Trans people would not only be denied access to quality healthcare by West Virginia’s bill, but they would also require “cure.”
Republican Sen. Mike Azinger submitted Senate Bill 194, a costs for the Health and Natural Development Protection Act, on January 10. According to the act, it is intended to forbid gender transition therapies, treatments, and therapies for minors, whose term “minors” refers to anyone under the age of 21.
Additionally, in order to “cure-pursuing recovery” from the “delusion” of being trans, people seeking gender-affirming care may be required to seek out medical professionals, mental health care providers, or counselors.
Sen. Azinger has a history of being at the forefront of sponsoring anti-LGBT costs. He has previously served as the Lead Sponsor of 10 bills, ranging from health, education, and institutions, just this year alone. 19 costs that primarily target the trans community were in circulation in West Virginia as of the time of this article. With 334 charges now introduced in the first three weeks of the new year, this is part of a larger force from last year’s record-breaking bills.
According to West Virginia-based trans organizer Ash Orr, the increase in legislative assaults on the transgender community is “concerning” because it exemplifies the “desperation of politicians and fanatics” against trans rights.
There is nothing to treat Trans people because they know they are, Orr said. The reality is that trans people of all ages are leading fulfilling, happy life. This piece of legislation, which is based on deceptive or even outright fake ideas, violates our most fundamental principles of privacy and self-control.
If medical professionals in West Virginia treat trans patients in accordance with SB 194, they may be deemed to have engaged in unethical do and could have their license or confirming board revoked. Additionally, they would face a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per incident.
Mental health professionals could face civil penalties of up to $5,000, but they couldn’t work for any local or state board of education, private school, daycare facility, charter schools, or other academic institution. The mental health professionals will not be eligible for retirement benefits for proven or acknowledged crime if the judge rules against the accused.
The earliest mention of “solution” can be found in section “16- 2S -3 Counseling.”
Although the term “cure” is not expressly stated in the bill, there are phrases like “counsel,” “advice, guidance,” consistent with conscience, and “cure-pursuing recovery,” which “frames being trans as reprehensible and therefore in need of a “cure. Even transness is casually referred to as a” condition,” “delusion,” or “disorder.”
Trans youth under the age of 21 may be required to request “cure-pursuing recovery” if this bill is passed into law. According to a media release from the UCLA Williams Institute, discrimination will affect more than 68,000 Transgender people in West Virginia as of 2021. The university published a report the following year detailing the number of transgender people and young people in the United States.
According to their study, which includes about 2,500 people, between the ages of 13 and 24 in West Virginia, 1.86% identify as trans.
SB 194 is “extremely disconcerting,” according to Natalie Criss, a queer counsellor in West Virginia who runs Ashland Professional Counseling. She informs Reckon that it is “terrifying” to see the state decide how mental health professionals should address patients, especially given that they undergo extensive training.
To become licensed professional counseling, she added, “We completed at least 1,500 hours of coaching under control and 60+ student payment hours, a internship, and an internship.” She emphasized that mental health professionals should be the industry leaders in client care. She even emphasized how risky it can be for transgender people to learn that they require treatment.
According to Criss, “To therefore been told by a mental health professional that they are insane or just need to be “cured” would greatly increase the death rates, emphasizing that individuals may be celebrating and encouraging transgender people to being themselves rather than restricting them. It has been demonstrated that it is much more advantageous and life-saving to assist trans people in coming out to family, transitioning, and entirely accepting themselves.
Also, Isabella Cortez, the gender policy manager at Fairness West Virginia, a state-wide organization that promotes LGBTQ civil rights, thinks there is no need to bring up the subject again given that House Bill 2007 was already approved by lawmakers there last year.
The legislation, which Republican Governor Some families have now made the decision to leave the state and seek gender-affirming care for their children abroad after Jim Justice’s approval last March greatly curtails such services. According to Cortez, who also strongly disagrees with the “curing” portion of SB 194, attempts to limit this care for fully grown adults who are over the age of 18 are “an insane proposition.”
She argued, “This call it what it is—that is change therapy.” Being trans is not a sin. Nothing about the identity of a transgender person needs to be “cured.”
Sen. Azinger, the sponsor of SB 194 is “deeply controversial even among people of his own party, and his expenses seldom go somewhere,” and Cortez advises against paying too much attention to him in order to learn more about how you can help LGBTQ rights in West Virginia and generally. It would be unfortunate for people who are unfamiliar with West Virginia elections to read about this act and believe it has a good chance of passing.
Since its launch, SB 194 has not moved at all as of the time of release.
