Please support all kids

What is SB 2696/HB2835, the deceptively named "Youth Health Protection Act? The proposed legislation is harmful and is a medically and psychologically unsound attack on the youth of our state. It could better be called the "Youth Health Prevention Act." This bill flies in the face of science and current best practices supported by the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and, according to the AMA, every major medical association in the United States. In keeping with current Tennessee law, these organizations recommend against prepubertal hormone/hormone-blocking interventions. They also consider them crucial options for pubertal youth. Why? The American Medical Association (AMA), a group of highly trained professionals, makes clear that gender diversity is not an impairment and that diverse gender identities are natural. It calls the efforts by legislators to prohibit medically necessary gender-affirming care for minor patients "a dangerous intrusion into the practice of medicine." According the the American Psychiatric Association (APA), another group of highly trained professionals, "[Gender-diverse] individuals often experience discrimination due to a lack of civil rights protections for their gender identity or expression.... [Such] discrimination and lack of equal civil rights is damaging to the mental health of transgender and gender variant individuals." No matter how well-meaning, according to the APA, legislators who support this legislation are perpetrating emotional violence on some of our most vulnerable youth: "Family and societal rejection of gender identity are some of the strongest predictors of mental health difficulties among people who are transgender." "Transgender people suffer from high levels of stigmatization, discrimination and victimization, contributing to negative self-image and increased rates of other mental health disorders." Setting all that aside, this is another piece of legislation crafted to fix a problem that does not exist. The procedures outlined are rarely performed on minor youth. This bill grandstands about preventing theoretical procedures while causing actual harm to actual youth who just want to mind their own business, live their own lives, and find their own way without interference from the government. Isn't that what we, as Americans, are all about? Don't tread on them. SB 2696/HB2835 is government-sponsored bullying of healthcare providers, children, and their families. It is government-mandated tattling by people who serve children and to whom all children should be able turn for support. It panders to and will reward ideologues who think they know more than the brightest minds in the medical, psychological, and psychiatric worlds. Please vote "NO" on SB2696/HB2835.