Mississippi may ban trans people under 21 from receiving healthcare

Under the “Transgender 21 Act,” trans youth would not be able to seek gender-affirming care, and medical professionals could be punished for even bringing up their gender identity without the consult and express permission of a trans youth’s parents or guardians. It would also make it legally required for medical professionals to out trans youth if they try to receive treatment related to their gender identity, or face civil punishment. State employees are also barred from trying to protect trans youth’s gender identity.

The bill’s purpose is to prevent anything medical that would “address a discordance between an individual’s sex and sense of identity.” The proposal says that people under 21 should not receive gender-affirming care because they “are incapable of comprehending the negative implications and life-altering difficulties” of their decisions.

The act, as proposed based on its 200-word title, would provide “a good-faith exception for a minor born with a medically verifiable genetic disorder of sexual development.”

If a person under 21 is intersex, has “external biological sex characteristics that are ambiguous and irresolvable,” or a specific chromosomal makeup, they would be allowed to receive medical treatment — presuming they would undergo a medical examination to “medically” verify their identity or a test to determine they do “not have the normal sex chromosome structure.”