Florida’s State Board of Education has approved new penalties to enforce the state’s anti-transgender bathroom law.
Signed into law in May by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is also running for his party’s presidential nomination in 2024, Florida’s House Bill 1521 went into effect in July. It requires people to use bathroom and changing facilities that correspond to the gender they were assigned at birth and applies to public schools, universities, parks, prisons, and other government buildings but not to businesses and healthcare facilities. DeSantis has said the law will ensure women’s safety, based on the myth that trans people are violent sexual predators who prey on innocent women and children.
Students who speak out for LGBTQ+ rights say they face retaliation from hostile school administrations determined to silence them.
As The Hill reports, on Wednesday the DeSantis-appointed State Board of Education voted unanimously to adopt a proposal outlining disciplinary measures for students and employees at state colleges who violate the law. The new rule requires the 28 public community and state colleges in the state’s college system, which is separate from the Florida university system, to update their student and employee codes of conduct to reflect the anti-trans law and establish disciplinary procedures for employees by April 1.
“Disciplinary actions may utilize a progressive discipline process that includes verbal warnings, written reprimands, suspension without pay, and termination,” the proposal states. “The disciplinary action taken should be based on the specific circumstances of the offense; however, a second documented offense must result in a termination.”
Schools are not required to provide unisex restrooms, and the requirements also apply to student housing. As The Hill notes, this will result in transgender and nonbinary students living in college dorms being unable to use restrooms that align with their gender identity.
The rule was met with opposition during the public comment period at Wednesday’s meeting. The mother of a transgender teenager said that the slate of anti-trans laws signed by DeSantisthis year has made her child fear for their life. A rising high school senior, they have opted not to apply to any colleges in Florida as a result.
Former Florida state Representative and current policy advisor at Equality Florida Carlos Guillermo Smith, who is running for state senate, said that the “new level of fear and intimidation” in the state has one goal: “to root transgender people out of the Florida College System.”
“It is death by a million cuts, where you just created such a toxic and hostile environment for trans people in our state that they no longer are going to want to call Florida home,” Smith told The Hill. “They’re just going to leave.”
The number of gender-affirming surgeries in the U.S. nearly tripled from 2016 to 2019 before dropping slightly in 2020, according to a study published Wednesday.
The increase likely reflects expanded insurance coverage for transgender care after the Obama administration and some states actively discouraged discrimination based on gender identity, lead author Dr. Jason Wright of Columbia University said. The dip in 2020 can be attributed to the pandemic.
About 48,000 patients underwent such surgeries during the five years studied, with about 13,000 procedures done in 2019, the peak year, and 12,800 in 2020.
A little more than half the patients were ages 19 to 30. Surgeries in patients 18 and younger, were rare: fewer than 1,200 in the highest volume year.
In the last couple of years, many states have taken steps to restrict or ban transgender care for people under age 18, adding to waiting lists of patients seeking care in states that have declared themselves refuges for transgender people.
“This age group is really not what’s driving the overall increase in gender-affirming surgery that we found,” Wright said.
Among the youngest patients, the most common surgeries were breast and chest procedures, with more than 3,000 young people undergoing such operations during the five-year period.
These were likely transgender males — generally high school graduates — having their breasts removed, said Dr. Loren Schechter of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, who specializes in gender-affirming surgery and was not involved in the study. Having breast surgery at that age allows them to “go to the next phase of their life in a body with which they’re comfortable and is synchronous with their identity,” he said.
The study, published in JAMA Network Open, did not look at more common treatments in minors such as puberty blockers and hormones.
Researchers analyzed records from two national surgery databases. For all age groups, breast surgeries were the most common type, followed by genital surgeries. The researchers also counted about 6,600 cosmetic procedures such as liposuction, face lifts and nose reshaping.
The gender identities of the patients were unclear in the data and couldn’t be inferred in categories like breast reconstruction, which could be for either transgender males or females.
Private insurance covered most patients who had such surgeries, the researchers found. About 1 in 4 patients received coverage through Medicaid, the federal-state health care insurance program that helps pay for health care for low-income people.
With a pronounced Roman accent and a confidently assertive demeanor, a petite figure stands before an enthusiastic crowd. The people cheer as the figure emphasizes the importance of Christian values, the role of women in traditional family settings, and the threat posed by immigrants and LGBTQ+ people, associating them with the decline of what was once home to the great Roman Empire. You may, for a moment, be reminded of figures like Mussolini, Hitler, or Franco. But the figure is actually in power today. She is Italy’s first female prime minister, Giorgia Meloni.
Her rallying cry, “I am a mother, I am Italian, I am Christian,” has echoed across the internet for years. Remixes featuring Daddy Yankee have made their way to dance floors throughout Italy. Yet, few anticipated these slogans would soon form the core values of the nation’s prominent party, Brothers of Italy.
We must learn from tyrannies past.
Throughout the annals of Italian history, the evolution of rights for queer citizens has mirrored the changing tides of power and influence. It’s alarming to note that what seemed like a trajectory of positive advancement has now stagnated. A poignant example was the decline of the DDL Zan bill, a significant piece of legislation designed to protect all minorities by introducing the concept of hate crimes in the Italian legal framework. Unfortunately, it faced opposition, with right-wing critics arguing that it would impose so-called gender theories on children. The far-right Italian senate celebrated the bill’s failure, ironically to the tunes of Raffaella Carra, a pioneer for queer rights in Italy during the 1970s.
A significant turning point came in October 2022. After a series of interim governments, Italians could finally elect one. The results tilted towards the right, and faithful to their campaign promises, the chosen embarked on a journey to strip rights from groups they deemed inconsistent with the ‘traditional’ Italian ethos.
This new government is currently led by the openly neofascist party, Brothers of Italy. Notably, this party boasts the country’s first female prime minister—a milestone in Italy’s patriarchal society. Yet, her cabinet includes controversial figures like ex-interior minister Matteo Salvini, who is implicated in a naval blockade that tragically claimed 86 lives, including 35 minors. Another key member, Ignazio La Russa, is known for his fondness for fascist memorabilia. He has disturbingly wielded his influence to protect his son, Lorenzo Alapche La Russa, from a sexual assault case in Milan.
In March, another significant setback loomed with legislation that could strip same-sex parents of their parental rights unless they are the biological parent. This has led to the recent lesbian mom protests.
While surrogacy has always been prohibited in Italy, LGBTQ+ couples previously had the option of seeking surrogacy abroad and subsequently registering as parents in their local municipality. This protective shield is eroding, as demonstrated in cities like Padua, where local councils have already removed non-biological parents’ rights for the children of LGBTQ+ couples — all under the banner of “safeguarding” children.
A shadow from the past: Rome’s pointy hat
One cannot discuss Italy’s approach to LGBTQ+ rights without acknowledging the influence of the Vatican.
Despite Italy being just one of many nations rolling back LGBTQ+ rights, it holds a unique position due to its historical ties with the Catholic Church. The 1929 Lateran Treaty, a pact between Mussolini’s Kingdom of Italy and the Vatican, established Catholicism as the state religion, among other things.
Although this official alignment ended in 1984, the cultural ramifications lingered, proving to be an obstacle to advancing LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights in Italy.
And it’s precisely by weaponizing Catholic morals that anti-LGBTQ+ laws are swiftly passed.
An uncertain future
The future seems uncertain for queer Italians and their counterparts in nearby communities. The Italian government is considering a proposal to classify surrogacy as a universal criminal offense. What does this mean? In Italy, domestic criminal acts are prosecuted if committed within the country, and universal criminal acts are prosecuted no matter where they occur. Under the proposed law, if someone undergoes surrogacy abroad and then returns to Italy, they could face up to two years in prison and fines of up to 1 million euros. For perspective, other offenses in the universal crime category include acts like piracy, torture, genocide, and in some cases, terrorism.
A country that has for decades championed individualism and democratic rights, the U.S. is creating a dangerous precedent with the passage of its own anti-LGBTQ+ laws, and other countries – with the help of some U.S-grown organizations – seem to be following the lead.
Italy and the U.S. have long historical ties due to immigration waves in the early 20th century. Countries like these two are rolling backward in progress; however, a noticeable parallel can be drawn. States like New York, California, and Vermont and in a similar fashion, cities like Cagliari, Milan and Turin have responded to the hateful legislation by doing the opposite of what it instructs: creating safe havens for queer communities and, in the case of the U.S., maintaining or enhancing abortion rights.
These counter-responses are silver linings in what can otherwise feel like looming darkness. But perhaps they are also planting the seeds for more progressive movements.
The Italian government’s deliberate backpedaling on LGBTQ+ rights not only tarnishes its international reputation but also highlights a governance strategy marred by distraction and deception.
This administration campaigned vigorously on conservative platforms — promising a more affordable cost of living, decreased fuel prices, and a revolutionary flat tax. Yet, as rights are stripped away, these other promises remain conspicuously unfulfilled. The maneuver is as transparent as it is cynical: divert the public’s focus onto polarizing issues as a smokescreen for their inability to deliver on their own electoral promises.
Catholic schools in Worcester, Massachusetts have issued a new policy that orders students to use their names and pronouns assigned at birth and conduct themselves in a manner “consistent with their biological sex,” according to a statement issued by the local diocese on August 15.
The policy affects more than 5,000 students in 21 schools in the city 45 miles west of Boston.
While the guidance claims that bullying and harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity “will not be tolerated,” the policy goes on to say that “students may not advocate, celebrate or express same-sex attraction in such a way as to cause confusion or distraction in the context of Catholic school classes, activities or events.”
“We do not serve anyone’s greater good by falsifying the truth, for it is only the truth that frees us for the full life that God offers to each of us,” the diocese said.
The strict guidance stands in contrast to the spirit of statements issued by Pope Francis, who has asked “Who am I to judge?” when questioned about gay priests in the church.
Earlier this year, Pope Francis said, “Being homosexual isn’t a crime.”
Despite those sentiments, the diocese quotes Francis to argue in favor of the discriminatory policy.
“As Pope Francis notes, we must always respect the sacred dignity of each individual person, but that does not mean the Church must accept the confused notions of secular gender ideology.”
The new policy was approved by Bishop Robert J. McManus, well-known in Worcester for his religious orthodoxy.
Last year, McManus gained national attention for stripping the Jesuit-run Nativity School of Worcester of its Catholic designation after leaders there refused to lower Black Lives Matter and Pride flags.
The school serves primarily low-income boys of color in grades five through eight.
McManus argued in an open letter that the sentiments associated with the flags were “contrary to Catholic teaching.”
According to McManus, the Black Lives Matter banner had been co-opted by “factions which also instill broad-brush distrust of police and those entrusted with enforcing our laws,” while the Pride flag contradicted Catholic teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman.
Flying the two flags sent “a mixed, confusing and scandalous message to the public about the Church’s stance on these important moral and social issues,” the letter read.
In Worcester, Joshua Croke, president of LGBTQ+ nonprofit Love Your Labels, called the bishop’s new policy both unsurprising and harmful.
“He has a long history of anti-LGBTQ practices and positions,” Croke told The New York Times.
The doctrinaire policy is an order for kids to “stay in the closet,” Croke said.
In a glorious comeback after being banished from the Tokyo Olympics in 2022 for testing positive ahead of the games for THC, one of the active components of cannabis, out American runner Sha’Carri Richardson won the 100-meter world title at the World Athletics Championships in Hungary on Monday.
Delighting crowds at the National Athletics Center in Budapest, Richardson ran a personal best time of 10.65 seconds, making her the fastest woman in the world.
The achievement proved her personal mantra, “I’m not back. I’m better.”
In the aftermath of the controversy surrounding her exit from the Tokyo games, the world champion said she would need time to process it all, the New York Timesreports.
“Honestly, I don’t even know what to say,” Richardson confessed. “It’s surreal. I think in the morning, I’ll probably feel it.”
It was a remarkable upset by Richardson over Jamaican sprinters Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
“I’m honored. I’m blessed. I had great competition, [which] pulled the best out of me, and I’m just honored to leave with a gold medal,” Richardson remarked after the race.
NBC News reports that during last year’s U.S. Track and Field Championships, Richardson could not advance past the 100-meter heats.
As a result of Monday’s performance, the 2024 Olympic hopeful is in a better position than ever before.
Before winning Monday’s race, she was considered a favorite to earn an Olympic spot after winning the U.S. 100-meter title last month.
As Richardson’s journey on the track continues, she hopes fans will see athletes for more than their accomplishments.
Richardson wants fans to recognize the struggles and sacrifices that athletes go through to reach their goals. She hopes her story will encourage others to never give up on their dreams, no matter their obstacles, the Dallas Morning News reports.
“I would say’ never give up,’” she replied when asked what message this triumph conveyed. “Never allow media, never allow outsiders, never allow anything but yourself and your faith define who you are. I would say ‘Always fight. No matter what, fight.’”
Support for abortion access remains high among both Democratic and Republican voters, and as such, Republicans have resorted to trying to trick people into voting for anti-abortion measures – and they’re using anti-trans fearmongering to do it.
In several states, Republicans have tried to convince voters that ballot measures seeking to restrict reproductive rights will also protect youth from Democrats – who they say are trying to force children into gender transitions.
A recent report from Slatedetailed how Republicans have (unsuccessfully so far) used this tactic in Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
In Michigan last year, Republicans spent millions of dollars trying to defeat an abortion rights amendment by trying to convince voters it also would have allowed doctors to perform gender-affirming surgery on children without their parents’ consent.
The amendment did pass, and it gave the people of Michigan full decision-making power when it comes to “prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, sterilization, abortion care, miscarriage management, and infertility care.” Republicans released ads trying to make voters believe that the inclusion of “sterilization” in the language somehow meant kids would be allowed to transition without their parents knowing. Legal experts refuted this claim and said the amendment could not be interpreted as such.
In Ohio, Republicans ran anti-trans ads in an effort to get people to vote for a ballot measure that had nothing to do with trans rights but would have stopped an abortion rights amendment.
An ad funded by the right-wing group “Protect Women Ohio” shows a parent reading a bedtime story to a young girl. A voiceover states, “You promised you’d keep the bad guys away. Protect her.” It warns that “trans ideology” is being pushed in classrooms and that kids are being encouraged to undergo gender transitions. The ad encouraged parents to protect their rights by voting yes on August 8th to Issue 1, even though that measure had nothing to do with trans rights. https://www.youtube.com/embed/QdLtcX1Hzlk
But Ohioans didn’t take the bait. In fact, even though Republicans hastily threw together an emergency vote on Issue 1, voter turnout was reportedly 38 percent higher than all regularly scheduled primary elections since 2016. Issue 1 was defeated by 14 percent.
One ad from Protect Women Ohio claims the amendment will allow kids to undergo “sex change surgery” without their parents’ knowledge or consent. The ad warns: “They’re coming for your parental right.
The actual constitutional amendment that voters will decide on in November doesn’t even mention gender-affirming care for minors. It states: “Every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion.”
“Opponents have latched on to the ‘but not limited to’ language to say that this could provide a constitutional right to, among other things, gender-affirming care rights. That’s not a legally persuasive argument,” Jonathan Entin, a professor emeritus at Cleveland’s Case Western Reserve School of Law, told NBC News.
Wisconsin Republicans did the same thing in a critical state Supreme Court case earlier this year. In April, Judge Janet Protasiewicz prevailed over conservative opponent Dan Kelly, giving liberals a majority on the court for the first time in 15 years.
And despite the fact that the key issues in the race were abortion and redistricting, rather than trans rights, Protasiewicz faced vicious anti-trans attacks throughout her campaign from a far-right extremist group called the American Principles Project. The American Principles Project PAC reportedly spent almost $800,000 on ads and text messages supporting Kelly and accusing Protasiewicz of trying to turn kids transgender.
According to Wisconsin Watch, one text from an unknown number that included an American Principles Project video said Protasiewicz is “endorsed by all the woke activists that are stripping parents of their rights in Wisconsin schools and forcing transgenderism down our throats.”
Others said, “Protasiewicz and her woke allies want to TRANS our children without notifying parents” and have accused the “woke left” of having an “unending thirst to trans our children.”
States that have placed abortion rights on the ballot have found that a majority of voters support protecting those rights by law, even in rural red states like Kansas, Kentucky, and Montana.
Rajee Narinesingh faced struggles throughout her life as a transgender woman, from workplace discrimination to the lasting effects of black market injections that scarred her face and caused chronic infections.
In spite of the roadblocks, the 56-year-old Florida actress and activist has seen growing acceptance since she first came out decades ago.
“If you see older transgender people, it shows the younger community that it’s possible I can have a life. I can live to an older age,” she said. “So I think that’s a very important thing.”
Now, as a wave of new state laws enacted this year limit transgender people’s rights, Narinesingh has new uncertainty about her own future as she ages.
“Every now and then I have like this thought, like, oh my God, if I end up in a nursing home, how are they going to treat me?” Narinesingh said.
Most of the new state laws have focused attention on trans youth, with at least 22 states banning or restricting gender-affirming care for minors.
For many transgender seniors, it’s brought new fears to their plans for retirement and old age. They already face gaps in health care and nursing home facilities properly trained to meet their needs. That’s likely to be compounded by restrictions to transgender health care that have already blocked some adults’ access to treatments in Florida, and sparked concerns the laws will expand to other states.
Transgender adults say they’re worried about finding welcoming spaces to live in their later years.
“I have friends that have retired and they’ve decided to move to retirement communities. And then, little by little, they’ve found that they’re not welcome there,” said Morgan Mayfaire, a transgender man and the executive director of TransSOCIAL, a Florida support and advocacy group.
Discrimination can range from being denied housing to being misgendered and struggling to get nursing homes to acknowledge their visitation rights.
“In order to be welcome there, they have to go into the closet and deny who they are,” Mayfaire said.
Morgan Mayfaire, right, walks with his wife, Ashley, Sunday, at Fairchild Tropical Garden in Miami, on July 23.Lynne Sladky / AP file
About 171,000 of the more than 1.3 million transgender adults in the United States are aged 65 and older, according to numbers compiled by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.
The growing population has brought more services such as nursing homes and assisted living centers that are geared toward serving the LGBTQ+ community, though such facilities remain uncommon. They include Stonewall Gardens, a 24-apartment assisted living center that opened in Palm Springs, California in 2015.
The center’s staff are required to go through sensitivity training to help make the center a more welcoming environment for residents, interim executive director Lauren Kabakoff Vincent said. The training is key for making a more accepting environment for transgender residents and making them feel more at home.
“Do you really want to be moving into a place where you have to explain yourself and have to go through it over and over?” Vincent said. “It’s exhausting, and so I think being able to be in a comfortable environment is important.”
SAGE, which advocates on behalf of LGBTQ+ seniors, offers training to nursing homes and other elder care providers. The group trained more than 46,000 staff at 576 organizations around the country in the most recent fiscal year. But the group acknowledges that represents just a fraction of the elder care facilities around the country.
People play games at an LGBTQ+ assisted living facility in Palm Springs, on Aug. 15, 2023.Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP file
“We have a long way to go in terms of getting to the point where nursing homes, assisted living and other long-term care providers are prepared for and ready to provide appropriate and welcoming care to trans elders,” said Michael Adams, SAGE’s CEO.
The gap concerns Tiffany Arieagus, 71, an acclaimed drag performer in south Florida who also works in social services for SunServe, an LGBTQ+ nonprofit.
“I just am going on my 71 years on this earth and walking in the civil rights march with my mother at age six and then marching for gay rights,” Arieagus said. “I’ve been blessed enough to see so many changes being made in the world. And then now I’m having to see these wonderful progressions going backwards.”
A handful of states, including Massachusetts and California, have in recent years enacted laws to ensure that LGBTQ+ seniors have equal access to programs for aging populations and requiring training on how to serve that community.
But the push for restrictions on access to health care has brought uncertainty in other states. Florida’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors also includes restrictions that make it difficult, if not impossible, for many adults to get treatment.
SAGE has seen a spike in the number of calls to its hotline following the wave of anti-transgender laws, and Adams said about 40% of them have come from trans seniors primarily in conservative parts of the country worried about the new restrictions.
The limits have prompted some trans adults to leave the state for care, with some turning to crowdfunding appeals for help. But for many trans seniors, such a move isn’t as easy.
“You have the general fear, fear that is leading clinicians being concerned and perhaps stepping away from offering care, fear of trans elders of who is a safe clinician to go to,” Dan Stewart, associate director of the Human Rights Campaign’s Aging Equality Project, said.
Florida’s law has already created obstacles for Andrea Montanez, LGBTQ immigration organizer at Hope CommUnity Center near Orlando. Montanez, 57, said her prescription for hormone therapy was initially denied after the restrictions were signed.
Montanez, who has been speaking out at Florida Medical Board meetings about the impact of the new state law, said she’s worried about what it will be mean as she approaches retirement.
“I hope I have a happy retirement, but health care is a big problem,” Montanez, who was eventually able to get her prescription filled, said.
For Tatiana Williams, 51, the restrictions are stirring painful memories of a time when she and other members of the transgender community had to rely on dangerous and illegal sources for gender-affirming medical care. Now the the executive director of the Transinclusive Group in Wilton Manors, Florida, Williams remembers being hospitalized for a collapsed lung after receiving black market silicone injections for her breasts.
“What we don’t want is the community resorting to going back to that,” Williams said.
Still, older transgender adults say they see hope in how their generation is working with younger trans people to speak out against the wave of the restrictions.
“The community’s going to take care of itself. It’s as simple as that. We’re going to find ways to take care of ourselves and we’re going to survive this,” Mayfaire said. “And as far as trans youth panicking over this, look to your elders.”
Four people have reportedly been arrested in Uganda in the Buikwe district, located in central Uganda along Lake Victoria.
Police told the AFP that that four people – two of whom were women – were arrested after receiving a tip that “homosexuality” was happening at a massage parlor in the area.
“The police operation was carried out following a tip-off by a female informant to the area security that acts of homosexuality were being carried out at the massage parlor,” said police spokesperson Hellen Butoto.
The arrests come just months after Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed the country’s new Anti-Homosexuality Act, which contains provisions allowing for the death penalty in cases of “aggravated homosexuality.” Even though the World Bank and the U.S. have condemned the law as a violation of human rights, the Christian-marjority nation has stood its ground, accusing the West of “blackmail.”
“We do not consider homosexuality as a constitutional right,” Chris Baryomunsi, Uganda’s Information Minister, said of the international backlash. “It is just a sexual deviation which we do not promote as Ugandans and Africans.”
A federal appeals court ruled Monday that Alabama can enforce a ban outlawing the use of puberty blockers and hormones to treat transgender children, the second such appellate victory for gender-affirming care restrictions that have been adopted by a growing number of Republican-led states.
A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a judge’s temporary injunction against enforcing the law. The judge has scheduled trial for April 2 on whether to permanently block the law.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall called the ruling a “significant victory for our country, for children, and for common sense.”
“The Eleventh Circuit reinforced that the State has the authority to safeguard the physical and psychological wellbeing of minors,” Marshall said.
Steve Marshall, Alabama’s attorney general, speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for Ketanji Brown Jackson on March 24, 2022.Al Drago / Bloomberg via Getty Images
In lifting the injunction, the judges wrote that states have “a compelling interest in protecting children from drugs, particularly those for which there is uncertainty regarding benefits, recent surges in use, and irreversible effects.”
The decision leaves families of transgender children, who had been receiving treatment, scrambling for care. The injunction will remain in place until the court issues the mandate, which could take several days. But once it is officially lifted, the attorney general’s office will be able to enforce the ban, which threatens doctors with prison time.
Advocacy groups representing families who challenged the Alabama law vowed to continue the fight, saying “parents, not the government, are best situated to make these medical decisions for their children.”
“Our clients are devastated by this decision, which leaves them vulnerable to what the district court—after hearing several days of testimony from parents, doctors, and experts—found to be irreparable harm as a result of losing the medical care they have been receiving and that has enabled them to thrive,” said a joint statement from the Southern Poverty Law Center, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, and the Human Rights Campaign.
Major medical groups, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, oppose the bans and experts say treatments are safe if properly administered.
Puberty blockers are fully reversible prescription medication that pause sexual maturation, typically given in injections or skin implants. Hormone treatments can prompt sexual development, including changes in appearance.
Dr. Morissa Ladinsky, a Birmingham pediatrician, said in a statement Monday that she is hopeful “today’s decision is just a temporary setback.”
“As a doctor who has treated hundreds of transgender adolescents, I know firsthand the challenges these young people and their families face and the benefits these treatments provide to youth who need them. This is safe, effective, and established medical care. There is no valid reason to ban this care,” Ladinsky said.
The ruling follows a string of decisions in recent weeks against similar bans. A federal judge in June struck down a similar law in Arkansas, the first state to enact such a ban. At least 20 states enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for minors.
Opponents of youth transgender medical treatment say there’s no solid proof of purported benefits, cite widely discredited research and say children shouldn’t make life-altering decisions they might regret.
Bans have also been temporarily blocked by federal judges in Florida, Indiana, and Kentucky. A federal appeals court has allowed Tennessee’s ban, which had been blocked by a federal judge, to take effect.
The ruling applies to only the Alabama ban, but comes as most of the state bans are being challenged in court.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act into law in 2022, making it a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison for doctors to treat people under 19 with puberty blockers or hormones to help affirm their gender identity.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey delivers her State of the State address in Montgomery on March 7, 2023.Julie Bennett / AP file
Four families with transgender children ranging in ages 12 to 17 challenged the Alabama law as an unconstitutional violation of equal protection and free speech rights, as well as an intrusion into family medical decisions. The U.S. Department of Justice joined their lawsuit, seeking to overturn the law.
U.S. District Judge Liles Burke, who was nominated to the court by President Donald Trump in 2017, ruled when issuing the preliminary injunction that Alabama had produced no credible evidence to show that transitioning medications are “experimental.”
Alabama then appealed to the 11th Circuit.
Burke allowed two other parts of the law to take effect. One bans gender-affirming surgeries for transgender minors, which doctors had testified are not done on minors in Alabama. The other requires counselors and other school officials to tell parents if a minor discloses that they think they are transgender.
More GOP states are poised to enact similar bans on gender-affirming care for minors. Democratic governors in Louisiana and North Carolina vetoed bans last month, but both were overridden by Republican-led legislatures.
Artist Carmen Rose used to perform regularly in Malaysia, until a police raid last year put an end to the veteran drag queen’s act and fueled the fears of the LGBTQ community at a time when Islamists are rapidly gaining political clout.
Since the raid, during which several party-goers were arrested, Rose has stopped doing shows, and rarely ventures out in public in costume.
“It’s always a risk going out in drag. If there was a raid, who do we call? Do we bring our boy clothes just in case?” said Rose, who declined to disclose her non-drag identity due to fears of reprisal. “They see us as sexual deviants or sinners.”
Queer Malaysians and rights groups told Reuters that LGBTQ communities face increasing scrutiny and discrimination under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government, despite the longtime opposition leader’s reputation as a progressive reformer.
Analysts say Anwar, who took office after a November general election, is under pressure to bolster his Islamic credentials among the Muslim majority in the face of an increasingly popular ultra-conservative opposition that has steadily gained more political ground since the vote.
Malaysia’s opposition bloc includes Islamist party PAS, which promotes a strict interpretation of sharia law and opposes LGBTQ rights. The party holds the most number of seats in parliament for the first time ever, and its gains in state elections this month reinforced its political influence.
A PAS lawmaker recently said LGBTQ people should be classified as “mentally ill.” Another PAS leader urged the government to cancel a concert by Coldplay because the band supports queer rights.
“Anwar doesn’t feel politically stable, so he has to be more Islamic than the other side,” said James Chin, a political analyst at the University of Tasmania in Australia.
Sodomy is a crime in Malaysia, which also has Islamic sharia laws banning same-sex acts and cross-dressing. The multi-ethnic, multi-faith country has a dual-track legal system with Islamic laws for Muslims running alongside civil laws.
Carmen Rose in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, on July 25, 2023.Hasnoor Hussain / Reuters
While Anwar has never expressed support for the LGBTQ community, activists say they expected him to show more tolerance as he advocated for an inclusive society during his 25 years in the opposition.
“There was some hope when Anwar came to power that the reform agenda would seep in to some extent,” said Dhia Rezki Rohaizad, deputy president of JEJAKA, an organization that supports gay, bisexual and queer men.
“It’s disappointing that it has not happened. At the very least, we had hoped that they would just leave us alone, not be actively persecuting us.”
Discrimination and threats
Anwar vowed this year that Malaysia would never recognize LGBTQ rights.
His government has banned books for “promoting the LGBT lifestyle”, detained demonstrators expressing support for queer rights and confiscated Pride-themed watches made by Swiss watchmaker Swatch.
Last month, authorities halted a music festival, after the frontman of British pop band The 1975 kissed a male bandmate onstage and criticized Malaysia’s anti-LGBTQ laws.
Asked about the government’s position on LGBTQ rights, government spokesperson and communications minister Fahmi Fadzil told Reuters: “Whatever the prime minister has said is the position.”
Some analysts say Anwar’s uncompromising stance on LGBTQ rights stems from a desire to wipe out doubts about his own sexuality which surfaced after he was jailed for nearly a decade for sodomy. Anwar has repeatedly said the charges were fabricated and politically motivated, but some political opponents still question his Islamic values.
Activists say online harassment and death threats against queer Malaysians are rampant on social media, while undercover police often attend LGBTQ-friendly events. Many groups now ensure there are lawyers at these events in case of a raid.
Thilaga Sulathireh, founder of LGBTQ advocacy group Justice for Sisters, said the government’s rejection of queer Malaysians was tantamount to a human rights violation.
“This has emboldened the conservatives and the right wing, it allows discrimination and violence to take place against LGBT people with impunity,” said Sulathireh, who uses they/them pronouns.
Justice for Sisters is receiving more queries from LGBTQ Malaysians seeking asylum in other countries, they said, adding that the community is also increasingly adopting self-censorship to stay under the radar.
Drag queen Carmen Rose said she canceled a show this year, fearing another crackdown. She occasionally performs in neighboring Singapore, and is now considering leaving Malaysia.
“This is not me running away. I’m just tired and I have to also think about myself and my own happiness,” she said.
