Recently the media has reported on a bill, HB 675, as banning gender reassignment surgery on minors. It is not. It is in fact an amendment to IC 18-1506B. This amendment would criminalize parents, guardians and medical professionals for just providing medical care for their children. Legislation with nearly identical verbiage has been proposed in 18 other states that target transgender youth, their families and medical professionals. These bills have been spearheaded by the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is a designated hate group by The Southern Poverty Law Center. The American Medical Association sent letters to all 50 governors stressing the damage this would cause transgender youth's mental health.

A recent 2021 survey released by the Trevor Project showed a twofold increase in transgender youth seriously considering suicide and a near-identical increase in suicide attempts. Both APA, AAP, Endocrine Society and 105 other professional organizations have condemned legislative bills like this. Now transgender youth not only have to worry about their own safety but they will also live in fear of losing their family and access to medical care.

It is evident that those who introduce bills like these have little understanding of how carefully the medical field deals with the issue of transgender, non-binary and gender-fluid youth. Medical professionals follow the WPATH Standards of Care ver. 7 when treating all transgender people. Medical evidence, not politics, should inform treatment and decisions. Being LQBTQIA+ is not a choice — hatred and bigotry are. We are born this way, and we are not a mistake.

Lara Estes,

Rexburg