Knox Pride official tells Oak Ridge League that gender transition ban bills are 'cruel'

Republican lawmakers in the Tennessee General Assembly appear to be at war against young Tennesseans under 18 who do not see themselves as exclusively male or female (nonbinary) or who experience a gender and personal identity that do not correspond to their birth sex (transgender). That was one of the messages shared by speakers at the recent meeting of the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge (LWVOR) on proposed laws concerning youths of various sexual identities.

The first bills in 2023 seek to ban gender-affirming surgery and other care for transgender and nonbinary teens, stating that such a ban will “protect the health and welfare of minors.” Senate Republicans on Monday overwhelmingly passed Senate bill 1 banning gender transition health care for minors in Tennessee, legislation that is expected to trigger a legal fight if it is signed into law, according to a story in The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville. In emails to media earlier Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee and Lambda Legal promised they would bring immediate legal action against the proposed restrictions.

A similar House bill (HB 1), proposed by House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, has also moved forward. Both bills argue that gender transition care is too risky for minors to consent to and should be a decision a person reaches as an adult. Local lawmakers who are co-sponsored on the bills include state Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, and Rep. John Ragan, R-Oak Ridge.

A handout provided at the LWVOR meeting indicated that the Journal of Adolescent Health found that “gender-affirming hormone therapy resulted in lower rates of depression, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts among older transgender and nonbinary teens.” The Journal describes itself as "a multidisciplinary scientific Journal dedicated to improving the health and well-being of adolescents and young adults."

Nathan Higdon, chief financial officer of Knox Pride, told the LWVOR audience that such bills – which the handout stated are not based on scientific facts or supported by medical professionals who treat LGBTQ youth – are “cultural flashpoints” designed to attract votes and campaign funds from the lawmakers’ political base.

“There’s no reason for any of this legislation other than to be cruel because cruelty is the point,” he said.

According to the handout, in 2022 “more than 220 bills disproportionately targeting LGBTQ youth were introduced in state legislatures to restrict access to school sports, health care, books and inclusive curriculum and the bathroom.” It also stated that “evidence is growing about the harm of these bills and other efforts to target trans youth.

“About 85% of transgender and nonbinary youth, and 66% of all LGBTQ youth, say recent debates about state laws restricting the rights of transgender people have negatively impacted their mental health. Also, 52% of trans and nonbinary youth seriously considered suicide in the past year, and one in five attempted suicide.”

Higdon said the Tennessee legislature lately has been passing bills that he calls “lawsuits, not legislation,” because they force the breaking of a controversial law so that the final policy is dictated by a court decision.

“If we can’t stop a bad law, the only recourse is for someone to break the law, put their life on hold or ruin it, and go to court in the hope of overturning the law,” Higdon said. “It’s a waste of Tennesseans’ time, money and resources.”

According to the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute (quoted in the handout), “Gender-affirming care, including the use of hormones to delay puberty and to promote the development of secondary sex characteristics that are consistent with a child’s gender identity, is recommended for transgender youth by the American Academy of Pediatricians and the Endocrine Society.

“It is viewed by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Psychiatric Association as evidence-based patient care. Moreover, the American Medical Association supports insurance coverage for gender-affirming care for transgender people.”

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, and a former Oak Ridge resident, is backing legislation to block TennCare and its contracted insurance companies, which distribute the state’s Medicaid program, from covering or reimbursing any gender-transition health-care treatments. Democratic lawmakers called this bill “discriminatory.”

Higdon says few gender reassignment surgeries done in state

“Lawmakers are trying to make us believe that many young people in Tennessee are getting gender reassignment surgery,” Higdon said. “In the past five years there have been five mastectomies and zero bottom surgeries in youths under 18 years old. LGBTQ people are being used as political bargaining chips to get the far-right extremist voters to turn out since they care about nothing else but cultural flashpoint issues.”

Higdon noted that the SB1 bill also allows a minor or parent of a minor “injured” by gender-affirming care to bring a civil lawsuit against the health care provider to recover compensatory and punitive damages and other expenses.

He also mentioned the possibility that Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee might sign a bill altering the state’s obscenity law to limit “male and female impersonators.” According to The Knoxville News-Sentinel, “Organizers worry some Knox Pride Festival performances, such as drag shows, could be illegal, and even some parade participants could be breaking the law.” If the law changes, Higdon and other Knox Pride organizers indicated they will cancel this year’s festival and parade, which is a major fundraiser.

In his LWVOR talk, Higdon alluded to a drag show in Jackson. According to the News-Sentinel, it was limited to participants 18 and older after a Republican lawmaker claimed the performances, even though they lacked lewd or sexual content, would “groom and recruit children to this lifestyle” and be examples of “child abuse.”

Oak Ridge PFLAG officials speak

Another speaker at the LWVOR meeting was John Jaruzel, co-chair of the Parents, Family & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) Oak Ridge Chapter. He praised the passage last year by Congress of the Respect for Marriage Act in 2022 because “it legalizes my marriage to my husband in the United States.” But the new law is limited, he added, because it does not require any state to allow same-sex couples to marry in the future.

“Eight states can now deny same-sex marriage licenses,” Jaruzel said. “Most likely, Tennessee will be one of those states.”

He has heard from friends that they no longer feel safe outing themselves at gathering places for LGBTQ people, because these sites are increasingly being targeted by people with guns.

Jaruzel, who is treasurer of the AIDS Housing Project in South Knoxville, noted that Gov. Lee recently decided to turn down $9 million in federal funding for HIV prevention, stating that the funds had “too many strings attached, and Tennessee could do better with our own money.” Gov. Lee limited the state funding to any instances of mother-to-child transmission and first responders who got HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

“Last year there were zero first responders who contracted HIV and only one HIV case involving a mother-to-child transmission,” Jaruzel noted. “But 600 men in Tennessee were infected with HIV. Now, there won’t be any funding for prevention of HIV in the male population that needs it the most.”

Anne Backus, co-chair of the PFLAG Oak Ridge Chapter, explained that “all genders have a spectrum.”

For example, some who identify as women always wear dresses, but many women today wear slacks, as do most men, so these women “are somewhere in the middle” based on their gender expression.

She said that it is important for parents and grandparents to acknowledge their trans youth or nonbinary youth’s authentic name and pronouns. Without their love, acceptance and support, she added, more than half of such youths will consider or attempt suicide.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Knox Pride official to League: Gender transition ban bills 'cruel'