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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 & More Information" orange button for more detail.
United States Map
Washington New York U.S. Virgin Islands Puerto Rico Guam Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands American Samoa New Hampshire Vermont Virginia Pennsylvania New York Maine West Virginia Ohio Kentucky Indiana Michigan Illinois Wisconsin North Carolina South Carolina Tennessee Georgia Florida Mississippi Missouri Arkansas Louisiana Iowa Minnesota Oklahoma Kansas Nebraska South Dakota North Dakota Texas 33 Colorado Wyoming Montana Idaho Arizona Utah Nevada Oregon California Hawaii Alaska Massachusetts Rhode Island Connecticut New Jersey Delaware Maryland Washington D.C. New Hampshire Vermont
  • State law forces the outing of transgender youth if they make specific disclosures or requests about their gender identity to school staff (5 states)
  • State law requires forced outing of transgender youth, but only if parents ask school staff for the information (1 state)
  • State law requires forced outing of transgender youth before school staff can use a student’s preferred name/pronouns, but a student’s mere request to use a different name or pronouns does not itself require forced outing (7 states)
  • State law does not force the outing of transgender youth in schools (37 states , 5 territories + D.C.)
  • State does not force outing but may contribute to hostile school climate (see note beneath map) (4 states)

Citations & More Information
*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. See the "Citations" tab or 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. [Year of access]. "Equality Maps: Forced Outing of Transgender Students." www.mapresearch.org/equality-maps/youth/forced_outing. Accessed 01/20/2025.

Percent of Adult LGBTQ Population Covered by Laws

*Note: These percentages reflect estimates of the LGBTQ adult population living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Estimates of the LGBTQ adult population in the five inhabited U.S. territories are not available, and so cannot be reflected here.

7%

7 % of transgender youth (ages 13-17) live in states that force the outing of transgender youth in schools if they make specific disclosures or requests about their gender identity to school staff

1%

1 % of transgender youth (ages 13-17) live in states that force the outing of transgender youth, but only if parents ask school staff for the information

7%

7 % of transgender youth (ages 13-17) live in states that require forced outing of transgender youth before school staff can use a student’s preferred name/pronouns, but a student’s mere request to use a different name or pronouns does not itself require fo

85%

85 % of transgender youth (ages 13-17) live in states that do not force the outing of transgender youth in schools

Key
  • State does not have this lawState law requires outing of transgender youth in schools
    • ,
  • State does not have this lawState law promotes, but does not require outing of transgender youth in schools
State Forced Outing
Alabama State does not have this law
Alaska State does not have this law
American Samoa State does not have this law
Arizona State does not have this lawState does not have this law
Arkansas State does not have this law
California State does not have this law
Colorado State does not have this law
Connecticut State does not have this law
Delaware State does not have this law
District of Columbia State does not have this law
Florida State does not have this lawState does not have this law
Georgia State does not have this law
Guam State does not have this law
Hawaii State does not have this law
Idaho State does not have this law
Illinois State does not have this law
Indiana State does not have this law
Iowa State does not have this law
Kansas State does not have this law
Kentucky State does not have this lawState does not have this law
Louisiana State does not have this law
Maine State does not have this law
Maryland State does not have this law
Massachusetts State does not have this law
Michigan State does not have this law
Minnesota State does not have this law
Mississippi State does not have this law
Missouri State does not have this law
Montana State does not have this lawState does not have this law
Nebraska State does not have this law
Nevada State does not have this law
New Hampshire State does not have this law
New Jersey State does not have this law
New Mexico State does not have this law
New York State does not have this law
North Carolina State does not have this law
North Dakota State does not have this law
Northern Mariana Islands State does not have this law
Ohio State does not have this law
Oklahoma State does not have this law
Oregon State does not have this law
Pennsylvania State does not have this law
Puerto Rico State does not have this law
Rhode Island State does not have this law
South Carolina State does not have this law
South Dakota State does not have this law
Tennessee State does not have this law
Texas State does not have this law
U.S. Virgin Islands State does not have this law
Utah State does not have this lawState does not have this law
Vermont State does not have this law
Virginia State does not have this law
Washington State does not have this law
West Virginia State does not have this law
Wisconsin State does not have this law
Wyoming State does not have this law


Data current as of 01/20/2025
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Sexual Orientation Policy Tally

The term “sexual orientation” is loosely defined as a person’s pattern of romantic or sexual attraction to people of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or more than one sex or gender. Laws that explicitly mention sexual orientation primarily protect or harm lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. That said, transgender people who are lesbian, gay or bisexual can be affected by laws that explicitly mention sexual orientation.

Gender Identity Policy Tally

“Gender identity” is a person’s deeply-felt inner sense of being male, female, or something else or in-between. “Gender expression” refers to a person’s characteristics and behaviors such as appearance, dress, mannerisms and speech patterns that can be described as masculine, feminine, or something else. Gender identity and expression are independent of sexual orientation, and transgender people may identify as heterosexual, lesbian, gay or bisexual. Laws that explicitly mention “gender identity” or “gender identity and expression” primarily protect or harm transgender people. These laws also can apply to people who are not transgender, but whose sense of gender or manner of dress does not adhere to gender stereotypes.

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