NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The ACLU of Tennessee and other advocate groups are suing the State of Tennessee to block a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for people below the age of 18.
Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Tennessee and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP filed a lawsuit April 20 over Public Chapter No. 1.
The bill would ban any gender-affirming care for transgender youth, including hormone therapy, operations that would "change a minor's physical appearance" and any medical procedure "enabling a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor's sex..."
Additionally, the bill would require minors currently receiving gender-affirming care to end that care within nine months of the law’s effective date on July 1, 2023, or by March 31, 2024.
According to the Williams Institute of UCLA, there are an estimated 30,800 trans Tennesseans, of whom about 3,100 are youth between the ages of 13-17.
