Tennessee lawmakers OK bill criminalizing adults who help minors receive gender-affirming care
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee’s Republican Party-controlled Statehouse on Thursday gave final approval to legislation that would criminalize adults who help minors receive gender-affirming care without parental consent, paving the way for the first proposal in the nation to head to the agency from Governor Bill Lee is sent for his signature.
The bill reflects almost the same wording as a so-called “anti-abortion trafficking” proposal. Tennessee Republican lawmakers approved it just a day earlier. In that version, supporters hope to deter adults from helping young people obtain abortions without the consent of their parents or guardians.
Lee, a Republican, has not commented publicly on either bill, but supporters are confident the governor will sign them into law. Lee eagerly endorsed both the state’s sweeping abortion ban and the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for children. He also never used a veto during his time as governor.
While the Republican supermajority touted the proposed statutes needed to protect parental rights, critics warned of the potential broad application. Violations can range from talking to an adolescent about a website about where to find care, to helping that young person travel to another state with looser restrictions on gender-affirming care services.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, Tennessee has passed more anti-LGBTQ+ laws than any other state since 2015, identifying more than two dozen bills that have emerged from the legislature in recent months.
This includes sending a bill to Governor Lee to ban spending state money on hormone therapy or gender reassignment procedures for prisoners – although this would not apply to state prisoners currently receiving hormone therapy – and requiring public school employees to transgender students to hand out to their parents.
Tennessee Republicans also passed a measure that would allow LGBTQ+ foster children to be placed with families who hold anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs. Lee signed the bill into law earlier this month.
“Tennessee lawmakers are poised to enact more than twice as many anti-LGBTQ+ laws as any other state, a staggering attack on their own voters,” said Cathryn Oakley, senior director of legal policy at the Human Rights Campaign said in a statement.