North Carolina Republicans introduce bill to ban doctors from performing gender confirmation surgery on people under age 21

Marquise Francis
·National Reporter & Producer
·6 min read

Three Republican lawmakers in North Carolina introduced a controversial bill this week that would ban doctors from performing gender confirmation surgery for transgender youth under the age of 21.

Senate Bill 514, introduced on Monday by state senators Ralph Hise, Warren Daniel and Norman Sanderson would make it illegal for people under 21 from receiving transitional health care. The bill would supersede North Carolina’s statute which designates people over the age of 18 as adults, and able to act without the consent of their parents.

The bill would also require state employees to immediately notify parents, possibly outing the children, in writing if their child displays “gender nonconformity, or otherwise demonstrates a desire to be treated in a manner incongruent with the minor's sex”. SB 514 goes further in preventing doctors from providing gender confirming hormone treatment, puberty blockers or surgery for trans youth under 21. All three senators did not respond to Yahoo News’ request for comment.

Critics of the bill call it a part of a “coordinated attack” on trans youth across the country.

“The true aim is to push trans and non-binary people out of public life,” Chantal Stevens, Executive Director of the ACLU of North Carolina, said in a statement provided to Yahoo News.

Gay, lesbian and transgender activists in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by David Greedy/Getty Images)
Gay, lesbian and transgender activists in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by David Greedy/Getty Images)

“This year we are seeing upwards of 100 pieces of legislation, including companion bills, targeting trans youth and trans people,” Raquel Willis, a Black transgender activist and writer told Yahoo News. “These bills police the trans community similarly to other pieces of legislation that marginalize other populations that include Black and brown lives.”

Under the bill, medical professionals who treat trans patients under the age of 21 who present in a way that is “inconsistent with the minor’s sex,” could be subject to fines and the loss of their medical licence.

At least 24 states have introduced bills this year that would ban transgender girls from participating in sports, according to the ACLU. In Kansas, lawmakers are likely to pass such a bill this month, but LGBT advocates are hoping that the Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, or perhaps the courts, will block such a ban.

“We want to protect all female athletes, K through collegiate,” said GOP Sen. Renee Erickson, the bill’s main sponsor and a former college basketball player.

Transgender cyclist Rachel McKinnon has defended her right to compete in women's sport despite accepting trans athletes may retain a physical advantage over their rivals. (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
Transgender cyclist Rachel McKinnon has defended her right to compete in women's sport despite accepting trans athletes may retain a physical advantage over their rivals. (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)

Including SB 514, 16 states have presented bills that would prohibit gender-affirming care for trans youth.

“Not only are these bills rooted in falsehoods, hate, and fear-mongering, but they also invade the private interactions between each of us and our medical providers,” Stevens said.

Nearly two percent of all youth nationwide identify as transgender, according to the Trevor Project, the world's largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ youth. And overall, transgender youth report higher rates of depression, suicide, and victimization in comparison to cisgendered youth. In 2018 alone, one in three transgender youth reported attempting suicide. Bills like SB 514 further exacerbate these issues, trans and queer advocates say.

“SB514 is an extreme and dangerous bill,” Casey Pick, senior fellow for Advocacy and Government Affairs at The Trevor Project told Yahoo News. “Denying medically necessary care, and turning school into a place where transgender and nonbinary youth cannot trust the adults around them to act in their best interests, would only work to increase social isolation and stigma, which can contribute to suicide risk.”

Asa Hutchinson, governor of Arkansas. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Asa Hutchinson, governor of Arkansas. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

On Tuesday, Arkansas became the first state to ban gender confirming treatments or surgery for transgender youth under 18, despite Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, vetoing the bill the previous day, saying it went “too far.” The legislature then overrode the governor’s veto.

“The bill is over broad, extreme and does not grandfather those young people who are currently under hormone treatment,” Hutchinson said. “In other words, the young people who are currently under a doctor’s care will be without treatment when this law goes into effect.”

Transgender advocates say enough is enough.

“Gender-affirming healthcare is life-saving care and banning that care will have devastating and in some cases deadly consequences,” Ann C. Webb, Senior Policy Counsel for American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, told Yahoo News.

“These bills send a heartbreaking message to the transgender young people who are watching in fear across our state,” she added. “Trans youth are loved, they are seen, and we will never stop fighting to defend their dignity, their rights and their lives.”

Thousands of people protest anti-trans legislation. (Photo by Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Thousands of people protest anti-trans legislation. (Photo by Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Lillian Lennon, a transgender activist, was 14 when her parents sent her from Alaska to Utah to undergo conversion therapy for two years.

“Trans people live amongst you, we are like and unlike you, and we deserve the basic rights afforded to the rest of our community,” Lennon told Yahoo News. “I know firsthand what it’s like to be a trans teen without support, protections, and unwillfully outed to my friends and family. It feels hopeless. But there is hope, and we can do better by our LGBTQ+ youth by strengthening our communities and resources, not by tearing them apart.”

SB 514 must first be heard in committee before being brought to the floor of the North Carolina Assembly for a final vote. Another bill, HB 358, which would ban trans girls and women from athletics, will be heard next Wednesday. If either bill becomes law, the ACLU and its partners will look to stop them with litigation.

In the mean time, Democrats are pushing to expand the rights of transgender youth.

On Tuesday, Democrats in North Carolina presented four bills aimed at increasing protections, which include a full repeal of House Bill 2, or the state’s “bathroom bill” that was passed in 2016 and partially repealed a year later. Also, progressive lawmakers are pushing to prohibit gay conversion therapy practices.

L.G.B.T. activists and their supporters rally in support of transgender people on the steps of New York City Hall. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
L.G.B.T. activists and their supporters rally in support of transgender people on the steps of New York City Hall. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Democrats across the state say they are hopeful that, in tandem with Republicans, they can work to ensure transgender youth are positioned for success and not set up for failure.

“I believe that regardless of party, we can come together to protect our kids,” state Sen. Natasha Marcus, a Democrat, said.

Trans activists say it’s lawmakers’ job to make it easier on trans youth, not harder.

“Our research demonstrates that half of all transgender and nonbinary youth who wanted mental health care in the past year were not able to get it — with one in three saying they didn’t feel a provider would understand their sexual orientation or gender identity,” Pick, of the Trevor Project, said. "That’s why lawmakers should be expanding opportunity and support services for this group, not making life harder than it already is."

Cover thumbnail photo illustration: Yahoo News; Photos: Drew Angerer/Getty Images, David Silverman/Getty Images

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:

Recommended Stories

  • 2 vaccine sites close after reactions to Johnson & Johnson shot

    North Carolina and Colorado sites were temporarily shut down after several people suffered reactions.

  • Here's Your First Look at Jodie Turner-Smith as Anne Boleyn in Channel 5's New Series

    Jodie Turner-Smith was first announced to play Anne Boleyn in Channel 5's new eponymous series back in November 2020. Since then, we've been eagerly awaiting a release date for the show, and while no further details have been announced yet, what we do have is a first look at the Queen & Slim actor in her exciting new role.

  • 'Good Morning Britain' viewers spot 'big cat' in bushes behind Andi Peters

    A large black animal was spotted prowling on the banks of a lake behind Andi Peters on the ITV breakfast show.

  • See the First Pic of Jodie Turner-Smith as Anne Boleyn with Her Henry VIII

    The ‘Queen & Slim’ actress takes up the mantle of the legendary English queen.

  • Amazon workers poised to vote against unionizing

    Amazon led by a wide margin in a vote over whether to unionize an Alabama warehouse, after several hours of counting ballots Thursday, but the final result is still up in the air in an election that may decide whether the site becomes Amazon's first organized workplace in the U.S.Amazon is the second-largest private employer in America and unionizing it has been a goal of a U.S. labor movement seeing declining membership.But with about half of the roughly 3,200 ballots counted on Thursday night, the tally is poised to reject unionization by more than a 2-to-1 margin.Though sources told Reuters that roughly 500 of those ballots have been challenged, which could close the gap when vote counting continues on Friday.Representatives for Amazon and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union were able to question ballots on suspicion of tampering and voter eligibility, among other issues.It wasn't clear how many votes each side challenged, but the union on Wednesday said hundreds were contested, mostly by Amazon.The company had not commented on that claim.If necessary, the U.S. National Labor Relations Board will formally determine the results of the election.

  • Covid infections in Canada edge closer to US rate

    A surge means cases per capita could soon surpass US levels for the first time in the pandemic.

  • Rod Stewart bought Penny Lancaster a narrowboat for her 50th birthday

    The model started thinking about getting a new hobby while in lockdown.

  • Here’s Why Southern Progressives Don’t Just Move Somewhere Else

    Sara D. Davis/GettyGeorgia legislators didn’t just summon Jim Crow from its shallow grave with a recent spate of vote-suppressing measures, they seeded dangerous ideas. So predictably, Florida and Alabama began incantations to bring their own black-feathered zombies to life. Oblivious to the April 9 anniversary of the Confederacy’s surrender—or maybe to defy it—Arkansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas are poised to take a crack at disenfranchisement, too.Southern progressives are humiliated, but we aren’t surprised. We bear the chagrin from Southern culture’s roots in white supremacy and feudalism. We shake our heads at shameful Lost Cause rhapsodies, a traitorous Old South too often romanticized for tourism’s allure.We foretold that Shelby v. Holder—the 2013 Supreme Court decision that gutted the Voting Rights Act—would result in these unfolding changes. The only surprise was it took close to a decade to happen.We’re sadly aware yoga remains outlawed in Alabama public schools because of its cited “religious ties” with Hinduism. We’re leery when an ostentatious Christianity gets poured over everything like ketchup.We’re mortified as legislators rush to marginalize transgender youth, despite warnings from health-care professionals as to possible harm.We’re the ones most fearful of environmental danger from toxic industries lured here by public money giveaways from state and local governments. We’re wary of Alabama’s massive coal ash dumps, reservoirs of deadly radioactive waste threatening to poison swaths of wilderness and residential areas, or contaminated water seeping from reservoirs into central Florida and headed for Tampa Bay.We were sheepish when our neighbors chanted “Drill, Baby, Drill” but more embarrassed after 2010’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill befouled the Gulf Coast—yet didn’t change their oblivious attitudes.Even Robert E. Lee Wanted the Confederate Flag GoneThe willful ignorance, the racism, the ecological disregard, it’s all maddening for us. Answers are difficult, especially when we’re caught in cultural crossfire. Yet despite feeling imperiled and besieged, we remain here. Some of us are shackled by family obligations, slim opportunities, economic limitations, or medical factors. Others remain for the balmy climate, slower pace, low cost of living, or comfortable familiarity.So where’s the hope? How does the nation work with the intractable toward a “more perfect union”? Inspiration might be found in the best of us, in Southerners who dispense empathy and kindness in various hues and sizes.Some are highly visible, like Georgia political dynamo Stacey Abrams. Her fight for wider empowerment drove an electoral success that frightened her state’s old guard into enacting the controversial new voting measures.Or Bryan Stevenson, the Montgomery, Alabama, lawyer whose Equal Justice Initiative has advocated for those wrongfully funneled into America’s prison industrial complex. His life’s work has dragged into light the inhumanity of modern de facto slavery.Far more folks are quieter, yet still effective. Like Chris and Karen Bullock, a married duo of Presbyterian pastors in Mobile, Alabama, who transformed their church into a community-oriented, multi-purpose facility. They provide artists with studios, meeting and event space for nonprofits, spark public discussion on social inequities and manage one of the area’s largest food banks.Or my own father, who has spent the last few decades advocating for Alabama’s underserved schools, in conditions U.N. personnel have likened to Third World locales. He’s raised tens of thousands of dollars for school construction improvements, secured grants, sparked university programs for securing and training rural teachers and traveled the nation seeking assistance for those unable to do so themselves.America’s Cancerous Legacy for the Descendants of the Kidnapped Africans Who Arrived on the Last Slave ShipThese active progressives remain because they’re most needed here. They relish challenges.Southern progressives also warn how criticized Southerners will double down on stubbornness. The recalcitrance plays into paranoia about “outside agitators” set to “destroy their way of life.” Georgia politicians have shown it, rallying around the corporate and sports rejections.Same as it did in the 20th century—before FDR’s New Deal brought better jobs and modern amenities; before the Civil Rights Act or the Voting Rights Act halted de jure discrimination—the South needs something beyond mere vilification. Concern beyond condescension and a generous spirit can be coercive. That’s what loosens fear-based politics’ grip on the incurious and insular.Sure, the South feels like the concrete shoes on the nation’s feet; we get it. The Sisyphean tilt of Southern politics and culture are movement conservatism on methamphetamine. However, if we want to change the South and liberate the nation, we need to apply a chisel to those concrete shoes, not a bone saw to the shins.Build bridges. Find ways to help. There are plenty of people down here worth saving.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  • All Hell Breaks Loose When Geraldo Asks Black Fox Pundit When He’s Last Been ‘In the Ghetto’

    Fox NewsA Fox News debate on race and politics went completely off the rails on Thursday after Geraldo Rivera asked fellow network contributor Leo Terrell “when was the last time you were in the ghetto?”The pair ostensibly appeared on Fox News’ America’s Newsroom to discuss Tishaura Jones, who just became the first African-American female mayor in St. Louis history. And while much of the discussion did revolve around the pair’s criticism of Jones’ plan to employ more social workers to bring down crime in the city, it quickly devolved into a food fight—as is customary for the cable-news medium.“I wish her the best. She seems very idealistic but unrealistic in many regards,” Rivera said about Jones’ positions on policing and crime, prompting Terrell to immediately blast his colleague.“Geraldo, give me a break! All the evidence on Fox News, all this crime is going on in Democratic cities where they basically give the keys of the city to the criminals!” Terrell exclaimed.“I’m agreeing with you, bud,” Rivera replied, attempting to calm Terrell down. “You can’t bring a social worker to a gunfight, I agree with you. But there is always room for kindness and compassion and these families are shattered.”Terrell, who recently christened himself “Leo 2.0” after renouncing his liberalism to come out in support of Donald Trump, was in no mood to be calmed. And Rivera’s remarks later in the debate would serve to set him off.After anchor Bill Hemmer noted that Jones told her white mayoral opponent Cara Spencer that she believes that “white allies” don’t have the “lived experiences to lead a majority-minority city,” Terrell insisted that was the “most insulting, racist comment” he’s ever heard.“To say that she is basically in a better position because she is Black is insulting, is racist, and makes no sense whatsoever.” Terrell fumed. “I reject that argument!”Rivera, rhetorically stepping on the nearest rake, shot back: “Hey Leo, when was the last time you were in the ghetto?”At that point, reality-TV-like fireworks ensued on the Fox News set.“How dare you say that?!” an enraged Terrell shouted back. “You know nothing about me. How dare you say that?!”Yelling over each other, the two went back and forth over their shared living experiences before Terrell directly appealed to Hemmer over what Rivera said to him.“You know what Geraldo accused me of? Living in a particular area that I don’t understand,” he grumbled. “I have been a civil-rights attorney for 30 years and fought against this for 30 years. How dare you!”Not making things any better, Rivera chimed in: “All right, you’re Jesus on earth!”Eventually bringing the shouting match to an end, Hemmer let the bickering Fox personalities know: “I love you both.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  • Matt Gaetz releases a statement from the 'women' of his office defending him, but no women are named in it

    The nameless statement from "The Women of the Office of U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz" said the allegations against him were false.

  • Quindon Tarver, ‘Romeo + Juliet’ and ‘American Idol’ Singer, Dies at 38

    Quindon Tarver, a musician and former child star best known for his appearance in Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo + Juliet,” died after a car accident in Texas on April 1. He was 38. Tarver was born in 1982 in McKinney, Texas, and started singing in church choirs at four years old. At age 12, Tarver was signed to Virgin Records and appeared in Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” music video. He then went on to play a choirboy in Luhrmann’s 1996 cult classic “Romeo + Juliet,” contributing two covers to the film’s soundtrack: Prince’s “When Doves Cry” and Rozalla’s “Everybody’s Free.” After “Romeo + Juliet,” Tarver went on to appear on Seasons 2 and 7 of “American Idol.” Also Read: Paul Ritter, 'Chernobyl' and 'Harry Potter' Actor, Dies at 54 “He had been through so much,” his uncle Kevin Tarver told The Dallas Morning News after his death. “But his focus was on his music. He was getting ready to make his comeback. He had been in the studio working on a project that was supposed to be released this year.” Upon learning of Tarver’s passing, Luhrmann posted an old clip of Tarver singing during rehearsals for “Romeo + Juliet.” The director captioned the Instagram post, “A beautiful soul has passed. My thoughts are with Quindon Tarver’s family and loved ones.” In 2016, Tarver participated in a tribute to Prince, performing his version of “When Doves Cry” once more. It marked a turning point in his career, with the musician saying in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, “I had pretty much given up. When Prince passed away, I went to L.A. to be a part of a Prince tribute. When I got on the stage and they announced my name, it was like a coming to Jesus moment. The applause and the cheers of the people, it was like, ‘Wow, this is what I want to do. These people remember me! Twenty years later, these people remember me.'” See Luhrmann’s tribute below. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Baz Luhrmann (@bazluhrmann) Read original story Quindon Tarver, ‘Romeo + Juliet’ and ‘American Idol’ Singer, Dies at 38 At TheWrap

  • Kim Jong-un warns of crisis similar to deadly 90s famine

    Human rights groups say the country is facing dire food shortages and economic instability.

  • Sexual health: 'I can't tell my mum I'm having sex'

    In conservative Singapore, start-ups give young adults discreet access to sexual health products.

  • Hunter Biden Fires Back at ‘Comical’ Donald Trump Jr. on ‘Kimmel’

    ABCJimmy Kimmel took a break from roasting his most-despised presidential offspring on Thursday to welcome the son of the current president on his late-night show for a friendly, sympathetic, and occasionally hilarious conversation.Hunter Biden, who weathered the onslaught of attacks hurled his way before, during, and after the 2020 election, and somehow managed to come out stronger, dropped by Jimmy Kimmel Live in person this week to promote his revealing new memoir, Beautiful Things.“You know how Donald Trump was always asking where Hunter is?” Kimmel asked in his opening monologue. “Well, he’s here in our building. He’s been here the whole time, it turns out.”After introducing Biden as “probably the most famous board member of a Ukrainian energy company of all time,” the host told him, “After reading this book, I’m impressed that you are alive.”“Yeah, it was a journey, but thank God I made it through,” Biden replied. When Kimmel joked that the book may have inadvertently taught him how to find and smoke crack, Biden added, “I hope that wasn’t the message that you took from the book. It’s not a how-to, it’s a please-don’t manual.”Clarifying that unlike the president’s son, he has never smoked crack, Kimmel said, “I do feel like I understand it now. And I did think it was especially interesting when you wrote about the fact that, what happens the first time you use it is something you chase for the rest of the time you use it. It’s never what it was that first time.”Biden explained that he wanted to write his book to “humanize people suffering from addiction.” But the story also serves to humanize himself specifically given the way Trump and other Republicans turned him into some sort of evil caricature over the past several years. One of those Republicans was Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who Kimmel noted was closer with Joe Biden when they were serving in the Senate together.“When you talk about Lindsey Graham being on television attacking you, he was considered a family friend, he was a friend of your father’s,” Kimmel said, “and how strange it is to see that happen, to see a person do that.”“More than anything, it’s sad,” Biden said with a sigh, referring to his father’s fellow senators as “uncles” whether they were Republican and Democrat. “Politics has become so toxic,” he added. “And I think that the thing that I hope my dad is able to bring back is his genuine desire to take some of that toxicity out again. So I had a deep respect for Senator Graham. And it’s just sad to see the way in which he has decided to, not just attack me, but to approach politics.”Later, Kimmel asked Biden if it makes him “crazy” when he hears someone like Donald Trump Jr. saying that the only reason he’s had any success is because he’s “a Biden” and “because of his last name.”“It is wildly comical,” Biden agreed. “That is putting it lightly.”But when he tried to brush it off by saying he tries not to “spend too much time thinking about it,” Kimmel egged him on, saying, “I do, I think about it all the time.”Pressed on whether he has ever met Donald Trump Jr., Biden bizarrely replied, “Not that I know of,” adding, “but I’ve been in some pretty rough places.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  • Filipino man dies after being forced to perform hundreds of squats for breaking COVID-19 curfew near Manila

    Philippine authorities are investigating the death of a man forced to perform nearly 300 squats after officials say he broke COVID-19 curfew rules.

  • The sudden visit to COVID victims' families that sparked Jordan's royal rift

    AMMAN (Reuters) -When Prince Hamza visited the relatives of COVID-19 patients who died after a hospital ran out of oxygen, he triggered a rift in Jordan's monarchy that has shaken the country's reputation as a stable country in a volatile region. The March 14 visit to the city of Salt was, in the words of a senior establishment figure, the "straw that broke the camel's back", coming as it did hours after King Abdullah had visited the hospital and publicly scolded management for the nine deaths. Hamza made the trip to console the bereaved six days before Prince Hussein went to the city to do the same, a move that some officials said had upstaged his younger rival for the throne.

  • The 5 best Amazon deals you can get this Thursday

    Amazon deals to shop this Thursday range from a relaxing back massager and a powerful shower head to a pair of MPow headphones that can go underwater.

  • EXPLAINER: Starving for more chips in a tech-hungry world

    As the U.S. economy rebounds from its pandemic slump, a vital cog is in short supply: the computer chips that power a wide range of products that connect, transport and entertain us in a world increasingly dependent on technology. It has made it difficult for schools to buy enough laptops for students f orced to learn from home, delayed the release of popular products such as the iPhone 12 and created mad scrambles to find the latest video game consoles such as the PlayStation 5. On Thursday, General Motors and Ford said they would further cut production at their North American factories as the global shortage of semiconductors appears to be growing tighter.

  • Yemeni terror suspects caught crossing border into US from Mexico

    GOP Rep. Dan Bishop joins 'Your World' to discuss the national security crisis at the border

  • Britain reassures on AstraZeneca after advising under-30s take other vaccines

    British officials and ministers sought to shore up confidence in AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, saying advice that most people under 30 should be offered alternative shots was not unusual and would not impact the pace of rollout. A pharmacist whose brother died from a brain blood clot linked to the AstraZeneca shot was among those calling for people to keep getting it, saying the doses would save lives. Anthony Harnden, Deputy Chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) which issued the new advice, said such suggestions were not unusual, pointing out that people of different ages already got different flu shots in Britain.