Trans in the USA

The U.S. Supreme Court issued its fifth anti-trans decision in less than a year, reinstating an injunction that could mandate forced outing of trans youth across California and undermine school confidentiality policies nationwide. The DOJ is meanwhile appealing federal judges' orders blocking subpoenas for gender-affirming care patient records, with the first oral arguments heard Friday in the Ninth Circuit in the case against telehealth company QueerDoc. And eight trans inmates say the Bureau of Prisons is illegally denying them gender-affirming care despite a federal court order last June to restore accommodations, with legal filings documenting noncompliance at 19 different facilities.

At the state level, Tennessee lawmakers are targeting trans people's access to health care with a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ bills that would bar TennCare from covering gender-affirming care, prohibit providers from asking minors about gender identity without parental permission, and expand state reporting requirements. The Colorado Supreme Court will hear an appeal over gender-affirming care for minors after Children's Hospital Colorado paused care over Medicaid funding concerns and a lower court denied parents' request to restore it. Experts are echoing what I reported back in September: bathroom bans are likely to harm mental health and increase risks for trans people, and Kansas's new law—which includes a bounty-style provision allowing individuals to sue for $1,000 per incident—has no evidence backing its proponents' safety claims.

The APA released an update on policies affecting gender-diverse populations, highlighting ethical dilemmas for psychologists caught between restrictive federal regulations and evidence-based care. On the protective side, a bill expanding Oregon's shield laws to protect providers of abortions and gender-affirming care to out-of-state patients has passed both chambers, creating additional privacy rights and making court petitions for a legal sex change confidential.

Florida has deemed all existing intro to sociology textbooks illegal and produced its own, with the Board of Governors overseeing the new curricula including roofing contractors and insurance execs, but no educators.

Trans Globally

NHS England paused new prescriptions of gender-affirming hormones for 16- and 17-year-olds effective today, launching a 90-day consultation after an evidence review concluded data does not support continued use—while Gender Plus, the only CQC Outstanding-rated private provider, called the decision contrary to every reputable expert body in the field. An NHS pilot targeting trans kids under 10 has been revealed to rely on research from the 1960s while ignoring all modern literature on trans children, with no risk assessment for potential harm to the 12 children and families who would participate.

QueerAF published a deep explainer on Goodwin v UK, the 2002 European Court of Human Rights case whose significance is being erased in the wake of the For Women Scotland ruling. A TransActual report found 99% of trans people in the UK say anti-trans media coverage has harmed their mental health, with the hostile environment actively deterring trans people from seeking healthcare. And the Trans Advocacy and Complaints Collective filed supplemental evidence with GANHRI questioning the EHRC's compliance with the Paris Principles, concluding that the commission has become one of the most significant risks to the safety and equal treatment of trans people in the UK.

Australia's health regulator AHPRA ordered psychiatrist Andrew Amos to stop making online statements about gender and barred him from direct clinical contact, after complaints about social media posts claiming trans identification cannot be differentiated from psychosis.

A Malaysian government minister called on the public and media to replace the term "LGBT" with "deviant culture" to prevent normalization, drawing condemnation from human rights groups who say the remarks violate constitutional protections and fuel violence.

Protect your patients' data. If you're in the UK, the Gender Recognition (Disclosure of Information) Order 2026 creates a new legal gateway for an NHS data linkage study; share this guide on how to opt out of NHS data being used for research with your privacy-concerned patients before the order takes effect on March 20.

Support trans community spaces. Southern Oregon's first dedicated transgender community center is opening in Ashland this spring, offering peer support, free clothing, career assistance, and weekly programming for gender-diverse individuals and their families. What could you help build in your community?

Show up like you mean it. Parents are putting their freedom on the line to protest the dismantling of youth gender-affirming care programs, with 25 arrested last month blocking the entrance to HHS headquarters. What are you willing to risk?

Later this week I’ll have an article about the impact of the Texas ban on affirming talk therapy, and the next edition of Peer Reviewed.