(LifeSiteNews) — LGBTQ+ media outlet Pink News just boasted that “So far, 647 anti-trans bills have failed in the US in 2025,” hiding the fact from its readers that gender ideology is actually taking a huge beating in statehouses around the country.
Pink News cited data from Trans Legislation Tracker, stating that “over five times more anti-trans bills have failed to be introduced in the U.S.” But that’s a narrow interpretation of the data.
Here’s the amazing news that the LGBTQ+ news source doesn’t want its readers to know: So far in 2025, at least 120 bills combating the harms of gender ideology have succeeded, nearly 250% more than the 51 that passed in all of 2024.
The truth is this: Woke neo-Marxists enjoyed having the upper hand for a number of years as they fought to undo the meaning of man and woman, boy and girl as matter of law and popular culture, but the tide now appears to ha ve turned.
“I’m very much encouraged by the trajectory of things,” Matthew Sharp, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), told LifeSiteNews in an exclusive interview.
Sharp leads ADF’s team of policy experts as they craft legislation and advise government officials on policies that promote free speech, religious freedom, parental rights, and the sanctity of human life.
He was upbeat as he described recent state victories in the transgender wars:
“We’re seeing 27 states have now passed laws protecting kids from gender transition drugs and surgeries,” Sharp recounted. “Twenty-seven states have passed laws protecting fairness in women’s sports so that males can’t take away championships or spots on teams from young women.”
“We’re at 19 states so far that have passed laws protecting women’s privacy in places like schools and colleges, in women’s shelters and prisons,” Sharp continued. “We’re at over a dozen states that have passed laws protecting free speech against people being forced to use compelled pronouns.”
“I look at all of that and I see a movement across the country of people who are increasingly concerned about gender ideology and the damage it does in so many areas of life, from privacy to fairness in sports, to free speech to religious liberty,” he explained. “And so when they throw out these numbers, I think that, by their own admission, they’re showing that there are a lot of states that are taking meaningful efforts to protect their citizens from the harms of gender ideology.”
And while it is true that over 640 bills attempting to restore gender sanity have in some sense failed to make their way into enacted law, that’s not necessarily bad news.
“I think they overlook the fact that in a lot of states, you may have four, five versions of the same general bill being introduced by different lawmakers,” Sharp said. “These are all individuals that are passionate about the issue, and then from all of that, there’s a desire to coalesce around a single bill that all of those lawmakers then get behind.”
“So I look at those numbers and I say what they represent is a lot of lawmakers listening to their constituents and filing these bills, and then ultimately unifying around the right bill to actually pass in those states.”
In other words, those bills didn’t “fail.” Conservative state legislators simply joined forces, abandoning their individual proposals, in order to craft an effective measure that would make its way to their governor’s desk to be signed into law.
He also noted that even in solid blue states, “we’re seeing legislation being introduced, hearings being held, and a lot of people showing up to support” the battle against trans ideology. “Maine has had some incredible hearings on the women’s sports issue!”
The Pink News article also took a swipe at President Donald Trump. “This wave of failed bills comes after an anti-trans measure in Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’ was dropped at the final hour at the beginning of July.”
According to Sharp, the executive orders (EOs) combating gender ideology issued by Trump at the outset of his second term have played a role in helping to get state bills across the finish line.
“I think (Trump’s EOs) emboldened a lot of lawmakers and others to speak out on this issue,” Sharp said. “But I would also flip it around the other way.”
He described a synergistic relationship between the Trump administration and state lawmakers.
“I think the momentum we’re seeing in states was part of what led President Trump to issue those executive orders — building upon the success that’s happened at the state level — and address what we can do at the federal level to address gender ideology’s corrosive effect.”
“We’re going to start seeing more actions out of the Trump administration through regulations, through guidance,” Sharp predicted.
He cited the administration’s enforcement actions against states like Colorado and Minnesota protecting female athletes. “You are hurting girls. You are taking away their opportunities, you’re depriving them of equal access to sports and scholarships and the opportunity to win and be champions on their home playing fields.”
“Even some Democrats are beginning to recognize that, ‘Hey, maybe we’re getting it wrong on the women’s sports issue. Maybe there’s something to these concerns about fairness,” Sharp said.
“I think that shows that we are truly moving the needle on this across the country and really making a difference,” he added.
