Two of the largest red states are set to adopt new bans on gender-affirming health care for trans children.
The Texas legislature passed a ban Wednesday on gender-affirming care for kids under 18, which includes hormone treatments and gender-affirming surgeries, though such surgeries are rarely performed on children. The ban allows trans teens already receiving hormone treatments to temporarily continue them. Still, it requires that they “wean” themselves off the treatments. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to sign the bill.
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is reportedly gearing up to announce his 2024 presidential bid next week, also signed a similar ban in his state Wednesday, one that imposes felony penalties on health care providers who administer gender-affirming care to kids under 18. The law includes a provision that concerns custody disputes for a child receiving gender-affirming care, and, though it only applies to a narrow set of circumstances, advocates worry that it could lead to Florida overriding other state’s rulings.
Both laws are part of the GOP’s coordinated national campaign against LGBTQ rights in state legislatures. Florida alone has already passed more anti-LGBTQ legislation this session than it did in the seven years prior; Texas is on track to pass more than double the number of similarly anti-LGBTQ laws than it did in over that same period, said Cathryn Oakley, state legislative director and senior counsel at the Human Rights Campaign.
The latest bans on gender-affirming care could force many families of trans children in Florida and Texas to move — that is, if they haven’t already left those states. “To have this kind of care ripped away is going to have life-altering impacts on these families,” Oakley said. “If you’re not able to keep your child safe and you have the means to go elsewhere, of course it’s something that you’re considering and it’s probably something that folks have been…
Read the full article here
