BREAKING: Louisiana Senate Health & Welfare Committee Kills Bans on Gender Affirming Care

Baton Rouge, Louisiana - May 24, 2023 - Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization, thanks members of the Louisiana Senate Health & Welfare Committee for voting to involuntarily defer HB 648, a dangerous attack on age-appropriate, best-practice health care for transgender youth.

HB 648 would have banned physicians from providing age-appropriate, best practice health care for transgender minors under the age of 18. This bill contradicts guidelines recommended by every major medical association including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and more because gender-affirming care saves lives.

Human Rights State Legislative Director and Senior Counsel Cathryn Oakley issued the following statement today:

"Thank you to the Louisiana Senators who did the right thing today and stopped a harmful ban on age-appropriate, medically necessary healthcare for transgender youth. . They heard the voices of transgender kids, their families, and medical experts who bravely shared their stories and chose to treat transgender children with dignity and respect.

Gender affirming care is recommended by the entire mainstream American medical establishment for transgender youth. Age appropriate, medically necessary, gender affirming health care saves lives. The decision about whether to seek this best practice care is a deeply personal one that should be left to a patient, their parents, and their doctor - not politicians. We are relieved by today's vote and hope the legislature will focus on more important issues impacting Louisianans for the remainder of the session, rather than trying to stigmatize and marginalize transgender children."

The Senate is currently considering two additional anti-LGBTQ+ bills, a "Don't Say LGBTQ+" Bill (HB 466) and a Pronoun Restriction Bill (HB 81). HB 466 would block teachers from talking about LGBTQ+ issues or people, further stigmatizing LGBTQ+ people and isolating LGBTQ+ kids. HB 466, a "Don't Say LGBTQ+" bill, would silence educators by banning the instruction and discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity during any extracurricular academic, athletic, or social activities in grades K-12. It also would ban school employees and other presenters from discussing their own sexual orientation or gender identity. HB 81 would allow schools to forcibly out and intentionally misgender transgender and non-binary students.

THE FACTS ABOUT GENDER AFFIRMING CARE

• Every credible medical organization - representing over 1.3 million doctors in the United States - calls for age-appropriate gender-affirming care for transgender and non-binary people.
• "Transition-related" or "gender-affirming" care looks different for every transgender and non-binary person.
• Parents, their kids, and doctors make decisions together, and no medical interventions with permanent consequences happen until a transgender person is old enough to give truly informed consent.
• Gender transition is a personal process that can include changing clothes, names, and hairstyles to fit a person's gender identity.
• Some people take medication, and some do not; some adults have surgeries, and others do not. How someone transitions is their choice, to be made with their family and their doctor.
• Therapists, parents and health care providers work together to determine which changes to make at a given time that are in the best interest of the child.
• In most young children, this care can be entirely social. This means:
• New name
• New hairstyle
• New clothing
• None of this care is irreversible.
• Being transgender is not new.
• Some say it can feel like being transgender is very new - but that's because the media has been covering it more in recent months and years.
• But transgender people have always existed and will continue to exist regardless of the bills we pass.
• And very few transgender people change their mind.
• ALL gender-affirming care is:
• Age-appropriate
• Medically necessary
• Supported by all major medical organizations
• Made in consultation with medical and mental health professionals AND parents
• And in many cases, this care is lifesaving!
• A recent study from the Trevor Project provides data supporting this - transgender youth with access to gender-affirming hormone therapy have lower rates of depression and are at a lower risk for suicide.

For more information, please visit https://www.hrc.org/resources/get-the-facts-on-gender-affirming-care

2023 BECOMING WORST YEAR ON RECORD FOR ANTI-LGBTQ+ LEGISLATION

So far in 2023, HRC is opposing more than 520 anti-LGBTQ+ bills that have been introduced in statehouses across the country. A total of 66 pieces of legislation have been enacted into law this year. More than 220 of those bills would specifically restrict the rights of transgender people, the highest number of bills targeting transgender people in a single year to date. This year, HRC is tracking:

• More than 125 gender-affirming care bans - bills that would prevent transgender youth from being able to access age-appropriate, medically-necessary, best-practice health care; this year, 15 have already become law in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, South Dakota, Utah, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Georgia, Kentucky, West Virginia, North Dakota, Montana, Oklahoma, and Florida
• More than 30 anti-transgender bathroom bills filed;
• More than 100 anti-LGBTQ+ curriculum censorship bills, and;
• 45 anti-LGBTQ+ drag performance ban bills.

Americans believe the amount of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is excessive, agreeing it is "political theater." Likely voters across all political parties look at GOP efforts to flood state legislatures with anti-LGBTQ+ legislation as political theater. Recent polling indicates that 64% of all likely voters, including 72% of Democrats, 65% of Independents, and 55% of Republicans think that there is "too much legislation" aimed at "limiting the rights of transgender and gay people in America" (Data For Progress survey of 1,220 likely voters, 3/24-26, 2023).

By comparison, last year in 2022 politicians in statehouses across the country introduced 315 anti-LGBTQ+ bills, 29 of which were enacted into law. These efforts - the result of a coordinated push led by national anti-LGBTQ+ groups, which deployed vintage discriminatory tropes seeking to slander, malign, and stigmatize LGBTQ+ people - only yielded a less than 10% success rate, as more than 90% of anti-LGBTQ+ bills were defeated. The majority of the discriminatory bills - 149 bills - targeted the transgender and non-binary community, with the majority targeting children. By the end of the 2022 state legislative season, a record 17 bills attacking transgender and non-binary children were enacted into law.

More than 300 major U.S. corporations have stood up and spoken out to oppose anti-LGBTQ+ legislation being proposed in states across the country. Major employers in tech, manufacturing, hospitality, health care, retail, and other sectors are joining with a unified voice to say discrimination is bad for business and to call on lawmakers to abandon these efforts. Four of the largest U.S. food companies also condemned "dangerous, discriminatory legislation that serves as an attack on LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly transgender and nonbinary people," and the Walton Family Foundation issued a statement expressing "alarm" at the trend of anti-transgender legislation that recently became law in Arkansas.

According to the latest data this year from PRRI, support for LGBTQ+ rights is on the rise in Louisiana and nationwide: 80% of Louisiana residents support nondiscrimination protections, and 61% of Louisiana residents oppose refusal of service on religious grounds. About eight in ten Americans (80%) favor laws that would protect LGBTQ+ people against discrimination in jobs, public accommodations, and housing. This reflects a dramatic increase in the proportion of Americans who support nondiscrimination protections since 2015, when it was 71%.

The Human Rights Campaign is America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ+ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.