COLOMBIA, SC (AP) – Twenty-three South Carolina Republicans have signed a measure aimed at blocking hormonal treatments for young transgender people. But the main supporter of the project is a Democrat, which leads to intense scrutiny by his own party.
Last week, lawmakers introduced the “South Carolina Vulnerable Child Protection and Compassion Act,” designed to prohibit minors from being subjected to sex reassignment procedures. The measure would prevent doctors from prescribing drugs or performing procedures to change sex or delay puberty for those under 18. , with possible criminal charges for doctors who break the law.
Its main sponsor is state deputy Cezar McKnight, who since 2015 has represented the 101st District of South Carolina, a largely rural and heavily democratic area, where two-thirds of residents are black. McKnight, a member of the Legislative Black Caucus, said he received a wave of support from his voters, who told him that, while not necessarily opposing this type of procedure, they think it is one that should only be done when the person strikes adulthood.
“Black Democrats tend to be more conservative than white progressives,” McKnight told the Associated Press in a recent interview. “I would never have submitted this bill if I didn’t think that people in my district would not be receptive, and they are. Pastors, young parents, older parents, they all tell me the same thing: if you want to do this, wait until you’re 18. “
Similar proposals have emerged in other states, with mixed results. One is approaching the final passage in Alabama. Others are pending in states like Kansas, Missouri, Indiana and Montana.
The McKnight bill in South Carolina is one of several that opponents say aims to restrict transgender rights in the state. This week, after a storm of comments from both sides, lawmakers officially rejected a bill that would prevent transgender students from playing on women’s sports teams in elementary and high school.
LGBTQ groups were shocked earlier this month when sexual orientation and gender were removed from factors such as race, religion or disability to determine whether a hate crime was committed. Protections for gay or transgender people were later added back to the state bill.
After McKnight’s bill was introduced, South Carolina Democratic Party leaders passed a resolution saying the party “condemns this outrageous bill – and its Democratic supporters – in the strongest possible terms.”
President Trav Robertson said the resolution was unanimously passed by the executive committee, which includes two representatives from each of South Carolina’s 46 counties. Current and former party officials criticized McKnight on social media, with one postulating a formal censorship of McKnight. Regardless, McKnight says he has no plans to withdraw the bill, although he plans to make some minor changes, including the removal of a clause that would require teachers to inform parents if their children expressed concerns about gender dysphoria.
State Representative Justin Bamberg, a Democrat and a South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus colleague, said he could see why Democrats were upset about what they considered a restrictive measure proposed by one of their own.
“There are certain things that are very consistent across America, in terms of what it means to be a Democrat: to embrace people’s right to be an individual, to like what they want, to love who they want to love, to do with their life and do with your body as they see fit, ”Bamberg told the AP. “I understand the blowback.”
Drew McKissick, president of the state GOP, said the Democrats’ internal struggles only highlighted what he characterized as extreme views in the party at large.
“A lone Democrat decides to jump off his crazy cultural train and the rest of his party has a collusion,” McKissick told the AP. “The healthy Carolinians of the South understand the absurdity of sex changes and recognize that especially children should not be subjected to this procedure”.
Blair Durkee, who turned out to be transgender as an adult, said she did not have family support as a child to talk about her gender dysphoria, but argued that for trans youth, the ability to transition before puberty could potentially alleviate years of distress. . Durkee, a native of Greenville, was raised in a conservative family and was a Republican activist in her youth.
“The idea that some South Carolina lawmaker woke up one day and decided that this was not right and could invalidate decades of research is so arrogant and presumptuous,” Durkee told the AP. “Why not let this be dealt with by the medical system and be resolved by these means?”
As for McKnight, he says his main concern is that a teenager might regret the decision later in life.
“This project is not anti-trans,” said McKnight. “I just don’t think that making a sex change during adolescence is something that someone should do.”
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Meg Kinnard can be contacted at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.
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