A year before the presidential election, transidentity at the heart of the American culture war

Starting Friday, September 1, Texas will become the largest US state to ban medical professionals from providing medical assistance to transgender minors. Legislation now prohibits medical personnel from prescribing hormone inhibitors or performing surgery. An exception exists, however, for minors who are already taking hormone-blocking drugs or who are receiving hormone therapy. In this specific case, the law requires a medical "withdrawal" over an appropriate period.

As soon as this law was signed by the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, on June 2, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas decided to launch legal proceedings. "Abbott can't stop transgender youth from thriving in Texas," she said. A position widely shared by the White House, which joined in the criticism, through the voice of Karine Jean-Pierre, senior deputy White House press secretary, pointing to “unprecedented attacks” against the LGBTQ community. “Despite everything, our community remains resilient. The Biden-Harris administration sees you. We are by your side,” she insisted.

Joe Biden himself said last March that attacks on transgender people “must stop”. In particular, he denounced the restrictions put in place by conservative states on minors' access to transitional medical procedures.

And for good reason, the American culture war has turned into a real legislative confrontation. Indeed, the southern state is far from being the first to have legislated on these issues. The New York Times estimates that at least 13 states “have enacted laws or policies in recent months to ban or significantly limit the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and gender transition surgeries” . Greg Abbott has also followed in the footsteps of his Florida counterpart, Ron DeSantis, who, last May, had enacted an almost identical law. "With my signature, Florida permanently bans genital mutilation surgery and experimental puberty blockers for minors," he wrote on X, declining to talk about "transition" surgeries.

“Texas is following the example that worked wonders for Ron DeSantis in Florida. When the latter positions himself as a champion in the fight against wokism, all Republicans know that behind this word there is the fight against trans demands. DeSantis was re-elected triumphantly on this record with a 20-point lead in the last elections”, analyzes journalist David Thomson, permanent correspondent in the United States and specialist in the American right. The governor of Florida had indeed made no secret of his objective: "Florida is the place where wokism comes to die", he hammered in January during his inaugural speech.

However, the strategy employed by the second and third most populous states in the United States is far from unrelated to the electoral deadline of 2024. “The campaign for the Republican primaries is partly played on transidentity”, underlines David Thompson. “The conservative base is panicked by the arrival of transgender demands in public schools and in sports competitions. Republican leaders promise to put an end to it, ”he continues. One year from the presidential election, the New York Times has also ranked the question of the rights of transgender people as one of the essential subjects to follow on the side of the Republicans, among "economic policy", "climate change or even “immigration”. "Trans claims are at the heart of the American culture war and the two Americas seem irreconcilable on this theme," says the journalist.

These subjects are all the more electric as the younger generations take hold of them and feel particularly concerned. According to a survey by the University of Los Angeles, dating from June 2022, 1.4% of Americans aged 13 to 17 identify as transgender compared to 0.5% among those over 18. And it is around these questions of minority that the debates electrify. “We refuse to have our children told that they were born in the wrong body,” Ron DeSantis keeps repeating.

To read also Dora Moutot - Marguerite Stern: "In the playgrounds, gender dysphoria has become a fashion"

The battle is not limited to legislative issues. It is carried out on other fronts, such as the boycott of certain brands. Dylan Mulvaney, a trans activist, found herself this year at the heart of a controversy that shook countries. To celebrate the first anniversary of her transition, the latter had received a personalized can from the giant Anheuser-Busch InBev brand. "I'm celebrating my 365th day as a girl, and Bud Light has sent me what might be the greatest gift in the world," she said to the camera and all smiles. According to David Thomson, “his video literally hysterized the conservative world and gave rise to a vast boycott of the brand whose turnover is now in free fall. Dylan Mulvaney is as celebrated on the left as it is hated on the right. The little controversy sums up well one of the divisions that will divide the United States in the months to come.