1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

Transgender Americans now face a patchwork of legal risks so severe that their safety depends entirely on which state border they cross. This is unacceptable in a nation founded on equal protection under law. As of February 2026, three states have earned "Do Not Travel" designations for transgender adults. Kansas enacted a bounty-style bathroom law allowing private citizens to sue transgender people for substantial sums simply for using restrooms. Florida permits arrest of transgender people for using bathrooms consistent with their gender identity and threatens fraud charges for drivers licenses. Texas is ignoring court-ordered drivers license changes and creating a database of people attempting such changes, while its statewide bathroom ban has already resulted in detainments. Fifteen additional states have legislatively erased transgender people entirely, removing legal rights associated with gender identities. North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Tennessee prohibit any changes to birth certificates. Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Tennessee have ended legal recognition of transgender people altogether. These aren't abstract policy debates. These are laws that make it impossible for your constituents to exist safely in large portions of their own country. The situation for transgender youth has deteriorated so dramatically that no state can now be classified as low risk, even those with protective legislation on the books. Institutional capitulation has accelerated nationwide, with few attorneys general actively enforcing protections when institutions cave to federal pressure. Executive orders have targeted transgender youth so severely that nonprofits have halted services, healthcare providers face federal bans, and teachers have been warned they could be investigated for practicing medicine without a license simply for using a student's chosen name. Your constituents deserve better than a country where their legal rights and physical safety evaporate at state lines. I urge you to champion federal protections that establish baseline civil rights for transgender people nationwide, regardless of geography. Equal protection cannot be optional.