Bradie Anderson is a 14-year-old girl. She loves her dogs, playing games with her mom, playing soccer, cheerleading and hanging out with her friends.
“I want people to know that I'm normal,” Anderson said. “I'm just like everybody else.”
The only difference between her and some other girls her age is that Bradie’s gender identity is different from the sex she was assigned when she was born, also known as transgender.
“I just was born in the wrong body,” Anderson said. “But I mean, it's nobody's business.”
Bradie said she’s known she was a girl since she was 3 years old.
“I didn't even know what trans meant like, I was just like, I'm a girl,” Anderson said.
Anne Anderson, Bradie’s mom, wasn’t always accepting. But after years of research, doctor visits and conversations with her daughter, she has been there to love and support Bradie for who she is ever since.
“When you're a parent, you sign up for all of it, not just some of it,” Anne said. “She has made me a much better person. She has taught me so much. She's so brave. And I want to be like my daughter when I grow up.”
But Bradie has come to realize is that not everyone is as open-minded as her mother.
“It's mostly just like the parents and the legislators and people that haven't gone to school in like how long and they don't know anything about me,” Anderson said. “And they probably don't even know a trans person.”
Nearly 600 anti-trans bills have been introduced nationwide, according to Trans Legislation Tracker, including nine in Ohio. One that is top-of-mind for some families is House Bill 68, which in part would ban gender-affirming care for trans and non-binary youth. This would prevent doctors from giving hormone therapy and puberty blockers, many of which are reversible according to the National Library of Medicine. State Rep. Gary Click, the sponsor of the bill, said it’s about protecting children.
“Right now, minors are being prescribed hormone blockers, puberty suppressants, opposite sex hormones, and they are also being provided surgery as minors for gender, what they call gender-affirming care," said Click, during a hearing on April 19, 2023. "The SAFE Act will stop all of those experimental things and say, let's wait, let's give a chance, a chance for children to grow up before they make those decisions.”
But the Andersons see it as an attack on the trans community.
“All of my health care would be gone. All my medicine would be gone,” Anderson said. “If I was forced to not be myself and have to be a boy, I don't think I'd be here.”
If the bill is passed, the Andersons said they’re considering moving to a so-called “safe haven state,” where gender-affirming medical care for youth is still allowed, such as states like Vermont, Illinois, California, and Colorado.
“I grew up here, my parents live here, all my friends are here. We should not have to run,” Anne said. “It's not the land of the free for everyone.”
Jeanne Ogden is the founder of the nonprofit organization “Trans Allies Ohio” and the mother of a transgender teenager. She said her family is also considering moving but because of safety reasons. She said the climate for transgender people in Ohio is abusive and scary.
"Transgender people in Ohio are being harassed right now. Their tires are being slashed, they're being fired, they're being denied services, they are being harassed in bathrooms. They don't go places alone," Ogden said. “When you don't have the right to be safe in your home, when you don't have the right to be safe in your doctor's office, when you don't have the right to be safe in your school, that's a human rights issue and everyone deserves to be safe.”
In a world filled with misinformation Ogden and the Anderson family openly advocate for transgender youth because they say knowledge is power.
“Trans people are just like you and me,” Ogden said. “They just want to have a job. They just want to have a family. They just want to be happy.”
They live their lives out loud and proud to fight for their rights to live in their home state.
“There's so many other trans people that don't have a voice,” Anderson said. “And if you're an ally, or anybody else, just say something, because you could be saving like somebody's life right now.”
They work to remind people that you get what you give and live by the motto, “Be Kind and kindness will find you back.”
“Just love your kids,” Anne said. “If they're gay, if they're transgender, they're born that way. This is not a social contagion. They're not learning it from their friends. Just lead with love.”
In June, Reggie Harris, a member of Cincinnati’s City Council and the first openly gay Black man on the council, helped pass a resolution proclaiming Cincinnati a sanctuary city for gender-affirming care. He said it was a unanimously approved proactive measure that the city took in response to all the anti-trans legislation that has been popping up around the country.
“We know that there are laws being passed in states and in our region where they're looking to prosecute folks that may leave the state to seek gender-affirming care,” Harris said. “And we're saying we don't want to spend any of our Cincinnati city resources helping to aid and abet the prosecution of seeking gender-affirming care.”
Cincinnati is the first in Ohio to do so, but Harris said the resolution follows examples of work happening in Indianapolis, Indiana and Austin, Texas.
“We see this as a part of a spectrum of inclusive policies and resolutions cities can take that are, you know, some have more impact, some are more symbolic, but it's simply to say that as a city, we are absolutely against this trend that we're seeing in discriminatory policies and practices,” Harris said. “And we want folks to know that Cincinnati is open for business Cincinnati is inclusive and Cincinnati as welcoming.”
Ohio is growing and Harris thinks lawmakers should capitalize on that growth. From a state perspective, he said you want people to stay in the state, not leave as it all impacts Ohio's tax base. Since this is a city resolution and not a state bill, if HB 68 does pass it would make the resolution null and void. Harris said in the meantime though it signals to lawmakers that Cincinnati wants to uplift and protect all communities and be as inclusive as possible. For more information about the resolution visit here.
Correction: The previous version of this story misspelled Jeanne Ogden's name. This has been corrected. (Nov. 21, 2023)