RALEIGH, N.C. — When the North Carolina Senate voted Tuesday to pass a bill restricting health care for transgender minors, lawmakers were met with three words from the gallery.
“Protect trans kids!” protestors chanted in the Senate gallery immediately after the bill passed.
Following emotional testimony and a rally against the bill, the North Carolina Senate voted 29-16 to pass House Bill 808, which restricts certain types of gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
HB 808 bars surgical gender transition procedures and puberty blockers for transgender minors, and it creates penalties for doctors who perform those treatments. There are some exceptions, such as procedures for children with sex development disorders.
Physicians who perform prohibited procedures on minors can also have their medical licenses revoked.
Two other transgender-related bills progressed through the legislature in the past two weeks, one of which has been sent to the governor. A transgender athletes ban for middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities was approved by Republican lawmakers and now awaits Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s almost certain veto.
The other bill, Senate Bill 631, prohibits public health care facilities from performing many forms of gender-affirming care for minors. It cleared the state House last week.
The speed at which these bills have passed through the legislature is in large part due to Republicans’ supermajority, which has given them power to override any veto the governor issues. Even if Cooper vetoes all three bills, North Carolina Republicans can ensure they become law.
Amendments on conversion therapy, marriage, suicide prevention and more tabled
In introducing the bill, Republican Sen. Joyce Krawiec, who was a primary sponsor, said she heard many heartbreaking stories in the past few weeks — specifically stories of minors who regretted their transitions. Laws restricting children’s ability to buy alcohol, get tattoos or drive cars protect children, Krawiec said, and gender transitioning should join those banned activities for minors.
But Democrats pushed back in lengthy debate.
“This bill is not about keeping our children safe,” Senate Democratic whip Jay Chaudhuri said. “This bill represents yet another example of government overreach.”
Five amendments were proposed for the Senate to adopt, all but one from Democrats.
Chaudhuri submitted the first amendment, which would have created a parents’ and students’ bill of rights. It included a parent’s right to make health care decisions and would have enshrined a right for students to go to school free of discrimination, Chaudhuri said.
Sen. Graig Meyer brought forth the second amendment, which was meant to address the “misinformation” that was platformed in the state Senate and around the country, he said.
The amendment created a panel tasked with studying and suggesting legislation on the topic of mental health disorders. It also provided $5 million for funding 988, the national suicide prevention hotline, and would require schools to display the hotline number.
Banning conversion therapy was the subject of a third amendment, which was authored by Mecklenburg County Sen. Natasha Marcus. Conversion therapy is any attempt to change a non-heterosexual person to be heterosexual, typically through force.
The last Democratic-sponsored amendment, submitted by Sen. Natalie Murdock, aimed to raise the required age for marriage to 18 years. Right after, Republican Sen. Warren Daniel moved for his amendment to be considered, which would allow for the law to be implemented after the original start date of July 1.
All four Democratic amendments failed in a 29-16 vote. Daniel’s amendment passed along the same margin.
After her amendment was struck down, Marcus told lawmakers why she thinks Republicans were adamantly against considering barring conversion therapy.
“I’m afraid it’s because you actually think LGBTQ kids should be forced to go through that kind of mistreatment,” Marcus said.
Rally outside the NC legislative building
Around 40 people huddled together in front of the North Carolina legislative building Tuesday to protest HB 808’s imminent passage. Signs that said “Trans Youth Belong,” “Politicians, stop playing doctor!” and “Accept our existence or expect our resistance” dotted the crowd as several speakers from social justice organizations around the state took to the podium to oppose the bill.
Several speakers, including Chasyn Carter, Planned Parenthood South Atlantic Eastern community organizer, said that gender-affirming care is a “medical necessity.” Planned Parenthood South Atlantic is proud to offer gender-affirming care, Carter said, where hormone therapy is accessible at all clinics in North Carolina.
“That’s what we’re fighting for: healthcare, bodily autonomy and dignity,” Carter said.
Kendra R. Johnson, Equality NC executive director, told the crowd that the fight for transgender youth’s rights doesn’t stop with HB 808.
“No matter what happens in this building behind us, we are united as organizations and as parents and as people who know what the right things is to do,” Johnson said.
Protestors moved inside the legislative building afterward to fill the Senate gallery and watch the floor vote. Becky Eschenburg and her 13-year-old son Mattie Eschenburg stood waiting to enter before the vote, something Mattie told his mother he wanted to do.
“I want to support all the people who are out there just living their life and people just try and stop them,” he said. “It’s crazy.”
Mattie had come out to his mother as bisexual, which was something Becky said she was grateful he felt comfortable to share at a young age. Some adults she knows didn’t come out until much later in life, Becky said.
People need to believe what transgender kids are saying about their identity, she added, including Republican lawmakers who allege minors are not mature enough to identify their genders.
“It’s not a fad, it’s a sense of who they are deep inside,” Becky said.
She later turned to her son and asked him, “You feel like you really know who you are deep inside?”
“I feel like I do so far,” he said. “There’s always time for change, it’s part of life. Change is society. Although I know who I am for now, you can never know for the future. But for now, I’m sure who I am.”
North Carolinians comment on transgender health care bill
The day before the Senate vote, people on both sides of the issue packed into a Senate rules committee meeting. A short line to enter formed outside as the meeting began. Around 20 people were signed up for public comment.
One Democrat, Buncombe County Sen. Julie Mayfield, spoke out against the bill briefly. She told lawmakers that they know where she stands but that the bill is “unnecessary and harmful.”
Mayfield has been a vocal opponent of multiple transgender-related bills this session.
Republican Sen. Paul Newton commended the bill’s sponsors for proposing the legislation, which he said would protect children.
“This fad seems to be overtaking social media airwaves,” Newton said.
One set of parents, Kristie and Kevin Sisson, agreed with Newton’s sentiment in public comment. Kristie told the committee about how her child came out as transgender in 2016, which she said came “out of left field.”
“Something wasn’t right, she was using terminology that I never heard before,” Kristie said. “I realize now she had learned it on the internet.”
When their child tried to transition in college, Kristie said she begged her child to wait. But their child made a GoFundMe and pursued various forms of gender-affirming care to better match their identity.
Shana Barr also has a transgender child, but her experience finding gender-affirming care for her daughter motivated her to speak out against the bill. She found out her oldest child had been cutting herself as she grappled with her identity, so Barr said she was determined to find the best health care for her.
A care plan was developed for her daughter, Barr said, including hormone therapy, but she and the doctors worked as a team to make sure her child had proper support. Before she came to give public comment, she asked her daughter what would have happened if she didn’t receive gender-affirming care.
“She said ‘I would have killed myself before I detransitioned,’” Barr said in tears.
The committee would hear a lot of emotional pleas to not pass the bill, but Michelle Morrow said they should listen to science and approve it. Morrow, who is a nurse, said “all children are trans” in that they’re transitioning from childhood to adulthood. No minor feels the same way they will at 30 years old, she said, so she urged the committee to vote “yes.”
With a baby in hand, Catherine Maddox told lawmakers of her experience worshiping in an Episcopal convent alongside transgender women. She would talk about their spirituality and would listen to how they prayed to God, Maddox said, which changed her perception forever.
“There is no doubt in my mind that being trans is how they were made in the image and likeness of God,” she said.
The bill must still make its way through the North Carolina House before being sent to the governor.
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