In a season of extreme legislation against the transgender community, three West Virginia senators seek to up the ante with what has been called the “most draconian” legislation yet proposed against transgender identity.
Senate Bill 194, would ban all gender-affirming care for trans individuals up to 21 years of age and require therapists and social workers to attempt to “cure” people who say they are transgender.
This curative language amounts to the discredited practice of conversion therapy, where “Christian counselors” seek to “pray away the gay” or use aversion therapies to cause gay and transgender people to believe they are not gay or transgender.
Independent news reporter Erin Reed says this bill would create “the most draconian restrictions on gender-affirming care in the United States.”
The bill is one of nine anti-trans bills introduced in West Virginia on the same day.
Another bill, Senate Bill 195, would classify transgender people as being “obscene” and would bar “transgender exposure, performances, or display” to any minor.
Anti-trans legislation has become a theme of the Christian right in recent years, fueled by Focus on the Family and its affiliated networks of far-right social advocacy.
The first West Virginia bill was filed by Senators Mike Azinger, Laura Chapman and Chandler Swope. The second was filed by Azinger alone. Azinger’s bio lists him as a Baptist but does not give a church affiliation. Chapman’s website says she is a member of St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Wheeling, W.Va. No public information is listed regarding Swope’s church affiliation, although his mother’s obituary listed her as a devout Presbyterian.
The first bill defines being transgender as “sexual deviation” and places it alongside “pedophilia, exhibitionism, masochism, sadomasochism, fetishism,” and other sometimes criminalized behaviors. The bill also redefines a “minor” anyone under age 21, rather than the traditional age of 18.
LGBTQ advocate Ash Orr told Reed he is most worried about these two bills.
“There is nothing to ‘cure’” in trans people, he said. “The truth is, trans people of all ages are living happy, complete and joyful lives. This contradicts the false narrative created around our community by extremist politicians. This piece of legislation attacks our most basic values of privacy and control over our own bodies and is based on misleading or even outright false ideas.”
Orr added: “The rise in legislative attacks aimed at our community is concerning, but it shows the desperation of lawmakers and extremists who are against transgender rights.”
