Alabama passes bills against gender transitioning minors and discussing LGBT issues in classrooms

The Alabama Legislature on Thursday approved two bills that limit open discussion and recognition of the rights of LGBTQ and transgender people in schools and criminalize the gender transition of minors.

One of the bills, called HB 322,

in classrooms until the fifth grade.

Trans schoolchildren would also not be allowed to

with which they identify.

The rule is similar to two initiatives in other states: Florida's "Don't Say Gay" law, which prohibits talking about sexual orientation or gender identity in class;

and the "Bathroom Law" passed in North Carolina in 2017 that prohibited students from using toilets according to their gender identity (although it was later partially repealed).

The Alabama House then passed SB 184, which would

gender transition medical care, such as puberty blockers, hormones and surgery, to 18-year-olds. or less in the state.

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Transgender student Elijah Baay attends a protest at the Alabama Legislature against bills restricting the rights of transgender people on March 30, 2021 in Montgomery, Alabama.Getty Images

The bill has passed both houses and is now headed to Gov. Kay Ivey's desk.

Meanwhile, the Chamber will have to approve the modified version of the law against the discussion of gender issues in the classroom before sending it to the governor's office.

Ivey, a Republican, has not said whether she will sign any of the bills, but last year she signed a measure that bars transgender girls and women from playing on girls' school sports teams.

Restrictions on the use of the bathroom

Republican Rep. Scott Stadthagen, a sponsor of the bathroom bill, said the bill is meant to protect girls.

"It's an issue that was raised with me last fall," he told a Senate committee on Tuesday.

"The bill is short and simple. It says that whatever gender is listed on your original birth certificate, that's the bathroom you should use in schools," he noted.

Alabama resident Vanessa Tate Finney, the mother of a 13-year-old transgender boy, told the committee

Stadthagen's claim and that the bill targeted trans youth for political reasons.

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A 2018 study by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law found no evidence that allowing transgender people to use public facilities that align with their gender identity increases safety risks.

The bill is among the first to regulate bathroom use passed by a state legislature since North Carolina partially repealed its bathroom law.

The well-being of trans adolescents in danger

Alabama may also become one of the few states to restrict gender-affirming health care if Ivey signs that bill into law.

During debate on the bill, its sponsor, Republican Rep. Shay Shelnutt, compared gender-affirming health care to vaping and getting a tattoo, saying minors should be prohibited from engaging in activities that could harm or alter their bodies.

He said the state has a "responsibility" to protect children.

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In contrast, Rep. Neil Rafferty, a Democrat and the state's only LGBTQ representative, said this bill is

which Republicans often defend.

"It's hard enough growing up, it's hard enough growing up being different," Rafferty said.

Only two other states, Arkansas and Tennessee, have similar laws, although a judge blocked the Arkansas law in July.

As of March, 13 states, including Alabama, were considering bills that would ban gender-affirming care for trans teens, potentially jeopardizing care for an estimated 42,950 transgender people, according to the Williams Institute.

If the governor approves the law, she will face legal challenges.

Several organizations have anticipated that they will question the initiative in court.

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“If Alabama lawmakers insist on passing this cruel, dangerous, and unconstitutional legislation, the state will be faced with an immediate lawsuit,” said Sruti Swaminathan, an attorney with Lambda Legal, according to a press release.

Morissa Ladinsky, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and co-director of the UAB Pediatrics gender health team, told NBC News last month that emergency rooms across the state have been asked to be "on alert." maximum" if the bill advances, because

.

With information from