Forced Outing of Transgender Youth in Schools
Since 2020, there has been a growing legislative attack on transgender people, and particularly on transgender youth. This includes a growing number of bills (and now laws) that explicitly require school staff—and in some cases, any government or public employee—to out transgender youth to their families, often without regard for whether doing so might put the child at risk of harm. Importantly, however, these laws vary in their actual requirements, as shown below. Click the “Citations” button for more detail.
*Notes:
–States with a caution icon have policies that vary, but generally have vague requirements to notify parents about any “health” or behavioral concern, but that do not make any explicit mention of gender or gender identity. Because these laws could be broadly interpreted and used to target both transgender youth and LGBTQ youth in general, these may contribute to a hostile school climate for LGBTQ youth even without explicitly requiring forced outing. Note that laws that require general parental access to student records are redundant of existing federal law, and so are not included here. Click “Citations & More Information” beneath the map legend for more detail on each state’s policy.
–Note, Nevada’s policy is via regulation, not legislation.
–Note, Utah’s law applies only to official changes to a student’s education records (e.g., their gender marker or name officially noted on their record), not daily interaction with the student (e.g., conversational use of preferred name/pronouns).
–Note, Virginia’s policy is via agency policy, not legislation or regulation. However, state law requires school districts to adopt this model policy—though there has been resistance, and so implementation or enforcement may vary across the state. See “Citations & More Information” for more detail.
Recommended citation:
Movement Advancement Project. 2026. “Equality Maps: Forced Outing of Transgender Students.” www.mapresearch.org/equality-map/forced-outing-of-transgender-youth-in-schools/. Data as of July 11, 2026.
Percent of Transgender Youth Covered by Laws
*Note: These percentages reflect estimates of the transgender youth (ages 13-17) population living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Estimates of transgender youth in the U.S. territories or under age 13 are not available, and so cannot be reflected here. Population estimates are from The Williams Institute.
| State | Forced outing of transgender youth if they make specific disclosures or requests about their gender identity to school staff | Forced outing of transgender youth, but only if parents ask school staff for the information | Forced outing of transgender youth before school staff can use a student’s preferred name/pronouns | No forced outing law |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama |
|
Indicates an anti-LGBTQ Law
|
|
|
| Alaska |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| American Samoa |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Arizona |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Arkansas |
|
|
Indicates an anti-LGBTQ Law
|
|
| California |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Colorado |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Connecticut |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Delaware |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| District of Columbia |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Florida |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Georgia |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Guam |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Hawaii |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Idaho |
Indicates an anti-LGBTQ Law
|
|
|
|
| Illinois |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Indiana |
Indicates an anti-LGBTQ Law
|
|
|
|
| Iowa |
Indicates an anti-LGBTQ Law
|
|
|
|
| Kansas |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Kentucky |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Louisiana |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Maine |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Maryland |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Massachusetts |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Michigan |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Minnesota |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Mississippi |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Missouri |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Montana |
|
|
Indicates an anti-LGBTQ Law
|
|
| Nebraska |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Nevada |
|
|
Indicates an anti-LGBTQ Law
|
|
| New Hampshire |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| New Jersey |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| New Mexico |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| New York |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| North Carolina |
|
|
Indicates an anti-LGBTQ Law
|
|
| North Dakota |
|
Indicates an anti-LGBTQ Law
|
|
|
| Northern Mariana Islands |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Ohio |
Indicates an anti-LGBTQ Law
|
|
|
|
| Oklahoma |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Oregon |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Pennsylvania |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Puerto Rico |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Rhode Island |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| South Carolina |
Indicates an anti-LGBTQ Law
|
|
|
|
| South Dakota |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Tennessee |
Indicates an anti-LGBTQ Law
|
|
|
|
| Texas |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| U.S. Virgin Islands |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Utah |
|
|
Indicates an anti-LGBTQ Law
|
|
| Vermont |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Virginia |
|
|
Indicates an anti-LGBTQ Law
|
|
| Washington |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| West Virginia |
Indicates an anti-LGBTQ Law
|
|
|
|
| Wisconsin |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
| Wyoming |
|
|
|
No forced outing law
|
