SRA Statement and Action Steps in Support of Transgender and Gender Diverse Adolescents 

Recently legislators across the majority of states in the United States have introduced bills targeting transgender rights, with more than 100 bills focused specifically on transgender youth. These transphobic bills seek to place limits on transgender youths’ access to gender-affirming medical care, participation in youth sports, and locker rooms or bathrooms, and collectively, these bills will bring significant harm to trans and gender-diverse youth and their families. SRA firmly supports the rights of transgender and gender diverse youth to access gender affirming medical care and full participation in sporting activities. It has been well-documented that participating in extracurricular activities promotes a sundry of positive social and psychological developmental outcomes for youth, including reducing and preventing problem behavior. At SRA, we are taking the following steps to support trans and gender diverse youth and their families, and we also ask SRA members to join us in this important work:

1. SRA will provide a $5,000 donation to a trans rights advocacy group in Louisiana, the state where our 2022 biennial meeting will be held.  

2. SRA will partner with local New Orleans community organizations and hold a special session at the 2022 Biennial, focusing on how researchers, practitioners, scholars, students and others can work collaboratively to support trans equity and engage in action-oriented efforts to challenge these discriminatory bills. 

3. SRA is soliciting members to assist in writing an evidence brief in response to legislation targeting transgender youths' rights. We anticipate having this brief written by June 2021 and will distribute widely, targeting families, youth, teachers, legislatures, and social media. Please complete this form if you are interested in being involved in writing the evidence brief.

4. SRA will hold a webinar designed for teachers, practitioners, and scholars to advance efforts to support trans and gender-diverse youth and their families. The webinar will feature trans youth, parents, and experts sharing practical tips of how to support trans youth at this time of increased legal jeopardy.

5. SRA will develop a contract with trans-rights parent advocates to collate resources for youth and their families. These resources will be housed on our SRA website, under a tab that allows trans and gender diverse youth and their parents to easily access resources, including information to assist with ways to navigate various contexts, like schools and youth programs. We hope to unveil this website in June.

6. Finally, as SRA continues to plan for in-person meetings, we will be mindful of selecting host states that do not instantiate discriminatory laws that limit the rights of members of their communities. This wave of trans-phobic legislation has been accompanied by legislation targeting voting rights and contributing to voter suppression, which disproportionately affects BIPOC communities. We will seek locations for conferences where legislators are not contributing to structural racism by introducing and signing bills into laws aimed at curtailing the rights of marginalized groups.