It’s day one of Wyoming’s Budget Session and Lawmakers are coming after trans kids.
House Bill 156, legislation that would declare gender-affirming care “not in the best interest” of transgender youth in the state, is a dangerous, dehumanizing and terrifying bill for trans youth and their supportive families.
If passed, it could have devastating consequences for loving parents who are following the guidance of their children and the advice of their doctors.
Like all health care, health care for transgender youth is individualized and based on the needs of each particular person.
But some Wyoming legislators seem hellbent on joining the growing roster of states determined to jeopardize the health and lives of transgender youth, in direct opposition to the overwhelming body of scientific and medical evidence supporting this care as appropriate and necessary. Transgender youth in Wyoming deserve the support and care necessary to give them the same chance to thrive as their peers. Medically necessary health care is a critical part of helping transgender adolescents succeed in school, establish healthy relationships with their friends and family, and live authentically as themselves.
Anytime policymakers spread lies and misinformation about trans people and their medical care, it’s dangerous. Rather than making medical care more affordable and accessible to people who need it, by threatening the removal of trans youth from the loving care of affirming parents, Wyoming lawmakers are trying to add another barrier for some of the most vulnerable people in our state.
Trans people should not be ashamed or fearful to live in Wyoming.
The result of legislation like this won’t be that fewer kids grow up to be trans, it will be that fewer kids grow up.
