The bill would prohibit doctors from prescribing best-practice, gender-affirming medical care to transgender and nonbinary youth
February 9, 2022 — The Trevor Project, the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people, condemned the Alabama Senate Healthcare Committee for passing SB 184, which would ban doctors from providing best-practice, gender-affirming care to transgender and nonbinary youth. The bill includes provisions that would criminalize providing this care and medical providers would face a Class C felony if passed.
“A growing body of evidence, healthcare professionals, and every major medical and mental health across the country agree: gender-affirming health care is consistently associated with lower suicide risk among transgender and nonbinary youth,” said Sam Ames (they/them pronouns), Director of Advocacy and Government Affairs at The Trevor Project. “It’s clear that this ban is not about those transgender and nonbinary youth; it’s about political gain. Lawmakers genuinely concerned about the lives of young Alabamians should be listening to the experts — doctors, families, and trans youth themselves — and put a stop to this bill.”
The Trevor Project’s 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health found that more than half (52%) of transgender and nonbinary youth seriously considered suicide in the past year, and 1 in 5 attempted suicide. However, research has also consistently found that gender-affirming medical care, such as safe and reversible puberty blockers, is associated with improved mental health outcomes and reduced risk for suicide.
Further, 2021 peer-reviewed study by The Trevor Project, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, found that access to gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) is significantly related to lower rates of depression, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary youth. Specifically for young people under age 18, receiving GAHT was associated with nearly 40% lower odds of recent depression and of a past-year suicide attempt.
According to a recent poll conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of The Trevor Project, 85% of transgender and nonbinary youth — and two-thirds of all LGBTQ youth (66%) — say recent debates about state laws restricting the rights of transgender people have negatively impacted their mental health. When asked about proposed legislation that would ban doctors from prescribing gender-affirming medical care like puberty blockers or hormone therapy, 73% of transgender and nonbinary youth said it made them feel angry, 57% felt sad, 47% felt stressed, 40% felt scared, and more than 1 in 3 felt hopeless, helpless, and/or nervous.
If you or someone you know needs help or support, The Trevor Project’s trained crisis counselors are available 24/7 at 1-866-488-7386, via chat at TheTrevorProject.org/Get-Help, or by texting START to 678678.
About The Trevor Project
The Trevor Project is the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people. The Trevor Project offers a suite of 24/7 crisis intervention and suicide prevention programs, including TrevorLifeline, TrevorText, and TrevorChat as well as the world’s largest safe space social networking site for LGBTQ youth, TrevorSpace. Trevor also operates an education program with resources for youth-serving adults and organizations, an advocacy department fighting for pro-LGBTQ legislation and against anti-LGBTQ rhetoric/policy positions, and a research team to discover the most effective means to help young LGBTQ people in crisis and end suicide.