By Julie Barrett, Founder, Conservative Ladies of America
A new report from the Williams Institute estimates that over 2.8 million Americans aged 13 and older now identify as transgender, roughly 1% of the population. But the real headline isn’t the total. It’s the age breakdown.
Youth aged 13–17 now make up 25.3% of the transgender-identifying population, despite representing just 7.7% of the general U.S. population. That’s a staggering overrepresentation that demands scrutiny.
The Numbers Behind the Narrative
- 3.3% of U.S. teens now identify as transgender
- 2.72% of young adults (18–24) do the same
- Compare that to just 0.42% of adults aged 35–64 and 0.26% of seniors
This isn’t a slow cultural shift, it’s a generational spike. And it’s not evenly distributed across the country.
Education as Catalyst: A Decade of Institutional Influence
Over the past ten years, public schools have increasingly adopted gender ideology as part of their curriculum, policies, and staff training. Here’s how:
- Curriculum Integration: Many districts now teach that gender is a spectrum, that children can choose their gender, and that biological sex is separate from gender identity. These concepts are often introduced in elementary school, sometimes even before.
- Pronoun Policies: Students are encouraged to select pronouns, and teachers are often required to use them even if they conflict with biological sex.
- Social Transition Support: Schools in states like California, Washington, and New York have protocols for supporting a child’s gender transition without parental consent.
- Staff Training: Teachers and counselors are trained to affirm gender identity and avoid “misgendering,” with some districts penalizing staff who dissent.
- Parental Exclusion: In some districts, schools are instructed not to inform parents if a child identifies as transgender, citing student privacy protections.
These policies don’t reflect cultural change; they actively shape it. When institutions validate identity exploration and frame gender as fluid, children are more likely to adopt those identities.
State Commissions and Government Messaging
States with the highest transgender identification rates, like Minnesota, Washington, California, and New York, have gone beyond education. They’ve created government commissions and programs that promote LGBTQ+ identity as a public good.
- Washington State LGBTQ Commission: Established in 2020, this taxpayer-funded body advises the governor and legislature on LGBTQ+ issues, promotes gender-affirming care, and pushes for inclusive education policies.
- California’s Office of Equity: Works with the Department of Education to embed gender identity into curriculum standards and teacher training.
- Minnesota’s Queer Caucus: Led by Rep. Leigh Finke, the state’s first “transgender” legislator, this group helped pass the “Trans Refuge” law and promotes gender-affirming policies across agencies.
These programs don’t just protect rights, they normalize and promote transgender identification through public messaging, funding, and institutional validation.
Mental Health Mandates: Affirmation or Silencing?
In the therapeutic world, the “gender-affirming model” has become dominant. It’s not just a best practice, it’s increasingly a legal requirement.
- Conversion Therapy Bans (often misunderstood): Over 20 states now ban “conversion therapy” for minors. While originally intended to prohibit coercive practices aimed at changing sexual orientation, many of these laws have expanded to include any counseling that questions or explores a child’s gender identity.
→ This means therapists may be barred from helping a child understand or reconcile gender confusion unless they affirm the child’s declared identity.
→ (Important distinction: “Gender-affirming care” refers to medical and psychological support that affirms a person’s stated gender identity. “Conversion therapy bans,” in this context, prohibit therapeutic approaches that explore or challenge that identity—even if the child is distressed or uncertain.) - Therapist Restrictions: In states like Colorado, California, and Washington, therapists can face professional sanctions if they don’t affirm a child’s declared gender identity, even if the child is confused, distressed, or influenced by social factors.
- Legal Challenges: The Supreme Court is set to hear Chiles v. Salazar, a case challenging Colorado’s law that forces therapists to affirm gender identity or risk losing their license. Several states have formed a coalition to “urge” the Supreme Court to uphold Colorado’s law banning conversion therapy.
This shift means that watchful waiting, a once-standard approach to gender distress, is being replaced by immediate affirmation, often leading to social transition, medicalization, and long-term consequences.
Minnesota: A Case Study in Policy-Driven Identity
Minnesota now ranks #1 in the nation for adult transgender identification, with 1.2% of adults identifying as transgender, that’s 50% higher than the national average.
- In 2022, Minnesota elected Rep. Leigh Finke, the state’s first openly transgender legislator.
- In 2023, the state passed a “Trans Refuge” law, allowing courts to take emergency custody of a child if they are “unable to obtain gender-affirming health care”—even if the parent objects.
This isn’t just affirmation. It’s state intervention against parental authority.
Connecting the Dots
Taken together, the data and policy landscape reveal a clear pattern: transgender identification, especially among youth, is not rising due to organic cultural shifts. It is being actively shaped by institutional forces. Public education systems have embedded gender ideology into curriculum and policy. State governments have created commissions and legal protections that promote identity adoption. And mental health professionals are increasingly required to affirm gender identity without question. The result is a feedback loop where identity, policy, and institutional messaging reinforce one another, often at the expense of parental rights, medical caution, and long-term well-being. This isn’t just a demographic trend. It’s a highly coordinated transformation of how identity is defined, validated, and enforced.
What You Can Do
- Educate your community: Share the data, not the spin.
- Push back on curriculum mandates: Demand transparency and parental opt-outs.
- Support legislation that restores parental rights and medical accountability.
- Expose the feedback loop: Show how government programs, education, and mental health mandates reinforce identity adoption.
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