GCAPP stands firmly in the belief that all children are entitled to a safe and healthy adolescence characterized by hope, respect, and the opportunity for a productive future. To that end, we believe Senate Bill 140, recently signed into law and which went into effect July 1 is harmful to an extremely vulnerable group of Georgia’s youth—transgender youth who are seeking gender-affirming healthcare.
The law is diametrically opposed to everything GCAPP stands for in supporting and empowering all adolescents in their health and wellness journey into adulthood, and in supporting parents as they guide them through their journey. The law does not at all consider parents’ rights on this issue in making decisions about what medical care, in consultation with physicians, is in the best interest of their children. The law also overrides medical expertise and bans transgender youth under 18 from receiving gender-affirming surgery and most hormone replacement therapies. Transgender youth under 18 who began treatment before July 1 can legally continue the process.
We trust decades of science, research, expert medical professionals, and most of all, parents on this issue. Parents, along with their children and team of doctors, should be allowed to develop an individualized plan for care that considers age and other significant factors. Moreover, every major medical association, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the American Psychological Association, all recommend providing transgender youth with medical care that helps them live as the gender they identify with.
Studies show that transgender youth are often marginalized, bullied, and die by suicide at much higher rates than their peers. Decades of studies also report that with access to gender-affirming care, transgender youth have better mental health outcomes, specifically lower rates of anxiety and depression, and experience higher life satisfaction.
Every day, too many young people in Georgia are facing significant health and social challenges that threaten their potential and future. We see this as one more hurdle that jeopardizes the well-being of an often stigmatized community of youth in extraordinary and harmful ways.
