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South Dakota Passes Bill Targeting Trans Youth

South Dakota Passes Bill Targeting Trans Youth

South Dakota Passes Anti-trans Bill

As we have seen recently, there has been an abundance of anti-LGBTQ bills which have been crafted and are sitting on the desks of legislators nation-wide. These bills are mainly targeting trans youth. The commonality between these bills is that they are targeting trans youth and demanding a denial of access to the gender affirming care that they need.

According to the HRC, South Dakota has successfully passed House Bill 1057 which makes it a misdemeanor for health care professionals to prescribe and perform gender-affirming care to trans and nonbinary people under the age of 18. This would then mean that doctors can be imprisoned if they are discovered giving transitioning assistance healthcare to minors.

This news could become a reality in Colorado, as a bill was recently introduced to the House of Representatives following similar guidelines. HB20-1114 was introduced by Representative Shane Sandridge and is titled “Protect Minors From Mutilation and Sterilization.”

HB20-1114 reads: “The bill protects minors from mutilation and sterilization. The bill creates a crime of unlawful sex reassignment treatment of a minor. A healthcare professional commits unlawful sex reassignment treatment of a minor if the person knowingly administers, dispenses, or prescribes a drug or hormone or orders or performs a surgical procedure for the purpose of facilitating sex reassignment of a minor. Unlawful sex reassignment treatment of a minor is a class 3 felony.”

Both the South Dakota and the proposed Colorado bills would not allow puberty blockers to be prescribed to those under the age of 18. Puberty blockers work by blocking hormones, like testosterone and estrogen, which lead to bodily changes such as menstruation and facial hair. Puberty blockers pause these changes; they do not block them permanently

Puberty blockers are known to lower suicidal thoughts by 15 percent among trans youth.

While we see these assaults on trans youth continuing, there are some states which are taking steps to support our LGBTQ youth, like Utah. The state has banned conversion therapy and has become the 19th state to do so. The Trevor Project has reported that over half of our trans and non-binary youth have been through the “therapy.”

Regardless of the region, there still remains the need for massive strides to be made for our trans and nonbinary youth.

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