June 2026: Legislative Action Eroding Autistic LGBTQ+ Rights

About the Author

Jay Eveson-Egler (they/them) is an Autistic self-advocate and parent. They’ve worked with neurodiversity-based organizations and individuals in a variety of age groups and stages of life. They have a depth of knowledge of LGBTQIA2S+ issues in the Autistic community. They have prior experience founding and facilitating neurodiverse peer support groups and remain active as an adviser with the Neurodiverse Students Association at Mount Holyoke.

Accurate as of 6/1/25

Each year, we take time to look honestly at the legal and political landscape affecting LGBTQ+ Autistic people. To the LGBTQ+ readers and allies reading this: I will not lie. This last year has been difficult, and I fear it will only get worse from here. However, we are not without hope.

Across the country, LGBTQ+ people, especially transgender and non-binary people, are facing a near endless stream of laws, executive actions, investigations, and funding threats that endanger their right to exist and be included within American society. These policies impact healthcare, schools, identity documents, access to public spaces, crisis support, civil rights protections, housing, and the ability of non-profit and community organizations to effectively support them openly. 

For LGBTQ+ Autistic people, these changes are felt much more intensely, and not within isolation. Autistic people are similarly facing threats to our community, through actions taken by the Department of Health and Human Services director RFK Jr. and his allies. We are a community already dealing with cuts to services we rely on, like medicaid, vocational training, housing assistance, and much more. 

We know that Autistic people are more likely than non-Autistic people to be LGBTQ+ and to identify as transgender or gender diverse, and that those at this intersection of identities are much more likely to face layered barriers to support, case, and safety. A 2025 University of Cambridge report found that Autistic transgender people report high rates of physical and mental health conditions. This community needs more support than they are getting, not less.

The Legal Landscape

At the federal level, several executive actions have attempted to redefine sex as a fixed binary category and remove recognition of gender identity across federal programs. One executive order directed federal agencies to stop using federal funds to “promote gender ideology,” language that has created confusion and fear among health programs, schools, grantees, and community organizations. 

Language matters when it comes to laws. It defines who does and does not have protection, and it’s tied to government funding. When an organization’s mission, culture, or programming acknowledges transgender people, they may feel their funding is jeopardized by the language used by the federal government. Even though an executive action isn’t a law, just with a written declaration of intent on the direction the administration wants to go in (which may influence the way different departments operate and allocate funding), many organizations might feel pressured to remove gender affirming language, cancel training, avoid inclusive materials, or stop naming the needs of LGBTQ+ people directly. The good news here is that a federal judge has blocked many of the efforts made to narrow grant conditions while litigation over the revocation of affected grants continues, noting that the government cannot force organizations to stop acknowledging transgender people as a condition of receiving funds, as that violates the 1st Amendment. 

Federal agencies have also taken steps to dismantle health care and crisis support. Last year, they ended funding for the LGBTQ+ crisis hotline provided by the Trevor project, even though that service had supported over 1.3 million young people since 2022. In 2026, we’ve seen a lot of turbulence over gender affirming care for youth (and adults), with federal subpoenas seeking records from healthcare providers, and even threats to revoke funding from hospitals who didn’t stop offering those services. Despite not having legal backing for the latter, many hospitals capitulated to the federal government’s threats. 

For Autistic transgender youth, this has resulted in less access to informed providers, more fear about privacy, and more difficulty finding care that understands them. 

State laws have also become much more aggressive. Kansas recently enacted SB 244 in February of 2026, a law that restricts restroom access to buildings, blocks transgender people from updating driver’s licenses and state ID’s, and invalidates some existing Kansas-issued documents if they reflect a gender different from an individual’s assigned sex at birth. Many states are following suit, enacting similar and incoming cases attempting to align previous bans with the cruelty seen in Kansas’ law. Idaho enacted a broad restroom law that, if it takes effect in July 2026, will criminalize transgender people for using certain bathrooms, locker rooms, or changing areas that do not match sex assigned at birth, including in private businesses open to the public.

While often described as symbolic, these laws have had real life consequences for the communities they impact. A mismatched or invalid ID can affect employment, voting, travel, housing, banking, medical care, and personal safety. A bathroom ban can mean avoiding school, work, restaurants, community events, or travel. For Autistic people, who may already plan outings around sensory needs, anxiety, routine, access, and predictability, these restrictions can make public life feel smaller and potentially dangerous.

In Iowa, a 2025 law removed gender identity from the state civil rights code, eliminating state-level protections for transgender and nonbinary people in areas such as employment and housing. That kind of legal change is especially concerning for Autistic LGBTQ+ people, who may already face discrimination in hiring, housing, health care, and education. 

Even in progressive states and institutions, transgender Autistic people are being impacted. Recently in Massachusetts, the federal government opened a Title IX investigation into Smith College in May of 2026 over its policy of admitting transgender women. Smith has admitted transgender women since 2015 and includes cisgender, transgender, and non-binary individuals in its admissions policy. An investigation into their admissions policy goes far beyond the scope of the college; it signals that long-standing inclusive policies in other states and other institutions are a target of this administration. 

Laws such as H.R. 2616, which passed the House in May and was recommended to the Senate, would likewise impact states that have protective laws or constitutional provisions intended to uphold the rights of transgender students and teachers. Similar to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act (also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill), these federal efforts seek to impose restrictions on how gender identity can be acknowledged or discussed in educational settings, even in states where inclusive protections are already established. In practice, this creates legal and administrative conflict between state-level nondiscrimination laws and federal policy directives, placing school districts and institutions in progressive states in a position where compliance with one set of rules may risk violation of another. This would impact how staff are permitted to respond to students, and whether inclusive practices can be maintained without legal or financial risk. 

In the midst of these attacks on gender identity, it’s important to recognize the active work of this administration in dismantling disability supports, as well. Last year alone, we saw drastic changes to Medicaid, including the rollout of “community engagement” requirements for certain enrollees. Even for those who may qualify for exemptions, the bureaucratic system within which these exemptions are made can still cause people to temporarily or even permanently lose coverage. This year, we are also seeing a push by the administration to gut social security, medicaid, and other public benefits from disabled individuals, including Autistic individuals, who live with their families. 

At the school level, we’re seeing attacks on section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that are using transgender people as the crux of the argument. In late 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed rules that disability advocates warned would harm transgender people, including by narrowing protections connected to gender dysphoria. Using a similar argument, several state Attorney Generals are attempting to gut Section 504 completely, leaving disabled individuals, regardless of gender identity, without important and necessary accommodations and with reduced access to public life.

There is also growing concern about federal rhetoric connecting loosely defined “radical gender ideology” with domestic terrorism and extremism. NSPM-7, a 2025 national secuirty memorandum, is not law, but civil liberties advocates warn that it could chill activism and non-profit work, especially as departments and programs start to implement and seek methods of enforcing the memorandum. A DOJ memo implementing NSPM-7 directed law enforcement agencies to prioritize investigations involving “anti-fascist” actors and people with “extreme viewpoints on immigration, radical gender ideology, and anti-American sentiment.”  This is only compounded by the recently released White House Counter-Terrorism Strategy from May 6th, wherein the administration professed “…[Counter Terrorism] activities will also prioritize the rapid identification and neutralization of violent secular political groups whose ideology is anti-American, radically pro-transgender, and anarchist.”

The danger presented in these proposed and enacted laws is not just persecution, but also fear. Fear is what drives organizations to pull back from public advocacy, and what causes individuals to stop attending events, speaking up, asking for accommodations, or seeking care. 

What can Autistic and LGTBQ+ Individuals do?

Autistic and LGBTQ+ people should take information at a pace our nervous systems can handle. It’s important to recognize that the compounding and rapid pace of these proposing, enacting, and enforcement of these laws is intended to overwhelm us. If you are feeling inundated and disengaging, then that tactic is working. Staying informed matters, but constant crisis monitoring becomes its own harm. Choose one or two trusted sources, set limits, and ask someone else to help track updates when it becomes too much. One strategy I have implemented is picking 1-3 topics to monitor per person in my social circle, and coming together to talk about what is going on once a week or every other week. 

Ensure that you are keeping copies of important documents. If you are transgender and non-binary and live in, travel to, or have documents from a state with changing ID laws, consider keeping digital and paper copies of the following: 

• passports
• court orders
• name change documents
• birth certificates
• driver’s licenses
• medical letters
• insurance cards
• emergency contacts

Having things organized can reduce stress if systems become confusing. 

In addition to having your paperwork in an organized and predictable place, consider making a care and support plan. This can be a toolkit you use to stay regulated, with additional information you can provide to a support person, whether that’s a friend, family member, or support worker. It can include pharmacy information, crisis contacts, transportation options, sensory supports, communication preferences, and other tools. Autistic people should not have to improvise during a crisis. 

Staying informed about your local rights may also be helpful. While federal laws change, we have seen that state and local protections have mostly stayed intact. Local LGBTQ+ legal organizations, state ACLU affiliates, disability rights organizations, and trans-led groups often have the most practical guidance. 

Ensure that you are staying connected with your community. Isolation is one of the biggest risks in turbulent political climates. Connection does not have to mean marching, speaking publicly, or being constantly available. It can mean attending a support group, texting one trusted person, joining an online community, contributing art, helping others using your skills, or simply being reminded that you are not the only one paying attention. 

What allies, families, and professionals can do.

When working with individuals in this community, whether that is your own child, a client, a student, or a family, it’s important to still respect names and pronouns. Avoid debating someone’s identity as if it is an abstract political issue. For many LGBTQ+ Autistic people, being believed is a major protective factor. 

Ensure access to supportive services is visible and predictable. Individuals and families should know where to go when they need help with forms, making phone calls, accessing transportation, scheduling, organizing documents, planning, and understanding legal updates that may impact them. Offering broad gestures of assistance is helpful, and kind, however being more concrete about the type of support available (for example, offering to help someone organize documents) is more useful and tangible. 

There are several support organizations that are still doing the work. Consider donating to groups that offer supports, like AANE, and those that defend LGBTQ+ rights, disability rights, and offer trans-led community care: 

• ACLU advocates and litigates for LGBTQ+ rights, including transgender rights.
• Lambda Legal works through litigation, policy advocacy, and public education for LGBTQ+ people and everyone living with HIV.
• Transgender Law Center is a trans-led legal organization working for trans and gender nonconforming people.
• Trans Lifeline provides peer support and microgrants by and for trans people.
• Autistic Self Advocacy Network advocates for Autistic people’s rights, self-determination, and community living.
• DREDF works to advance disability civil and human rights through legal advocacy, training, education, and public policy. 

You can also contact elected officials, submit public comments on proposed rules, support local LGBTQ+ youth programs, show up at school committee meetings, and ask organizations you are part of whether they have clear policies protecting LGBTQ+ Autistic people. 

There is hope.

This year has been incredibly difficult, and we are only half way through as of the time of this writing. It is okay and important to recognize that. Hard years, however, are not empty or wasted. 

Mr. Rogers famously said to “look for the helpers.” When times are scary and tragic things happen, focusing on the people offering assistance brings us hope. Every law proposed and passed is met by people who are organizing, suing, educating, documenting, protecting, and caring for those impacted. Families are learning how to support each other, and providers are refusing to abandon their patients every day. 

Autistic LGBTQ+ people are not a problem to be solved, or a political talking point. We are community members, family members, coworkers, students, artists, advocates, parents, partners, leaders, and so much more. 

The work ahead should not only encompass resistance to the harm of this legal environment, but also encourage the building of a world where LGBTQ+ Autistic people can live safely within our communities. 

That work is already happening, and none of us are doing it alone.

Click here for more information about AANE’s services and supports for LGBTQ+ Autistic people and their families.