Episode 15: Ain’t No Kid in South Carolina Ever Been Whupped Upside the Head for Telling Their Parents They Are Gay or Trans
South Carolina is playing catch-up. 22 other states have beaten us to the punch in passing anti-trans legislation, specifically laws that prohibit giving kids under 18 what’s called ‘Gender Affirming Care’. But we’re getting back in the game. The first legislation the ‘3M’ committee in the SC House took up in the new session in January 2024 was our own anti-trans bill. It’s H-4624. They call it Gender Reassignment Procedures. We call it… well, read the title of this show.
For anyone under 18, the bill would outlaw drugs that block the onset of puberty while a kid, their doctor and hopefully their parents figure out their gender identity; hormones for older kids who are farther along the transition process; and gender reassignment surgery for the very, very rare situations where it’s called for. It may also require school teachers and staff to inform parents if they suspect a student is showing signs of gender dysphoria (the clinical term for ‘wondering if they’re in the wrong body’). And if the school thinks that the student’s parents might react badly (violently) to learning that their kid thinks they should be trans… too bad. They can’t even advise the kid not to tell the parents.
The bill passed out of the subcommittee and full committee where it started, and at press time was set to be introduced in the full House, where it’s expected to pass. If it does pass, it moves to the State Senate for debate. Chances there are unknown, but if it passes the Senate, it goes to the Governor for signature. In 2022, McMaster signed an anti-trans athlete bill.
Early in January, a subcommittee of the House Committee on Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs held a hearing. Almost 50 people testified. Of them, only one favored the bill. All the rest firmly opposed it. Those testifying included doctors, therapists and counselors, educators, advocacy group leaders, and many transgendered people.
But the Republicans held fast to their notion that denying care to potential trans youth was ‘protecting’ them, and that parents had a right to know if schools suspected a student might have those thoughts, regardless of what the parent’s reaction might be.
Here on our first YCDP-TV show of 2024, we talk to four of the people who testified at the subcommittee hearing. Lacey Lane is a York County parent and educator. She’s been on the show before, in her role with CAPE (Community Advocates for Public Education). There, she helped us keep track of the York County Council’s efforts to interfere with the Library Board. At the top of this show, she brings us up to date.
Dr. Martha Edwards is a Pediatrician. Jessicka Spearman is a Counselor and parent of a trans child. And Amberlyn Boiter is a parent, activist and trans woman. Your host is Gary Pearce.
At the end of the show, we include video of the testimony from several of the people who attended the hearing. The session ran over three hours, so we can’t show them all, but their presentations are compelling. If you want to see more, you can download the video here (it’s a big file for a 3+hour video, and it downloads s l o w l y) . You can skip the download and watch online if you prefer, but it’s a little harder to get to. Go to this website, select the year 2024, then scroll down to Tuesday, January 9 - House Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee -- 3-M Medical and Health Affairs. It looks like this:
