More On Monday March 29, 2021, the Arkansas Senate passed a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth. This bill was sent to Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, who had veto power. If he didn’t vote to veto this bill, it would pass into law as the nation’s first ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

Gender affirming care refers to “medically necessary health care that respects the gender identity of the patient, as experienced and defined by the patient.” This ban includes puberty blockers and hormones, which helps transgender youth and their parents to create treatment plans for gender-nonconforming patients.

There are two types of anti-LGBTQ legislation targeting the trans community: there are measures banning gender-affirming care, like this one; and legislation banning transgender youth from participating in athletic programs in a way that is consistent with their gender identity, already passed in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Chase Strangio, deputy director for transgender justice at the American Civil Liberties Union LGBT & HIV Project, called Alabama’s bill, which passed last month, “the single most extreme anti-trans law to ever pass through a state legislature.” The Alabama law bans care for transgender people up to 19 years old, and includes felony penalties. The law illegalizes use of public funds (like Medicaid funds) from being used for transition-related care. The bill has already started having a negative impact on transgender youth in the state. According to a pediatric doctor in Arkansas, Michele Hutichinson ‘there were “multiple kids in our emergency room because of an attempted suicide, just in the last week.”’

Alabama’s bill goes even further, requiring teachers and other school personnel to “out” students and tell their parents if they identify as another gender contrary to the gender that was assigned to them at birth. Alabama’s laws, as well as the Tennessee and Mississippi laws, establish a dangerous precedent. During a global health crisis still affecting our nation, states legislators are introducing legislation to criminalize healthcare to children. This is absolutely unacceptable.

March 31 was Transgender Day of Visibility, a holiday that celebrates the lives of transgender people and raises awareness about the plight of transgender people in the fight for their rights.

As of Monday April 5th, Governor Asa Hutchinson vetoed the bill, calling it an example of “vast government overreach.” Despite this, the legislature overrode Hutchinson’s veto. Arkansas is now the first state in the nation to ban medical care for trans youth. The laws are expected to go into effect in August 2021.

SisterLove condemns the proliferation of transphobic legislation throughout this country. It is bringing harm to members of the transgender community. We stand in sisterly solidarity with the transgender, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming communities.

To learn more about how you can be an ally to the trans community click here.

To donate to SisterLove and support us as we continue to fight for sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice for all click here.

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