LGBTQ Rights in Alabama

The state of Alabama, a republican state has recently signed two bills into law that targets the LGBTQ community in Alabama. The two bills are meant to ban transgender health care for underaged minors, and to prohibit the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity for kids in kindergarten up through fifth grade. The bills were initially passed by the state legislature, one of the bills HB322 particularly prohibits trans students from the use of bathrooms and locker rooms that are in tandem with their identity. The law prohibiting transgender health care provides that any person that makes provision for gender affirming care which among others include the use of puberty blockers, hormone therapy or surgeries meant to alter the gender identity of anyone below the age of 18 can be charged for a felony and if found guilty could face a prison term of up to 10 years as well as a fine of $15,000. 

This legislation has been approached with mixed reactions, with some medical practitioners in the state opining that the bill is inadequately informed on the extent to which gender-affirming care actually affects kids, one of them stated that when legislators attempt to pass a law that affects a life medically without a licence, they are left to realise from the consequence that they didn’t know as much as they thought they did. The bill particularly does not condone the carrying out of surgical procedures that have to do with gender affirmation or alteration on minors until they have gotten to the age of 18, which is the legal age for making such decisions. One of the claims made by the legislation which is disputed by some medical practitioners is the fact that puberty blockers may eventually be the cause for infertility and other health risks, however in disputing the claim, it is stated that these risks are only the side effects of using the puberty blockers and they can only begin to take effect after puberty and as such are not dangerous to the youths currently taking puberty blockers. 

The Governor in his own remarks stated that, he vehemently believes that the way a person was made by God is the way a person should remain, he further emphasised the need to keep the minors and children protected from the effect of these drugs which are life changing and altering. In the State Senate, the bill sponsor called gender affirming health care for kids as some sort of child abuse. Like the Governor he also stated that the bill was created as a need to protect children from abuse whether from their parents or their schools, in his opinion, even parents should be withheld from abusing their children. 

A group which has raised its voice against the bill described the bill as one that goes against the idea of body autonomy for trans youth and their families, he opposed the signing of the law on the grounds that at the present stage, trans youth and non binary persons already are facing hindrances to the full manifestation of the joyous lives they deserve, he called the bill an attack on the right to the autonomy of their bodies and the their right to live happy and health lives. 

The HB322 is made to require students to use only the locker rooms and toilets that aligns with the sex they had at birth. The sponsor of the bill has already said the bill is not meant to target students who are transgender, in her argument Scott Stadthagen the bill sponsor attributed the creation of the bill to the issue of safety and protection for students, especially with the issue of persons of the opposite gender using the bathrooms meant for the other gender. The Governor supporting the bill said, it is simple understanding that men should use the men’s room and ladies should make use of the ladie’s room, furthermore, he was of the opinion that the enactment of the law would help to ensure that sex talk is reduced amongst kids. The bill further provided that there should be no discussion or conversation on sexual orientation for minors from kindergarten level up till fifth grade. The Governor distinguished this bill from the Don’t say gay campaign going on by stating that the bill is mean’t to ensure that what matters to children is being taught to them, not that a kid of five years old would be learning about sex and sexual identity, they should be focused on learning the necessaries which are maths and reading. Another group tagged the LGBTQ suicide awareness group condemened the passage of the law, stating that the law was going to isolate trans youths from their support systems, he said the law was cruel, unnecessary and unpopular and the resulting effect of the bill would most likely be to increase the rate of bullying and stigmatization and eventually the death and suicide of more transgender persons. 

A little kid of 15 years who had fought to ensure the bill was not passed stated after the passage of the bill that she was a bit scared, however she maintained that she would continue her fight against the bill, by going to the courts. The backlash that have followed the signing of the bill have been swift and concerted even from the administration of the President, Joe Biden with the justice department sending a letter to all the states in the federation informing them that restricting the transgender and non-binary youths from recieving gender affirming health care could be a breach of their federally protected constitutional rights. Some of the parents have argued that the same legislators who have argued for the law, were the same legislators who recently argued in favour of the your your right principle during the coronavirus pandemic. Some medical personnel have stated that when the right of a person’s body is not respected, it may lead to even more psychological problems thereby increasing the risk of the individual harming themselves. The situation for many youths who are transgenders in states governed by republicans are the same, because of the presence of laws that are against the use of puberty blockers for kids, the youths are angry, they are attacked, they are betrayed and they are scared because of the continuing presence of legislations that are targeted at them. In Texas, the Governor has ordered the investigation of the reports of abuse based on gender conforming care provided for kids , a law in Arkansas has also been made that bans gender affirming medications, the law has however been obstructed by a court. 

Many persons view this legislation as a political wedge that is being used to score political points, it has even been compared to the critical race theory bill, which many republicans have also tried to ensure that its teachings are banned in schools. In response to the statements that parents are abusing their children by letting them choose their gender identity, the parents have retorted that it’s even more a case of child abuse to restrain the children from coming out when they have identified their gender peculiarities.