‘Absolutely horrifying’: Tennessee bill punishing adults who give minors gender-affirming care faces backlash

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The Bill:

Earlier this month, the Tennessee State Senate passed SB2782, a bill that makes aiding a minor in receiving gender-affirming care a Class C Felony, or a crime punishable by three to six years in jail. 

However, the bill does not apply to the parents of trans kids or medical professionals who provide gender-affirming care to kids with their parents permission—just those who do so without parental consent.

Additionally, the minor’s consent to any gender-affirming care they receive will not work as a defense to the prosecuting of adults who aid them in receiving it without their parents consent. 

The Backlash:

As reported by Truthout, LGBTQ advocates worry that the bill—if made into law—would criminalize providing youth with information about gender-affirming services in addition to the actual care itself. Allison Chapman, an LGBTQ researcher and trans rights activist, told the outlet that the bill’s passage in the Tennessee Senate is “an absolutely horrifying development.”

Tennessee has passed the fifth-most anti-trans bills into law over the last three years with more than 30 anti-trans laws on the books. The state also has an all out ban on gender-affirming care for minors that was passed in March 2023—the legality of which the U.S. Supreme Court may decide on in the future.

The Background:

The Tennessee Senate’s passage of SB2782 follows a series of “parental rights” bills and movements that attempt to criminalize adults allowing minors to identify as trans—or socially and/or medically transition—without the knowledge and/or consent of their parents.

Some parents have even attempted to challenge school gender support plans, and last year the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Parents Bill of Rights Act” that requires schools to notify parents if trans kids are allowed to play on school sport teams and use school bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity.

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