Trans Activists Score Major Victory In Wyoming, Defeat Healthcare Ban In A Red State For The First Time In 2023

This year, it has felt like anti-trans legislation has moved unimpeded. In Wyoming though, activists successfully pushed back and became the first red state to defeat a trans healthcare ban.

Wyoming State Capitol from the Wyoming Department of Health Website

This year, it has seemed like healthcare bans for transgender youth have been moving unimpeded through state houses. Already, four states have banned gender affirming care in 2023 for transgender people under 18 years old: Utah, South Dakota, Mississippi, and Florida. Several more states have seen bills fly through committees and legislative chambers, leaving activists to wonder if anti-trans healthcare bans could be defeated in any state with a Republican trifecta. That question was answered by activists in Wyoming, who scored a huge victory and made Wyoming the first state controlled by Republicans to block an anti-trans healthcare ban.

Wyoming SF0144 was a bill that would have banned gender affirming care for transgender youth in the state. It would have prevented insurance policies from covering gender affirming care for trans youth and would have stripped the licenses of any doctors offering such care. The bill would have threatened mental and physical essential healthcare as spelled out by 29 different medical organizations that support gender affirming care. Like several other bills moving in multiple states, it would have immensely harmed transgender youth.

Unlike other states though, Republicans balked at the far reaching nature of the bill and sharply questioned the sponsor. When presenting his bill, Senator Anthony Buchard (R) could not get past the second page before Republicans on the committee noted extreme problems with the bill. Representative Lloyd Larsen (R) pointed out that the bill could threaten mental healthcare and counseling for trans youth, and Senator Buchard indicated that he would be fine with that. Representative Clark Stith (R) indicated that the bill could put federally regulated insurance plans on the health insurance marketplace at risk, threatening all of Wyoming’s providers and raising premiums. The state insurance commissioner acted as an informational witness and raised the same concerns. The entire committee, made up mostly of Republicans, seemed to express dissatisfaction with the inclusion of hormone therapy and puberty blockers in the bill.

All of these issues were backed by evidence. Gender affirming care saves lives. In a recent JAMA Pediatrics study, transgender youth on gender affirming care had a 73% lower risk of suicidality. In another study in the Journal of Adolescent Health, the reduction in suicide attempts was 40%. These studies have huge sample sizes and were published in the most prestigious journals. They represent only a portion of the large body of medical evidence confirming gender affirming care’s efficacy for transgender youth. When combined with the insurance commissioner’s testimony that banning the care from insurance marketplaces could threaten marketplace access for everyone, the Republicans seemed very uneasy with the bill.

Then when testimony began, people against the bill showed up strongly. Karyn Chin delivered 656 postcards to the committee from transgender youth, families, and allies - these postcards were initially collected by local organizer Cheyenne Syvertson. Chin outpaced a snowstorm to deliver the letters. Her testimony was one of several powerful testimonies against the bill in the hearing. Following Chin’s testimony, representatives from the ACLU, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Wyoming Equality spoke on the many constitutional, legal, and ethical issues with the bill, confirming all of the critiques made by the Republican representatives on the committee. You can watch Chin’s testimony here, followed by other speakers from major rights organizations:

Ultimately, Republicans on the committee were unswayed by arguments that gender affirming care should be banned within the state. The committee voted overwhelmingly against the bill 5-2, declaring that the bill should not pass. “Do Not Pass” votes effectively kill bills in committee, preventing them from moving forward to the House of Representatives. Wyoming became the very first state with a Republican trifecta in 2023 to kill a transgender youth medical ban.

To call this a victory would be an understatement. Transgender youth have watched bills pass through legislatures around the United States, and until today, activists were left wondering if any state with a Republican trifecta would turn down a cruel healthcare ban. Other states that currently have active fights around these bills… Nebraska, Idaho, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma, and over a dozen others… all can look at what activists did in Wyoming and can gain a little bit of hope that legislatures in their own state are reachable.

Here is a map of states currently considering care bans that have a chance of passing or that have already passed (states with Republican trifectas or supermajorities with a gender affirming care ban introduced):

Gender Affirming Care Bans in states with Republican supermajorities or trifectas.

The battle for transgender rights is hinging primarily on gender affirming care bills proposed in these states. Though resistance among transgender activists and allies has been fierce, Republicans have in many cases shown a lack of willingness to follow scientific testimony and emotional pleas from families. Moving forward, however, activists can hold hope that these bills can be stopped even in states that seem openly hostile to the rights and dignity of trans citizens. With over 350 bills targeting the community, holding strongly onto that hope will be important to maintain morale for the battles to come.