Alabama is the first state in the United States to criminalize the use of hormone and puberty blockers to treat transgender people under the age of 19. In keeping with what has happened in other Republican-ruled states, the legislature also passed a measure requiring students to use bathrooms corresponding to their birth sex and prohibiting discussion of gender and sexual identity in classes of younger students. youths.
The detractors of the initiatives criticize the restrictions that prevent talking regarding these issues and say that they are the “Don’t Say Gay” laws.
The Republican governor of Alabama sanctioned the initiatives on Friday and his opponents immediately went to court to prevent the entry into force of those that restrict medical measures.
Republicans say these measures are necessary to protect children and that decisions regarding gender-changing drugs should wait until a person is an adult. On the other side, it is claimed that politicians are interfering with medical decisions that correspond to families and doctors.
Cathryn Oakley of the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates for the LGBTQ community, called the two bills “the most anti-transgender laws in history.”
WHAT DOES THE LAW DO?
The so-called “Alabama Vulnerable Children Compassion and Protection Act” makes it a felony to prescribe or apply puberty blockers or hormone treatments to anyone under the age of 19 “for the purpose of attempting to alter appearance or affirm the perception of the minor of his or her gender or sex”.
Lawmakers have made violating those laws a Class C felony, which means doctors face penalties of up to 10 years in prison.
The law, which goes into effect May 8 unless the courts rule otherwise, also bans gender-altering operations, though doctors say they do not perform such operations on minors. age.
Alabama’s legislation goes beyond measures passed in other states. Arkansas was the first to ban sex-affirming drugs, but that offense is not a criminal offense. The Arkansas law was blocked by a judge before it went into effect.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered an investigation into those who facilitate sex change processes on suspicion of child abuse.
WHAT DO YOU QUESTION?
Doctors, relatives and activists say that politicians are interfering with decisions that correspond to families and doctors. The measures drew immediate criticism from medical experts, the Democratic administration of President Joe Biden and family members of trans youth. Several doctors say the Alabama law works once morest serious investigations and criminalizes routine medical measures. Health experts also say that children with gender dysphoria (when a person does not identify with the gender with which they were born) who do not receive adequate medical treatment are at greater risk of deep depression and suicidal tendencies.
DOES THE LAW SAY ANYTHING ELSE?
Yes. Requires counselors, teachers, school principals, and other staff to inform parents if a minor discloses that they believe they may be transgender.
It also prohibits school staff from encouraging students to withhold information from their parents.
WHAT DOES THE “DON’T SAY GAY” LAW SAY IN BATHROOMS?
The second part of the law signed by Ivey refers to the use of bathrooms and instruction in the classroom. The law requires elementary and middle school students to use mixed-sex restrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their birth sex, not the gender with which they identify. It also prohibits teachers and other staff in grades one through five from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity “in a way that is inappropriate for students by state standards.”
Critics of the measure describe a similar initiative passed in Florida, applicable through the third grade, as the “Don’t Say Gay” law.
AND NOW THAT?
Opponents are confident that a judge will comply with their request to block the ban on the use of medicines. Measures around bathroom use and classroom instruction are also expected to end in court.
The Justice Department sent a letter to states warning that efforts to block transgender minors’ access to care that helps them establish their gender may violate federal law and constitutional protections.
