Us & Them: Transgender In The Mountain State

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling just out upholds a state ban on gender affirming care for transgender minors. The Tennessee case will likely bolster efforts by conservative state lawmakers to regulate care for transgender Americans. It’s the most recent effort in the culture war over gender identity and LGBTQ rights. On this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay hears about the fallout from this social and political battle for transgender people in West Virginia. Kay also talks with people shaping the debate over transgender rights. LGBTQ allies say the legal and legislative efforts deny trans people the right to declare their own gender identity, while some conservative policy makers say transgender women are erasing women’s rights; from privacy in the bathroom to athletic competition. The transgender population, estimated at less than one percent of America, is a social lightening rod of our culture wars.