South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has signed a bill prohibiting people under 18 from accessing gender-affirming health care treatments into law.
Under the bill, which was passed by both chambers of the state legislature on party-line votes, doctors are prohibited from prescribing any health care treatment for gender dysphoria, or that would “alter the appearance of” a minor’s body or “validate a minor’s perception of” a gender identity that does not match their assigned sex at birth.
The bill makes South Dakota the sixth state to place some type of restrictions on gender-affirming health treatments intended to assist a person in transitioning.
That includes interventions like puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and gender confirmation surgery — although experts note that surgery is already rarely performed on minors.
Supporters of the bill say it’s needed to protect young people from making irreversible medical decisions that they may later come to regret once they “grow out of” their feelings of gender dysphoria.
But opponents of the bill, including health care providers and most major medical organizations, argue that some less invasive gender-affirming treatments are beneficial to trans-identifying youth and can reduce feelings of suicidal ideation.
“South Dakota’s kids are our future,” Noem said on Monday after signing the bill. “With this legislation, we are protecting kids from harmful, permanent medical procedures. I will always stand up for the next generation of South Dakotans.”
Opponents have also criticized the bill for overstepping and infringing on personal health care decisions and parental rights by inserting the state into private, family decisions.
They also accuse Noem of pushing divisive legislation to make herself a more appealing candidate to social conservatives ahead of a possible 2024 run for the presidency.
“This ban denies transgender and nonbinary youth crucial support and care. Even in the face of professional guidance from every major medical and mental health association in the country that supports this type of care, politicians are intruding into the private medical decisions best left to transgender young people and their families,” Casey Pick, the director of law and policy for The Trevor Project, the nation’s largest LGBTQ suicide prevention group, said in a statement.
“We are committed to keep fighting for the rights of young trans South Dakotans to access the best-practice, medically necessary health care they need to survive and thrive. We are here for you and we aren’t going anywhere,” Pick added.
According to The Trevor Project’s 2022 U.S. National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health by State, 53% of LGBTQ youth in South Dakota seriously considered suicide, with about 1 in 5 attempting to kill themselves. Nationally, about 7 in 10 transgender or nonbinary youth say they’ve experienced discrimination due to their gender identity — a factor that can affect a person’s decision to contemplate suicide.
Additionally, polling by The Trevor Project finds that 86% of trans and nonbinary youth say recent debates over anti-LGBTQ bills, like measures to ban gender-affirming care, have negatively impacted their mental health.
However, advocates point to a 2021 peer-reviewed study by The Trevor Project that indicates that gender-affirming care may actually reduce suicidal ideation.
The study, which examined 9,000 youth who received gender-affirming care, found that trans and nonbinary youth who received such treatments were 40% less likely to report feeling depressed or having attempted suicide in the past year than their peers who did not receive such treatments.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill has signed a "shield law" protecting people who seek reproductive and transgender health care. The law also bars state officials from assisting with out-of-state investigations of those who travel to New Jersey for such care.
The bill passed the New Jersey General Assembly and State Senate on party-line votes in June. It prohibits state officials from extraditing people who are under investigation in other states for accessing or allowing their children to access abortion-related or transgender-related health services.
Point of Pride, a trans-led nonprofit that provides financial aid and direct health services to transgender youth and adults, has opened applications for its Thrive Fund, which helps trans people with expenses not covered by the organization's other programs.
Established in 2024, the Thrive Fund helps cover expenses beyond the nonprofit's existing services, which range from free chest binders and femme shapewear to financial assistance for transition-related surgery, hormone therapy, and electrolysis.
Thrive Fund grants can cover non-medical transition-related expenses, including legal fees for name and gender marker changes, fertility preservation, vocal therapy, and medical tattooing used to restore skin pigmentation or conceal scars from gender-affirming surgery. Applicants may request up to $2,500 at a time.
Former Disney star Geno Segers has left the new Broadway cast of Hadestown, following backlash over social media videos in which he mocked transgender people and dismissed claims that their rights are under attack.
Segers, who previously starred in the Disney XD sitcom Pair of Kings, was set to play Hades, god of the underworld, in the hit musical. According to the Broadway and community theater publication OnStage Blog, Segers had posted several videos to his social media channels with titles including "TRANS FAIRNESS?", "NO MORE TRANS?" and "HE...I MEAN SHE BROKE THE RECORD."
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