Uncovering and Critiquing Political Discourse That Upholds Cisgender Dominance: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Recent Anti-Transgender State Bills in the Southeast U.S

Background & Purpose

There is a long history of efforts to marginalize and stigmatize transgender and non-binary (TNB) individuals. However, a significant burst of anti-trans legislation has emerged in the past few years, especially in the Southeast U.S. Conservative activists are using many tried-and-true strategies of policy framing that perpetuate oppression, such as framing TNB people as a “danger” to children. Using a feminist post-structuralist lens, the purpose of this study is to analyze anti-transgender state bills introduced in 2023 in the Southeastern U.S. to understand how cisgender dominance is being upheld through discourse. The research questions are: (a) How is cisgender identification and dominance being legitimized and reinforced through recent political discourse? (b) How does the language used legitimize or delegitimize certain ways of knowing or claims to knowledge?

Methods

This research uses critical discourse analysis to examine anti-transgender policies. The Southeast was selected as a focus because this region has notable hostility towards TNB populations yet the largest number of LGBTQ+ residents. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) exposes the hidden dynamics of power that inform everyday social acts and reveals how certain uses of language maintain or disrupt existing power structures in relation to outgroups.

This analysis focused on anti-transgender bills that were introduced—whether or not they became law—because public discussion of introduced legislation can significantly impact outgroups’ well-being. To identify relevant bills that negatively target TNB people, two different legislative databases were used. Translegislation.com is a specialized tool for locating anti-trans bills and was used to identify state bills introduced in 2023 in 10 Southeastern states of interest. The LegiScan website was used to search for any other relevant bills using keywords such as “gender identity,” “biological male,” “biological female,” “transgender,” and “opposite sex.” Additional keywords that commonly appeared in previously identified bills – like “immutable,” “impersonator,” and “diversity equity inclusion”— were used to further expand the search.

To determine if bills were relevant, attention was paid to whether they furthered cisgender dominance. 158 relevant state bills were retrieved from state legislative websites or legislative databases; after removing 31 duplicates, 127 state bills remained. Using the research questions as guides, each bill was closely reviewed within NVivo and open coded. Thematic analysis was used to identify patterns and common data clusters occurring across bills.

Results

Three broad themes were identified through the analysis: (a) attempts to prohibit, stigmatize, and erase identities that counter cisgender normativity; (2) creating a narrative of cisgender people (e.g., parents) as “victims” who are under attack; and (3) emerging efforts to undermine regulatory bodies – such as educational accreditors and professional licensing bodies – that have policies and ethical codes that confront cisgender dominance.

Conclusions & Implications

This presentation will highlight the overarching policy frames that are being used to uphold cisgender dominance and delegitimize TNB existence. Particular attention will be paid to highlighting implications relevant to the third theme because of the connection to social work accreditation and licensure, which has not been thoroughly discussed in previous research on anti-transgender legislation.