Research from the Williams Institute at UCLA Law estimates that around 0.6% of U.S. adults—or approximately 1.4 million people—identify as transgender, based on national and state-level surveys.
Remarkably, the volume of attention directed toward transfolk in some U.S. media and legislation during the most recent decade has been strikingly disproportionate to their size. For example, a 2022 Media Matters study found that Fox News aired over 170 segments about trans people in just three weeks, with fiery verbiage that often framed them as societal threats of some kind. In the same year, over 300 anti-trans bills were introduced across U.S. state legislatures, marking a sharp escalation despite the group’s relatively small size. Influential political figures, such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, have made restricting trans healthcare and education content central to their platforms. At the same time, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito included attacks on LGBTQ+ rights in his opinions, suggesting broader rollback intentions. Meanwhile, religious leaders such as Franklin Graham have labeled gender-affirming care as “evil,” framing trans existence as a cultural battleground.
This painting—featured on the cover of The New Yorker this month—portrays a Black transgender woman striking the pose of the Statue of Liberty. It drew national attention this spring after sparking controversy around its proposed inclusion in Amy Sherald’s exhibition American Sublime at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. “Figuration is the Soul Food of art making. It’s like what takes you back home,” says the artist in the video below.
This barrage of intense emotion focused on such a small segment of society reflects not population size, but the strategic use of trans identity as a political and ideological wedge. By the way they have been preaching and legislating, you’d think trans people were leading an uprising, storming the gates—with nothing but pronouns and self-respect as weapons. More likely, this is a ginned-up outrage that is good for fundraising for religious posers and for getting low-knowledge voters to the polls, now that topics like abortion, gays, guns, and blacks are either too complicated or don’t have the cultural zing they once did.
In this context, a Black trans woman—even in a painting—set off alarms loud enough to derail a major traveling exhibition. When Amy Sherald’s portrait appeared on the cover of The New Yorker, it wasn’t just art critics who noticed; gatekeepers got nervous and jittery. Sherald, best known for her regal portraits that challenge the visual grammar of Black representation, found her work caught in the crossfire of culture war politics. What followed was a quiet act of protest by artists who refused to let reactionary censorship set the terms. This new video enables the work to speak—calm, composed, undeniable. The work speaks for itself.
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
