A U.S. Supreme Court ruling just out upholds a state ban on gender affirming care for transgender minors. The Tennessee case will likely bolster efforts by conservative state lawmakers to regulate care for transgender Americans. It’s the most recent effort in the culture war over gender identity and LGBTQ rights. 

On this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay hears about the fallout from this social and political battle for transgender people in West Virginia. Kay also talks with people shaping the debate over transgender rights. 

LGBTQ allies say the legal and legislative efforts deny trans people the right to declare their own gender identity, while some conservative policy makers say transgender women are erasing women’s rights; from privacy in the bathroom to athletic competition. 

The transgender population, estimated at less than one percent of America, is a social lightening rod of our culture wars. 

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the CRC Foundation.

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On Inauguration Day 2025, President Trump signed the first of several executive orders targeting transgender rights. Its title: “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”

Over the past decade, the United States has seen a political tug-of-war over transgender rights. In 2016, North Carolina passed the nation’s first so-called “bathroom bill,” requiring people to use restrooms that match the sex listed on their birth certificates. The backlash was swift—tourism, sports events, and business conferences boycotted the state. Even then-presidential candidate Donald Trump criticized the law.

But once elected, Trump reversed course. His administration rolled back many Obama-era protections for LGBTQ people. Since then, federal transgender policies have swung with each new presidency. President Joe Biden restored many protections after taking office in 2021 and pushed for broader safeguards. But during the 2024 campaign, Trump vowed to dismantle Biden’s transgender policies.

“I did not make my campaign about being transgender. We celebrated the kind of historic moment around it and then we got to work. And that was a successful strategy because, frankly, people don't care about it that much. I didn't get calls when I was on city council about people hating me being transgender. They hated that their garbage didn't get picked up on time, or that they liked more public art in their community, or whatever that was. But I do think what we're experiencing now is an example of the pendulum swinging or the backlash from LGBTQ folks kind of entering media or politics.” 

— Rosemary Ketchum, former Wheeling City Council Member

After an unsuccessful 2024 bid for mayor of Wheeling, Rosemary Ketchum became executive director of the West Virginia Nonprofit Association. As a teenager, she was inspired by President Barack Obama and progressive politics she discovered on YouTube. Ketchum launched her public life as a community organizer in Wheeling, focusing on homelessness, racial justice, mental health and LGBTQ equality.

Though no longer in elected office, Ketchum remains politically engaged. When newly elected Gov. Patrick Morrisey delivered his State of the State address in February 2025, she attended to hear his plans. During the speech, Morrisey announced support for the Riley Gaines Act, which defines individuals strictly as male or female based on their sex assigned at birth.

“And I’m sitting there as a trans person. Whether or not they connected the dots and went, wait a minute, that person is now impacted by this bill, I don’t know. But it felt very surreal, frankly.”

— Rosemary Ketchum, former Wheeling City Council member

In its 2025 session, the West Virginia Legislature passed the Riley Gaines Act, which defines sex based on a person’s sex assigned at birth and regulates access to bathrooms and other public spaces accordingly. Lawmakers also approved a bill banning public schools from teaching about gender identity.

“Today we sent a strong message that West Virginia stands with women. West Virginia will not bow down to radical gender ideology – we are going to lead with common sense, and the Riley Gaines Act does exactly that. Thank you to Riley, the Independent Women’s Voice, and the many women and girls around the country standing up for what is right.”

— West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey 

Read more about Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s press release on the signing of the Riley Gaines Act.

Beth Parlato says Independent Women has worked for years with lawmakers in West Virginia and across the country. She says West Virginia used IW’s model legislation for each of its transgender-related bills this year, including the Riley Gaines Act. Named after a former collegiate swimmer from Kentucky who now serves as an Independent Women ambassador, the law defines humans strictly as male or female. Gaines has become a vocal critic of what she calls “the extreme agenda to erase women.” As the bill’s drafter, Parlato explains why she believes it’s essential to legally define male and female.

“Because men are self-identifying and invading into women's spaces, including athletics. So it has to be defined. Female has got to be defined - that you are, biologically born female. Men are physiologically and biologically different from women. They're stronger, they are faster, they're taller, they have greater muscle mass, larger hearts, larger lungs, there is an absolute male athletic advantage. And when men are allowed to participate on girls teams. Not only is it unfair, but you're stealing roster spots, you're stealing trophies, you are stealing the girls' opportunities to compete.”

— Beth Parlato, Senior Legal Advisor for Independent Women

Transgender people make up less than 1% of the U.S. population, but they live in cities and towns across the country. Several advocacy groups now work to bring data and facts to that reality.

One of those organizations is the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law. Elana Redfield, the institute’s federal policy director, says it was founded more than 20 years ago to address a lack of high-quality data on the experiences of LGBTQ people.

“Because the data wasn’t great, a lot of policies were enacted based on stereotypes or myths,” Redfield says.

She adds that data collection on the transgender population has improved significantly in two decades, thanks to better standards for survey questions and more robust methods. The Williams Institute’s population estimates are based on federal data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We have relied upon them [CDC] to get these data in the last several iterations of our population estimates. And what's great about them is that there's a large population, there's a large sample size. So we can say with some degree of certainty that they are accurate. Unfortunately, the current administration has moved to remove gender identity questions from these surveys. So now what we're seeing is that at the federal government level, the data are not being collected, processed, analyzed. And this is also a system that relies upon state participation. So some states might be disincentivized to participate. And even if they did collect the data and share it with the federal government, it wouldn't be all coordinated together and published and analyzed to provide really reliable estimates. So, unfortunately, we’re seeing a little bit of erosion of our ability to use that means to assess population.”

— Elana Redfield is the Federal Policy Director at the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.

“I am still struggling with the reality that this is my last month here. Because again, this is home. These people are my home. And I love this state. Sorry. I, uh, I love the state and her people. So much. You know, sometimes when you love something, you truly do have to let it go for a bit. And I do hope that this isn't, you know, my final stay in West Virginia. I do hope that one day I can come back and feel safer and feel at home in a state that I love so deeply. But right now to have the future and the safety that I need and my family needs, West Virginia just doesn't have that for me right now.”

— Ash Lazarus Orr