Anti-Trans Moral Panics Endanger All Young People

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/anti-trans-moral-panics-endanger-all-young-people/

A moral panic is sweeping though state legislatures in the U.S., an irrational feeling that harmless groups pose a threat to society and need to be stopped. The outbreak rides on an emotional and political package of rhetoric and laws that label some people as worthy of social and political support, and others—trans kids and adults—as deviants.

There’s no hiding from the panic: so far this year, state lawmakers have introduced 543 bills in 49 states identified as anti-transgender legislation; another 32 bills aim to stop drag queens from performing in certain spaces. Montana, for example, has made it illegal for trans children to receive health care in conjunction with their parents and doctors. The legislation is titled, “Provide for a youth health protection act.” Tennessee has banned drag attire in public spaces. This legislation renders trans and gender non-conforming people vulnerable to discrimination.

This morality policing signals a new form of governance over gender identity in the U.S. However, the underlying issue is not gender, but rather a “war on youth” that is using trans issues as a vehicle to impose control over children, teens and all young people. This charade is in keeping with the literature: “Moral panic is the outbreak of moral concern over a supposed threat from an agent of corruption that is out of proportion to its actual danger,” according to scholars Erich Goode and Nachman Ben-Yehuda.

Historically, panics have emerged over witches, comic books, music lyrics, video games, kids playing soccer, Judy Blume books, satanic worship or drag queens. The common thread between them all is a grievance-driven bid to control people. Today, state-sanctioned transphobia and racism send a message about who should feel safe in society and who should not. Or as transgender advocate Eloise Brook told me over e-mail, “The only thing that conservatives can think to do to stem the tide of tolerance is to undertake a national project to legislate gender diversity out of the public eye.”

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