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More Than Half of U.S. Trans Youth Live in States with Restrictive Laws
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A report released by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law shows that 53% of transgender youth ages 13 to 17 in the United States—approximately 382,800 young people—live in 29 states that have enacted laws or policies restricting their access to gender-affirming care, participation in school sports, use of bathrooms and facilities aligned with their gender identity, or the use of gender-affirming pronouns in schools.
The study, titled “The Impact of 2025 Anti-Transgender Legislation on Youth,” estimates that about 724,000 youth in this age group identify as transgender nationwide. In 2025 alone, 24 states passed or expanded at least one type of restrictive legislation, affecting an estimated 329,200 transgender youth, or 46% of the total.
Breaking down the restrictions, 362,900 transgender youth—50% of the total—live in 27 states with bans on gender-affirming care for minors. Four states—Arkansas, Kansas, New Hampshire, and West Virginia—enacted new or expanded restrictions on such care in 2025, with Kansas implementing a new ban and the others broadening existing ones. Additionally, 17 states bar the use of Medicaid funds for gender-affirming care for minors, impacting 274,300 transgender youth, or 38%.
On sports participation, 382,800 transgender youth—53%—reside in 29 states with laws limiting their involvement in school sports. Six states—Georgia, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, and Utah—enacted or expanded these laws in 2025, including new bans in Georgia, Kentucky, Nebraska, and New Hampshire.
Bathroom and facility restrictions affect 348,400 transgender youth—48%—in 25 states, where laws prohibit use of facilities matching their gender identity or define “sex” in ways that could deny access. In 2025, states including Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming enacted or expanded such measures.
Pronoun restrictions impact 262,700 transgender youth—33%—in 16 states, with laws limiting gender-affirming pronoun use in schools or requiring parental notification for pronoun changes. Five states—Montana, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia—enacted or expanded pronoun laws in 2025, while Ohio and West Virginia added parental notification requirements. Eight states with notification laws affect 112,100 transgender youth, or 16%.
Regional disparities are stark: 95% of transgender youth in the South and 51% in the Midwest live under at least one restriction, compared to 83% in the West and 74% in the Northeast living in states with shield laws. Nearly 40%, or 285,300, reside in 17 states plus Washington, D.C., with shield laws protecting gender-affirming care access; seven states including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Vermont, and Washington expanded or enacted such protections in 2025.
Lead author Joshua Arrayales, a law fellow at the Williams Institute, stated, “For the past few years, we have witnessed a trend of escalating state legislation affecting transgender youth. The resulting patchwork of laws and policies is creating very different lived realities for transgender youth across the United States.” Coauthor Elana Redfield, federal policy director at the Williams Institute, noted, “Research consistently shows that supportive environments for transgender youth are associated with better mental health outcomes. Unfortunately, many policies at the state and federal level are making it harder for transgender youth to access these supports, and even to participate in basic aspects of public life.”
The report also references federal actions, including executive orders under President Donald Trump that deny recognition of transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people, further restrict gender-affirming care, and target states allowing transgender students to participate in sports consistent with their gender identity. Thirty-six percent of transgender youth, or 262,700, live in 16 states with all four types of restrictions.
