Dr. Rachel Levine is less than a month into her history-making tenure as the assistant secretary for health, but that feat hasn’t stopped her from addressing the swath of anti-trans laws hitting state legislatures across the nation.
On Thursday, Levine sat down with Forbes for her first interview since the Senate confirmed her in March, making Levine the first trans woman to hold a Cabinet-level position and the highest-ranking openly transgender government official in U.S. history.
She wasted no time blasting states like Tennessee and Arkansas for passing anti-trans laws harming trans youth, calling these measures “draconian.”
“The governors have signed some of these bills to both limit participation of trans girls in sports and then also even these more draconian laws about limiting medical care for transgender youth,” Levine told Forbes.
As the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) confirmed to them. on Thursday, at least 115 anti-trans bills have been introduced in 33 state legislatures this year, making 2021 the worst-ever year for transphobic legislation. The national advocacy group said 2021 is also on the cusp of breaking 2016’s record number of bills attacking the LGBTQ+ community overall, with more than 250 put forward this year. Five years ago, 252 discriminatory bills were put forward in state legislatures.
According to HRC, 64 of these bills specifically target trans girls from competing in school sports, including legislation in West Virginia and Oklahoma. Another 31 seek to limit gender-affirming care for trans youth, such as Arkansas, which became the first state to pass a law banning hormones and puberty blockers earlier this month.
Arkansas has passed three laws this year targeting LGBTQ+ people in 2021, including an anti-trans sports ban and a bill allowing medical workers to refuse treatment to LGBTQ+ patients on the basis of religion.
Levine, who formerly served as Pennsylvania’s secretary of health, told Forbes these laws hurt already marginalized trans youth.
“We know that transgender youth are vulnerable,” she said. “They have the high risk of being bullied, of having harassment in schools or in their community and I think they need all of our support. And I think that these bills that limit their participation in sports and especially that seek to limit the opportunities for standards of care and medical care are extremely difficult and those are draconian.”
Reports indicate that these efforts have already had a dire impact on trans young people in the states where transphobic legislation has been introduced. Dr. Michele Hutchison, who runs a gender clinic at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, told the Associated Press that 4 of her patients have attempted to end their lives since the bill passed.
Levine is no stranger to addressing transphobia from Republican lawmakers. During her Senate confirmation hearing, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) erroneously likened “genital mutilation” to adolescent gender confirmation surgery. While she didn’t respond directly to Paul’s transphobic comments at the time, she told him that “transgender medicine is a very complex and nuanced field” and said she looks forward to “discussing the particulars of standards of care of transgender medicine” if confirmed.
According to Levine, Paul has not gotten in touch to have that conversation.
“If the senator reaches out and asks to meet with me, then I would be very pleased to meet with the senator and his staff,” she told Forbes. “I’m going to work with everybody. You know, collaboration is really one of the hallmarks of my leadership style. I am looking to collaborate, and I’m pleased to collaborate with those that didn’t vote for me.”
Despite the opposition she has faced amid the attacks on trans people across the country, Levine made it clear that optimism and positivity will be tentpoles of her trailblazing tenure.
“I draw from my faith,” she told NPR earlier this month. “I draw from my spirituality. I draw things from my experiences, the people I’ve met. Again, I try to use everything I’ve ever learned and experiences personally and professionally in my work to serve the American people.”
Get the best of what’s queer. Sign up for them.’s weekly newsletter here.
