Make No Mistake — Idaho’s Anti-Trans Bill is About (White) Babies

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

I’ve been watching with great concern the rash of anti-trans bills being pushed through in various states. Most of them address three things:

1. Keeping trans girls from playing in interscholastic sports as girls because of the myth that they will win everything. This is the big bugbear right now.
2. Gender confirmation surgery on minors.
3. Protecting the “right” of teachers to misgender students.

First of all: It is not current best practice to perform gender confirmation surgery on individuals under the age of 18. There are some experts who do believe 16 and 17 year old transmasculine kids should be able to get top surgery. But the current consensus is that gender confirmation surgery should only be performed on people who are physically adult and fully developed.

(Also, not all trans people even want bottom surgery).

Bills Banning “Gender Reassignment Surgery”

1. Arizona (AZ SB1138) bans irreversible gender reassignment surgery, including both top and bottom surgery.
2. Idaho (ID H0675) redefines gender confirmation surgery as equivalent to female genital mutilation. Turns out they have now added puberty blockers and hormone therapy…