BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – The Louisiana Senate passed a bill banning gender-affirming care for minors on Monday, June 5.
Capitol reporter Shannon Heckt reported that the state House of Representatives has to concur on amendments since the bill was already passed there. The Louisiana Senate revived the bill that had been voted down on June 2.
The bill by state Rep. Gabe Firment, R-Pollock, would ban gender-affirming care, which mainly focuses on transgender children including treatments such as puberty blockers and hormones.
Twenty-nine members of the Senate voted yes and 10 members voted no.
The ACLU released a statement following the passing of the bill. Read it below.
“We are deeply disturbed that Louisiana lawmakers circumvented democratic legislative processes and ignored overwhelming expert medical testimony, forcing through this unjust bill that is a dangerous intrusion on the rights and lives of Louisiana families. Our state should be a safe place to raise a child, and this law threatens to deny transgender youth the safety and dignity they deserve.
This extreme government overreach harms everyone in our state, especially transgender Louisianans, and we all deserve better. We call on Governor John Bel Edwards to veto this harmful, discriminatory bill and protect the rights of transgender youth and their families.”