The Alabama Senate passed the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act (SB 219) last week. This moves the legislation to the Alabama House of Representatives. If the bill passes the House, the act will make it a felony for doctors to prescribe puberty-blockers or hormones to minors.
More than 40 businesses, a few with connections to Alabama, signed an open letter published through the Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBTQ advocacy organization, on Wednesday morning opposing the more than one dozen bills across the nation that will affect the lives of LGBQT employees, including Alabama’s SB 219 which the HRC calls “Anti-LGBTQ State Legislation.”
“These bills would harm our team members and their families, stripping them of opportunities and making them feel unwelcome and at risk in their own communities,” the letter states. “As such, it can be exceedingly difficult for us to recruit the most qualified candidates for jobs in states that pursue such laws, and these measures can place substantial burdens on the families of our employees who already reside in these states.”
Under the [Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act] act, doctors will face felony charges and up to a decade in prison for prescribing puberty-blockers or hormones to anyone under 19. It also forbids teachers, principals and school counselors from withholding from parents’ information that a student identifies as transgender…
Rep. Wes Allen, R-Troy, who is sponsoring the bill at the state House, has said gender dysphoria is a mental disorder. Thus, minors should receive mental health treatment rather than medication.
MacDailyNews Note: Here is the HRC’s “Business Statement on Anti-LGBTQ State Legislation” letter in full:
2020 National Biz Letter on… by Jonece Dunigan on Scribd