington youth in danger in that way, but it would also require students' teachers to inform parents if and when a student uses different pronouns or a different name in school, which is something that kids are allowed to do right now," explained Gabriel Neuman, director of policy and advocacy for the Greater Seattle Business Association, a statewide LGBTQ+ and allied chamber of commerce, and an executive committee member of No Hate in WA State. 

No Hate in WA State is a coalition endorsed by over 120 organizations, including the Washington Education Association, the ACLU, and Planned Parenthood, as well as several elected officials, including Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, King County Executive Girmay Zahilay, and City Councilwoman Alexis Mercedes Rinck. 

Neuman, a white trans man who transitioned in 2019, spent most of his high school years in foster care. "Before that, in middle school, I talked to my teachers and my school counselor about what was going on at home, and if my mom was able to get the notes from those conversations, I would have been in immediate imminent danger," said Neuman.

Currently, the age of consent for therapy in Washington State is 13. Meaning, youth 13 and older are allowed to speak confidentially with therapists or counselors without informing their parents. This initiative would change that.

The other initiative, IL26-638, is framed as defending equity in interscholastic sports and would ban trans girls in K-12 from playing sports. It would also create a requirement that all girls undergo medical examinations to confirm their gender before being allowed to participate in sports.

"These are examinations that must be done by a medical practitioner, and they must sign off on the sex of the child in order to get them to participate in sports, and boys are exempt from that," explained Neuman. "This is just absolutely an invasion of privacy."

Neuman raised concerns for youth who might have difficulty accessing medical providers and how this might prove to be an added barrier to them being able to participate in sports. There is also no exemption clause for survivors of sexual assault who might find this procedure retraumatizing. Though the intended target is trans girls, the initiative is written in a way that will explicitly impact all female athletes. 

"We talk in trans community about how these types of bills impact cis people too, and how we move, and what we decide is cis, and what we decide is not," said Barton when asked about this bill. "For instance, blocking trans women from certain sports and how they regulate it impacts cis women in the sense that, what their hormone levels can be to be considered a woman. And what does that mean for their identity? What does that mean for folks that have particular conditions and disorders?"

Neuman feels trans folks have been weaponized by conservative lawmakers. "Because, honestly, they are lazy policymakers, and it is easier to find a group of people to attack and demonize and legislate around than it is to actually work on legislation that fits the needs of your constituents and actually solves the problems that are existing and that are impacting everybody," he said.

'Giving People Back Their Humanity'

Jade Lenore Le Duff, a Black trans woman and the chief of staff for the Lavender Rights Project, says "I'm a firm believer that there's no one that can tell me anything about who I am or how I exist. No one has that power for me. And I wish that more people felt that way."

Lavender Rights Project, a nonprofit based in Capitol Hill, describes its work as advancing gender, self-determination, collective safety, and community rooted in systems of care.

"We work in the intersection of housing justice, policy transformation, movement lawyering, and narrative power to shift cultural norms and expand what safety and liberation can look like for Black, trans, and gender-expansive people," explained Le Duff.

Le Duff took a moment to frame the circumstances of the interconnected crises points that make this work even more critical. "The end goal right now is for 1% of people to have superiority over everyone else. And the way to get that process through is to distract with something that is going to get the people riled up, which right now is trans folks, while they're also rolling back Roe v. Wade, while they're also rolling back protections for women, women's healthcare, while they're also abducting [Brown] people and putting them in camps."

She went on to name unnecessary wars, water shortages, and the hunger and housing crises as what our country should be focusing on as opposed to who is peeing where and checking genitals. "Make it make sense. It makes no sense," said Le Duff.

Barton, Neuman and Le Duff each addressed various difficulties that they have encountered. Barton talked about canceling a trip to Detroit and being hesitant to travel. "Not only am I trans, but I'm also racially ambiguous, and what does that mean to walk through TSA with ICE agents, etcetera?" asked Barton.

"What is challenging is to be a person that represents or that is a part of a community, working in community, while also fighting for community, while also experiencing the harm that is happening to said community," said Le Duff. " It's such a layered experience that I don't think people fully understand."

She also talked about the dehumanizing way many of the bills and initiatives are written. "We don't live on paper, we don't live on documents. We don't live on court orders … we don't live on laws," Le Duff explained. "We live in our human body. We live in our flesh. We live in our blood. We live in our spirit. And I refuse to keep giving power to paper and pens, inanimate objects. I refuse to do that. So the work that the Lavender Rights Project is doing supports giving people back their humanity, and that's what drew me here."

Neuman noted the rise in hate crimes since Trump became president, but also talked about a more subtle dynamic of folks being less willing to engage in LGBTQ issues. "It's harder to fundraise for LGBTQ issues and support than it has been in the past," said Neuman.

Neuman worked on the Washington Won't Discriminate campaign in 2017, but shares that in 2026, this work feels different. "I think right now, it's a very existential moment. It's very scary. The pushback against the Trump administration is not there in the way that it was in the past."

Daily we are inundated with awful stories, from ICE kidnappings to people being killed in the street. That level of overwhelm makes it difficult to get out of bed each day, let alone to pick something to care about and to stand up and fight.

"Every marginalized community in some capacity has a through line, which is humanity," shared Le Duff. "And we're all fighting for humanity. And I don't think people recognize that, and I wish more people would humanize the experiences of other people. But I feel that's the biggest disconnection right now."

Dreaming Beyond Struggle and Survival

Even with all the challenges, Neuman says he is proud of how Seattle is navigating this time. "Yeah, if I could be anywhere in this country right now, I would be in Washington State," said Neuman. "Our government has really come in swinging and trying to be intentional to support our community, and I've been very impressed. I'm very happy with the level of support they've shown."

Barton cautions that we're only as progressive as what we do, not just what we say we believe. "I wouldn't romanticize any place as being safe. I think it matters who is there, when they're there, how situations are being handled."

In the midst of everything, Le Duff views her purpose as being a force of love, authenticity, and compassion and encourages everyone to remember their humanity. She still envisions a future where trans folks are protected under the law and their existence can be more than struggle and survival. But thriving takes the capacity to dream, and dreaming is difficult under the circumstances.

Le Duff prays that people will begin to dream again. "Because I know with dreaming comes liberation, with dreaming comes thriving, with dreaming comes change. I just want people to be able to dream again."

She also warned folks to pay attention to how things are unfolding, even if they don't think they are affected by the movement for trans rights. "I'll say what Ts Madison said, and I'm sure somebody else [said] it too: 'If they're coming for me today, they can come for you tomorrow.'"

When asked what allies can do to meet this moment, Barton responded, "There are 700-something [anti-trans] bills happening right now, and we need everybody. But singular individual people can't do everything. So find the thing that you most want to fight for and keep showing up to that. Don't allow a lull to let us sit down, sit back down for a second, right? Show up to public comment, write those letters, protest, if that's your lane. Whatever your lane is, if mutual aid is your lane, stay there and keep doing it and keep showing up."

Reagan E. J. Jackson (she/her) is a Seattle-based writer, facilitator, and book doula. She is the author of Still True: The Evolution of an Unexpected Journalist (Hinton Publishing 2024), three full-length collections of poetry, two children's books, and over 100 articles. Jackson is continuously plotting ways Black women can recharge, reset, reimagine, and rest. She is currently working on her debut young adult fiction novel.