Wyoming on Friday became the 23rd state to ban gender transition procedures for minors after Republican Gov. Mark Gordon signed legislation prohibiting the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries for minors seeking to change their sex.
“I signed SF 99 because I support the protections this bill includes for children, however it is my belief that the government is straying into the personal affairs of families” Gordon said in a news release. “Our Legislature needs to sort out its intentions with regard to parental rights. While it inserts governmental prerogative in some places, it affirms parental rights in others.”
All 23 states that have banned such procedures have Republican-led legislatures, and all but North Carolina have Republican governors, according to the Movement Advancement Project think tank.
The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne, is dubbed “Chloe’s Law” after Chloe Cole, who became a leading activist against gender transitions for minors following her own detransition. The legislation has exceptions for a child “who is born with a medically verifiable genetic disorder of sex development.”
The law allows minors to receive mental health treatment, provided such treatment does not include the gender transition procedures prohibited by the legislation.
“KIDS ARE SAVED in Wyoming!!!” Cole posted Friday on X. “Governor Gordon signed SF99 to put age restrictions on gender experimentation for minors. Thank you to the bill sponsor @AnthonyBouchard and others that were so outspoken on child safety.”
The bill, passed overwhelmingly by the GOP-dominated Legislature, includes penalties for nurses, doctors, and pharmacists who violate the prohibitions, including suspensions of licenses or certificates to practice.
“By signing this bill into law, Gov. Gordon has put the government in charge of making vital decisions traditionally reserved for parents in Wyoming,” Libby Skarin, acting executive director for the ACLU of Wyoming, said Friday in a news release. “This ban won’t stop Wyomingites from being trans, but it will deny them critical support that helps struggling transgender youth grow up to become thriving transgender adults.”
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