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Advocates gather for a rally at the state Capitol complex in Nashville, Tenn., to oppose a series of bills that target the LGBTQ community. Photo: Jonathan Mattise \/ AP.<\/p>\n\n\n\nRights groups, including the ACLU and Lambda Legal, have vowed to fight the decision in court.Advocates gather for a rally at the state Capitol complex in Nashville, Tenn., to oppose a series of bills that target the LGBTQ community. Photo: Jonathan Mattise \/ AP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BRETT WILKINS \/\u00a0COMMON DREAMS<\/a> (truthdig.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n A trio of civil rights groups on Thursday<\/strong> said they will sue after Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee ignored pleas from human rights and health experts and signed a bill banning gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth \u2014 a move that came on the same day the governor also approved legislation criminalizing public drag shows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under S.B. 1<\/a> \u2014 introduced by state Sen. Jack Johnson (R-23), the same lawmaker behind the public drag ban \u2014 transgender minors undergoing hormone therapy or taking prescribed puberty blockers as of July 1, 2023 will be cut off from such care in Tennessee after March 31, 2024. Trans youth not receiving gender-affirming care by July 1 will be barred from doing so in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tennessee joins Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Utah in outlawing or restricting<\/a> gender-affirming care for trans youth \u2014 and, in the case of Alabama, anyone under age 19. Federal judges have blocked Alabama and Arkansas from implementing their bans. Meanwhile this year, at least 24 states have introduced legislation to prohibit or restrict such care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to<\/a> the ACLU, Republican lawmakers in more than 20 states are trying to ban gender-affirming care for trans youth\u2014and in some cases, even adults<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Lambda Legal\u2014which along with the ACLU and ACLU of Tennessee announced its intent to sue\u2014accused<\/a> Lee and Republican lawmakers of \u201ctaking away the freedom of families of transgender youth to seek critical healthcare\u201d and \u201cputting the government in charge of making vital decisions traditionally reserved to parents in Tennessee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe will not allow this dangerous law to stand,\u201d the groups said in a joint statement<\/a>. \u201cCertain politicians and Gov. Lee have made no secret of their intent to discriminate against youth who are transgender or their willful ignorance about the lifesaving healthcare they seek to ban.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cInstead, they\u2019ve chosen fearmongering, misrepresentations, intimidation, and extremist politics over the rights of families and the lives of transgender youth in Tennessee,\u201d the groups added. \u201cWe are dedicated to overturning this unconstitutional law and are confident the state will find itself completely incapable of defending it in court. We want transgender youth to know they are not alone and this fight is not over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ivy Hill, director of gender justice for the <\/strong>Campaign for Southern Equality, said in a statement after the bill passed that \u201cmy heart is breaking for transgender youth all across the country and throughout the South.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ve known for years that it\u2019s never been easy to access gender-affirming care in states like Tennessee and the passage of this bill will only make it harder,\u201d they added. \u201cBut the trans and queer community across the South will do what we\u2019ve always done: come together, support each other, and chart new systems that help people live authentic, thriving lives where they know they are loved and supported.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Allison Stiles, a Memphis physician, said<\/a> that \u201cthis bill, I feel, was born out of fearmongering\u2014out of false rhetoric that we are doing sex-change operations on our children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe hate has grown, and we now have a bill that could get parents arrested for taking their gender-dysphoric child to the physician, and their physicians for taking care of them,\u201d she asserted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust to throw in a little science here\u2026 there are four independent aspects to our sexuality,\u201d Stiles added. \u201cOur genetics\u2014which could be XX, XO, XY, XXY, XYY\u2014there is our outward appearance, our gender identity, and our sexual preference. The XX and XY fetus are identical, actually, until six weeks of gestation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Proponents of gender-affirming care noted it saves lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other GOP-run states\u2014including Idaho, Kentucky, Montana, North Dakota, and Oklahoma\u2014are considering similar drag bans.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are at least four human beings that I have touched with my hands who are this side of the grave because of the gender-affirming care,\u201d Rev. Dawn Bennett of the Table Nashville, a faith group that centers the LGBTQ+ community, recently asserted<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to<\/a> the ACLU, Republican lawmakers in more than 20 states are trying to ban gender-affirming care for trans youth\u2014and in some cases, even adults<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lee also signed<\/a> a bill on Thursday making Tennessee the first state to criminalize public drag shows. The governor signed the measure amid allegations of hypocrisy following the revelation that he dressed in drag<\/a> at least once while in high school in the 1970s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDrag is not a threat to anyone. It makes no sense to be criminalizing or vilifying drag in 2023,\u201d Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, a professor of culture and gender studies at the University of Michigan who has performed in drag, told<\/a> the Associated Press.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is a space where people explore their identities,\u201d La Fountain-Stokes continued. \u201cBut it is also a place where people simply make a living. Drag is a job. Drag is a legitimate artistic expression that brings people together, that entertains, that allows certain individuals to explore who they are and allows all of us to have a very nice time. So it makes literally no sense for legislators, for people in government, to try to ban drag.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other GOP-run states\u2014including Idaho, Kentucky, Montana, North Dakota and Oklahoma\u2014are considering similar drag bans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Rights groups, including the ACLU and Lambda Legal, have vowed to fight the decision in court.Advocates gather for a rally at the state Capitol complex in Nashville, Tenn., to oppose a series of bills that target the LGBTQ community. Photo: Jonathan Mattise \/ AP. BRETT WILKINS \/\u00a0COMMON DREAMS (truthdig.com) A… Continue reading