South Carolina eyeing ban on gender reassignment surgery for children

South Carolina this week proposed a bill that would protect children from being “transitioned” to other genders. And the Youth Gender Reassignment Prevention Act does more than just safeguard kids from being surgically mutilated before they’re 18.

Proposed by Republican state Rep. Stewart Jones, the bill says in Section 44-139-10, “A person under the age of eighteen years is prohibited from undergoing gender reassignment medical treatment in the state of South Carolina.”

The proposal would ban gender-changing surgery for people under the age of 18, which is uncommon but increasingly in the news, and shows signs of becoming a fad for some progressive parents.

A recent Texas case has brought the problem into the spotlight.

The proposal also would ban hormones, puberty blockers, antidepressants and other therapies that would “facilitate the transitioning” of a minor.

The only exception to these rules is an allowance for mental health counseling, but that doesn’t make up for the bill’s stance, said Colleen Condon, board president of the South Carolina LGBT group Alliance for Full Acceptance.

Looking at the bill’s interventions, which include allowing a child to dress in accordance with their gender identity, Condon told Vox. “[The bill] does seem to basically say you can’t be you.”

… Or who your parents might want you to be.

Other states are falling in line. Lawmakers in Kentucky, Texas and Georgia are forming and joining bills similar to this one, banning medical care that opposes an individual’s actual, scientific gender.

The earliest the bill will get a hearing is January.