“My son is not a political instrument”: the impact of Republican legislation on transgender children and their families

By Jeff Walker

Harleigh Walker, 15, spends her time after school like many girls her age: doing homework, listening to Taylor Swift, collecting records and hanging out with her friends.

But this year, on her spring break, she also tried to persuade members of the House and Senate in Alabama to reject legislation that bans gender-affirming drugs for transgender children under 19, like her. .

It was unsuccessful.

State lawmakers approved the measure on Thursday, and Gov. Kay Ivey signed it into law on Friday, meaning Harleigh's doctor could go to jail if he continues to prescribe testosterone-blocking drugs.

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"Honestly, I'm a little scared," Harleigh said Thursday after learning the bill had passed.

"But we're going to keep fighting, no matter what."

He said he remains hopeful that the bill will be blocked by a court.

Alabama is one of multiple Republican-controlled states that have introduced bills not only to block this type of medical treatment, but to ban transgender children from using school bathrooms or playing on sports teams.

that do not correspond to their sex at birth.

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Alabama's drug bill is one of the most far-reaching:

"I firmly believe that if the good Lord made you a boy, you're a boy, and if he made you a girl, you're a girl," said Ivey, who faces a May primary with other conservative opponents.

Rep. Neil Rafferty, Alabama House District 54, speaks Tuesday, March 30, 2021, at the #LoveALTransYouth press conference in Montgomery. Andrea Mabry/AP

"We should especially protect our children from these radical, life-altering drugs and surgeries when they are at such a vulnerable stage. Instead, let's focus on helping them properly develop into the adults God intended them to be."

Ivey also signed a separate measure that requires students to use bathrooms that align with their birth certificate and bans gender and sexual identity instruction in kindergarten through fifth grade.

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Cathryn Oakley, state legislative director and senior adviser to the Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBTQ advocacy group,

Several organizations pledged on Friday to quickly file a lawsuit against the measures in court.

Oakley and other opponents claim that transgender health is being used as a deliberate political issue to motivate a voter base, just as they say critical race theory bills have been used.

Numerous Republican-controlled legislatures have proposed bills to block their teaching in public schools.

I am a transsexual girl.

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The measures have provoked a quick reaction from medical experts, the Administration of President Joe Biden, the United States Department of Justice and the families of trans youth.

Last month, the Justice Department sent a letter to all 50 state attorneys general, warning them that preventing transgender and non-binary youth from receiving gender-affirming care could violate federal constitutional protections.

"My son is not a political instrument. This is not a fair fight to elect vulnerable children,

" Vanessa Finney Tate, the mother of a 13-year-old trans boy in Birmingham, Alabama, said after testifying at a public legislative hearing. about the bill that would block students from using the bathrooms corresponding to their gender.

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Harleigh's father, Jeff Walker, points out that many of the same Alabama lawmakers who supported a ban on gender-affirming medical treatment opposed COVID-19 vaccines, saying "it's your body and your choice." .

He said the family is now struggling to find another state where they can continue Harleigh's medical care.

"We don't want people to meddle in our health care," he said.

Medical groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics have publicly opposed efforts to ban gender-affirming health care.

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"Gender-affirming care benefits the health and psychological functioning of transgender and gender-diverse youth," the Endocrine Society said in a statement.

"When an individual's gender identity is not respected and they cannot access health care, it

and increase the risk of the person committing suicide or other acts of self-harm."

The organization notes that reversible puberty blockers are only recommended for younger teens, while older teens might receive hormone therapy.

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Harleigh received the medication, which prevents her from going through male puberty, only after consulting with a team of doctors for years.

She said it's "strange" to see lawmakers with no medical experience calling her medication "child abuse" when six doctors have agreed she should have it.

Angus, a 16-year-old trans teenager who asked that his last name not be used due to harassment he has received in his north Alabama town, said that at puberty he knew that the mirror reflected "a body that was not mine".

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After telling her mother about her sexual identity, she began to test the waters little by little: dressing as a man, changing her name.

Only after years of talking to a team of doctors was he recently able to get medication to stop his periods.

The next step, which he is looking forward to starting, would be a small dose of testosterone.

"I've been waiting seven years to transition into the man I've always known myself to be," Angus said.

He said the bills to block these treatments are harming, not protecting, trans youth.

"The government says, 'Oh, parents are abusing their children by allowing them to transition,'" he said.

"It's actually more child abuse not letting them transition. What these bills really do is endanger the lives of young people because suicide rates will increase exponentially. And many families will lose their children."

Similar bans are moving forward in other states.

In Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott has ordered the state's child welfare agency to investigate as abuse the care of children who have undergone a procedure to confirm their gender.

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A law in Arkansas prohibits affirmation drugs.

However, that law has been blocked by a court.

Trans youth in many red states say they feel attacked, frustrated, betrayed and scared by the groundswell of legislation against them.

"It feels like a stab in the back," Harleigh said.

"I've lived in this state. For them to say, 'Well, you know what, this is a topic that's very popular on my side of the aisle, so I'm going to bring it up and support it because it's going to help me win my election,' it just hurts to see them do that".