Tuesday saw the Idaho state House of Representatives pass a bill that would ban parents, doctors, or other medical personnel, from helping transgender children receive gender-affirming care.
The bill would charge anyone who helped to facilitate such treatment with a felony crimeIf found guilty, they could be sentenced to a lifetime in prison. Parents and doctors would also be punished if they helped a child receive gender-affirming therapies. by traveling to states outside of Idaho.
The Republican-controlled legislative chamber voted 55 to 13 to advance the bill to the state Senate. Only one Republican lawmaker voted against the bill’s passage, a former doctor.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Bruce Skaug (R), has cynically claimed that the legislation is about keeping children safe, peddling false information about the nature of gender-affirming treatment.
“This bill is about protecting children, which is a legitimate state interest. We need to stop sterilizing and mutilating children under the age of 18,” Skaug said.
Transgender children are provided with gender-affirming and supportive care. never involves surgery, and effects from medication prescribed by doctors are reversible.
The Idaho bill is just one of many anti-LGBTQ policies and bills that Republican lawmakers have introduced across the U.S. Texas, for instance, has a similar bill. Gov. Greg Abbott (R), issued a presidential orderIncorrectly comparing gender-affirming child care to child abuse requires state agencies to investigate families if they’re suspected of providing trans or other nonbinary children with doctor-approved treatment.
Gender-affirming treatment is not an abuse, and research has shown that it can be beneficial. It can even save your lifeFor trans and nonbinary people, even children.
In a joint letter signed by the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians, the American Osteopathic Association, and the American Psychiatric Association, the groups noted that they would “not stand for any efforts that discriminate against transgender and gender-diverse individuals and cause harm to their health and well-being.”
“We will continue to advocate to ensure their health needs are met and supported, not put in danger,” they added.
Social media users have condemned the Idaho bill and other attempts to limit potentially life-saving health care options available for transgender children.
“When are y’all gonna realize these aren’t isolated, state-specific problems? This is a coordinated, nationwide attack against trans people,” wrote Twitter trans activist @ItsChloeNow.
“Dear Idaho, Florida, Texas…etc. The blood of trans & LGBTQ people is on your hands!” said singer and trans activist Plastic Martyr. “These anti-trans & anti-gay laws are killing us. It’s like ripping off a butterfly’s wings because it was ‘born a caterpillar.’”
Chase Strangio was a New York-based lawyer who is also a trans rights activist. He encouraged his followers to call their state legislatures to oppose any bills that would limit gender affirming care and other encroachments to LGBTQ lives. “These deadly bills have to be stopped,” he said.
Author and activist Parker Malloy also spoke out against the Idaho bill and other anti-LGBTQ actions, noting that some of the blame lay with Democrats and other supposed allies who didn’t do more to stop Republicans from introducing such measures.
“This is what happens when one political party decides to go all-in on demonizing a group of people while the other party can barely bring itself to say, ‘No, this is bad,’ let alone actually *do* something about it,” Malloy said.
“It’s all so very, extremely frustrating and sad,” Malloy added.
