During a protest on the steps of the Mississippi Capitol building, dozens of residents are calling on lawmakers to block House Bill 1125.
The bill would prevent anyone under the age of 18 from receiving gender-affirming healthcare, such as puberty blockers or hormone therapy. Jensen Matar with the Trans Program says this bill could do major harm to the small number of trans youth in Mississippi.
Matar says “We already don’t have access to what we need, and now our legislators are attempting to make it even more difficult. We already suffer with things like depression, anxiety, and then you introduce anti-trans legislation like this, it’s naturally going to make it worse.”
Among the crowd of protesters is 16-year-old Leviathan Myers-Rowell of Ocean Springs. He says the bill could be dangerous for them and others.
“If this bill were to pass, it would mean that there would be a lot of pain that would ricochet amongst my community,” says Myers-Rowell. “It would open the doors for a lot more legislation against trans people to be passed.”
Also protesting the bill is 17-year-old Ray Walker of Brandon. He says gender-affirming care saved his life.
“When I was 11 to 13 I had these anxiety ticks in my face, it was building up so much because of puberty it was controlling my life. I didn’t know why, and I went to therapy and I found out why. It’s because I’m a boy. I was in the wrong body. And my body quite literally could not contain itself.”
Authors of the bill claim it would prevent children from having gender reassignment surgeries, but there is no healthcare provider that offers those services in Mississippi regardless of age.
