Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has signed a first-in-the-nation law that blocks adults from helping transgender youth access gender-affirming care without parental consent. House Bill 2310 allows those who aid minors in accessing such care within Tennessee to be sued for compensation by the minor or their parents. Exceptions are in place for the minor’s own parents or legal guardians, adults with parental permission, and transportation companies. Previous versions of the law included criminal penalties for anyone transporting minors for gender-affirming care. Lee’s office did not immediately provide comment on the new law, which is an extension of a previous ban on gender-affirming care for minors, signed into law in July 2021.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee has expressed concerns that the new law aims to intimidate parents and families into self-censorship regarding gender-affirming care for minors. Bryan Davidson, a policy director at ACLU Tennessee, highlighted that Tennessee already has laws in place to address minors being transported across state lines without consent, such as kidnapping. The state’s ban on gender-affirming care has faced legal challenges, but a federal appeals court ruled to allow the ban to stand. Advocacy groups are now looking to the Supreme Court to potentially weigh in on the issue of who can make medical decisions for minors seeking gender-affirming care.
In addition to the gender-affirming care ban, Governor Lee signed a separate bill penalizing “abortion trafficking of a minor” and making it a misdemeanor offense for someone to help a minor obtain an abortion without parental consent. Tennessee has been at the forefront of passing anti-LGBTQ legislation, with this year seeing the enactment of at least eight new laws targeting LGBTQ+ rights. These laws include measures that force schools to inform parents if their child requests to use a name or gender marker different from their birth certificate, allow refusal to conduct same-sex marriages, permit discrimination against LGBTQ+ foster children, and eliminate the state’s human rights commission.
Furthermore, Tennessee has also faced controversy surrounding a drag performance ban, probes into the medical records of trans patients, and investigations by the Department of Health and Human Services. The state’s laws have been criticized as appeasing a small fringe activist base, with Tennessee being described as a policy laboratory for anti-LGBTQ attacks. The state’s extreme rhetoric and policies are attributed to gerrymandering and low voter turnout rates. Tennessee’s Republican-led legislature, with a supermajority, has consistently adopted anti-LGBTQ legislation, making it a concerning environment for LGBTQ+ individuals and advocacy groups.
Overall, Tennessee’s recent legislation, including bans on gender-affirming care and restrictions on LGBTQ+ rights, signals a concerning trend in the state’s political landscape. The laws, aimed at targeting transgender youth and restricting access to healthcare and reproductive rights, raise serious civil liberties issues and have drawn national attention. With key legal challenges and potential Supreme Court involvement on the horizon, the ramifications of Tennessee’s anti-LGBTQ laws could have wider implications for LGBTQ+ rights and healthcare access across the country.
