Georgia Gov. Kemp Bans Gender-Affirming Care For Transgender Youth

What's the story?

• Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has signed a bill banning most gender-affirming care, including hormone replacement therapies and surgeries, for transgender youth under 18.
• Lawmakers gave their final approval to Senate Bill 140 with a 31-21 vote. The bill became one of the most controversial and divisive of Georgia's 2023 legislative session, and Kemp signed the bill in private.
• The law takes effect on July 1, but minors who are currently receiving gender-affirming care will not be impacted by the law. The bill does not explicitly prohibit puberty blockers but focuses on more permanent hormone therapy.
• Kemp said:

"As Georgians, parents and elected leaders, it is our highest responsibility to safeguard the bright, promising future of our kids — and SB 140 takes an important step in fulfilling that mission."

A nationwide effort

• This bill is part of a nationwide effort by conservative lawmakers to restrict transgender athletes, drag shows, and gender-affirming care.
• Florida, Mississippi, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Utah have passed similar bills recently. Judges have temporarily blocked laws limiting gender-affirming treatment for transgender youth in Arkansas and Alabama.
• More bans are on the horizon. Missouri’s Republican attorney general said he would seek to implement an emergency regulation restricting gender-affirming care, while Kentucky’s Republican-led legislature passed a ban earlier this month. 
• About 15% of the proposed bills that limit transgender rights have become law.

Criticisms

• LGBTQ+ advocates have criticized the bill, with some opponents saying it infringes on parents' rights and impacts transgender children's mental health.
• The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia said it would "use every legal means at our disposal" to stop the law from taking effect.
• The bill was amended to remove a clause that shielded physicians from criminal liability so that regretful patients could later sue their doctors.
• Rep. Nikema Williams (D-GA) said:

“SB 140 will outlaw the care necessary to save children’s lives. It is not only cruel, but it flies in the face of medical science, standards of patient care, and the lived experiences of those whom it impacts.”

• Sen. Josh McLaurin (D-GA) said:

“Kids will commit suicide. Kids will feel like they’re not being heard, that their basic existence is being invalidated and erased."

• Katie Eyer, a professor at Rutgers Law School, said: 

"This phenomenon of states just ... churning out legislation as it's struck down is one that has a long history in civil rights. And it can really stymie efforts for people to actually experience what the courts have said should be their constitutional rights."

Do you support the growing bans against transgender youth?

—Emma Kansiz