Gender-affirming care is “certainly in the best interest” of transgender youth within the state, according to a new Wyoming bill, House Bill 156. The bill would use this presumption in custody disputes, guardianships, and even Child Protective Services regulations, posing serious concerns about the removal of transgender youth from supportive parents who value them and adhere to best practice medical standards. The bill is a serious threat to state passage because it has 13 sponsors, including the majority leader of the House. It also seems to have been influenced by the latest far-right social media scuffle in Montana involving transgender teenagers.
According to the bill, “to the extent appropriate, there may be a compelling presumption that it is not in the child’s best interests to undertake any gender transition or sex reassignment procedures as defined by W.S. 20-2-206(a)” in determining the best interest of the child under state law. Puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and surgeries are all on the list. The bill next adopts the norm, which is applicable to all state laws, and further amends sections on child protective services, care petitions, custody disputes, relative visitation, etc.
For transgender children and their families in the state, the effects of such a clause may be fatal. The provisions could be used by a non-affirming parent who divorces an affirming one to consider if the child is transgender and fight for custody over who is to be provided for. Grandparents or other family members who disagree with a transgender teen’s gender transition may dispute in court that the parents should be appointed as crisis protectors because they are harming the kid and not acting in their best interests. Perhaps worse, the state could use Child Protective Services as a weapon against transgender children.
Most states have avoided treating gender-affirming care as “child abuse,” with Florida and Texas being notable exceptions, despite the fact that some Democrats and anti-trans companies have categorized it as such. Attorney General Ken Paxton stated in a letter from 2022 that gender-affirming care should be regarded as child abuse. This sparked a significant effort to look into the families of transgender children across the state and to remove those children for questioning by the Department of Family and Protective Services authorities. Since then, those attempts have been thwarted in court. Similar measures were included in a Florida bill that was passed, but they only applied to the enforcement of child custody commands in parental disputes.
This new parliamentary effort to target transgender children through the use of child custody provisions, however, may have been motivated by a new Montana case. According to alleged unfulfilled medical, psychological, and abuse requirements, a homeless transgender child in Montana was removed from his home and placed in Wyoming due to Montana’s lack of capacity. Despite no evidence to the contrary, it is claimed that the parents opposed the move because they thought the transgender youth did receive gender-affirming methods in Wyoming. For them, a move would have been completely unwanted given that gender-affirming treatment is legal in Montana.
The kids were subject to a gag order from the state, which they allegedly broke, causing accounts linked to bomb threats, like Libs of TikTok, to widely disseminate information about the child. The DPHHS and local authorities “followed state policy and law in their handling of this dreadful case,” according to Republican Governor Greg Gianforte, after speaking with the director and reviewing the case files.
Republicans in Wyoming seem to be responding to the information that a trans child is receiving basic mental health care in their state by focusing on all of them. This act might have an effect on Wyoming’s child care assignments, and it might even stop transgender foster children from being adopted by adoptive parents.
Even though there is no proof that the baby was sent to Wyoming for “gender reassignment care,” the Wyoming Freedom Caucus stated just one month before people filed this legislation, “We are sickened by reports that they were sent there to get these treatments.”
They added that the bill would treat gender-affirming treatment as child abuse and that “The WYFC will not stop until all sex reassignment practices are illegal in Wyoming.”
The act has 13 co-sponsors, including Chip Neiman, the leader of the House Majority, indicating that it poses a serious threat to the state’s ability to pass and is a top priority for House leadership. Wyoming would have the broadest restrictions on the exclusion of trans children from affirming relatives in any state in the United States if the bill were to pass.
With Erin In The Morning’s consent, this article was republished.
