Asher McKinney-Ring stepped up to the podium on the floor of the North Carolina General Assembly on Wednesday and took a deep breath. McKinney-Ring is only 15 years old, but the transgender high schooler appeared calm as he argued against North Carolinas HB358 , a bill that would restrict trans kids like him from participating in school sports.

Words cannot explain how painful and exhausting it is to wake up every morning knowing that my rights to normal childhood experiences like school sports are being debated by elected officials that Ive never met and that my existence and identity are not protected by law, he said.

We are not a threat. We are children, he said. And we just want to experience life normally like the rest of our classmates.

At least 33 state legislatures , including North Carolina, have introduced anti-transgender laws so far this year. And its only April. The bills range from banning transgender children from competing on sports teams consistent with their gender identities to criminalizing parents or doctors for providing gender-affirming medical care.

The goal is to eradicate trans-ness, said Chase Strangio, an attorney and deputy director for transgender justice at the American Civil Liberties Union. These bills are being pushed through on theories that claim that its harmful to be trans, that trans people arent real and the state should come in to stop people from living their authentic trans selves.

These bills will be deeply harmful to trans children if passed. Some are threatening to define gender-affirming treatment and medical care as child abuse: Texass SB1646 would make it a crime for parents to allow their transgender children to get gender-affirming medical procedures. The Texas bill would make it legal to remove trans or gender-queer kids from their homes if their parents affirmed their gender identity.

In recent weeks, other anti-trans bills have become law. In March, Arkansas became the first state in the U.S. to enact a law that makes it a criminal offense for a doctor to provide gender-affirming medical care for a trans youth. Arkansass HB1570, or the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act, will go into effect this summer. Nine other states are pursuing bills similar to the one in Arkansas; some will penalize doctors for providing gender affirming medical care, while others will punish parents.

If that werent enough, Arkansas has other bills pending in its legislature, including a health care ban for trans kids, a ban on sports for trans children, an anti-trans restroom policy and a bill that allows school employees to misgender trans children.

Other troubling bills include Alabamas SB10 , which makes it a felony for doctors to offer gender-affirming medical care to trans kids younger than 19. The bill goes further than others by including language that would force teachers and other school employees to out trans kids to their parents if the child shows any gender nonconforming signs.

In Tennessee, Republican lawmakers proposed a bill to increase training for those who administer medication to children but then gutted it to instead swap in an amendment that prohibits health professionals from offering gender-affirming medical care.

Missouri introduced an amendment to its constitution in February that would ban trans kids from participating in sports. Adding a constitutional amendment would trigger a public debate and discussion that could be even more traumatic for trans kids and the parents of trans children.

These laws go against recommendations from some of the most respected medical organizations in the country, including the American Medical Association , the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychiatric Association .