Transgender youth being targeted by harmful bills in Kansas
Protect trans kids! Send an email and/or write testimony opposing these bills that prevent kids and their parents from obtaining gender-affirming care recognized by all major medical associations.
Among the bills that were “blessed” by leadership to continue on this session are two harmful bills that deny gender-affirming care to transgender youth. Bills HB 2791 & HB 2792 have hearings on Thursday.
EASY links/templates for testimony and emails opposing these bills and additional information about the importance of gender-affirming care, can be found below.
Deadlines are Tuesday night (Testimony) and Thursday afternoon (emails).
Parents & medical professionals know what’s best for kids
Many of us who are parents understand that we would do anything to save our child’s life or to protect their mental health and happiness. When our chid is diagnosed with cancer, diabetes, or depression, we don’t ask our politicians what we should do. We look to the experts to help us understand the best course of action.
Yet, certain politicians think they know better than the American Medical Association, the Academy of Pediatrics, or the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry who rely upon science and peer reviewed studies when it comes to gender-affirming care for transgender children.
Instead of focusing on issues like fully funding special education that would benefit all Kansas kids, these legislators are once again targeting the 1% of Kansas kids who are transgender, their parents who love and care for them, health care professionals who provide gender affirming care, and even school counselors and teachers who affirm them.
Because just 1% of kids in Kansas are transgender, they could use some allies in their fight against these bills that would prohibit transgender youth (and their parents) from accessing the gender-affirming care, approved by all major medical organizations, that could literally save a child’s life.
Please consider submitting written public testimony or sending an email to committee members. Thanks to a number of allied organizations, you can use the links below to learn more about the bills and find easy templates for submitting testimony and sending emails.
Deadline for Testimony: Tuesday night (2/27) at 11:59 pm. Fill in the blanks on the form and your testimony and required cover sheet will automatically be submitted. Helpful talking points are provided.
Deadline for Emails to committee members: Thursday (2/29) at 1:30 pm.
Gender affirming care is health care
In fact, it is life saving care. A study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics revealed alarming levels of attempted suicide among transgender youth.
Gender affirming care is evidence-based, medically necessary, and safe, which is why major medical associations support gender-affirming care and advocate against bills like this.
“Evidence-based medical care for transgender and gender diverse children is a complex issue. Pediatricians are best able to determine what care is necessary and appropriate for these children, but these bills interfere in the physician-patient-family relationship and would cause undue harm.
“Politics has no place here. Transgender children, like all children, just want to belong. We will fight state by state, in the courts and on the national stage to make sure they know they do.” - American Academy of Pediatrics
Gender affirming care for youth mostly consists of:
Access to mental health care and counseling
Puberty blockers which allow families and their medical providers time to consider the right course of action before the development of permanent secondary sex characteristics
Hormone treatments or hormone replacement therapy
Gender-affirming surgeries are extremely rare in transgender youth and no prepubescent trans youth are receiving gender-affirming surgeries.
Gender-affirming care is individualized to meet the needs of each patient, managed through a careful and evidence-based model of assessment and informed consent—which is already required by law.
Rather than protecting kids, these laws are preventing parents and young people from making informed medical decisions, and doctors and health care providers from providing best-practice care to their patients.
Hear from parents of transgender children
Interview with Parents: The link below contains a 3 minute excerpt from The War Over Gender episode of Jon Stewart’s show on Apple TV. It’s just a portion of the interview, but it gives a good sense of what it’s like to learn your child doesn’t identify with their gender at birth.
The full episode and most importantly the full interview with the parents (starts at 15:40 mark) is also highly recommended. The episode includes conversations with a geneticist, an endocrinologist, transgender individuals, an interview with the Arkansas Attorney General, and of course plenty of Jon’s brand of humor interspersed with this serious topic.
New York Times Article: What I Learned as a Parent of a Transgender Child provides a first hand account from a pediatrician who is a parent of a transgender child.