Bucking the trend of other reliably red states adopting restrictions on young transgender people, a Republican-controlled Louisiana legislative committee voted Wednesday to a kill a bill that would have banned gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors.
Proponents of Louisiana’s failed bill, which would have prohibited hormone treatments, gender-affirming surgery or puberty-blocking drugs for any transgender minor, say they fear that the state could draw minors from surrounding states — where there are bans — seeking gender-affirming health care. Those in Louisiana’s LGBTQ+ community say gender-affirming care in the state is not as easily accessible as conservatives make it seem.
