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Bans on Best Practice Medical Care for Transgender Youth

Bans on best-practice medical care represent one of the most extreme and coordinated political attacks on transgender people in recent years. These bills target transgender youth by blocking their access to best-practice medical care, care that is backed by years of rigorous research and endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and other leading health authorities. These bills not only display a fundamental lack of understanding of transgender children, but they also ban access to medical care often by criminalizing either the doctors or even the parents of transgender youth seeking to provide best-practice medicine for children in their care. For more on these efforts, read MAP's 2021 spotlight report.

United States Map
Washington New York U.S. Virgin Islands Puerto Rico Guam Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands American Samoa New Hampshire Vermont Virginia Pennsylvania New York Maine West Virginia Ohio Kentucky Indiana Michigan Illinois Wisconsin North Carolina South Carolina Tennessee Georgia Florida Mississippi Missouri Arkansas Louisiana Iowa Minnesota Oklahoma Kansas Nebraska South Dakota North Dakota Texas 33 Colorado Wyoming Montana Idaho Arizona Utah Nevada Oregon California Hawaii Alaska Massachusetts Rhode Island Connecticut New Jersey Delaware Maryland Washington D.C. New Hampshire Vermont
  • State bans best practice medication and surgical care for transgender youth (9 states)
  • State bans best practice surgical care for transgender youth (1 state)
  • State does not ban best practice medical care for transgender youth (40 states , 5 territories + D.C.)
  • State ban makes it a felony crime to provide best practice medical care for transgender youth (1 state)
  • State has taken steps to ban or restrict best practice medical care for transgender youth, but state law does not ban this care (see note) (3 states)

*Notes (and see "Citations" tab or click "Citations & More Information" below the map legend for more information about every state): 
-Yellow caution icons do not refer to bills introduced (as of February 2023, nearly 4 out of 5 states have introduced these bills) but rather other efforts attempting to limit or ban health care for transgender youth, such as non-legislative actions. See the "Citations" tab or click "Citations & More Information" below the map legend for more information about every state. (These each link to the same document.)
-Alabama: In May 2022, a federal judge 
temporarily blocked the part of the state's law that bans medication for transgender youth, though the rest of the law remains in effect for now, including the felony punishment and provisions that require school staff to tell parents if a child expresses thoughts that they might be transgender.
-Arizona: The state's law (SB1138, 2022) does not go into effect until March 31, 2023. The law bans gender-affirming surgical care for minors, though it does not ban other forms of best-practice medical care, such as hormone-related medication. 
-Arkansas: In July 2021, a federal judge temporarily blocked Arkansas's law from going into effect. This map will be updated as that case progresses. 
-Missouri: On March 20, 2023, the state's attorney general announced he is pursuing "emergency regulation" to effectively ban best practice medical care for transgender youth. These regulations have not yet been formally issued or provided to the state. The attorney general also cited no specific legal statute granting him such authority, and this effort's legality remains in question. This map will be updated as this situation unfolds. 


Recommended citation:
Movement Advancement Project. "Equality Maps: Bans on Best Practice Medical Care for Transgender Youth." https://www.mapresearch.org/equality-maps/healthcare/youth_medical_care_bans. Accessed 03/22/2023.


Percent of Adult LGBTQ Population Covered by Laws

*Note: These percentages reflect estimates of the LGBTQ adult population living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Estimates of the LGBTQ adult population in the five inhabited U.S. territories are not available, and so cannot be reflected here.

16%

16 % of LGBTQ population lives in states that ban best practice medication and surgical care for transgender youth

2%

2 % of LGBTQ population lives in states that ban best practice surgical care for transgender youth

82%

82 % of LGBTQ population lives in states that do not ban best practice medical care for transgender youth

10%

10 % of LGBTQ population lives in states that have taken steps to ban or restrict best practice medical care for transgender youth, but state law does not ban this care (see note beneath map)

Key
  • State does not have this lawBans best practice medical care for transgender youth
State Bans on Medical Care for Transgender Youth
Alabama State does not have this law
Alaska
American Samoa
Arizona State does not have this law
Arkansas State does not have this law
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida State does not have this law
Georgia State does not have this law
Guam
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa State does not have this law
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi State does not have this law
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Northern Mariana Islands
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Puerto Rico
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota State does not have this law
Tennessee State does not have this law
Texas
U.S. Virgin Islands
Utah State does not have this law
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming


Data current as of 03/28/2023
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Sexual Orientation Policy Tally

The term “sexual orientation” is loosely defined as a person’s pattern of romantic or sexual attraction to people of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or more than one sex or gender. Laws that explicitly mention sexual orientation primarily protect or harm lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. That said, transgender people who are lesbian, gay or bisexual can be affected by laws that explicitly mention sexual orientation.

Gender Identity Policy Tally

“Gender identity” is a person’s deeply-felt inner sense of being male, female, or something else or in-between. “Gender expression” refers to a person’s characteristics and behaviors such as appearance, dress, mannerisms and speech patterns that can be described as masculine, feminine, or something else. Gender identity and expression are independent of sexual orientation, and transgender people may identify as heterosexual, lesbian, gay or bisexual. Laws that explicitly mention “gender identity” or “gender identity and expression” primarily protect or harm transgender people. These laws also can apply to people who are not transgender, but whose sense of gender or manner of dress does not adhere to gender stereotypes.

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