A large majority of transgender adults in the United States – 78% – say living with a gender different from the one assigned to them at birth has made them more satisfied with their lives, according to a survey from The Washington Post and Kaiser Family Foundation.
Among respondents, more than three-quarters had changed their type of clothing, hairstyle or grooming habits to align with their preferred gender, while 31% had used hormone treatments and 16% had undergone gender-affirming surgery or a related surgical treatment to alter their appearance.
But such options are becoming available on a more limited basis, as politicians in multiple states have attempted to restrict trans Americans’ ability to seek gender-affirming medical treatments.
The Human Rights Campaign, a LGBTQ advocacy group, defines gender-affirming care as “age-appropriate care that is medically necessary for the well-being of many transgender and non-binary people who experience symptoms of gender dysphoria, or distress that results from having one’s gender identity not match their sex assigned at birth.” The organization notes both the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics support “age-appropriate, gender-affirming care for transgender and non-binary people.”
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Conservatives often oppose the concept of gender-affirming care – which may or may not include surgery or other interventions – for various reasons, including religious beliefs and concerns about child abuse. “You don’t disfigure 10-, 12-, 13-year-old kids based on gender dysphoria,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said at an August news conference.
Some have expressed concern about a lack of data on the possible long-term consequences of gender-affirming medical treatment for minors. A 2022 Reuters investigation, for example, found “no large-scale studies have tracked people who received gender-related medical care as children to determine how many remained satisfied with their treatment as they aged and how many eventually regretted transitioning.” Others, according to the article, have raised alarms about children who are not appropriately evaluated before receiving gender-affirming medical care.
Below are the states that have moved to restrict some form of gender-affirming care for minors in 2023 and so far in 2024, based largely on legislation tracking from the Equality Federation, an advocacy accelerator that works with a network of state-based LGBTQ organizations.
Some states, such as Arizona and Alabama, passed bans prior to 2023 and are not included on the list.
Dozens of bills are still being considered by lawmakers in other states, according to the federation. And officials elsewhere, including in Florida and Missouri, have bypassed state legislatures altogether.
Arkansas
Signed into law by new Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in March, Arkansas’ law will make health care providers liable for civil action for up to 15 years after a minor turns 18 if they performed a gender transition procedure on that minor – essentially making it easier to file malpractice lawsuits in these situations. On that note, experts say the law acts as a de facto ban on gender-affirming care for children because it makes it nearly impossible for providers to get malpractice insurance, according to the AP. In 2021, state lawmakers passed the nation’s first ban on gender-affirming care for minors. The move was temporarily blocked shortly after, but on June 20, 2023, a federal judge issued a permanent injunction against it, ruling the ban unconstitutional. It marked the first time such a state ban was overturned, but the more recent law signed by Sanders was still set to go into effect.
Florida
The state health department’s Board of Medicine announced a new rule in March of 2023 prohibiting several types of treatment and procedures – such as sex reassignment surgeries and puberty blockers – for treating gender dysphoria in minors. Then, in May of that year, DeSantis signed into law a similar gender-affirming care ban from the state legislature. On June 11, 2024, a federal judge ruled that key measures of the law are unconstitutional, including its restrictions on gender transition care for minors and provisions related to adults, such as a requirement to meet in person with a doctor prior to beginning treatment. A spokeswoman for DeSantis said the state would appeal, according to The New York Times. In 2023, the same judge temporarily blocked enforcement of some of the law in relation to several children whose parents were plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
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Georgia
Senate Bill 140 was signed into law by Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in late March. The legislation, pushed forward by the Republican majority in the state’s General Assembly, prohibits “certain surgical procedures for the treatment of gender........