Families with transgender children in Tennessee are facing difficult decisions due to the state’s ban on certain medical treatments for transgender youth. The Supreme Court is reviewing a legal challenge to this ban on Wednesday.
Tennessee’s ban on certain medical care for transgender youth is causing families of transgender children to face difficult decisions. The Supreme Court is reviewing a legal challenge to this ban on Wednesday.
The ban has had a significant impact on young people who are transgender, causing their typical experiences of adolescence to be overshadowed by this aspect of their identity. Photo credit: Lucy Garrett for The New York Times.
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Written by Emily Cochrane
Writing from the city
As soon as Tennessee prohibited gender-transition care for children, some families decided to leave, leaving their homes and withdrawing their children from school. Others opted to stay, but had to make sacrifices like reducing vacation and holiday spending in order to travel out of state for medical appointments.
Some people who have chosen to remain in Tennessee are still considering the option of relocating to a different location in the future.
Families are feeling incredibly anxious as the Supreme Court considers a challenge to a Tennessee law. They are worried that a decision in favor of the ban, which was passed recently, could make it even harder to access care for their children. This concern is heightened by the incoming Trump administration’s promises to impose more restrictions on transgender individuals.
Kristen Chapman expressed the challenges of living in a state with restrictive laws, stating that it forces individuals to adapt to a new way of life where they feel like they have no control over their circumstances. She likened it to experiencing a natural disaster within the family, as it alters their sense of well-being and normalcy. Kristen and her teenage daughter left Tennessee shortly after the law was enacted to find a better environment for themselves.
Parents from five different families, along with three of the children, were willing to participate in interviews on the condition of anonymity. They expressed fears of facing retaliation and ongoing harassment as their reasons for requesting to remain unnamed.
In my opinion, if your child tells you who they are and what they need, it is important for parents to support them in that.
The person’s name
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