MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) 鈥� Ninth grader Harleigh Walker, 15, spends her time after school like many girls her age: doing homework, listening to Taylor Swift, collecting records and hanging out with friends.
But this year, her spring break also included trying to persuade members of the state House and Senate to reject legislation banning gender-affirming medications for transgender kids like her under 19.
She was unsuccessful. On Thursday, Alabama lawmakers passed the measure, and Gov. Kay Ivey signed it into law on Friday, meaning Harleigh’s doctor would face prison time if she continued to prescribe her testosterone-blocking drugs.
鈥淗onestly, I鈥檓 a little scared now,鈥� Harleigh said Thursday after learning the bill had passed. “But we鈥檙e still going to fight, no matter what.鈥�
She said she is holding out hope the bill will be blocked by a court.
Alabama is among multiple states with Republican-controlled legislatures that have advanced bills not only to block medical treatment but to ban transgender children from using school restrooms or playing on sports teams that don鈥檛 correspond with their sex at birth. The Alabama medication bill is one of the most far-reaching: It would put doctors in prison for up to 10 years for prescribing puberty blockers or hormonal treatment to trans kids under 19.
鈥淚 believe very strongly that if the Good Lord made you a boy, you are a boy, and if he made you a girl, you are a girl,” said Ivey, who faces a May primary with conservative opponents trying to outflank her on her right. 鈥淲e should especially protect our children from these radical, life-altering drugs and surgeries when they are at such a vulnerable stage in life. Instead, let us all focus on helping them to properly develop into the adults God intended them to be.鈥�
Ivey also signed a separate measure that requires students to use bathrooms that align with their original birth certificate and prohibits instruction of gender and sexual identity in kindergarten through fifth grades.
Cathryn Oakley, state legislative director and senior counsel for the Human Rights Campaign, a national advocacy group for the LGBTQ community, called the new laws 鈥渂reathtakingly cruel and cowardly鈥� and 鈥渢he single most anti-transgender legislative package in history.鈥� Groups on Friday vowed to quickly file a lawsuit challenging the measures in court.
Oakley and other opponents say transgender health is being used as a deliberate political wedge issue to motivate a voting base 鈥� in the same way they say bills about critical race theory have been employed. Critical race theory is a way of thinking about America鈥檚 history through the lens of racism. Numerous Republican-controlled legislatures have proposed bills to block its teaching in public schools.
The measures have prompted swift backlash from medical experts, Democratic President Joe Biden鈥檚 administration, the U.S. Department of Justice and the families of trans youth. Last month, the Justice department sent a letter to all 50 state attorneys general, warning them that blocking transgender and nonbinary youth from receiving gender-affirming care could be an infringement of federal constitutional protections.
鈥淢y child is not a political tool. This is not a fair fight to pick on vulnerable children,鈥� said Vanessa Finney Tate, the mother of a 13-year-old trans boy in Birmingham, Alabama, after testifying at a public legislative hearing on bill that would block students from using bathrooms corresponding to their gender.
Harleigh鈥檚 father, Jeff Walker notes that many of the same Alabama lawmakers who supported the ban on gender-affirming medical treatment recently argued, 鈥業t鈥檚 your body and your choice鈥� regarding coronavirus vaccinations. He said the family is now scrambling to find another state where it can continue Harleigh’s medical care.
鈥淲e just don鈥檛 want people meddling in our medical care,” he said.
Medical groups including The American Academy of Pediatrics have publicly opposed efforts to outlaw gender-affirming care.
鈥淕ender-affirming care benefits the health and psychological functioning of transgender and gender-diverse youth,” the Endocrine Society said in a statement. 鈥淲hen an individual鈥檚 gender identity is not respected and they cannot access medical care, it can result in higher psychological problem scores and can raise the person鈥檚 risk of committing suicide or other acts of self-harm.鈥�
The organization notes that only reversible puberty blockers are recommended for younger adolescents, while older adolescents might qualify for hormone therapy.
Harleigh received the medication 鈥� which stops her from going through male puberty 鈥� only after consulting with a team of doctors for years. She said it’s 鈥渨eird鈥� to see lawmakers with no medical experience call her medication 鈥渃hild abuse,鈥� when six doctors have agreed she should have it.
Angus, a 16-year-old trans teen who requested that his last name not be used because of the bullying he has received in his north Alabama town, said he knew at puberty that the mirror reflected 鈥渁 body that wasn鈥檛 my own.鈥�
After coming out to his mother, he began slowly testing the waters: dressing as a man, changing his name. Only after years of talking to a team of doctors, was he able to recently get medications to stop his periods. The next step, which he is eager to start, would be a small dose of testosterone.
鈥淚 have been waiting for seven years to finally become a man, the man that I鈥檝e always known I am,鈥� Angus said.
He said bills to block such treatments are harming, not protecting trans youth.
鈥淭he government is saying, 鈥極h, parents are abusing their children by letting them transition,'” he said. 鈥淎ctually, it鈥檚 more child abuse to not let them transition if they come out. What these bills really are doing is putting trans youth lives at risk because these suicide rates will spike exponentially. And a lot of families will lose their children.”
Similar bans are moving forward in other states.
In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered the state鈥檚 child welfare agency to investigate as abuse reports of gender-confirming care for kids. And a law in Arkansas bans gender-affirming medications. That law has been blocked by a court, however.
Trans youth in many red states say they feel attacked, angry, betrayed and scared by the wave of legislation aimed at them.
鈥淚t feels like a back-stab,” Harleigh said. 鈥淚鈥檝e lived in this state my whole life. For them to just say, 鈥榃ell, you know what, this is an issue that鈥檚 really popular on my side of the aisle so I鈥檓 just going to raise it up and support it because it鈥檒l help me win my election鈥� 鈥� It just hurts to see them do that.鈥�
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
