Which Democrats are Supporting Anti-Trans Laws?
Transitics has identified 200 Democrats who have supported or refused to oppose laws targeting trans Americans. Here are their names.
Every so often, a Democrat will face backlash over their support for a bill targeting the trans community. In recent years, it’s been Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Don Davis, Henry Cuellar, Laura Gillen, Gavin Newsom, Vicente Gonzalez, and a handful of others that dominated the discourse surrounding anti-trans Democrats. But while these figures are the most recognizable, they’re far from the only Democrats who are opposing trans rights.
However, as a result of the backlash they’ve faced, some of these Democrats have attempted to walk back their stances. And with good reason: they know that their power starts and ends with the consent of the governed, and that this consent is about accountability. It’s about holding them accountable to the platforms they ran on and the equality they’ve promised us. But in some states, that accountability is nowhere to be found.
As part of this project, Transitics has identified 200 Democrats with anti-trans voting records and/or histories of supporting anti-trans measures. Most of these are probably Democrats you’ve never even heard of before, and that’s part of the problem: news coverage of Democrats voting in favor of anti-trans measures has been extremely inconsistent. In a few states, including Pennsylvania and Michigan, these defections are covered as soon as they happen, but in others, a large number of the state’s Democrats can regularly side with Republicans and very few people will find out.
This is especially a problem in Arizona, Arkansas, and South Carolina, where a majority of Democrats—in Arizona, 41 percent when counting Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs—have anti-trans voting records. In Arizona, this includes many members of Democrats’ legislative leadership—a leadership which has facilitated the passage of dozens upon dozens of anti-trans bills by consistently giving them a ‘do pass’ recommendation (it’s worth mentioning that these bills have all been vetoed by Gov. Hobbs).
Meanwhile, in South Carolina, a bathroom law was recently passed that applies to schools and colleges, and although there was some news coverage of it, all of that coverage missed the most important detail: it passed with the support of 5 of the 7 Democrats in the State Senate and another 5 of the 30 (including 3 abstentions) in the State House. Aggregating SC Dems’ votes on other bills, the total number of Democrats with anti-trans voting records rises to 24 of 47, or 51%. And in Arkansas, that figure is 56%—the highest in the nation.
Before you get into the data, here’s a reference map for the proportion of anti-trans Democrats by state (you can also find a still image of this map at the top of the page):
These are the Democrats supporting anti-trans laws.
If you want an easy way to find this page in the future, you can also go to antitransdems.com! It’ll redirect you here!
Before you call:
I’ve included a way to contact each Democrat in case you feel like taking action. If that’s you, there’s a few things you should know before you make the call:
Be respectful. Messages from the public are usually answered by staffers whose views do not necessarily reflect those of the politician they work for—especially on individual issues. Being respectful towards them can go a long way in getting your message delivered to the politician you’re trying to reach.
Don’t be afraid to get personal. Personal experience invites more sympathy, so emphasize how anti-trans restrictions have affected you and give examples if you can!
Prioritize your state! Politicians are much more likely to listen to the messages of their constituents and other members of their community more generally.
Make a clear ask. Maybe it’s a specific bill you want them to reject or even one you want them to introduce. Or perhaps you want them to issue an apology or explanation for their past votes. Either way, giving them suggestions is always a good idea!
Your message makes a difference. Staffers keep track of the number of times their office receives a call about a particular issue and act accordingly. The more calls they receive about trans rights, the more likely they are to bring it up with their boss!
About the data:
Organization: Democrats have been grouped by their current office, starting with the US House, followed by governors and state legislators. From there, Democrats are sorted by their rating and then by state. You can also play around with this sorting if you’d like, this is just the default.
Each Democrat has been assigned a rating based on how frequently they support (or refuse to oppose) anti-trans measures. These ratings are mostly proportional to their voting record, but I will add that because of how harmful bathroom laws are to trans people, any Democrat who has refused to oppose them is given a minimum rating of ‘sometimes’ (with a few exceptions for those who have opposed them since casting their anti-trans vote). Absences are only counted against a Democrat in limited circumstances (usually if it’s repeated and the Dem has an anti-trans voting history already).
A voting record has also been included, which lists the issues each Democrat has defected on. Credit goes to LegiAlerts, whose bill trackers I relied on to review Democrats’ voting records. Please note that the voting records are likely non-exhaustive for some Democrats, as they were compiled entirely by hand, and they do encompass every vote a particular Democrat may have taken (especially in states with a large number of bills).
The next election column is meant to help paint a picture of when a politician might be feeling a little more pressure from voters (or, for those that aren’t running, when they might not be feeling that pressure). For simplicity, it excludes primaries where a Democrat is uncontested.
Lastly: this is an evolving list. Votes on anti-trans bills happen almost daily, and every so often a Democrat will join this list. And if there are any that I missed, please let me know!
Author’s Note: An earlier version of this page overcounted the number of Arizona Democrats with anti-trans. Changes have been made to reflect the corrected data.
There are definitely some things missing here. For example Amy Klobuchar has voted for multiple bills (e.g. ndaa) which have anti trans riders attached to them. I know there are other bills and other politicians when you expand the definition a bit. Ie liberals who have no problem ignoring antitrans stuff in bills but wont vocally speak against trans folks. Neither will they defend trans folks.
And then there are the politicians who when running refuse to have positions. E.g. Bercerra and Kamala Harris whose positions amount to little more than “I will follow the law” when speaking on trans issues.
Thank you.