The culture war raged on at the state Capitol this week as Republican members of the Tennessee General Assembly advanced legislation to ban gender-affirming care for minors.
The bill easily passed through the House Health Subcommittee on Tuesday and the Senate Health and Welfare Committee on Wednesday. Republican legislators have gone into overdrive over the past year introducing bills like this all over the country to varying degrees of success.
“The Northern District of Alabama, the 8th Circuit, and the Supreme Court of Texas have all enjoined measures like this one,” said Chase Strangio, deputy director for transgender justice at the ACLU, as he testified before the House Health Subcommittee on Tuesday. “Because this law infringes the fundamental rights of parents, and discriminates based on sex and transgender status, it triggers strict scrutiny, or at least heightened scrutiny, which means it will be the government's burden to defend it in court.”
The bill, introduced by Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) and House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland), would ban surgical procedures intended to treat gender dysphoria, which is extremely rare. The legislation also seeks to ban the prescription of hormone blockers, a practice major health organizations have cited as extremely important to the health and well-being of minors experiencing gender dysphoria.
“Typically when we write laws, we outlaw conduct,” Senate Minority Leader Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) told the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. “Right now we are outlawing people.”
Heather Thomas, who identified herself as the mother of a transgender child and as a Christian, testified before the Senate committee. She recounted her experiences raising her child, who she says attempted suicide prior to starting treatment for their gender dysphoria. State Sen. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) asked her what the harm is in waiting until a child turns 18.
“The harm is that my child would have died,” Thomas responded.
Following her testimony, the committee voted 8-1 in favor of the bill, with Yarbro as the lone dissident.
Not only did the bill pass in both committees, it was also amended to include legislation defining gender-affirming care as child abuse and banning out-of-state care.
The bills are scheduled for the Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb. 7, and the House Health Committee on Feb. 8.
