Tennessee lawmakers move forward with ban on sex reassignment surgery for minors
Luke Gentile
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Republican lawmakers in Tennessee are closing in on a ban of sex reassignment procedures performed on minors.
The legislation, SB 0001, seeks to establish “prohibitions related to the performance on minors of certain medical procedures related to gender identity,” according to its description from the Tennessee General Assembly.
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HB 0001 is SB 0001’s companion House legislation.
A Senate committee voted 8-1 Wednesday to move the legislation forward and placed it on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s calendar for Tuesday.
Nashville’s Cordell Hull State Office Building, where the committee vote was held, was at standing-room-only capacity, and Chloe Cole, an 18-year-old self-described “former trans kid” and activist, addressed the crowd.
“From the very beginning, the doctors were negligent,” according to Cole. “They treated me as if I were an adult who was capable of making informed lifelong decisions that would affect every area of my life — from socialization and relationships to sexual function and my ability to have children.”
Supporters of the legislation argue that procedures such as Cole’s compromise Tennessee youth.
“The bill would clarify that performing these medical procedures can constitute abuse,” Tennessee Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, the legislation’s sponsor, said.
“The bill would treat these procedures as our law treats other attempts to wound, injure or disable a child.”
Johnson, along with state Rep. William Lamberth, introduced the respective Senate and House measures in November as the Protecting Children from Gender Mutilation Act, according to a report.
Not only would it prohibit medical officials from prescribing puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones and performing procedures relating to child sex reassignment, but the legislation also gives patients and families the ability to file suits and seek damages related to violations.
Each violation carries a $25,000 penalty, according to the legislation’s description.
Opponents of the legislation suggest such a measure is impractical.
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“Because this law infringes the fundamental rights of parents and discriminates based on sex and transgender status it triggers strict scrutiny, or at least heightened scrutiny, which means it will be the government’s burden to defend it in court,” Chase Strangio, the deputy director for transgender justice with the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project, said. “And, Tennessee, like Texas and Arkansas, will not be able to do so.”