Date of Graduation

5-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Political Science

Advisor/Mentor

Parry, Janine A.

Committee Member/Reader

Dowdle, Andrew

Committee Member/Second Reader

Dionne, Terrell J.

Abstract

Morality policy as a discipline saw its peak during the transformative years at the turn of the 21st century; however, there has been very little scholarship to follow new social policy issues that have arisen in the past two decades. Anti-transgender policy, specifically, can be considered under the morality policy scope following years of LGBTQ+ scholarship that fell under the morality policy umbrella. In 2023 alone, more than 200 pieces of anti-transgender legislation were introduced in state legislatures across the nation. A trend among the increasingly popular policy realm can be seen from gender affirming healthcare bans, where almost two dozen states have enacted the barring legislation. This essay provides background on what gender affirming healthcare is, and a qualitative research project on four comprehensive case studies conducted on the states of Arkansas, Texas, Tennessee, and Oklahoma – all states who passed gender affirming healthcare bans. In a contrasting case study, I present information on the state of Virginia, whose legislature unsuccessfully attempted to codify similar legislation. These case studies serve as evidence to my assertion that gender affirming healthcare bans, and anti-LGBTQ legislation more generally, can be considered morality policy.

Keywords

morality policy; anti-transgender legislation; social policy; gender affirming healthcare bans; case study

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