Legislators in at least two U.S. states are citing a recent decision in England to restrict gender transitions for young people as support for their own related proposals.
They weren’t the first to turn to other countries, notably in Europe, for policy and research ideas. Lawmakers across the U.S., where at least 23 states now have tightened or removed access to transgender health care for minors, have routinely cited non-U.S. research or policies as justification for their legislation.
Yet leading health organizations in the United States and Europe continue to decisively endorse gender-affirming care for both transgender youths and adults.
Among other things, they argue that restrictions on things like hormone therapy tend to single out transgender youths, even though other young people also can benefit from them. And transgender advocates and allies see a political attempt to erase them, cloaked as concern for children.
Hormone blockers and surgeries cause irreversible changes to people's healthy bodies. Such life altering, irreversible, elective changes are incredibly dangerous territory for minors to wade into and is why we are seeing such irreversible, elective changes being increasingly barred from minors.