Pelican State News

The Louisiana House of Representatives is considering a bill that would prohibit procedures altering a minor’s gender.

On May 2, the Louisiana House of Representatives discussed HB463, a bill that would prevent any medical procedures from altering a child’s gender physically or hormonally. The bill, being lead and supported by Rep. Michael Firment, states that “the legislature determines that medical procedures that alter a minor's hormonal balance, remove a minor's sex organs or otherwise change a minor's physical appearance are harmful to a minor when these medical procedures are performed for the purpose of enabling a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor's sexual orientation or treating purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor's sex and asserted identity."

“This state has a compelling governmental interest in protecting the health and safety of its citizens, especially vulnerable children,” according to the bill. 

The session for the House debate featured many community members coming forward to share their opinions on the bill, and several were against it, asking representatives to vote "no" and sharing personal stories from their lives or their children’s. One resident presented as a drag queen for the hearing and urged those listening to not continue in their actions, which told children that they “didn’t matter.” Two mothers of young children they said to be transgender also addressed the House. One mother shared that her young daughter had a lot of problems growing up, being unable to sleep and being constantly stressed, and once their daughter hit puberty and expressed that she felt she was a boy, the mother shared that it made sense why they were eating so many raw green vegetables as a child as they are known to boost testosterone.

“I’m so glad I said it out loud because I have that in my mind now that at 18 months old that something, somewhere, was telling me what [my child] knew all along,” said another mother who is bringing her 11-year-old child to doctors to begin hormone and puberty blockers so that she doesn’t grow into a woman’s body, which she doesn’t “think he could survive if we forced him into it.”

The almost six-hour session ended with a recess until adjournment, and the House approved a substitute bill for HB463. This means that the House will read the bill again on three separate occasions, although it does not have to go back to a committee. The session also included bills on healthcare records and birth certificates, nurses’ authority and mental health.