Combatants on both sides of the war over gender-altering drugs and surgeries for minors are crying out, “We’ve got to help these distressed children!”
However, trying to chart a course toward that goal is like trying to see clearly through a dust storm.
Arguments over medical standards, morality, and money are swirling through statehouses and courthouses, schools and churches, hospitals and homes. Undisputed facts are in short supply, obscured by waves of emotion and evolving, politicized terminology.
At the same time, a rising tide of juveniles experiencing gender dysphoria, a persistent dissatisfaction with one’s gender, demands urgent attention.
Against that backdrop, officials in Arkansas—home of the nation’s first ban on gender-altering procedures for children under 18—will see if the law holds up in court.
The California law will likely face a court challenge, too, as a conflicting patchwork of legislation on the issue blankets the nation.
For now, the spotlight is glaring on Arkansas’ Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act, as forces line up to prop it up or defeat it.
As the case heads for trial, the SAFE Act counts 19 states, primarily Republican, in its corner, along with some two dozen other groups, transgender people, and doctors.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which sued to overturn the act, counts 20 predominantly Democratic states in its corner, plus dozens of families with transgender children and several dozen medical societies and activist groups that promote human rights and LGBT rights nationally and globally.
