The Alabama Senate has introduced a new bill that would severely hurt trans youth within the state. Senate Bill 10 will make it illegal for trans youth (those under 19) to transition. Doctors won’t be able to provide gender-affirming care, and if they do, they’ll be deemed criminals.
The bill is intended to make providing trans care to those under 19 a Class C felony, which could put doctors in prison for up to 10 years, or slap them with a $15,000 fine.
Making the bill even crueler (and quite unusual) is that it will now force teachers to notify parents if a student’s “perception that his or her gender is inconsistent with his or her sex…” Not only is this a complete invasion of someone’s privacy, but with the rates of violence against trans people, it’s also putting children in harm’s way. Furthermore, it’s also putting teachers in an extremely tough spot. They’ll now have to be the messengers to parents who could very well take the news negatively. The Alabama Senate apparently thinks it’s a teacher’s job to spy and rat out their own students.
Making matters worse is that the Alabama House has also introduced their own bill, HB391, that will ban trans school athletes from partaking in sports on gendered teams that they identify with.
Allison Scott, Director of Impact and Innovation for the Campaign for Southern Equality, said today:
“This bill in Alabama – and other legislation like it across the country – isn’t just cruelly targeting transgender youth and their doctors, it also lacks a fundamental understanding of transgender young people. Lawmakers are insisting that they know what’s best for transgender young people and ignoring the recommendations of medical experts, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and more. Patients along with their health care providers, not politicians, should decide what medical care is in the best interest of a patient – and a preponderance of research shows that affirming and supporting trans youth is essential to their well-being.”
To find out ways you can help better the lives of trans people in the South, visit the Campaign for Southern Equality’s website.
