TEXAS HOUSE LGBTQ CAUCUS RESPONDS TO PASSAGE OF SENATE BILL 14
For Immediate Release Contact: Chesley Hinds
May 16, 2023 Office: 512-463-0613
Chesley.Hinds@House.Texas.gov
(AUSTIN, TX) ⸺ SB 14, which would ban medically necessary life-saving healthcare for transgender youth, was passed to engrossment by the Texas House of Representatives on Monday, May 15, 2023.
The Texas House LGBTQ Caucus issued the following statement: “SB 14 is an egregious attack on transgender, non-binary, and gender nonconforming Texans, specifically vulnerable trans youth and their families. The bill would mandate a blanket ban on the best-practice evidence- based care for treating Texas youth with gender dysphoria – care that is supported by every major medical association in the United States. By disallowing transgender youth from accessing treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapies while safeguarding cisgender youth’s access to the same treatments, the bill writes healthcare discrimination into Texas law. Furthermore, the passage of this heinous bill represents gross governmental overreach into the private lives of Texans that forcibly inserts our government into private medical decisions that should be made between healthcare providers, parents or guardians, and patients.
Make no mistake, the passage of this bill into law puts children’s lives at stake. The dehumanizing and demoralizing debate surrounding the passage of SB 14 and every bill targeting transgender Texans has already jeopardized the health and safety of queer youth across the state. The Texas Legislature has now put lifelong Texas families in the horrific position of having to choose between their home and their child’s safety. Families of transgender youth are fleeing their home state to protect their children and the families who are not able to leave face an uncertain terrifying future of fighting for their child’s survival without access to life-saving healthcare.
Almost 3,000 Texans came to the Texas Capitol to speak and register against SB 14, the politicization of transgender Texans and their rights, and ongoing legislative attacks on innocent children. We stand with these Texans and are disappointed in the actions of our peers in the Texas Legislature. We will always stand with trans youth, their families, and the healthcare providers who offer the best practice medical care that they rely on. We will never stop fighting for our precious, beautiful, and sacred trans youth. We will never stop fighting for the Texas that trans youth deserve – a Texas where trans youth can be safe and loved, free of discrimination, and free of politically motivated attacks on their basic human rights.”
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