Land of the free… just not for LGBTQIA people.
In Tennessee in the US, the Statehouse – controlled by rightwing-leaning Republicans – gave its final approval to a legislation criminalizing adults who help minors receive gender-affirming care without parental consent. This first-in-the-nation proposal will now be sent to the office of Gov. Bill Lee, who is expected to sign it into law.
Defending the anti-LGBTQIA legislation that he sponsored, ultra-conservative Republican Rep. Bryan Riche excused the need for this legislation as in support of parents’ rights to have full control over the children under their care. “This is a parent’s rights bill, nothing more, nothing less… At the end of the day, parents should have final say what medical procedures their children are receiving, and nobody else.”
However, the legislation has been criticized for being too broad – e.g. merely talking to an adolescent about where to find gender-affirming care services may be deemed a violation, and could merit fines and/or jail time.
To date, Tennessee already enacted more anti-LGBTQIA laws more than any other American state since 2015, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Only recently, Lee also signed into law a measure allowing LGBTQIA foster children to be placed with anti-LGBTQIA families.
