RALEIGH, N.C. — In North Carolina, transgender rights are once again at the forefront as GOP supermajorities in the General Assembly seek to override the governor’s vetoes of bills that aim to ban gender-affirming health care for minors and limit transgender participation in school sports.
The state House will hold the first of two votes on Wednesday to pass the bills despite Democratic Governor Roy Cooper’s opposition. If House Republicans obtain enough votes, the Senate could attempt to complete the override with a final vote on Wednesday evening, according to the Senate leader’s office.
For the first time since 2018, the GOP holds veto-proof majorities in both chambers, giving Republicans an opportunity to consider certain LGBTQ+ restrictions that have not gained much traction in North Carolina before. Initial votes indicate that Cooper’s vetoes of both bills are likely to be overridden.
If successful, North Carolina would become the 22nd state to pass legislation that restricts or bans gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, even though many of these laws are currently facing legal challenges.
The North Carolina bill would prohibit medical professionals from providing hormone therapy, puberty-blocking drugs, and surgical gender-transition procedures to individuals under the age of 18, with specific medical exceptions. If the bill is overridden, the legislation would take effect immediately. However, minors who started treatment before August 1st can continue receiving care if their doctors consider it medically necessary and their parents consent.
Leading professional health associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the Endocrine Society, consider gender-affirming care to be safe and medically necessary. While surgical interventions are rare among transgender minors, they are commonly prescribed drugs to delay puberty and sometimes begin hormone therapy before reaching adulthood.
Another bill scheduled for an override vote on Wednesday in the House seeks to prohibit transgender girls from participating in girls’ middle school, high school, and college sports teams.
Proponents of the bill argue that it is necessary to protect the safety and well-being of young female athletes and ensure fair scholarship opportunities for them. However, opponents argue that it is discrimination disguised as a safety precaution and unfairly targets a small number of students.
Local LGBTQ+ rights advocates are already preparing for both bills to become law and have vowed to challenge the ban on gender-affirming care in court.
Hannah Schoenbaum is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
