On Tuesday, Governor Bill Lee signed legislation into law that bans gender-confirming treatment for transgender youth.
What We Know:
- The action is the latest in a series of new laws in the state that Democrats argue target trans individuals. Lee signed the bill without issuing any type of public statement from his office. Tennessee’s new transgender youth health law goes into effect immediately.
- The law bans doctors from providing gender-confirming hormone treatment, including puberty blockers before they reach puberty. Doctors in Tennessee do not currently provide hormone therapy treatment to minors before entering puberty. The state of Arkansas has also recently banned gender-confirming hormone treatment, puberty blockers, and surgery for anyone under the age of 18.
- Lee also recently signed a law that requires businesses to post signs that alerts the public if they allow trans people to use bathrooms based on their gender identity. Lee also signed a law that requires all state public schools to make “reasonable accommodation” for people who won’t use gender-specific bathrooms. The newest ban is called the Tennessee Accommodations for All Children Act.
- The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has written that the measures are discriminatory toward transgender students. The HRC goes on to say the laws open up schools to legal consequences if a student believes they have shared a sex-segregated space. This includes bathrooms, locker rooms, or other changing facilities. The HRC says, “The bill is squarely in defiance of federal law and flagrantly discriminatory.” Critics have condemned the “bathroom bills” from Tennessee.
Lee has since called the accommodation reasonable because it allows for every student regardless of their gender.
