Today, I was linked this article in a Discord server I was in, which brought to my attention some bills which have been proposed in various state legislatures, such as South Dakota and Texas, to make it illegal to offer gender transitioning services to minors. The other members of that discussion reacted quite negatively to the proposals, calling them cruel. While I often try to take a more moderate position instinctively, I also thought these bills were pretty terrible given their blanket prohibitions on what many trans people consider necessary services. So why did these bills emerge in the first place in so many states?
As is the case with many bills, the issue at hand was brought to the attention of lawmakers by an inciting incident. In this case, it was the bitter divorce case between Anne Georgulas and Jeffrey Younger in Texas. Gergoulas claimed their 7-year old child was transgender and needed to transition from male to female; Younger claimed the child was not transgender and sought to block the transition, referring to the procedure as child abuse. This line of rhetoric likely struck a chord with conservative activists, who often frame their rhetoric against trans rights-related issues in the terms of protecting children, like with the similar slate of “bathroom bills” proposed around 2016.
So far, one of these bills has passed the State House of South Dakota, and similar proposals exist in many other states. It remains to be seen whether backlash against these bills, perhaps in the form of corporate boycotts, will hurt these legislative efforts.