GOP Governor Says Trans Issues Are ‘Toxic’ as He Bans Gender-Affirming Care

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said transgender issues have become “toxic” and claimed he’s supporting LGBTQ people—two weeks after he banned gender-affirming care for youth in his state. Utah Gov.

In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, host Chuck Todd asked Cox about the “obsession” that lawmakers, most of them Republicans, have with anti-trans legislation, despite only a small fraction of the U.S. population identifying as transgender. “We saw there’s over 299 bills that have been introduced this year alone, two-thirds of them target trans people… What is this obsession?” Todd asked. 

“It is a growing number. In fact, it’s a vastly growing number,” Cox said. “Here is the problem: This has become such a toxic issue that it’s hard to have a rational conversation about it.”

Two weeks ago, Cox signed a ban on youth gender-affirming care into law, making Utah the first state to pass such a ban in 2023—a year that’s already been marked by an onslaught of proposed anti-trans bills across the country. The bill in Utah bans gender-affirming surgery for transgender youth, as well as hormone therapy for minors who are yet to be diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Notably, Utah will still permit cisgender teens to get breast implants. 

“This law effectively bans access to life-saving medical care for transgender youth in Utah,” said Brittney Nystrom, Executive Director of the ACLU of Utah, in a statement released shortly after the ban was passed. “It undermines the health and well-being of adolescents, limits the options of doctors, patients, and parents, and violates the constitutional rights of these families.”

Cox said he looked at what’s happening in European countries to inform his decision-making. “It’s not just about providing care or not providing care. It’s about whether we might potentially be harming young people, not having enough evidence to see what the long-term results of this are, and providing better psychiatric help for those young people who are going through this,” Cox said.

About half a percent of the U.S. population identifies as trans or nonbinary, according to a report from the UCLA’s School of Law Williams Institute, an independent research group focusing on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy. A recent Pew Research Center poll found that about 5 percent of young adults under 25 identify as trans. Experts say the higher proportion among youth is likely partly due to the positive development that young people today are more comfortable openly exploring their identities than previous generations were and are.

Studies show that trans people are more likely to experience mental health struggles, including anxiety, depression, PTSD, and thoughts of suicide, than cisgender people. Nearly half of all LGBTQ youth have seriously considered suicide. But, experts say, some of these issues can be mitigated with gender-affirming care, which includes puberty blockers and other therapies. These interventions are safe and effective, and are correlated with better mental health outcomes for trans people. Teens who are able to access gender-affirming therapy typically also have better mental health outcomes than trans people who have to wait until adulthood. 

Major medical governing bodies, including the American Medical Association, American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have endorsed gender-affirming care for youth.

On “Meet the Press,” Cox was also asked about the fact that bans on gender-affirming care take away the rights of parents to make decisions about healthcare access for their kids.

“We take power away on a lot of things involving our young people. If there is potential long term harm for our kids we need to find it,” Cox replied. “I fully admit there are people on my side of the aisle that are targeting—that do not have their best interests at heart. I think there are people on the left that are promoting these things who also don't have the best interests of some of these kids at heart.” (Last year Cox attempted to veto a ban on sports participation for transgender students in Utah, citing high suicide rates, but the Republican-dominated Utah legislature overrode him.)

Lawmakers who introduce anti-trans bills often do so under the pretext of protecting youth. But as experts and activists point out, such legislation fails to protect those most affected: LGBTQ youth themselves. 

In 2022, more than 171 anti-trans bills—and more than 300 anti-LGBTQ bills—were introduced in at least 33 states across the U.S., including Oklahoma, Florida, Alaska, Arizona, Utah, Georgia, and Wisconsin. Experts say they expect 2023 to be just as bad, if not worse. “It is already shaping up to be another cruel and record-breaking year,” according to the Trans Legislation Tracker, an open-source site that tracks proposed and passed anti-trans legislation. 

This year, about 150 anti-trans bills have been introduced in state legislatures, including one in Oklahoma that’s the first bill in the nation to ban gender-affirming care for some adults. At least three states—Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Virginia—have introduced such measures, with Oklahoma proposing a ban on gender-affirming care for people under the age of 26. 

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