Idaho’s Anti-Trans Laws Pushed May Pollard to the Margins
May Pollard, a transgender teenager in Idaho, died by suicide earlier in 2026. Her parents, Elyse Thorpe and Joseph Pollard, told NBC News that years of state-level anti-trans restrictions and the federal government’s hostility toward gender-affirming care steadily eroded their daughter’s ability to feel safe at school and access the medical care she needed.
“You worry about that hatred being internalized, and that’s what happened to my kid. It got inside.”
Elyse Thorpe, May Pollard’s mother, NBC News, 2026
May came out as transgender in eighth grade and began gender-affirming medical care in ninth grade. Idaho’s ban on that care for minors, passed in 2022 and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2024, forced her family to travel to Portland, Oregon, every six months. After President Trump took office in January 2025 and the administration escalated its crackdown on gender-affirming care, Thorpe switched from flying to driving the 13-hour round trip to avoid creating a flight record.
Idaho’s Bathroom Ban Forced May to Choose Between Thirst and Exposure
Idaho’s law banning transgender students from using bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity took effect in July 2023. At school, May was directed to two single-occupancy restrooms that students began calling the “trans bathrooms.” To avoid being identified, she stopped eating and drinking during the school day.
In July 2025, May joined a Lambda Legal lawsuit challenging the bathroom ban, filed under the pseudonym Jane Doe. In her court affidavit, she wrote: “It is scary having to look around before to see if anyone will see me going into the single-user restroom, as I worry about people gossiping and speculating about me being transgender.” She added, “I just want to fit in.” That lawsuit was dismissed after May died.
May had also been diagnosed with autism. Her parents described her as a curious, creative kid who loved sloths, video games, and writing poetry. She wanted, as they put it, to live the same life any teenager does.
What You Can Do Now
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Contact your two U.S. senators at (202) 224-3121 and tell them to oppose any federal legislation or executive action that restricts gender-affirming care access for minors. Ask them specifically to block CMS rules that defund providers offering that care.
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Contact the Idaho Legislature’s Health and Welfare Committee at (208) 332-1000 and urge members to repeal Idaho Code § 18-1506C, the gender-affirming care ban for minors. Name May Pollard and ask them to read her affidavit in the Lambda Legal case.
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Find your state attorney general at naag.org/find-my-ag and ask them to file or join litigation challenging bathroom bans that restrict transgender students’ access to school facilities.
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If you or someone you know is in crisis, contact the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 (24/7) or text START to 678-678. The Trevor Project serves LGBTQ young people and can connect callers to local resources.
Sources
- LGBTQ Nation: Parents Speak Out After Idaho Teen May Pollard Died by Suicide
- Lambda Legal: Lawsuit Challenging Idaho Bathroom Ban Filed on Behalf of Boise Students
- NBC News: May Pollard Profile, Idaho Anti-Trans Laws and Teen Suicide
- KFF: State Bans on Gender-Affirming Care for Youth, Policy Tracker
- Supreme Court: Skrmetti Decision Upholding State Gender-Affirming Care Bans, 2024
[Callout: May avoided eating and drinking during the school day to avoid being seen using the designated single-occupancy restrooms, her court affidavit, Lambda Legal lawsuit.
LGBTQ Nation]