1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to oppose age verification legislation that creates discriminatory barriers for transgender people while failing to achieve its stated child protection goals. Age verification systems rely on government-issued identification and biometric technologies that are fundamentally biased against trans individuals. Trans people are more likely to have outdated identification that doesn't match their current gender presentation, and facial recognition technology has demonstrated measurable bias in misgendering trans users. Os Keyes, a postdoctoral fellow at UMass Lowell, explains that hormone replacement therapy affects facial soft tissues in ways that confuse these systems, meaning trans adults over 18 are incorrectly blocked from accessing legal content. The UK's implementation of age verification under the Online Safety Act in July 2025 illustrates how these laws extend far beyond pornography. A BBC investigation found Reddit and X blocking posts about wars in Gaza and Ukraine, while health and advice forums have been restricted. This disproportionately harms LGBTQI+ communities who rely on online spaces for medical information, support networks, and connections with nonprofits. Data security concerns are particularly acute for trans people. Recent breaches demonstrate the dangers: Discord's verification data was hacked, and the Tea app suffered a breach where 4chan users accessed selfies, driver's licenses, and addresses to create maps pinpointing users' homes. The National Partnership for Women and Families notes that sensitive personal records have already been used to prosecute reproductive health activities. ICE has long used data brokers for enforcement, and combining biometric data with personal information could enable offline violence against trans people. There is no clear evidence that age verification dramatically reduces minors viewing restricted content. Non-compliant sites are seeing rising traffic, and VPN usage has surged as users circumvent location checks. Real harms to children online, including social media's impact on eating disorders and chatbots encouraging suicidal urges, require structural accountability for tech companies, not expanded surveillance infrastructure that entrenches discrimination. I urge you to oppose age verification mandates and instead support legislation that holds companies accountable for harmful design choices without creating discriminatory barriers for marginalized communities.