In our last blog post, we talked about the dangers of giving states the power to decide whether to protect some of the most vulnerable youth in our population: transgender students. Unfortunately, leaving it up to states gives certain states the option to discriminate, rather than protect. Unfortunately, we know this is true because it’s exactly how slavery and segregation played out until they were abolished by the federal government.

We see what they are aiming for in theory: a “free market” of living. They want people to move to different states if the one they currently live in doesn’t offer the proper protection. That’s all well and good, but doesn’t really help or protect transgender students living in Wyoming (or one of the other many states without mandated protections.) A sophomore in high school can’t just up and move to New York City and enroll in a protected school. To show you a specific example, we have created a small infographic explaining the difference between two states very near and dear to us: Wyoming and Colorado.

As you can see, the only clear-cut solution that exists for true equality is to have federally-mandated protections for all of our students. It just makes sense.