If you are from Georgia, you probably remember the uproar after Senate Bill 140 was proposed last legislative session. Members from a range of our local communities came to the Georgia Capitol, protesting and communicating their concerns about the harmful impacts the bill would pose to our Georgia youth. Unfortunately, almost eight months later, the law stands strong.
SB140 passed last March, bans transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming care. The legislation, proposed by State Senator Carden Summers (R-Cordele), imposes a medical board license revocation on licensed physicians who provide gender-affirming surgeries and hormone therapy to transgender youth in Georgia, further preventing them from receiving these treatments. Even if a patient decides not to undergo medical treatment, hospitals and institutions can be closed from just offering hormone treatment to transgender youth, according to ACLU of Georgia.
With the introduction of Florida’s HB1557, the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, in March 2022, the nation has since seen at least 380 pieces of anti-trans legislation introduced into state legislatures, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Less than a month after the passing of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay,” the Alabama Legislature voted to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth, along with advancing another measure prohibiting elementary-level education instruction about sexual and gender identity. Soon after, in 2022 alone, Louisiana, Ohio, and Texas hopped on board with similar anti-trans youth legislation. A year later, Georgia passed SB140, marking the end of a long-fought legislative battle and the beginning of a new hostile environment the LGBTQ+ community has been forced to endure.
SB140’s unconstitutionality has been dictated as unreasonable and a simple right infringement by professionals from vast backgrounds– researchers, statisticians, and both law and medical professionals. Medical professionals specifically, by allowing youth to have gender-affirming care, despite breaking the law, have completely redictated the life of trans-youth.
A fourth-year Georgia Tech student, Ryan Kann, said that gender-affirming healthcare saved his life. “I am certain that access to gender-affirming care at a young age saved my life. I began testosterone a month before my sixteenth birthday and got top surgery about a year later. My quality of life has drastically improved since then. I went from being an asocial person with serious mental health problems to a successful and productive member of the community who will be attending medical school next year with the hope of continuing to work with the trans community. The vast majority of people who transitioned as minors will say the same — this care is life-saving and essential. Every major medical association supports medical transition, and all reputable research shows that detransition rates are exceedingly low. Even within those who detransition, the majority do so for reasons besides regret, including social discrimination, inability to afford to continue hormone replacement therapy, or discovering a nonbinary identity.”
As Kann emphasized, gender-affirming care not only assisted in him being more comfortable in his identity but has bettered his physical, emotional, and mental being — aspects of his health that would be in despair if not given the right to youth gender-affirming care. SB140 not only takes away this right but neglects the medical crises trans-youth are pleading to resolve.
“Doctors are being put in an impossible situation,” Kann added. “They have a duty to provide the best possible care for patients, but new laws are making that impossible. Trans children have become the target of the most recent political feud meant to unite a party falling apart. They are innocent bystanders suffering the consequences of someone else’s agenda.”
Despite the devastating loss of SB140 being passed last Spring, local communities and student-led organizations continue to fight for LGBTQ+ youth rights today. Zeena Mohammed, a full-time student at the University of Georgia and youth organizer at Georgia Youth Justice Coalition, shared her hope for Georgia politics.
“The morning that SB140 passed, we were devastated. Yet, there was still hope and a sense of pride between my friends and I who had long hoped it would never pass. We knew that the Georgia legislature passing SB140 didn’t change the truth that our transgender classmates belong but was only demonstrative of an intentional threat posed by lawmakers to the safety and well-being of youth. The immense presence of students, medical professionals, and allies at the Capitol that day demonstrated that Georgians are not only against this hateful bill but committed to fighting for justice and liberation for trans youth.”
The Atlanta community has time after time shown their opinion on SB140, urging policymakers to hear their pleas and help protect the futures of trans youth. In late August, a federal judge issued a temporary injunction pausing provisions of SB140, while a legal case regarding the newly enacted legislation continued. Though the temporary injunction gave Georgian youth a brief safety net, the long-term impacts of SB140 will impose large consequences on Georgia’s trans community. With the upcoming Spring 2024 legislation session peering around the corner, there is hope that local communities, grassroots organizations, and Georgia citizens can urge their policymakers to help protect trans rights– before it is too late.
