The more than a dozen states where controversial laws PROHIBIT transgender people from legally transitioning

More than a dozen Republican-led states are advancing bills that could deny legal recognition to transgender people.

The legislation states that there are only two genders, male and female, which are defined based on the genitals the person is born with.

Kansas passed a law last year that ended legal recognition of trans identities, meaning people cannot change the gender on their birth certificate or passport.

A Florida law last month prevented transgender people from changing the gender on their state driver’s license.

But 11 other states — including West Virginia, Alabama and South Carolina — are considering similar measures, which LGBTQ groups have described as a “spit in the face.”

The latest proposal comes from Alabama, where lawmakers are advancing legislation to define man and woman based on sperm and eggs

The measures do not make it illegal to socially transition, or to take medications that help their bodies adapt to their preferred gender.

But campaigners warn there could be unforeseen consequences, such as transgender people being locked up in prisons with inmates of a certain gender they do not identify with.

Transgender people in states where bans are tightening have described the feelings associated with being handed a driver’s license with their old name and gender on it or hearing the wrong pronouns in government offices as “gross” and “frustrating.”

Other states with the legislation include Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming.

The latest proposal came from Alabama, where lawmakers have developed legislation defining sex based on reproductive anatomy.

According to the bill’s wording, a woman is someone who has a “reproductive system that produces eggs at some point,” and a man is someone who has a “reproductive system that produces sperm at some point.”

Based on these definitions, the bill also says that schools and local governments can designate single-sex spaces, such as bathrooms.

It requires any state-sponsored agency that collects information about sex to “identify each individual as male or female at birth.”

The Alabama senator behind that bill, April Weaver, said at its introduction in the Legislature that definitions will guide the courts in interpreting existing laws and “the time-honored definitions of male, female, woman, male, boy, girl, mother , father, will codify. and sex.’

And state Rep. Susan DuBose, author of the House version of the bill, told DailyMail.com that the bill’s purpose is “purely definitional” and does not affect driver’s licenses or other state-issued documents.

A poll found that at least 8 percent of trans adults have already left their neighborhood or state because of the new rules affecting them, and another 43 percent are considering making a move

But in practice, transgender advocates say this means a person’s formal identification issued by the state will not accurately reflect who he or she currently is.

This is an issue for many transgender people living in these states. One of them is Mack Allen, an 18-year-old high school student from Kansas whose driver’s license still identifies him as female despite having transitioned to male.

Describing sideways glances and snide comments from police officers and being called the wrong names and pronouns by doctor’s office staff, he told the Associated Press: “It just feels dirty because I worked so hard to get where I am today.” my transition, and obviously I don’t look or sound like a woman.”

Transgender advocates claim that politicians in Republican-led states are turning their constitutional rights into a political wedge issue.

Tori Cooper, director of community engagement for the Human Rights Campaign’s Trans Justice Initiative, said Vox: ‘These lawmakers want to homogenize the lives that people lead, and they have a very narrow-minded idea of ​​who people are and what people should look like, live their lives, and think.

“There is a deliberate attempt to use disinformation and disinformation to mislead people who do not know trans, non-binary or queer people personally, to perpetuate harm and prevent people from living honest, true and accurate lives.”

The proposals also throw into legal limbo those Americans who are “intersex,” meaning they are born with physical characteristics that do not fit typical definitions of male or female.

Some of them create vague exceptions for this population. For example, the West Virginia proposal says someone who is intersex “shall not be considered a third gender,” though the measure says people with a “medically verifiable” diagnosis should be considered.

And Alabama lawmakers added language saying sex can be classified as “unknown” in state records “when sex cannot be medically diagnosed for developmental or other reasons.”

Lawmakers behind efforts to codify a binary definition of sex into law have said their goal is to recognize the fundamental biological differences between men and women.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who introduced a proposal for her state that would require transgender people’s gender to be listed at birth next to their current gender on driver’s licenses, said, “Women and men are not identical; they possess unique biological differences. That’s not controversial, it’s common sense.’

Critics say these definitions are simply too narrow and deprive transgender people of the opportunity to live authentically with legal documentation that reflects who they are.

According to the United Nations: ‘Trans people are particularly vulnerable to human rights violations when their name and gender information in official documents does not correspond to their gender identity or expression. Today, however, the vast majority of trans and gender diverse people in the world do not have access to gender recognition by the state.

“That scenario creates a legal vacuum and an environment that tacitly fosters stigma and prejudice against them.”