North Carolina Bans Gender-Affirming Medical Treatments for Transgender Youth, Sparking Outrage and Legal Challenges

In a controversial move, transgender youth in North Carolina have lost access to gender-affirming medical treatments after the Republican-led General Assembly overrode the Democratic governor's vetoes of several bills relating to gender.

One of the bills, which takes effect immediately, prohibits medical professionals from providing hormone therapy, puberty-blocking drugs, and surgical gender-transition procedures to anyone under 18, with limited exceptions for medical necessity. This legislation makes North Carolina the 22nd state to restrict or ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, although most of these laws are facing legal challenges.

The decision to override the governor's vetoes sparked anger and emotion, with LGBTQ rights advocates promising to challenge the ban in court. Some were escorted out of the chamber by capitol police after yelling protests during the Senate session.

Democratic Senator Lisa Grafstein, the only out LGBTQ state senator in North Carolina, described the gender-affirming care bill as "heartbreaking" and criticized the prioritization of such legislation. In addition to the bill restricting gender-affirming care, the General Assembly also overrode the governor's veto of a bill limiting LGBTQ instruction in the early grades.

The new law requires public school teachers to notify parents before using a student's preferred name or pronoun and bans instruction about gender identity and sexuality in K-4 classrooms. Critics have likened this law to a Florida law known as "Don't Say Gay."

Furthermore, the General Assembly passed another bill banning transgender girls from participating in girls' sports teams from middle school through college. This move has also faced criticism for being discriminatory and unfairly excluding transgender athletes.

The decisions of the Republican-controlled chambers have been denounced by Democratic Governor Roy Cooper, who called them the wrong priorities for the state. Cooper highlighted the lack of progress on other pressing issues, such as passing a budget and expanding Medicaid, which has left many working people without health coverage.

The new legislation has raised concerns among parents of transgender and nonbinary children in North Carolina, with some considering moving their families elsewhere to ensure their children have unrestricted access to gender-affirming healthcare.

Gender-affirming care is considered safe and medically necessary by leading professional health associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association. However, supporters of the bans argue that these procedures should not be performed on minors who are not old enough to make informed medical decisions.

The issues surrounding transgender rights and LGBTQ inclusion in schools are ongoing and continue to provoke strong emotions and divisive debate. With legal challenges ahead, the battle over these controversial laws in North Carolina is far from over.