More than half of US states have banned ‘gender-affirming’ sex changes for minors, showing wide support for protecting kids

More than half of U.S. states have banned “gender-affirming” sex changes for minors, showing widespread support for keeping kids from irreparable harm.

States from New Hampshire to Montana, Texas to Tennessee and Georgia to Oklahoma have banned sex change operations and other gender-altering treatments such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors.

The mostly red states have used legislation and the power of the executive branch to stop the mutilation of minors that progressives call “gender-affirming care.” 

In all, at least 26 states have banned the practice, with many doing so over the last two years. 

The figure was taken from legislative tracking by the Equality Foundation, a pro-LGBTQ group, and reported in U.S. News & World Report. 

The vast majority of bans are in Republican-controlled states, and even in some with Democrat governors such as Kentucky and North Carolina. In North Carolina, for example, the Republican-led Legislature overrode Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto to enact its ban. 

Tennessee’s ban, which was enacted in mid-2023, is currently the subject of a high-stakes case before the Supreme Court, with both the leftist and pro-family sides squaring off.  

Oral arguments took place Dec. 4, and a decision is expected by June 2025. 

Supporters of the prohibitions cite their religious views and concerns about trying to change a child’s “immutable” birth sex based on what are often temporary struggles with gender dysphoria. 

“You don’t disfigure 10-, 12-, 13-year-old kids based on gender dysphoria,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in 2022 while calling for doctors who perform sex changes on children to be sued. “Eighty percent of it resolves anyways by the time they get older. … I think these doctors need to get sued for what’s happening.” 

The United Kingdom made permanent this week its emergency ban on puberty blockers for minors, citing expert testimony that the treatments present “an unacceptable safety risk.”  

The U.K.’s National Health Service issued a temporary ban in May following safety concerns but has made the ban indefinite, pending more research. 

The government cited an independent report from Dr. Hilary Cass that found the drugs have “unproven benefits and significant risks,” and that there’s insufficient evidence of their effectiveness. 

Other European nations including Russia, Denmark and Sweden have also taken steps to ban gender transitioning practices.