This afternoon, the North Carolina House passed HB808, a bill that would prohibit the initiation of all gender-affirming medical care for transgender people under the age of 18, including puberty blockers, gender-affirming hormone therapy, and surgery, starting August 1, 2023; youth who are enrolled in care prior to this date can continue care. This follows the bill’s approval by the NC Senate on Tuesday, meaning that HB808 will soon head to Governor Roy Cooper’s desk.
Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara (she/her pronouns), Executive Director of the Campaign for Southern Equality, said today:
“If the General Assembly was truly concerned with children’s welfare in NC, there’s a long list of urgent items they could take action on – like fully funding public schools, establishing universal Pre-K, and ending childhood hunger. Instead, they are fixated on advancing an extremist agenda and cruelly targeting transgender youth for discriminatory treatment. HB808 bans access to healthcare that is life-affirming, life-saving and recommended by every medical body in the country. We are confident that Gov. Cooper will veto this bill and call upon the legislature to sustain that veto.”
“We want transgender youth and their families to know that, no matter what law the NCGA passes, they have the support and love of a majority of people in North Carolina and we are with them every step of the way to ensure they can access the healthcare they need and deserve – including providing concrete resources and support.”
In response, the Campaign for Southern Equality, alongside our partners at Equality NC, ACLU of North Carolina, and Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, will host an Emergency Town Hall for the families of transgender youth seeking support and guidance. The event will occur on Thursday, June 29 at 6pm ET. A portion of the event will be on-the-record but most of the event will be off-the-record. Please contact Adam Polaski at adam@southernequality.org for more information.
Yesterday Lore Lane (they/them pronouns), Impact Coordinator at the Campaign for Southern Equality, spoke about HB808. They said:
“As someone who relies on gender-affirming care, my heart is breaking and quite frankly, full of righteous anger, watching the NCGA ram through legislation that would block transgender youth from being able to access this care. This care is life-saving. It is life-affirming. It allows people to live authentically and gives us the best chance to thrive. And most importantly, it is our inalienable human right. It is absolutely outrageous that the NCGA would insert themselves into private and personal medical decisions – decisions that should always be left to providers and patients.”
HB808 is one of several aggressive anti-LGBTQ+ bills moving quickly through the NCGA. A related bill, S631, would prohibit state funding of gender-affirming care, which could complicate access for youth already receiving care in NC. Another bill, SB49, would censor discussion of LGBTQ+ topics from schools and require teachers and school staff to “out” transgender students. H574, prohibiting transgender students from participating in school sports, has already been sent to Gov. Cooper.
